The Hindu festival of Diwali is being celebrated next week (5th November 2010) and I always think observing celebrations from other counties and cultures is such a fun and accessible way for children to learn more about the world.

A tradition you can try at home for Diwali is making rangoli patterns.

This version is a great sensory activity too as the children can explore all the colours and textures of the grains** you use. Pop over to our Diwali archive to find out how to make the rangoli pattern.

**take care that any un-cooked pulses don’t get eaten, as they can be toxic

         

Download your ready-made Diwali kit

Download our Play Academy ready-made Diwali unit and you’ll have everything you need to lead a Diwali celebration with your children. In this set of Diwali lesson plans your children can:

:: learn about Diwali: it’s meaning, it’s traditions and how it’s celebrated

:: make Rama and Sita puppets and act out their story

:: create firework paintings or diya lanterns

:: make rangoli designs

:: explore a five senses Indian food taste test    

Bonus Diwali thematic unit printables

The Play Academy’s thematic units come with practical printables that make the lessons more engaging for your children and easier for you to teach.

No need to go searching for printables to accompany your lessons, they’re all included when you download your chosen unit.

In this Diwali Unit you’ll receive these bonus printables:

:: Diwali vocabulary cards to re-cap knowledge and develop language skills

:: a Lotus flower colouring sheet and rangoli template for arts and crafts

:: a Diya lantern colouring sheet

:: Monkey army counting cards for math activities

:: a Diwali taste test record sheet to explore the foods of the festival  

     

How to download this Diwali thematic unit

You can download this unit along with over 50 more from NurtureStore’s Play Academy. If you are already of the Play Academy, you can download this unit straight away from our Library here. If you are not yet a member, find out more and choose your first unit here. Your teaching is about to get a whole lot easier!