Easy Diwali Crafts for Kids

There are lots of great crafts associated withDiwali the festival of lights, and making something related to a holiday or celebration that you don’t celebrate yourself is a great entry point (of course these are great for kids and families who do celebrate Diwali as well).

One of the most common crafts associated with Diwali is the diya, a small oil lamp. My daughter’s class once harvested clay from their playground and made little bowls filled with battery powered candles for this purpose.

Rangoli, which are geometric designs similar to mandalas, are also a popular feature of Diwali celebrations, and you can find lots of options to print out and color.

The Educator’s Spin on it has collected a bunch of different options for making diya, rangoli and other Diwali crafts, as well as some books you can read while you make your crafts to learn more about the celebration. Head to her blog for all the details.

[Photo: The Educator’s Spin on it.]

Leif Erikson Day is celebrated on Oct. 9, and it’s a great time to learn more about the Vikings and why we still remember Erikson all these years later.

If you don’t know about Leif Erikson (sometimes spelled Eriksson), he’s believed to have been born in Iceland, and is considered the first European to set foot on continental America, more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a printable mini book about Leif Erikson and the Vikings for kids to read and color. It talks about who the Vikings were, what kind of ships they used, how they got to America and more. It’s a good overview for younger kids to use.

A good unit study is available from Simple Living Creative Learning, which includes a page where kids can write what they know, what they want to learn and what they learned through the unit, as well as information on the Vikings, longships, helmets, clothing and more.

Get a printable Viking unit study with reading passages, comprehension questions and other activities aimed at grades 4-8 from Creative Classroom Core at Teachers Pay Teachers. (And see more Vikings content from TPT here.)

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has some great unit study ideas, too, including suggested books and videos. The post includes information about the Viking voyages, society, mythology and ships, as well as some vocabulary and a list of famous Vikings. While you’re over there also check out her free printable lapbook, which includes mini books on ships, a timeline, a Viking women coloring page, draw your own Vikings, geography, ancient runes and more.

Piqolo Kids has a lesson on Viking women with (available for purchase) worksheets about a day in the life of Viking women. Even if you don’t grab the printables there’s some good resources on that page and a link to a video on Viking women.

Learn how to draw a Viking ship with instructions from Drawing How to Draw, or grab Vikings coloring and labeling worksheets from Kids Puzzles and Games.

There’s a Leif Erikson Festival annually in Norway, Michigan, which you can learn more about here.

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