Republic Day marks the day when India’s constitution came into force in 1950. It is a great time to do some India themed activities with kids to help them know & explore more about India. So let us see some hands-on Montessori inspired activities & crafts that you can do with your toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners & elder children!
While it is a national holiday, let us make sure we show our kids the flag hoisting ceremony somewhere & tell them about the Republic day parade that happens in front of India Gate in Delhi. And these can be used as conversation starters for more activities that give them a hands-on experience about the entire celebration.
Last Independence day, I had setup some Montessori inspired India themed activities for my then 18 months old son.
My son is 23 months old now & I have designed few more India themed hands-on activities for him. All of them are not Montessori inspired but they are all hands-on, educational & engaging.
Let’s get started!
India Themed Books
First things first! My son just LOVES books. He can go on & on reading books for long. So I searched & grabbed some wonderful books on India.
Matching States Of India
Though at this age, he would not understand what exactly a state is but this becomes a great visual discrimination activity for toddlers in general. My son loves matching activities & this one is more challenging than others he had done in the past. This printable is from mummadiaries.com & the foam pieces of states are from the India foam puzzle board.
I have laminated the printable at home to make it more durable. The activity is to match the states with their foam counterparts. You can learn “How to laminate at home without a laminator” HERE.
Matching State Animals
Toddlers in general have an affinity towards animals, at least my son has. We can take this opportunity to introduce state animals to them. I have used the same printable used above. The activity is to match the animals seen in the printable with the animal figurines. Another awesome use of figurines!
Related Read - What Can Vehicle Miniatures/Figurines Teach A Child?
Learning Regional Dances
I have used this India foam puzzle in a different way in this activity. I bought this sheet of Indian dances from a local stationary shop, the ones that are used in kids project work, 5 Rs each! Cut some of the main regional dances & laminated at home to form cards. The activity is to put these cards on to the right Indian state. It is a great way to expose kids to the rich cultural diversity in India.
Architectures Of India
I saw this sheet depicting various architectures of India in the stationary shop & this idea came into my mind. I bought two copies of this sheet. I laminated one sheet as it is & cut individual pieces from another & laminated them to form cards. The activity is to match them, again a great way to expose kids to the grand architectures we have in India.
Rhythm Sense With National Anthem
Music is great for kids & adults alike. Why not introduce rhythm along with our National anthem this Republic day? You can sing Jan Gan Man & play any percussion instrument like drums, dholak, maracas along with your child. Remember your school days; the PT drum was also used for Jan Gan Man? We can replicate that at home too, right! It is great fun for kids to play music instruments. Even if you do not have any instrument, your kitchen’s utensil & spoon would serve the same purpose!
Related Read - 10 Benefits Of Music Instruments In Early Childhood
Pretend/Free Play & Gross Motor
I made this setup of the Republic day parade using my son’s building blocks & some army themed figurines I had from a pretend play set. It has army tanks, soldiers etc. I have also put the regional dance cards here depicting the jhaankis that every state’s people put up in the parade. I will let this be a free play session & let him explore this setup. He has been asking so many questions these days, what is this, who is this, where did this come from, etc. So I am sure I am going to get a lot of questions out of this setup as well. And questions are great as conversation starters to build upon their existing vocabulary & knowledge base. I am also going to do this gross motor activity with him – doing the march-past – left right left. He now knows what is left & what is right. So this should be fun!
Indian Tricolor
Boys and vehicles are inseparable I believe. They can never get enough of vehicles. For that matter, I have also seen many girls obsessed with cars J My son can easily throw a tantrum in a toy shop seeing ANY kind of a vehicle. So this time, I thought of making our Indian tricolor using his vehicles. These days, he is into this sensitive period of lining everything he sees - vehicles, pillows, vegetables, anything. So we made this tricolor using his vehicles.
Flag Making & Coloring
We also made India flag using ruler (his current fascination) & Stokmar block crayons (a typical Waldorf art supply). Take a look below.
