Diwali decoration ideas – Ideas and activities for celebrating Diwali in schools
Get your classroom and students ready for this year's Diwali celebrations this October, with the main celebrations on the 25th, with these decorating ideas and classroom activities…
- by Teachwire
When is Diwali 2022?
Diwali is celebrated on Monday 24th October 2022.
What is Diwali and who celebrates Diwali?
Diwali is a five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. It’s a festival about new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness.
Lights and lamps are lit in streets and houses and families visit one another for special meals. There are often fireworks too.
Rangoli patterns
Explore rangoli patterns with this free Diwali resource. Young learners will look at images of rangoli patterns before creating their own using the worksheets provided and completing the suggested activities using physical resources.
Diwali resources for KS1, LKS2 and UKS2
The simple PowerPoint in this free KS1 Diwali resource will teach pupils about Diwali, what happens during the festival of lights and why it is celebrated.
Alongside the Powerpoint you’ll also get image cards, vocabulary cards, writing sheets and activity ideas for creating rangoli patterns and diya lamps.
Focus on the story of Rama and Sita with this LKS2 Diwali resource. Pupils will explore the characters in the story before retelling the tale. Storyboard planning are included in the download.
Use this UKS2 Diwali resource to explore Diwali and use the comprehension questions to check pupils’ understanding.
Elephant decorations
These colourful little elephants modelled in Fimo are durable and long-lasting, and you can hang them in your classroom as Diwali decorations.
Create a song lesson plan
This simple and appealing song for lower KS2 with lyrics is set to the familiar melody of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with opportunities for learning accompaniments played on tuned and untuned percussion.
While this accessible carol would enhance a Christmas performance, it can easily be part of any ‘light’ festival celebration such as Diwali.
Download this lesson plan here.
Craft a hand dish
If you fancy a bit of clay crafting, these decorative ceramic hand dishes from mypoppet.com.au could be a great project.
You can find the step-by-step instructions here.
Paper cup garland
This simple activity is part of a list post of eight quick-and-easy Diwali decoration ideas.
You’ll also find a crepe paper toran, paper bag luminaries, and fairy lights with a twist, where you add photos between the bulbs.
Play dough mandalas
For something that requires very little planning, why not try a bit of mark making to create play dough mandalas?
This post from Colourful Minds will give you some inspiration.
DIY Diwali paper lanterns
This post on The Crafty Angels takes you through making these excellent paper lanterns, or Aakash kandil.
It even includes a template for you to use.
Punch-out paper lanterns
If you’ve got some punch-out crafting tools and fake plastic tealights then these lanterns look great whether it’s light or dark.
Diwali card ideas
If you’re looking for card-making activities and ideas, then you’ll find 15 different designs to use as inspiration at Artsy Craftsy Mom.
Diwali sweet treat recipes
If you fancy doing a bit of baking and want to expand children’s culinary horizons, this page features 10 easy recipes for things like pistachio kulfi, milk pedha and coconut laddoo.
