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Kwaazaa Candle Craft and Printable Activities

Kwanzaa Candle Craft and Printable Activities

Materials:

  • printer
  • paper, preferably card stock
  • coloring tools for B&W template
  • scissors
  • glue stick

Holiday Lights:
Light is meaningful in holiday celebrations in many cultures and this is often expressed with the use of candles and the use of objects that hold them such as a candle holder or candelabrum. Share some information about the Kwanzaa holiday. Read a related picture book, video, sing a song or read a poem.

Holiday information:
Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African American culture, and it lasts seven days from December 26th to January 1st. It celebrates families and traditional African values as outlined in the seven Kwanzaa principles. Each night, a candle is lit in the kinara (candle holder), and a Kwanzaa principle is discussed. The kinara symbolizes the stalks of corn that branch off to form new stalks, representing how the human family is created, and it honors ancestors. One ear of corn is placed on a place mat (mkeka) for each child present on the Feast of Karamu on December 31st.

Online resource: Kwanzaa - African-American culture at Wikipedia.org

Instructions and learning activities:

Example of Kwanzaa candle assembled

Significant symbols in the craft: The three colors of Kwanzaa are green, black and red. The ears of corn represent fertility and that children are the hope of the future. Each person is responsible for the children in the community.
  • Print template in color or B&W to card stock and select a size.
  • Color if applicable in appropiate holiday colors.
  • Identify colors, identify recognizable shapes and count them.
  • Cut out the template pieces
  • Allow students to first play with the pieces as if they were a puzzle, no gluing.
  • Glue large oval to back of candle
  • Glue flame centered on the candle.
  • Glue the two ears of corn as shown.
  • Optional > Write a holiday message on the oval above the flame.

Uses for craft > Ornament, gift tag, greeting card (paste to folded paper and write greeting message inside), add to a wreath or other similar decoration.

Templates: Kwanzaa Candle Craft

Kwanzaa Candle Craft

Small version     COLOR     B&W

Large version     COLOR     B&W

Complimentary activities:

Nursery Rhyme Adaptation:

Twinkle, twinkle Kwanzaa lights,
Fruits of harvest shared these nights.
Twinkle, twinkle Kwanzaa lights,
lights that teach on happy nights.

Letter C is for Candle and Corn:
Present letter C worksheet and mini-book. Print the four or eight word search game with writing tracers or blank lines to practice letter C, featuring a candle.

Letter K is for Kwanzaa and Kinara:
Present letter K worksheet and mini-book. Print the four word search game with writing tracers or blank lines to practice letter K. A kinara is a seven-branched candleholder used in Kwanzaa celebrations.

Holidays > Kwanzaa