Air Show Painting
We also simulated the air show that happens usually in the Republic Day parade. I used the mixture of flour, water & food color & created the tricolors - safron, white & green. Then he poured the paints on the paper & used the jet planes miniatures to form patterns with these colors. We talked about how fighter planes fly in the sky & make patterns with these colors.
Hope you liked these ideas!
Wish you all a very happy Republic Day. Jai Hind!
Let’s get started!
India Themed Books
First things first! My son just LOVES books. He can go on & on reading books for long. So I searched & grabbed some wonderful books on India.
Matching States Of India
Though at this age, he would not understand what exactly a state is but this becomes a great visual discrimination activity for toddlers in general. My son loves matching activities & this one is more challenging than others he had done in the past. This printable is from mummadiaries.com & the foam pieces of states are from the India foam puzzle board.
I have laminated the printable at home to make it more durable. The activity is to match the states with their foam counterparts. You can learn “How to laminate at home without a laminator” HERE.
Matching State Animals
Toddlers in general have an affinity towards animals, at least my son has. We can take this opportunity to introduce state animals to them. I have used the same printable used above. The activity is to match the animals seen in the printable with the animal figurines. Another awesome use of figurines!
Related Read - What Can Vehicle Miniatures/Figurines Teach A Child?
Learning Regional Dances
I have used this India foam puzzle in a different way in this activity. I bought this sheet of Indian dances from a local stationary shop, the ones that are used in kids project work, 5 Rs each! Cut some of the main regional dances & laminated at home to form cards. The activity is to put these cards on to the right Indian state. It is a great way to expose kids to the rich cultural diversity in India.
Architectures Of India
I saw this sheet depicting various architectures of India in the stationary shop & this idea came into my mind. I bought two copies of this sheet. I laminated one sheet as it is & cut individual pieces from another & laminated them to form cards. The activity is to match them, again a great way to expose kids to the grand architectures we have in India.
Rhythm Sense With National Anthem
Music is great for kids & adults alike. Why not introduce rhythm along with our National anthem this Republic day? You can sing Jan Gan Man & play any percussion instrument like drums, dholak, maracas along with your child. Remember your school days; the PT drum was also used for Jan Gan Man? We can replicate that at home too, right! It is great fun for kids to play music instruments. Even if you do not have any instrument, your kitchen’s utensil & spoon would serve the same purpose!
Related Read - 10 Benefits Of Music Instruments In Early Childhood
Pretend/Free Play & Gross Motor
I made this setup of the Republic day parade using my son’s building blocks & some army themed figurines I had from a pretend play set. It has army tanks, soldiers etc. I have also put the regional dance cards here depicting the jhaankis that every state’s people put up in the parade. I will let this be a free play session & let him explore this setup. He has been asking so many questions these days, what is this, who is this, where did this come from, etc. So I am sure I am going to get a lot of questions out of this setup as well. And questions are great as conversation starters to build upon their existing vocabulary & knowledge base. I am also going to do this gross motor activity with him – doing the march-past – left right left. He now knows what is left & what is right. So this should be fun!
Indian Tricolor
Boys and vehicles are inseparable I believe. They can never get enough of vehicles. For that matter, I have also seen many girls obsessed with cars J My son can easily throw a tantrum in a toy shop seeing ANY kind of a vehicle. So this time, I thought of making our Indian tricolor using his vehicles. These days, he is into this sensitive period of lining everything he sees - vehicles, pillows, vegetables, anything. So we made this tricolor using his vehicles.
Flag Making & Coloring
We also made India flag using ruler (his current fascination) & Stokmar block crayons (a typical Waldorf art supply). Take a look below.
Air Show Painting
We also simulated the air show that happens usually in the Republic Day parade. I used the mixture of flour, water & food color & created the tricolors - safron, white & green. Then he poured the paints on the paper & used the jet planes miniatures to form patterns with these colors. We talked about how fighter planes fly in the sky & make patterns with these colors.
Hope you liked these ideas!
Wish you all a very happy Republic Day. Jai Hind!
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