"For a season marked by hibernation and attempts at relaxing our pace, winter is still certainly abundant in holidays and celebrations. From winter solstice and the New Year, to Christmas and Hanukkah, to Lunar New Year and Las Posadas, families everywhere are immersed in joyous traditions and activities with their children, teaching them to treasure the occasion. Another special holiday every bit as integral to winter’s holiday glow is Kwanzaa.
As a holiday bursting with so much life, color, and symbolism, Kwanzaa is the perfect opportunity for engaging in crafts and activities for kids. Before diving into a blend of Kwanzaa crafts and activities for kids, though, you may find yourself wondering just what defines this holiday’s rich spirit.
What is Kwanzaa?
Kwanzaa is a relatively young holiday, established in 1966 by esteemed activist and professor Dr. Maulana Karenga. As an initiative to unite African Americans together as a community, Kwanzaa was developed into a week-long cultural celebration of songs and dances, candle-lighting ceremonies, African drumming, storytelling, a unique feast called Karamu, and more. Since harvest celebrations are especially important African traditions, it is also a highly-anticipated occasion to rejoice and give thanks for new life and fruitfulness.
At the heart of Kwanzaa’s uplifting festivities are seven principles that honor valuable aspects of African identity, including unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani). The ritual greeting, “Habari Gani?”, meaning “What is the news?” in Swahili, is used on each day of the holiday as a friendly invitation to respond with that day’s principle. Meanwhile, on each of Kwanzaa’s seven nights, a symbolic candle is lit in a special candle holder, the kinara, to highlight each principle as well. Alongside these seven principles, the holiday is also interwoven with seven symbols: the kinara, its seven candles (mishumaa saba), crops (mazao), a Kwanzaa place mat (mkeka), an ear of corn (muhindi), a unity cup (kikombe cha umoja), and gifts (zawadi).
Even if your family doesn’t celebrate it, carving out creative moments that teach your child about Kwanzaa’s significance can expand their appreciation to a new holiday that means so much to others. And, we’ve made it easy to do so! We’ve rounded up 13 Kwanzaa crafts and activities for kids so that they can discover a deeper connection to this holiday’s magic and cultural heritage.
Kwanzaa Crafts and Activities for Kids
1. Kwanzaa Felt Board Craft
Since honoring the harvest is an essential part of Kwanzaa’s significance, this activity of felt cutouts that includes the symbolic corn, kinara, gifts, and other fruits and vegetables is equal parts educational, interactive, and crafty, all rolled into one!
2. Super Simple Kwanzaa Collage
With black, green, and red paint alongside an assortment of Kwanzaa stickers, you can invite your child to express their creativity while getting to know the colors and traditions important to the holiday. You may notice that it’s black, red, and green that are typically used to capture the colors of Kwanzaa. That’s because black is intended to symbolize the African people, red to represent their history of struggle, and green to signify the Earth and a hopeful future.
3. Kwanzaa Kinara Craft
Here’s the chance to create the iconic Kwanzaa candle holder, the kinara. You can even go a step further by teaching your child the African words for the seven principles, and writing one on each candle at the end as a finishing touch!
4. Kwanzaa Necklace Craft
A fun DIY necklace where your kiddo(s) get to shake dried noodles around in plastic bags filled with paint, and then have the honors of stringing their Kwanzaa-colored ‘beads’ together once they’ve dried. Plus, it’s something they now have in their possession to wear all Kwanzaa long if they’d like!
5. DIY Kwanzaa Unity Cup
During Kwanzaa, all family members may choose to sip from a unity cup—the kikombe cha umoja—as a means of expressing the togetherness that’s central to the holiday. This craft invites your child to make their very own eye-catching kikombe cha umoja to share with your family.
6. Kwanzaa Madeleines
For this one, all you have to do is take a delicious recipe for soft, buttery, and cake-like madeleine cookies and follow her instructions for separating the batter in order to morph it so it’s red, green, and black. If you’ve got a little one who loves helping you in the kitchen, then they’ll love this baking activity. Not only are you left with a sweet treat, but a stunning display of Kwanzaa’s colors.
7. Kwanzaa Color By Number
Enlightening coloring sheets are always a great way to get kids into the spirit of a holiday. With these Kwanzaa coloring sheets, they’ll get to learn about and emphasize the colors and icons unique to the holiday—while also practicing the art of staying between the lines!
8. Beautiful Cardboard Tube Kinara Kwanzaa Craft
For another creative approach to a Kwanzaa kinara, this project uses toilet and paper towel rolls, paint, and festive sequins and glitter to design a glammed up display of the mishumaa saba, the holiday’s seven candles.
9. Kwanzaa Gift Pouch
Christmas and Hanukkah aren’t the only winter holidays for gift exchanges. On the seventh day of Kwanzaa, zawadi (gifts) are presented to encourage your ambitions and growth. Creating this little pouch is a cute way to house a small, but precious, something.
10. Kwanzaa Mkeka Mat Paper Weaving Art Project
Traditionally, the Kwanzaa mkeka—the holiday place mat—is carefully woven together from African straw or cloth and signifies the rich history and foundation of the African people. This hands-on weaving activity offers a small glimpse into this sentimental tradition.
11. Kwanzaa Name & Print Celebration Poster
Embrace a bit of sensory delight by having your child create a poster with their handprints and footprints in red, green, and black gradients, as well as cutouts of the letters in their name using a festive African patterned paper or cloth.
12. Kwanzaa Flag Garland
Proudly display the symbolic colors and joyful sentiments of Kwanzaa with this easy-to-make garland decoration. Each flag is also a great little space for writing down the holiday’s seven principles and how your child thinks they each connect to their own life.
13. Yarn Wrapped Kinara Craft
This engaging kinara creation adds an extra layer of artistic interactivity by allowing your little one to wrap yarn to their heart’s content in all kinds of patterns and arrangements, as they complete each of the candles and their base. Placing each glittery foam paper flame on top makes for an exciting final detail, too!
Katherine Ballesta-Rosen, Editorial Intern
Besides being an avid reader and writer since girlhood, Katherine decided to kick her literacy-laden background up a notch by receiving her Master’s in teaching, and went on to teach English Language Arts to high schoolers for several years. As an intern at The Everymom, Katherine writes about topics such as maternal wellness, sex and relationships, and more.