India
Rangoli
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Rangoli is one of the most popular art forms in India. Here’s a colorful way to explore rangoli designs with kids as you learn about India. Rangoli designs are often used to decorate the entry to homes during Indian festivals including Diwali.
Traditional Dress
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Lotus Lantern
What You Need:
Tissue paper in lotus flower colors: yellow, orange, purple, pink, and green for leaves
Internet Liquid glue Scissors Double-sided sticky tape
Paper or plastic small size (3 ounce) cup
LED tea light with battery-operated “flame”
What You Do:
1. Lotus flowers appear frequently in Buddhist art, often representing purity.
2. To start, take your cup. Use scissors to poke a hole and then cut out a circle in the bottom of the cup. (The LED light will poke up through this hole later).
3. Use the Internet to research what lotus flower petals look like. Your child can choose a color of lotus flower (like yellow, orange, purple, or pink) and cut out several (around 12) petals from the tissue paper.
4. Next, your child should cut out five or six green tissue papers in the same shape for leaves.
5. With the bottom of the cup facing up, have your child glue around the edge of the cup and start gluing petals around that edge. Glue another round of petals below that first round. Have her continue gluing petals until the outside of the cup is decorated.
6. Next, have her intersperse some green petal tissues around the cup for leaves, and glue those around the cup.
7. Have your child use double-sided sticky tape to attach the top of the tea light (not the flame part) to the inside of the cup bottom, with the flame light sticking out the hole in the cup bottom.
8. Turn on the LED light when ready to light up your lantern!