How to Explain Kwanzaa to Your Child

Kwanzaa is a relatively new festival, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga as a way to help Africans and African-Americans celebrate family, community and culture. It's celebrated from December 26 through January 1 of each year. If you're planning to celebrate Kwanzaa with your family, you'll need to talk to your children about the festival's origins and explain the various symbols and rituals to them.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 7 Candles
• Candleholders
• Unity Cups
• Corn
• Mats
• Mats

1. Explain the purpose of Kwanzaa. The festival was created to strengthen Pan-African culture and community, and to reaffirm a common identity among African and African-American peoples.

2. Discuss the difference between cultural and religious festivals. Kwanzaa is not a religious festival, so it doesn't conflict with the observances of Christmas, Hanukkah or other sectarian winter festivals.

3. Talk about the festival's name. "Kwanzaa" is derived from the Swahili phrase meaning "first fruits," which refers to ancient African harvest festivals.

4. Discuss the seven principles of this seven-day festival with your family. These principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Talk about how to apply these principles to your life, not just during Kwanzaa, but all through the year.

5. Show your children the symbols of Kwanzaa and explain what they mean. There are seven basic Kwanzaa symbols: the crops (Mazao, symbolizing the rewards of labor), the mat (Mkeka, symbolizing the foundation of tradition and history), the candleholder (Kinara, symbolizing the roots in continental Africa), the corn (Muhindi, symbolizing children and the future), the seven candles (Mishumaa Saba, symbolizing the seven principles), the unity cup (Kikombe Cha Ujoma, symbolizing the practice of unity), and the gifts (Zawadi, symbolizing the labor and love of parents, and the commitments made and kept by children).

6. Tell your children about Kwanzaa gifts. These are usually just for children during Kwanzaa, but must always include a book and a heritage symbol to stimulate pride in learning and history.

7. Decorate for Kwanzaa in the traditional colors of black, green and red, and include traditional African items and symbols in your decorations.

Tips & Warnings

• Find a book about Kwanzaa that contains concise details of the celebration and explains the symbols and practices of the festival. There is also a lot of material about Kwanzaa on the Internet.
• Be sure to celebrate Kwanzaa independently of other celebrations, to honor the principle of self-determination.