How to Make a Kwanzaa Calendar

Teach your children about the seven days of Kwanzaa with this fun craft project.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Kwanzaa Guidebooks
• Clear Tapes
• Refrigerator Magnets
• White Glues
• Scissors
• Scissors
• 1 9-inch-by-12-inch Sheet Black Construction Paper
• Thumbtacks
• red, green and gold glitter
• black, red and green felt-tip pens

1. Trim a 9-inch-by-12-inch piece of white construction paper to 7 inches by 10.5 inches.

2. Turn the paper sideways, and then use a ruler and pencil to mark off six vertical lines at 1.5-inch intervals.

3. Trace over the lines with a black pen. This will create seven spaces for the seven days of Kwanzaa.

4. Write "26" at the top center of the far left space to represent December 26, the first day of Kwanzaa, which starts on a Sunday this year (1999).

5. Continue numbering the spaces, ending with "1" on the final space, to represent January 1, the last day of Kwanzaa.

6. Write the Swahili word "Umoja" under the date in the far left space. Write its English translation, "Unity," at the bottom of the space. This represents the first of the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

7. Write in this space how you and your family will celebrate Kwanzaa that day and how you will recognize the principle of umoja. Draw pictures or use magazine cutouts to illustrate.

8. Use a red pen to write "Kuhichagulia" at the top and "Self-Determination" at the bottom of the second space. Write how you and your family will celebrate Kwanzaa that day, and how you will recognize this principle, in the space that remains.

9. Repeat the process, using a green pen for the principle of ujima and its translation - collective work and responsibility - in the third space.

10. Use a red pen for ujamaa - cooperative economics - in the fourth space.

11. Use a green pen for nia - purpose - in the fifth space.

12. Use a red pen for kuumba - creativity - in the sixth space.

13. Use a green pen to write imani - faith - in the final space. This will represent the seventh principle, celebrated on the last day of Kwanzaa.

14. After you have finished decorating your calendar, glue it to a 9-inch-by-12-inch piece of black construction paper, allowing an approximate 1/2-inch margin.

15. Write "Kwanzaa" with white glue at the top center of the black section. Cover with gold glitter and shake off the excess.

16. Finish decorating your calendar using the red, green and gold glitter.

17. Use tape or tacks to hang on a wall, or use magnets to hang on a refrigerator.

Tips & Warnings

• On each morning of Kwanzaa, talk with your child about his or her calendar and how you will celebrate the day's principle that night.
• Explain how the colors used to write the principles correspond to the colors of candles in the kinara.