Mark Diwali this weekend with a riot of colour.
Celebrating diverse festivals is a wonderful way to introduce your children to different cultures and customs. Most festivals are family occasions and observing elements of them in your own home allows you to open your children’s eyes to experiences from around the globe.
We often borrow traditions from other cultures and observe them at home, and especially enjoy the opportunity to try new foods and crafts. The Hindu festival of Diwali is being celebrated on 5th of November this year and we’ll be joining in with our own version of the festival. Here are some ideas you can use at home to host your own Diwali party.
- Rangoli A rangoli is a traditional Indian decoration made using brightly coloured flower petals, pulses and grains or dyed rice, thought to bring good luck. It has a strong geometric design often depicting a motif from nature such as leaves or a flower. To make the rangoli in the picture above all you need to do is draw the outline of your design on a paper plate and then use glue to fill in each section with different coloured pulses. You might also like to make an outdoor version of a rangoli using chalks instead, to welcome people to your home.
- Candles and Lanterns Diwali is known as the festival of lights and diya lamps are lit to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. You can make your own version of these lamps from air drying clay and decorate it with brightly coloured paint and sequins, ready for your party.
- Fireworks There are likely to be fireworks in the sky in any case, as Diwali falls on the same day as Bonfire Night this year but you can also get creative and make some firework pictures. Blowing paint using a drinking straw makes great exploding fireworks or you can try using glitter paint to print with doilies.
- Festival food Diwali is a family festival centred on the home, so why not light your candles and enjoy some traditional Indian food together? It’s also sometimes called the Festival of Sweets so don’t forget to include some kheer rice pudding.
Happy Diwali!
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03 November, 2010
Wonderful ideas!! Check the diyas-lamps which we made this year http://puttiprapancha.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-post.html These were painted by my daughter and then decorated by me.
And some playdoh lamps we made last year http://puttiprapancha.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-post_20.html
Happy deepavali :)
03 November, 2010
h
mum
03 November, 2010
Hi Roopa. Thanks for the links to your diyas - they're beautiful. I hope you have a great celebration this year.
admin
08 November, 2010
What a fab job your daughter made of the Diyas they are gorgeous! I hope you had a wonderful Diwali celebration with your family and friends!
Leigh
Ready for Ten Team