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!
Oh Cathy, I LOVE this, so cool of your to look at different festivals and celebrate it with some crafts of your own. I am impressed! And will have to make sure that in future, I am more international too!!!!
Thanks (as always) for lining up to Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy xxx
Cathy these are lovely! We used to make rangoli pictures at nursery using coloured sand but its not so easy to get on the high street.
Thanks Adele.
My son would love all the colors and textures in this project. How fun!
Great idea to use cupboard staples. Toddler loves playing with oats and lentals, will def do this with her next week.
@Adele – You can colour white rice using food dyes the night before leave to dry and the next day you can have lots of lovely colours to use. This is what we did for my wedding rangoli. 🙂
Thanks for the rice idea lovemybaby 🙂
Oh! I love this. I wonder if I could pull it off using bigger items. The teeny stuff is very trach friendly.
Tammy and Parker
http://www.prayingforparker.com
Hi Tammy – I’m sure it would work on a grander scale – it could be spectacular!
You now how much I love this 🙂 Thanks for visiting and looking at my rangoli post !
It was my pleasure Maya – your rangoli is beautiful.