Looking for a fun craft activity to do at home? Grab some supplies and get started on some fun and colourful Deepavali crafts. We bet you'll enjoy these just as much as the kids!
Diwali (or Deepavali) is here! Celebrate at home with this whole host of crafts to celebrate the festival and make your home look absolutely beaut. Win-win!
Fun & Easy Deepavali Craft Ideas
1. Stained Glass Jars and Vases
Just scooped out that last slather of jam for your sandwich? Well, don’t throw the jar away! Cause this upcycle craft will be a winner activity with the fam! But preps first- clean the jar off all its sticker labels before this activity. You will need a printed rangoli pattern on paper, glass paints and glass liner. Align the rangoli printed pattern along the inner surface of the jar and outline the pattern from the outside with the glass liner. Once dry, let the kiddos fill in with glass paints. Voila!…you have a perfectly colourful Diwali-themed rangoli jar.
2. Door decorations
Decking out the entrance doorway of your home for Diwali is key to setting a festive tone for your guests. This easy-peasy paper leaf garland craft is super fun to make and very quick to put together with the kiddos. Best part? It could be a fun fam-bonding activity over a leaf-cutting sesh…super fun! Once you have a good number of leaves ready, string them together into a chain, and your paper leaf garland is ready. Time to deck your entranceway with some Diwali spirit and cheer folks!
3. Fireworks salt painting
What is a festival without those fireworks? Diwali being the festival of lights is no exception to this phrase. And we know the sight of fireworks is always a winner with the fam- hands down! This fun fireworks salt painting craft activity by The Joy of Sharing is perfect to get into the festive spirit of Diwali, and who wouldn’t love to have a blast on a page? The magic element to your fireworks composition is salt. The fun part? The magic of painting over salt with watercolours and we suggest saving this stage for the littlies!
4. Colourful paper lanterns
How about lighting up the house with a pop of colour? These paper lanterns from Red Ted Art are easy-peasy to make and are quite striking once it’s dark and you pop a tealight inside. The kids will love making the window designs and choosing the tissue paper colours. A tip from us? You can add as many windows as you like, to get the best effect and the more colourful the tissue screens for the windows, the better!
5. Sparkly tea light holders
Traditional Indian glass bangles are a fave among little kids for their bright colours, shiny embellishments and that tinkly sound (when worn as a bunch), so we think this home decor craft using these tinklers will be a big hit. And it is as simple as it looks – just grab some glue and a stack of bangles next time you’re at the market and you’re good to go!
6. Rangoli
Create a playdough rangoli, like the clever mum from Putti’s World or if playdough’s not your thing, try a more traditional rangoli using everyday materials like rice (colour for extra fun), sand, flower petals or even lentils. If you have bits of chalk left in your stationary stash, put it to good use with this giant chalk rangoli by Activity Village. We are also digging the 3D paper quilling rangoli these days by Red Ted Art. The technique definitely brings the design to life, and the kids will love making it!
7. Rangoli Suncatcher
Most Diwali decorations look beautiful by night. But how about one that looks stunning by day? The rangoli sun-catcher by Red Ted Art is a great craft activity the kiddos will love to put together to catch the rays of the sun for some colourful magic in the room. Best part? They can get creative with different cut-out shapes and colours.
8. Paper diyas
Diwali is the festival of lights, and what is the festival without the traditional earthen oil lamps or diyas? But if you don’t have earthen diyas to deck out your home with, don’t fret! The kiddies will love making these paper diyas: they’re easy to put together, colourful, and will definitely make your guests feel welcome when they step into your home and see them. Follow the tutorial by The Crafty Angels. You can also string them as part of a garland too!
9. Diwali footprints
Decorating our homes for Diwali is not only to welcome guests but to especially invite Goddess Lakshmi for her blessings. To represent her entering the home, footprints are a common motif associated with the festival and are used to decorate the entrance doorway. Try this footprint craft activity – it’s super easy-peasy and fun too! Here are the steps to making your own Goddess Lakshmi footprints to decorate the house.
Materials: Marker, pair of scissors, watercolours, paintbrushes, plain chart paper, glitter glue
Method:
1. Help your kid trace the footprints on the chart paper and cut out the outline.
2. Use watercolours and glitter glue to decorate the footprints.
3. Place the footprints along the doorways in an entering format, as they symbolise prosperity entering the house.
10. Decorative tealights
Here’s a craft idea for those excessive Ikea tealights that you might be hoarding from your shopping spree. Just grab some washi tape or colourful paper and glue, wrap around the tealights, and ta-da…instant diyas! What’s Cooking Mom has the deets if you want to do this with the kids. If you have some toilet paper cardboard tubes left around, do not throw them away! Kids will love making these flower lamp crafts with the tubes!
11. Henna hands
If you’re wary of staining your little’s hands with henna, this art activity is the perfect alternative. Get your child to trace their hand (or you could help them out) and add in the henna details using black or brown markers. Thomas Elementary Art did this, and we gotta say, it’s a nice activity that’ll keep the kiddos quiet for an hour or two. If your kiddo is the type who loves to use every colour in the box and finds the patterns difficult to draw – do not fret! Why not try out the colour-in henna hands free-printables from Baker Ross? We are sure those hands will look super festive and especially great as wall decor!
12. Deepavali colouring pages
Which kiddo doesn’t love a colour-in activity now and then? So lucky for them, we’ve found Activity Village – a brilliant website with a whole section dedicated to Deepavali colouring pages. A lot of the printables come at a price, but there are plenty of freebies including lots of Rangoli patterns for the kids to colour into (or use as inspiration for their own drawings). Other sites offering free Deepavali printables include Got Free Cards and Super Coloring. Once your kiddo has finished colouring, why not use the drawing as the screen for a popsicle stick lantern? Light up the masterpiece with a tea light, and the colour-in doubles up as home decor! How cute is this lantern by the Artsy Craftsy Mom?
And there you have it! Love this list of Deepavali crafts for kids? Check out these paper crafts too!
