Diwali vacations have begun! While it may seem like a welcome break for kids, for parents who don’t share the same vacations at work, it can be nothing short of a nightmare! (sorry kids!) My daughter is super excited about her break but as a busy mom who has full-time work and tons of Diwali chores to finish at home, I am left wondering just how am I going to keep her engaged and occupied?
Here is a little trick. This year for Diwali why not try to indulge in some teamwork and get the entire family to contribute to Diwali preps? It is honestly the best way to celebrate (survive) the school break and finish the list of things to do before the festival starts. Two diyas with the same match, and all that!
Here are 6 fun Diwali activities that kids can help out with as long they are not labelled as WORK!
1. Diwali Cleaning
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This does not mean you ask them to clean the cobwebs or scrub the walls of your house but rearranging their books, toy racks, wardrobes, the shoe rack is something kids can manage pretty well on their own as long as you make it fun. Make a game out of it. Create a competition, give them a set time and start your timer! The first one to do a neat job wins a special goodie at the end of it.
2. Diwali Shopping
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Here is what you can do to avoid last-minute run to the market this Diwali. If you have older kids, ask them to list everything you will need for gifting. They could list the number of sweet boxes you need for the pujas for instance. Ask them to go online and find the place with the best price for sweets. Basically, make them do the research for you! Sneaky, but effective!
3. Diwali Packing
Go green this Diwali and teach a lesson in recycling while you are at it. You will be surprised how this mundane gift wrapping activity can help teach your kids the benefits of recycling. Use newspapers instead of glossy gift wrapping paper. Innovate and add some colour by using the comic section to wrap gifts for kids. Watch your children get creative as they come up with cool eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas.
4. Diwali Mithais
One thing that gets kids excited about this festival is that it involves lots of sweets. And there are quite a few yummy sweet treats which are easy to make and kids can easily get involved, like filling the semi-circle shaped Gujjiya/karanji, making the perfectly round laddoos and cutting square shaped barfis.
5. Diwali Decorations
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Why not make your kids in charge of decorations? Ask them to come up with a plan. Let them make a list of everything they need – like diyas, rangoli, colour etc. Once shopping is done as them to make a sketch of how they will decorate and let them go crazy! You can download simple rangoli patterns for them to create using colour, flowers, and even pulses.
6. Preparing for the Diwali Puja
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Diwali is incomplete without a Lakshmi Pujan. This year, let your kids help out with decorating the Puja room with flowers, torans, puja thali and the complete puja set up, which is quite extensive and takes a lot of time arranging on your own.