The holidays are in full swing, and with that Kwanzaa is just one week away! There are so many wonderful and exciting traditions that come with Kwanzaa. In celebration, we have created a list of some awesome and creative Kwanzaa activities. Each activity gives your children a chance to learn about the holiday, while also having lots of fun. In addition to this, we have also came up with a list of special D.I.Y Kwanzaa gifts. We hope everyone have as much as a great time celebrating and creating as we did!
Gift ideas:
Here is a list of some Do-It-Yourself gifts that you can customize to be as personal and special as you want them.
1. Musical Instruments- Create your own musical instruments that your children will love. You can make the instruments out of any recyclable items you can find around the house. Get creative with filling them and decorating them; relating to your children's interest. Once they open them, the whole family can have fun as you all take part in making music together!
2. Knitted gloves/hats/scarves/socks- Get cozy with this adorable gift. Personalized knitted wear is guaranteed to keep your children warm and comfortable during the holidays. They'll be excited to have knitted items made by you, and eager to show them off.
3. Craft basket- With this gift, you can let your children get as creative as possible, by making their own craft basket. Fill the basket with various crafts items that you think they can use for different art projects. If you want, you can also choose a theme for them to follow, and write hand written instructions for how to create their crafts. You can also use this gift as another great opportunity to do another fun activity with your children.
4. Educational books- Book gifts are awesome opportunities to give your children books about their various interest, as well as books detailing the history and importance of Kwanzaa. Your children can read up on some of the traditions and celebrations that occur and why it's important. You can also find books that not only give information, but also come with fun games and activities to help your children practice what they just learned.
5. Journals- This is another great gift idea! You can make journals relate to just about any interest. This is an fun way to get your children to be descriptive, and reflect on fun memories that they have. They can also use the journals to decorate and keep account of the things they like and are excited for.
Activities:
Infants
1. Kwanzaa footprint painting- Make your own footprint Kwanzaa painting with your infant. All you will need, is red, black and green paint, and construction paper. Gently dip their feet into the paint and press it down on the paper leaving a stamped footprint image. You can count and name each of their toes as you do this. This activity helps in building body awareness, and is a fun sensory activity, as your baby explores the paint.
2. Sensory Kwanzaa Basket- Help make your infants very own sensory Kwanzaa basket in this adorable activity. All you will need, is one basket any size of your choice, corn, fuzzy pipe cleaners (in red, black and green), plastic fruits and veggies, a woven mat, and any other items you can think of. Your infant will have fun exploring each item, which can help in strengthening their senses, as well as build on fine motor skills.
3. Magic Kwanzaa sand- Make your own magic sand for your infant. All you will need is, cornstarch, flour, baby oil and a medium sized plastic container. Start by mixing four cups of flour, with two cups of cornstarch and half a cup of oil. Mix your ingredients until you have your desired consistency. Once you have your sand, use green, red and black food coloring to give it its color. You can place the sand into your container, and let your baby have fun rubbing and playing with it in their hands.
4. Water play- In this activity, your infant will explore using water play. For this activity, you will need a medium sized plastic container filled halfway with water. Next, add your Kwanzaa items, such as multi-colored rubber balls, and plastic fruits and veggies. You can even include small plastic spoons and forks to help pick up the items. Your baby can gain a sense of the concepts of wet and dry, as well as observing how items interact with water, and whether they can float or sink.
5. Kwanzaa stick-on sensory wall- For this activity your infant can explore their very own Kwanzaa sensory wall. Gather up various Kwanzaa related items, paying close attention to how they interact with each of the senses. (Ex:bells, fuzzy pipe cleaners, squishy faux corn). Glue a piece of Velcro to each of the items, and different places on a large piece of cardboard. Let your infant have fun taking off each piece and exploring what they are. This activity can help promote strengthening large motor skills.
Toddlers
1. Ice color painting- In this activity, your toddler can create their own paintings using different colored pieces of ice. Using fruit and vegetable shaped ice containers, fill each space with water and different color food coloring. Freeze your ice until they become solid. Once you have your ice, pop each one out of their containers, and arrange them on two paper plates. Let your toddlers observe how the ice melts and swirls into different colors. You can ask them questions about what colors they see, and what colors do they think the ice will mix to create. This activity helps in building color, shape and food recognition skills.
2. Kwanzaa candle pipe cleaner matching game- Make your own Kwanzaa holiday candles in this activity. All you need is yellow, red, brown, green and black pipe cleaners, and beads. Carefully have the children twist the brown pipe cleaners into a circular shape. Next, twist the green, black and red pipe cleaners spaced out around the brown circle. Make sure the pipe cleaners are sticking upwards. Have the children place different colored beads on the pipe cleaners until their rows are finished. Last, twist a yellow pipe cleaner in the shape of a flame. This activity focuses on color recognition, and matching skills.
