Holi is an important holiday in the Hindu faith that is celebrated around the world. It’s a moving holiday based on the full moon, but it marks the beginning of spring and is a triumph of good over evil and light over dark. It’s also known as the festival of colors because of the colorful powder (known as gulal) that is thrown at everyone during the celebration.
If you need a refresher or want a book about the holiday for your home or classroom, check out Holi by Sital Gorasia Chapman, illustrated by Pranami Bora. This book tells the story of a family getting ready for Holi by making their own gulal from flowers and vegetables in the garden, making food and taking part in celebrations.
The book covers the story of Holika, a demon who tried to kill the king’s son, Prahlad, who worshiped Vishnu instead of worshipping his father. When Vishnu saved Prahlad, evil was defeated, which is celebrated at Holi. There are also some crafts, a recipe and more stories about the gods (including the story of Shiva and Rati, which is a popular Holi story in southern India).
I’ve shared some Holi crafts and activities in the past, but here are some more ideas for you.
Craft My World has a cute idea using colored powder to make a rangoli (sort of a mandala design made out of powder).
Little Ladoo has a great collection of other ways to make rangoli with paper plates, paper quilling, coloring pages and more. I also love their story of Holi craft that helps tell the story of Holika and Prahlad (which they spell Praglad; I was just going with the book’s spelling above). A little grim, but actually pretty cute.
This post from Artsy Craftsy Mom includes a video talking about how to make gulal at home. I’ve shared some of the crafts linked there before but it’s got a lot of good ideas. (I also made throwing powder once and it didn’t stick amazingly well but it was still fun to play with!)
If you celebrate Holi I’d love to hear about how you do it at home or in the classroom!
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