When most people think of Día de los Muertos, they begin relating the holiday to our Americanized Halloween. However, that isn't the case.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday based around remembrance, love, and the afterlife. From day 1, children are taught not to be afraid of death - but rather, they are taught to honor it. Parents will give their children toys resembling families and coffins, teaching them about the life cycle before they're really old enough to start thinking about all of the negativities that come from it. Families will begin setting up ofrendas (offerings set on a shrine to honor those that have passed) with the lost ones' favorite foods, drinks, toys, and activities. Some families believe that they need to lay down marigold petals in order for the lost ones' to find their way back to the ofrendas, but other families have begun to pull away from that part of the tradition. A big part of Día de los Muertos is the pan de muertos (bread of the dead). Pan de muertos is baked using the traditional bread ingredients, along with orange zest, orange juice, and anise seed - which is used in black licorice. Día de los Muertos begins on the night of October 31 and doesn't come to a conclusion until the night of November 2. Within this amount of time, it is believed that the adult spirits roam the Earth throughout the first 24-hour period - whereas the child spirits roam the Earth throughout the second 24-hour time period.