Thankful Thursday #Week 3

There is a new linkup started by my fellow blogger Shirley. This blog hop is to share a list of a few things on every Thursday that we are thankful for in that week. I usually participate in #ThursdayTreeLove hosted by Parul on alternate Thursdays and so I decided to join #ThankfulThursdays too in every alternate week.

This week has been routine but here are a few things that I am thankful for:

1. I have completed reading 2 books.
No Ordinary Girl by Cheryl Elaine and
It happens by Karan Sharma
2 books in a single week is an accomplishment for me actually. It means that I got more free time this week. Reviews of those books are coming soon.

2. We are planning for a get together with friends the coming weekend and I am grateful for it and looking forward to a good time.

3. I did some shopping at the starting of the week and bought some good collections :-)

4. Celebrated a festival called 'Sankranthi' at our home in a satisfying way.

5. Visited one of my favorite stores and bought some cool candles. I always love purchasing nice scented candles :-)

The only disappointment is that I couldn't draw/ paint this week. But, no worries, I have a few more days to end this week and I might get time :-)

Have a Happy weekend all of you. Please join #ThankfulThursday blog hop if you can and add your post every Thursday.

Be grateful for every little thing in life and don't forget to smile.

Until Next time,

Festival celebrations with kids

Festive time just ended.. How did you celebrate? 
October is the month of festivals. Isn't it? :)
This year, it started with Dasara, Bakrid and ended with Diwali. 

How can we involve our kids in festivities? I have a few tips..

1. Story connect:
Which kid doesn't like stories? My 3 year old is always eager to listen to new stories. Explaining stories behind each festival make children understand the spirit of festival. We can make kids colour pictures / charts explaining below stories. Older kids can draw pictures on their own.

Every Indian festival is associated with a mythological story. Dasara emphasizes on victory of good over evil. As per Hindu mythology, Rama killed Ravana on VijayaDasami. There is also another story of Goddess Durga who is formed by the pure energy formed by the trinity (Lord Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma), who killed the dangerous demon Mahishasura. 

pic credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/peddhapati/

Bakrid emphasizes on sacrifice. When God ordered Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismail, he dutifully obliged to slaughter his beloved son. Then, a goat appeared instead of his son ready for sacrifice. Thus Muslims celebrate Bakrid to mark the spirit of sacrifice.

Diwali is celebrated as the day Ram returned to Ayodhya with Sita. People celebrate it as festival of lights which symbolizes removal of darkness/ ignorance by knowledge or light. This is also the day when Satyabhama, Krishna's beloved wife defeated demon 'Narakasura'. Usually, everyone will offer pooja to Goddess Lakshmi in the evening of Diwali.

2. Activities for Kids :
Involving kids in different festive activities starting from shopping, selecting diyas, discussing and preparing festival specific dishes, preparing rangolis, decorating home etc., are a very good way to make a fun environment for them.  

Many kids enjoy preparing rangolis made of flowers, pulses, colours, diyas etc., Parental guidance is required while arranging/ lighting diyas. It would be easy to teach colours, patterns and shapes to kids by involving them in preparing rangolis. 

3. DIY crafts:
I prefer simple DIY crafts to teach to my 3 year old. Like this pinterest board from my co-blogger Shruthi on simple and creative crafts. My young kid will be able to do simple greeting cards with rockets, colourful diyas, candles etc., He loves preparing them with my co-operation and showing them proudly to his friends :)
Below wonderful DIY cards are from Shruthi's blog.

4. Festival Specials:
Each festival will have its own way of celebrating it. 
For ex: who can forget crackers on Diwali? Even though we prefer spending less on crackers which will pollute our environment, this custom cannot be completely avoided. We enjoyed bursting crackers from childhood and want our children to experience the same right? This activity is best for parents to spend time with children together, teach them how to burst crackers safely. But, we should also teach them not to spend more money on crackers and pollute environment around us.

pic credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/soham_pablo/

Another important tradition for Diwali is to clean houses, decorate with diyas and invite goddess Lakshmi with puja in the evening. 

There is a tradition to burst Ravana's statue on Dasara in North India to signify that Good wins over evil always. So, these kind of traditions are to be taught to children with their importance.

What do you think are the other ways to involve kids during festival season? Let me know your thoughts in comments :)

I hope you liked this Diwali Dhamaka blog hop. I loved each and every post in the blog hop listed below, do try to read them and share :)

Until next time,

Come join a set of fabulous bloggers sharing their Diwali moments , easy Crafts, DIY ideas, Recipes and book recommendations with you .

Starting from today till Diwali and beyond, each one of us will be writing a post related to Diwali.

Participating blogs

Artsy Craftsy mom . Reading Rabbits Library . Food and fads . Cherish Dream Live . My little Moppet . On-board the Mommyship . Roohi's Collection . Colours Dekor . Bumps n Baby  . Hello Mommyhood . A spoonfull of ideas . CraftIsland .  The Keybunch . ParentingMantras . Whats Cooking Mom . Orange kitchens . Quilts & Quills . Fun Activities for Children . Something’s cooking . Obsessivemom . The Design Enthusiast . Fantastic Feathers . Little aadi ali

So sit back, relax and check out all the fabulous Diwali Dhamaka posts from the participating blogs in the linky.

An InLinkz Link-up

Link in your Diwali posts here

An InLinkz Link-up