Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a spring festival in India and Nepal. It celebrates goodness, the arrival of the spring season, the victory of good over evil, new beginnings and love. It is a Hindu festival and follows a Lunar calendar.
The Holi celebration takes place over two days: Chholi Holi, which means small Holi, and the day of Holi. On Chhoti Holi, communities gather around a bonfire and offer popcorn and peanuts into the fire, which symbolizes the burning away of negativity and ego. On the day of Holi, people gather to enjoy color play. People of all backgrounds and ages smear color powder on each other. Streets are filled with colors, water soakers, music and food.
When is Holi?
The festival usually falls in March each year. This year, Chhoti Holi is on March 24, 2023, and Holi is on March 25, 2024.
What does Holi mean to those celebrating?
Because many Indian Americans and Nepalese Americans celebrate Holi each year, this is a wonderful way for them to celebrate their culture with their communities. It is also a great way to share cultural holidays with kids.
Nisha from Love Laugh Mirch loves sharing Holi with her community and says, “Holi is a reminder of springtime, that warmer months are near. One of my favorite things about Holi is how fluid and inclusive the celebrations are.”
Here are some fun, kid-friendly DIY Holi activities:
1. Make your own color powder
Making your own nontoxic color powder at home with kids is a fun and messy activity. Here’s how to make Holi color powder. All you need are some basic ingredients.
Materials:
- 1 cup cornstarch.
- 1/3 cup room-temperature water.
- Liquid food color.
- A baking tray.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Mix 1 cup of cornstarch in 1/3 cup of room-temperature water to make a slurry.
- Now add your favorite liquid food color to add the pigment. You can go as light or as dark as you want with the pigments.
- Get creative, mix colors and turn it into a science experiment.
- Transfer the slurry to a baking tray and let this dry for two days. It should turn into a brick.
- Break it up, and you have your homemade nontoxic color powder.
Short on time? You can also buy washable, nontoxic color powder.
2. Holi-inspired bonfire craft
This is a simple Holi-inspired craft to make a handprint bonfire with items you can find in your craft drawer. Here’s what you need and how to make it.
Materials:
- Red and orange construction paper. If you don’t have colored paper, you may also use washable red and orange paint on your hand to make these fire colors.
- Popsicle sticks (2).
- Brown paint or markers.
- Glitter or glitter glue.
- Glue.
- Scissors.
- Pencil.
- Little hands.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Have child(ren) trace their hand on the red and orange construction paper.
- Cut out the traced hands.
- Color or paint your popsicle sticks brown.
- Glue the popsicle sticks together in an X shape.
- Glue the hands together, overlapping.
- Glue the hands to the popsicle sticks.
- Add glitter or glitter glue to make it look like a sparkling fire.
3. Holi books for kids that teach about the Festival of Colors
A great way to share cultures and holidays with children is to include books about them during daily reading time. Here are some fabulous Holi books for kids that share the traditions and the significance of the festival. The vibrant illustrations and colorful pictures will surely keep the littles engaged.
- “Festival of Colors” by Surishta Sehgal and Kabir Sehgal shares a story of siblings Mintoo and Chintoo preparing for Holi. It explains the origins of the colors and how their family celebrates Holi.
- “Holi Colors” by Rina Singh is a great board book for babies up to age 2. The book has captivating pictures and playful rhymes to keep the tiny ones’ attention.
- “Amma, Tell Me About Holi!” by Bhakti Mathur is part of her Amma, Tell Me series. In this book, siblings Klaka and Kiki gather with their friends and family to celebrate this spring festival, which symbolizes new beginnings, friendships, forgiveness, and, of course, a license to be naughty and play pranks!
4. Throw a color play party
The best part about Holi is the color play. It is time to get messy, cover yourself in every color you can imagine and even add some water play. Make (see above) or buy (see below) nontoxic washable color powder, grab some water soakers and get messy in your backyard. If you’re buying color powder, it is ideal to have about three packets per person. Wear white or light-colored clothing so all the colors pop to fully enjoy the color play, and make sure to take plenty of pictures.
Buried in cold weather? No problem! We encourage you to celebrate all of March and April.
Where to buy:
Kulture Khazana Holiday Non-Toxic Color Powder 20pk ($34, Target)
Kulture Khazana 20-Pack Holi Non-Toxic Color Powder ($34, Nordstrom)
5. Make a yummy Holi-inspired recipe
What is a celebration without some yummy food? We have the perfect recipe for you to get in the mood for Holi. This simple, five-ingredient cardamom rose kulfi recipe from Nisha at Love Laugh Mirch is a creamy Indian-style ice cream infused with cardamom and rose flavors.
6. Holi-inspired playlist and dance party
Turn up the volume for this one. Play some Bollywood tunes and enjoy a Holi dance party. A great way to get your movement in and have fun!
7. Musical audio story about Holi
As you drive around town from school to activities, catch this musical audio story about Holi. Learn about the origins of Holi, its significance and the celebrations and listen to some drum beats of Holi.
Listen to the Holi Story on Spotify via Kulture Khazana’s Treasure Tales.
8. Holi decoration idea
Mitesh from @DesiMeetsDesign on Instagram has a perfect DIY Holi decoration tutorial. This can easily turn into a craft activity with the family. It includes some messy paint on a wooden tray, letter painting and turning wooden dowels into pichkari’s (aka, water soakers).
