Kwanzaa Crafts for Children

Make Kwanzaa crafts to symbolize the holiday.

Kwanzaa is a celebration reaffirming African heritage, cultural traditions, kinship with the environment and family and community well-being. The annual celebration lasts seven days, from December 26 to January 1, with each day dedicated to one of the seven principles to live by. Children can learn the value of the celebration and take part in it by creating crafts that symbolize these values and traditions.

Candle Holder

Children will enjoy handcrafting their own Kinara.

The Kinara, or candle holder, is symbolic of the people's roots. Make a Kinara using an egg carton and acrylic paint. Cut the egg carton in half, down the center. Cut the strip of six cups in half to create two rows of three. Cut one single cup from the other half. Trim to remove ragged edges. Glue the single cup in the center of the two, three-cup sections to create one strip with seven cups, using either hot glue sticks or basic white craft glue. Turn the strip upside down and cut a slit in the bottom of each cup. Paint the outside of the egg cups brown and allow to dry.

Seven Candles

Mishumaa Saba and Kikombe cha Umoja

The Mishumaa Saba, or seven candles, represent the seven principles to live by. Make candles for the Kinara using seven jumbo wooden craft sticks (available from any craft store), yellow and orange construction paper, and green, red and black acrylic paint. Paint one stick black, three green and three red; allow to dry. The black candle represents the people, red candles represent their struggles and green candles represent the future. Cut out flame shapes from the construction papers and glue to the top of the sticks. Insert them into the slits in the egg cups, with three red on one side, three green on the other and black in the center.

Unity Cup

The Kikombe cha Umoja, or unity cup, symbolizes the principle of unity among the people. Create a unity cup using a Styrofoam cup or yogurt container, a wooden, round head clothespin and stand (also called a doll pin and doll pin stand), and black, red, green and yellow acrylic paints. Paint the inside and outside of the cup, the pin and stand black and allow to dry. Draw simple people, connected around the bottom edge of the cup, in red and green. Paint traditional African patterns and designs on the cup, such as yellow dots along the top edge and green and red wavy lines around the center. Create a slit in the bottom of the cup, push the clothespin through, and add glue.

Corn

Muhindi, or corn, is a symbol of Kwanzaa.

Muhindi, the corn, represents children and the future. Make a corn card to add to holiday decor using yellow card stock, green construction paper and un-popped corn kernels. Alternatively, you can paint a piece of cardboard with yellow acrylic paint. Cut an oval in the shape of an ear of corn from the yellow card stock. Apply craft glue to the surface, sprinkle corn kernels onto the glue, and allow to dry. Cut two long leaf shapes from the green paper. Glue half of each leaf to the back of the corn, fold over, wrap around and glue to the front.

References

• The Official Kwanzaa Web Site: Kwanzaa -- A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture
• Activity Village: Sweetcorn Collage
• Kaboose: Kwanzaa: Unity Cup
• Kaboose: Kwanzaa: Egg Carton Kinara

Resources

• Kaboose: Holidays: Kwanzaa
• Activity Village: Kwanzaa Crafts for Kids