Looking for Republic Day crafts for kids?
Well you should because the Indian Republic day is just around the corner!
This year I have taken a resolution to teach my little one about all the festivals of India. And what better way to start than our national festival?
Unfortunately, most of us these days, only consider as a public holiday. It's very important that we teach our kids the importance of these national festivals. My little one, all of 3.5 years, is too small to know what a constitution is and the significance of it for the country. (Well I did try, and she was just intrigued by the word 'CONSTITUTION' and did learn to pronounce it.) But then I realised that I can leave the teaching of the concept for later. That doesn't mean I can't teach her about it. I decided to break it into something that she can understand. So at this stage, all that was required was familiarisation.
Now, to familiarize her with the nation and to invoke some sense of patriotism in her, I needed to try out something.
I was thinking of what to do.
It had to be something that works best with kids. So what did I decide to do?
For those of you who know me, you know the answer. If you don't, I will tell you - DIY!
Why I chose to do some DIY projects for Republic Day
As I was telling, you. I kept thinking about what to do for Republic Day. And after much thought.... Yes.... I cracked it!
Visuals and audio. I don't think there is anything better that using these techniques, to teach them something, at this age.
For my little one, anything visual, audio or a DIY works best. I have shown her some visuals of patriotic songs and of course she hums the Jana gana mana, having heard it at school, at the movies.
We had done a national flag earlier on, this time I wanted to introduce her to the tri colours.
So this was time for some DIY.
A crafting activity always brings a smile to her face. The idea of creating something - kids absolutely love it! And when they make something, they remember it for a longer time.
This time, I clubbed 4 simple craft activities that are perfect as Republic Day crafts for kids.
Crafts that go beyond republic day
I have chosen these crafts very carefully. The idea was to create something that would go beyond 26th of January.
Crafts that will be there in some part of your house always reminding your little one about the tricolours and why she made it. She would also be reminded of the occasion she made it on.
These are relatively quick, easy, and can be done by the child themselves. It involves minimal sticking and cutting. The highlight has to be the fact that it is very, very colourful. And which kid doesn't love colours?
So let us get to activities. There are 4 of them and I mentioned before, all of them are really easy. You can supervise the child and assist him with the cutting.
Activity 1: Popsicle stick pen stand
This is a very quick activity; it takes less than 10 minutes to make it! It is also an excellent Republic day craft for pre-schoolers.
Materials:- Popsicle sticks
- A medicine box (Or any small cardboard box): about 5 inches in height
- A glue stick (Fevicol)
Take a small box, like the one below.
Cut the top covering of the cardboard box to make an opening like shown.
Now, you can either use coloured popsicle sticks or you can paint them in the colours of the flag. I have used orange and green sticks. You can use any of the tricolour combination. I had these coloured popsicle sticks handy so I used these.
Stick the green and the orange stick alternately to make this cute little pen stand. The best part is you can simply instruct your little one and ask them to do this on their own (you need to cut the box for them though).
They are absolutely going to love this creation and soon you will see all the cluttered pens and pencils in this.
I loved this so much that there is a similar one at my workstation!
Activity 2: Crepe paper flowers
Materials:- Crepe paper sheets (Saffron, white and green) - 1 each
- Plastic spoon - 1
- Scissors
- Glue stick
Cut out 4-inch-wide strips of the crepe sheet.
Use scissors to cut along the breadth- about 3 inches deep and at an interval of 1 cm as shown in the picture.
Now, use the plastic spoon end to roll this crepe sheet and thus forming a flower. You can also use a straw instead of the spoon.
Glue it at the end.
U can make a flower from each of the colours and tie the three spoons with a rubber band to make this tricolour bouquet.
Activity 3: DIY Flag
This simple and easy DIY Indian national flag is another great way to teach your child about the tricolour. You have seen how to make Indian flag with paper earlier. If you haven' you can check it out here. This is a miniature version of that flag.
Materials:Paper strips (Saffron, green and white) -1 each
Popsicle stick- 1
Blue colour paper
Glue stick
Procedure:Take the tricoloured strips and stick it on the popsicle stick like a flag. (You can also take white colour strips and make the child colour one of the strips in orange and the other green colour.
Use the blue paper to make the Ashok Chakra and stick it on the flag.
That is all!
Activity 4: Flag badge
This is also really simple to make and doesn't require much efforts.
Materials:Paper strips (Saffron, green and white) -1 each
Safety pin- 1
Blue colour paper
Glue stick
Scissors
Procedure:The flag badge is also done in a similar to the flag mentioned above.
Stick the stripes in the correct order as the Indian national flag.
Cut the paper into a circle.
Use a safety pin to pin it to your child's dress.
Kids will surely love this!
What did we take away from this activity?
My little one is now able to identify the tricolors! She has learnt to make a flag and is happily and proudly flaunting it.
She knows how to make good use of popsicle sticks and crepe papers, which was otherwise just a play thing for her.
And more than anything else, it's given us some quality time where we had a lot of fun and she was enlightened about the importance of republic day.
Besides these simple crafts, you can also do a few activities with your little one. Here are a few Republic day activities for kids:
#1. Identification of the tri colour - Use our national flag to familiarize them with the colours and what they stand for.
#2. Teach them about our national symbols - Tell them about our national bird, animal, flower, national sport etc.
#3. Show them the map of India - I tried this with my little one and she immediately responded 'India is diamond shaped'. Children relate to shapes easily.
#4. A flag collage: Cut of bits of saffron, green, blue and white papers. Now draw a flag. Show them the image of our flag and ask them to stick these bits onto the flag you have drawn. Involving them in this activity is fun and gives them a complete idea as to how our flag looks like.
So that's it from my side on Indian republic day craft ideas.
This republic day, do try out these simple activities and crafts. Let me know how you and your little one liked it.
Also do you have any Republic Day crafts for kids, if yes, then do share your ideas. We love to hear from you!
