Kwanzaa Youth Activities

Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 to January 1 every year, primarily in the United States. It commemorates and honors African American culture. Similar to Hanukkah, red, black or green candles are lit each of the seven nights. They glow in a candle holder called a kinara. A principle of Kwanzaa is honored every night with games, craft-making, gift-giving and activities.

Kwanzaa is great for children. Activities revolve around the seven guiding principles (the "Ngoza Saba" in Swahili): umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose) and kuumba (creativity).

Kwanzaa Hand Print Wreath

Gather glue and scissors. Get together red, green and black construction paper. The Kwanzaa hand-print wreath can be made easily. Trace each child's hand onto paper; cut out the prints. If you only have a couple of children participating, trace each hand a few times. Make four hand prints of each color; there should be twelve hand prints in all.

Use scissors to cut out the hand prints. Glue the construction paper hand prints into the shape of a wreath. In the spirit of Kwanzaa, you could write a family member's name on each of the hand prints. As you write the names on the hand prints, talk about the person being memorialized. You could even glue a tiny photo of each person in the hand print's center. You could further decorate the hand-print wreath with stickers, pictures from magazines or hand-drawn artwork.

Kiddie Kinara

In this craft, children will make their own "kiddie" kinara. Gather 6 small cardboard tubes (perhaps from toilet paper rolls), 1 long cardboard tube (perhaps from a kitchen napkin roll), yellow tissue paper and PVA glue. You should also get red, black and green paint.

Have the children paint 3 of the small tubes red. The other 3 small ones should be painted green. Paint the long tube black. After the paint dries, glue the tubes to one another. There should be 3 green on one side, 3 red on the other side and the long black one in the middle.

Ball up a sheet of yellow tissue paper. Fluff it out. Do this seven times. Put one on the top of each tube. It should look like a flame.

Fun Drums

No Kwanzaa celebration would be complete without music. With Kwanzaa's emphasis on hand-made gifts, instrument making is always a great activity. Use a terracotta plant pot, acrylic paints (red, green and black), a sheet of paper and an elastic band to have children create their own token drum.

Each child should paint a terracotta pot in red, black and green. Leave the pots to dry overnight.

Once the pots are dry, tell the children to get creative with the design. Cut out a large circle from a piece of paper; place it over the painted terracotta pot. Hold the paper skin in place with a tightly pulled elastic band.

Celebrate the craft by playing the newly created drums. This will be especially fun since the child created the instrument and the music it now plays.

References

• Kwanzaa activities for Kids
• Kwanzaa fun
• Kwanzaa for Kids