Amma, Tell Me About DIWALI…!!

Diwali, which is the Festival of Lights, falls during the month of October- November. It is one of the most important festivals of the Hindu’s which is celebrated across the world.

I love teaching my daughter the traditions which we follow during these festivals.  Along with the traditions, I want her to know the story behind these festivals too.  The best way to teach her and her friends are through the books as they love the story time.

I got this book named Amma, Tell Me About Diwali..! from the library last week, which was perfect for our Diwali play date. This book is written by Bhakti Matur.

When I read the book for the first time, I felt it had too many pages and it may not grab the kids’ attention because of its length. The other thing which was bothering me was whether the kids will get connected to this type of stories as this is their first book on Indian festivals.  But to my surprise, my kids did not get distracted or bored during the whole story session.

The story first begins with the Diwali celebration, which is followed by the story of its origin and lastly the importance of being a good person.  The illustrations which were done by Maulshree Somani were eye-catching to our kids.

My kids were very curious to know about the festival and gods and were asking me lots of questions from each page. Few of the questions were:-

“Aunty, why Ravan has 10 heads”

” Aunty, how come Hanuman Ji is flying? where are his wings?

” Amma, Did Ravan say sorry to Ramji? Did his teacher not teach him SORRY and THANKYOU?

“Aunty, Why there is an Owl besides Lakshmi Ji?”

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These questions were endless, for few of them I had to scratch my head for answers.

After the story session, we had a small crafting activity (Lantern) for the kids.

Supplies Needed:

• Foam Sheets
• Self-adhesive rhinestones
• stapler
• pencil
• scale
• pipe cleaner
• Scissors

Procedure:

• Fold the foam sheet in half and draw parallel lines from the folded side to the corner of the sheet, leaving about 2 cm away from the edge.
• Cut the strips carefully using the scissors.

• Open the folded foam sheet and stick the self-adhesive rhinestones on top and bottom of the sheet.

• Assemble the lantern by rolling the foam sheet into a tube shape and stapling the two sides of the foam sheet.
• Cut the pipe cleaner into small stripes and staple it to the top of the lantern.