3. Fruit and Veggie vocab- In this activity, your toddlers will practice their vocabulary, and name different fruits and vegetables. Gather various plastic or real fruit and vegetables. Using construction paper, or small pieces of cardboard, write the names of each item on each piece. Ask your children if they can name each item, and then place the card near each one. This activity helps your children get familiar with different food items, and their names and spelling. You can also expand, by having them name each color the food is, and then group them by color.
4. Shape stamp paintings- Children can make their own stamp paintings using various Kwanzaa items. Carefully choose which items you want to make stamps out of. We suggest having a variety of different ones that can leave different shapes. Once you have your items picked out, provide paint and construction paper. Your toddler can have fun place each of the items in paint, and making their own masterpiece. As they paint and stamp, ask them questions about the items and their shapes they leave imprints of. This can help with shape and color recognition.
5. Jewelry making- In this activity, help your children make their own jewelry to wear and decorate for Kwanzaa. All they will need is multi-colored twine, pipe-cleaners and beads. Demonstrate how to twist the pipe cleaners and place the beads on. You can practice making patterns with each color, and ask them questions about which color should go next. When they're finished, they will have their very own Kwanzaa jewelry!
Preschool
1. Magazine collage- For this activity, children can create their own collage for Kwanzaa out of magazine clippings. All you will need is magazines, glue, and a large piece of cardboard. Help your children chose what Kwanzaa image they want to create. Once they have chosen their image, help draw it onto the cardboard. Next, using the magazine clippings, arrange the image in the different colored clippings and glue them to their places on the board. This activity is guaranteed to keep your children entertained as they sort out different color and shape and sized magazine paper to create their art.
2. Bead counting and sorting- For this game, all you will need is recycled egg cartons, and multi-colored beads. Have your children count and sort the beads into as many groups as they can. They practice their addition and subtraction skills as well! This activity focuses on organization, color recognition, math and matching skills all in one.
3. Play-doh candles- Your children can have fun making their own Kwanzaa candles out of play-doh. You can use our d.i.y play-doh recipe in our previous blogs, or using ready play-doh that contains red, black and green colors. Help guide your children to fold and roll the play-doh into desired candle shapes. They'll have fun building their own candle creation, as well as learn about what each candle means and represents.
4. Kwanzaa Chains craft- In this craft, children can make their own Kwanzaa chains. All you need is multi-colored construction paper, tape and scissors. Carefully help your children cut the construction paper into slips. Fold each slip together, taping them into a chain. Your children can build on their color and pattern recognition skills, as well as their folding and taping skills.
5. Kwanzaa coloring pages
Here is a link to a free printable Kwanzaa coloring page worksheet!
School age
1. Kwanzaa Vocab Flashcards- In this activity, you can make and help your children practice their Kwanzaa vocabulary. All you need is card board, scissors, tape, and printed images of Kwanzaa related words and imagery. Let the children cut and glue each of the Kwanzaa words and images to different pieces of cardboard. You can make it a game, by having them match the image with the word, or making it a Kwanzaa bingo.
2. Pattern weaving mat- For this activity, help your children create their very own Kwanzaa mat out of construction paper. Gather red, green and black construction paper, and cut them into strips. As they work, you can talk about the history of the woven mats, and what the mean. Have the children place their strips into the main piece of paper with pre-cut slices for each strip. Continue placing the strips in the pattern you want to form. Your children can practice different directions, cutting and folding skills.
3. Oil,soap and water flag experiment- Make your own Kwanzaa flag, while observing oil, soap and water reactions in this experiment activity. Using a glass or see through cup, fill your cup a third way full with green dish soap. Next, in a different cup, full a third of the cup with water, and add black food coloring. In a third cup, follow the same measurements, but add oil and red food coloring. Have the children then take turns filling the first cup of soap with the water, then oil. They can observe how each liquid reacts to the other and keep separating. This is a fun experiment to teach your children about the reactions, while also helping them create art.
4. Kwanzaa Roll worksheet
Here is a link to a free printable worksheet that features a Kwanzaa color activity!
5. Kwanzaa research- In this last activity, let your children research all about Kwanzaa and all it involves. You can start by creating a list of questions that you want them to look up answers to. Some of these questions can include:
-What is Kwanzaa?
-What are the different names for the holiday?
-What happens during Kwanzaa?
-What do we celebrate during Kwanzaa?
-What are some of the things we eat during this time?
-When did this celebration begin?
This activity helps your children develop their research skills, and learn more about the history of the holiday.