Age: 4+
Duration: 10 minutes
Learning Outcomes:
We want to start a conversation about Indian culture, Hindu traditions and Rangoli art to help us broaden our understanding of the people we share the world with.
Here’s what you need:
Sidewalk Chalk
If you’re looking for a fun, and very simple, summertime activity, this is just for you! All you need is our Rangoli Mega Stencils (R5621) and some sidewalk chalk.
Authentic Rangoli art is spiritually motivated and originates from India. It’s used for decoration and good luck, and it usually coincides with Hindu rituals. Traditionally, women would be the ones to create the Rangoli art. The bright, beautiful patterns are made from a variety of materials, including dried rice, flower petals and sand.
One of the many uses for Rangoli art is to place the pattern on the ground near the entryway of your home. This is believed to bring good luck and prosperity to all who reside within. Lucky AND beautiful… sounds good to me. Let’s do this!
To create our beautiful patterns, we’re going to be using sidewalk chalk. This is a good medium for decorating your entryway because it’s super simple to clean up, and it will work on pavement, wood and brick. If there isn’t enough space to decorate the floor in front of your door, you could always just decorate the door!
And on that note, a quick message to the kids:
Before you start, make sure the adults in your life know what you’re up to. We already know these stencils are going to look awesome! We just want to make sure they agree with us.
Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Choose your pattern
The first thing to do is decide which stencil you want to decorate with. The product guide will help you understand how to arrange your shapes.
Step 2: Fill in the shapes
Using your sidewalk chalk, fill in the patterns of your stencil. You can use as many or as few colors as you like. Whatever you think looks best.
Step 3: Admire your work
Come on, admit it… you’re awesome!
Consider This:
Do you know anyone who practices Hindu Spirituality?
How are Hindu beliefs different from yours? How are they the same?
What kind of art do the people from your culture create?
If you could share something fun from your culture with the rest of the world, what would it be?
