Today at Harlequin we have been celebrating Maha Shivratri with the children to expand their culture capital and open their eyes to different celebrations around the world. Maha Shivrati is an Indian celebration that enthusiastically celebrates Hinduism. During this celebration Hindus worship and honour their God with love and respect. Children also take part in this celebration but alongside praying, the children use this as a chance to learn, create and bond with their families and friends through different activities. Maha Shivratri is all about kindness and courage and we thought this would be an excellent lesson to teach to the children as well as connecting them with a different culture using creative activities.
In this activity, we drew a Rangoli pattern with chalk on a tuff tray to show the beautiful patterns within the culture, we spoke to the children about this celebration and encourage them to trace this shape with a paint brush and water. This not only helped with their cultural capital but also their fine motor skills as they traced the lines as best as they could.
Preschool enjoyed creating their own patterns by cutting folded paper creating symmetrical patterns once opened up.
