Incorporating cultural traditions in the lessons and activities at school can be a great way to build inclusive classrooms. With the festival of colours around the corner, if you are looking for fun ideas to celebrate Holi in the classroom, here is help. That will help build excitement in the children around culture, and festivities are a given.

Storytelling

In the days preceding Holi, you could keep some storytelling sessions where the children are told why Holi is celebrated. It will be good to tell the children that the festival falls in March on the full moon day of the Hindu month Phalguna. Families light bonfires (Holika Dahan), the night before, followed by a day of peaceful color play. Holi celebrates the triumph of good over evil as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu. Children will be enamored to know that Holi marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Children should also know that Holi brings people together and breaks social barriers.

You can also organise a Holi puppet show and take to interactive storytelling.

Dress for the occasion

In the days preceding Holi, encourage children to take on simple DIY projects. It will be good to get plain white T-shirts on which they can write Happy Holi in myriad colors. You can also encourage some finger painting and get them to print their fingers on the T-shirt. It will give the child a great sense of achievement and pride to be able to wear the T-shirt that he or she designed on the day Holi is celebrated in school.

Holi Craft Ideas

Holi activities for the early years also include a collaborative art and craft project in class. There are no marks for guessing that the project revolves around colours. You could divide the children into groups, with different groups taking up projects such as creating Holi cards, creating a garland, undertaking canvas art, and more.

You could also design a colourful Holi banner that can be displayed in the classroom.

Speaking of fun Holi projects, you could also organize a fun color-based science project. All you need to do is fill a glass with water and add some food colouring. As the children revel in seeing the coloured water, add a drop of bleach to the glass and stir. There will be signs of wonderment as the colour will miraculously disappear.

Children can also be encouraged to melt their broken crayons into new rainbow-coloured crayons (under adult supervision) and bring them to class. Besides magical activity, it will also be a good coachable moment to explain to them how broken objects can be reused.

Snacks/ Class Favors

No celebration is complete without some celebratory food and gifts. Holi Festival Ideas include asking each child to bring a colourful snack. It will be great to see the table loaded with goodies such as sprinkled cupcakes, cookies, gujia, and more. Each child could also be asked to bring a little gift to exchange. Alternatively, you can encourage children to make paper plate masks, color wheels, or rainbow wind chimes, which can then serve as takeaways. Children can also create colorful wrist bands to exchange as a mark of unity and brotherhood. The true spirit of Holi will come alive in the classroom.

Colour Play Party

If possible, organise a Holi colour play party using organic colours. You could also help them make colors using cornstarch. It will be a day of fun as children colour each other and partake in the spirit of the festival, albeit with all the safety precautions.

A fun dance party can also set the tone for the day and be a great Holi festival activity.

Games

Holi Celebration ideas are incomplete without some fun games. A fun game could involve dividing the children into teams, with each team given some balloons. The children would undertake a relay race where each child would need to run to the far end of the room and sit on a balloon to burst it. The child will then run back to their initial position while the next child from the team comes to take his place. The game is sure to add dollops of fun to the Holi celebrations.

Alternatively, you can also organise colour balloon cricket. All you need to do is to get some colourful balloons and get the children to hit them with a cricket bat. The giggles that will fill the field will be unforgettable.

Talking of games, water shooting is yet another activity that will make Holi joyous. You could stack disposable cups one on top of the other. Get children to pull out their water guns to knock them down.

A Holi Scavenger Hunt will also be held in order to encourage children to find items of various colours.

You can also create an obstacle course in which children run from station to station, completing tasks such as eating a sweet, bursting a balloon, and more.

To Sum Up

Holi activities can be fun and vibrant. The sheer colours involved will add to the fun. It will not only be a great way to introduce the festival to the children but also help them appreciate its spirit, which involves brotherhood and bonding.

At Footprints, one of the leading chains of play schools and creches in the country, we make great efforts to ensure that children celebrate different festivals and partake in the spirit of these festivities. Our HighScope curriculum is designed based on years of research and ensures the holistic development of children. It’s little surprise then that Footprints Preschool has emerged as a preferred parenting partner for parents across the country.

Here’s wishing you all a Happy Holi!