5 Diwali Crafts to make with Kids | DIY Diwali Craft Ideas | Diwali Activities for Kids

Have you already started looking for Diwali activities to make with kids?  If the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, is approaching soon and you are searching for Diwali crafts for kids to keep them busy, to teach them about the festival, and to pass on your favorite Diwali stories while you make the Diwali crafts together with them, then this post is for you.

5+ DIY Diwali Cards | Handmade Diwali Card Ideas | Diwali Activities for Kids |

Diwali is a time of love, light, and happiness. Everyone who celebrates this festival feels the exuberance at the mention of the word "Diwali".  It's the time for families to gather, a time to meet and greet friends, and a time to rejoice. A great way to get kids involved in learning about Diwali is to make Diwali cards as you tell them stories from Ramayan and how Diwali is celebrated. In this post I'm sharing some Diwali card ideas to make with kids.

You can watch our video on Diwali greeting cards here:

Halloween Scavenger Hunt for Kids | Halloween Treasure Hunt

Since we were stuck at home because of the pandemic and couldn't go out for trick or treat this year, I created an indoor Halloween Scavenger Hunt for kids.

The rhyming clues were in the form of a story line, I also added an animal activity that they had to glue together DURING the hunt, and they collected chocolates and treats in their basket at each location and an indoor trick-or-treat! I love to organize several different activities rolled into one, and kids definitely had fun!

CVC Word Game for Kindergarten | Consonant Vowel Consonant | CVC Word List for Kids

My kids are 5 and half years old and started Kindergarten this school year.  While they have started learning the basics - alphabets, numbers, etc, by the end of kindergarten they are expected to read, know, and write CVC words.  I started working on that sooner at home.  CVC words are 3-letter words made of Consonant Vowel Consonant sounds.  In this post, I'm sharing a CVC Word Activity to play with kids, and a list of CVC words for practice.

6 Easy Father's Day Cards for Kids to Make | Fathers Day Card Ideas for Children

This year for father's day we made not just one, but six cards.  One, because it is father's day and I thought we could use the cards for a creative treasure hunt, and two, because kids are getting bored this summer vacation so I had to keep them busy, and making cards and crafts was one of the ways.

Here's a video of my kids and I making these cards together: 

Coupon Book for Kids | Fun Coupons for Kids at Home

I had a bunch of raffle tickets that kids had got from school but we didn't participate in it and they were lying around.  While looking for ideas on how to use them at home, I created a "quarantine coupon book" out of the cards and printed out different activities for kids to use the "coupons" for.  Shelter-in-place in Bay Area has been extended for another month, so we're trying to make it fun as we stay quarantined indoors.

The Name Game Workout Challenge | Easy Fitness Challenge for Kids | Customize Your Workout

My kids' PE teacher at school had been keeping in touch with the kids by emailing videos and activities for movement everyday.  One of the ideas he had sent was this Name Workout Challenge.  Some of the exercises in the list were a little complicated for my kids, so I made our own version of A to Z Name Game Workout Challenge.

I have had enough of my lethargy at home with just cooking eating sitting sleeping, repeat, and I need to keep finding ways to get my kids moving too.  So we're going to get active, starting with just 5 minutes in the morning and see if we can go longer by the end of this month.  Hey, I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to exercise, so if it's doable for me it will be a piece of cake for you.

        

Click on the images to get the FREE Printable PDFs.  Both the files have same exercises, I just created them in different styles so you can choose if you want to print in color, or in black & white, or if you want to print the B&W version on your choice of colored paper.

The instruction for The Name Game Workout Challenge is very simple: you have to do the simple exercises listed on each alphabet as per your full name, that's all.  So you are basically customizing your own workout.  For a level up, you can exercise by spelling out names of other members in your family and in no time you will start sweating and huffing and puffing.  Or wait, may be that's just me.  *lazy and guilty!*

Are you (and your kids!!) up for an easy fitness challenge?  And guess what, this is also an alphabet practice & spelling exercise at the same time for the kids.  Comment "YAY, WE DID IT!" on this post on the days your kids do this Name Game Workout Challenge.  Let's see how many times you can make this happen in a month.

xoxo,

Nisha

16 x 16 pillow insert set of 4

20 x 20 insert 

party sign

Note: Please follow your physician’s advice or personal trainer’s recommendation for your exercises.

Worksheets for Kids | PDF Printables for Preschool to Kindergarten

March 2020 was a turning point in most peoples' lives in recent times, especially mothers, when they were expected to turn into home-school teachers as well while juggling other responsibilities in and outside home.  While there are several blogs and educational websites for worksheets for kids starting Preschool onward that one can download and print, I wanted to make my own lesson plans and worksheets for my 5 year old kids while they stayed at home (they were in Transitional Kindergarten when the schools shut down).  I made these worksheets based on what my kids have learnt, what I wanted them to practice, some are things I planned to teach them to prepare them for Kindergarten, and some as a quiz to check what they are able to remember.  

-- I am trying --

Ever since January 2020 when I heard the news about the novel coronavirus spreading in China, there was a slight unrest but it didn't bother me that much until we started hearing of covid-19 spreading in California, WHO announcing it as a pandemic, President of United States of America declaring a national emergency, coronavirus spreading in Thailand and India too where most of my family resides, and shelter in place ordered in some counties of Bay Area where businesses have shut down and only essential places are open.  Things have escalated unbelievably in these two months of February and March that the whole world is shook.  I have been feeling very overwhelmed like everyone and the emotions are just piling up each day, so I penned my feelings in the form of poetry as usual.  I know each person is going through a lot so I thought I might share it here too... just to let you know you're not alone if you're feeling down in these difficult times.  💛

Activity Chart and Chore Ideas for Kids Getting Bored {free printable}

Ever since August 2019 when my kids started going to Transitional Kindergarten for only 4 hours of school, the rest of the day I had to find ways to get them busy.  As they grew up, I asked them to figure out what they want to do if they are getting bored, but that left them lost.  Then I realized, since visuals work better for them than words, it was time to make an activity and chore chart for them.  (Previously I made this Morning and Evening Routine Chart for Kids that's been on the wall in their room since December 2018!).

Activities and Chores to Keep Kids Busy and Happy!

10 Ideas to Avoid an After-School Meltdown in Toddlers | Strategies That Work for Us

Earlier, when I picked kids up from their school, I thought after a few hours being away from each other they would be as excited to see me as I was.  But each day I would deal with another toddler tantrum, and I would wonder where I was going wrong.  Why were they being so cranky instead of being happy to see me, the way I was looking forward?  It took me a while to understand that kids feel overwhelmed after all that they've kept bottled up inside, and then act out because I am where they could totally be themselves.  So I came up with some strategies to deal with it, and here I'm sharing some ideas that I keep in my back pocket to prevent an after school meltdown in the first place.

Valentine's Day Classroom Card Exchange | Valentine Card Sayings for Kids School

Phew.  Last night I finally finished all the non-candy valentine's day classroom cards for kids and I'm sharing them here real quick.  The pictures are self-explanatory so I'll save the words and save your time too.  Here's a glance at all the cards at once: