Diwali decorations- Diwali DIY for kids- How to make a paper flower garland

Festivals and celebration seem dull and meaningless to me if every item needed for celebration and festivities is store bought, especially the food and decoration. Its time to be creative and  family projects. Doing it together makes it all so merry. This is how memories are created. One of the best memories of festivals while  growing up are the fun we had threading these fragrant flowers and leaves to make garland. 

Sharing with you is a Diwali DIY decoration/craft for/with/by kids:) My 2 year old and I made paper marigold and mango leaves garlands. Marigold and mango leaves garlands are used to decorate for almost every traditional Hindu festivals and marriages.

For this Diwali DIY  project you will need : Cardstock, string, colors, glue, scissor.

Start by cutting the shapes. I did free hand drawing of leaves and flowers . Cut the flowers double the number of leaves. Give them to your child one by one to paint. My son painted all the leaves and then all the flowers with watercolors. Let it dry completely.

After they are dried I cut the sides of the flower to make it smaller. The remaining border I coiled together. Ask your child to coil some as well. Mine coiled a few, not perfect but it's all learning.  Then Avaneesh applied glue in the center and pressed the smaller flower on it and the coil over it. You can see his cute little hands at work in the mosaic. The last pic in the mosaic shows how the three parts of flowers will look like:)

Arrange them alternatively and with your child glue the back to a string. I taped them to the string as well since glue was not enough to keep them in place.

Avaneesh is very happy that his work was a part of the decoration for ganpati bappa. Involving children not only gets them interested in festivals, ceremonies and culture but also helps to grow their self respect and self esteem. They feel proud that their work is getting the respect and honor of being a part of something important. 

Stay tuned!! More DIY diwali projects with/for kids coming up as soon as we complete them..I have a long list of Diwali projects to do with my little one!!!

Joining party at Sharing Saturday!