How to Spend Quality Time with your Child during Diwali
by Mrs Meenal Arora, Executive Director of SHEMROCK Preschools & the Founder Director of SHEMFORD Futuristic Schools
Diwali- ‘The Festival of Lights’ is round the corner. With excitement, fun & festivity in the air, kids in the families anxiously look forward to celebrations & festivity. They are hugely excited about the food, different delicacies, sweets, celebrations, decorations, Diwali Puja and many other things. More than that, they look forward to spending quality and fun-filled time with those whom they love the most, i.e., you, their parents. Therefore, as parents it is your responsibility to live up to their expectations & make sure that you are able to make this precious opportunity as fun-filled, interesting and educating as possible.
Following tips may help you make the most of this Diwali.
Plan Your Day in Advance During Diwali
Preparations done prior to the festival dates keep you at much more ease on the festival day. Never keep any meetings or appointments for the festival day, prepone or postpone them and keep your festival day free to celebrate it with your child and family.
Diwali - Make your List of Activities
Plan your day; make a list of the activities that you and your little one wish to do on Diwali. Discuss with her what she would like to do and how she would like to celebrate it. In accordance with that, make a schedule of what all you are going to do and when. If you want to visit some place like pandal, bazaar, etc., check in advance for its details and book the tickets, if any.
Diwali - Pre-plan the Delights
Diwali is a time when kids keenly look forward to the food menu than any other thing. Plan your menu for the entire day in advance, arrange for all the prerequisites beforehand and prepare those parts of the delicacies prior to the festival day that can be stored and used later. Plan your delicacies in a way that is different from the routine ones; divide every meal into starters, main course and desserts.
Diwali - Decorate your Home
Decorations make our home look very vibrant, colourful and exciting. Decorate your home with rangoli, streamers, ‘Happy Diwali’ banners, candles, lanterns and diyas. Ask your little one to help you in making decorative items beforehand and decorating the house on Diwali. Do Not allow her to use candles or matches for lighting the diyas, instead take her help for putting the diyas in different corners of the house, in the balcony and elsewhere.
Diwali - Visit the Temple
Visit the local temple, participate in the temple puja and exchange greetings with the people present there.
Diwali - Puja at Home
Organise a Puja at home, invite friends and relatives and share moments of joy and happiness together. Tell your little one about the significance of rituals and the reason behind you doing each one of them. Tell her the story of Lord Ram, His life and about the Great Epic Ramayana.
Diwali - Participate in the Community Celebrations
There are several societies and communities that organise various competitions & other activities during festivals. Research about such events and do the prerequisites like registering for competitions, etc. Encourage your little one to take part in those activities and help her in preparing for them.
At the end of the day, discuss with her how she felt about the day and ask her about the things she liked and disliked. Also, ask her what she learnt about the festival and the story behind it. Give her a surprise Diwali gift and tell her that you’re glad she enjoyed her day and that you also loved spending those joyous and fun moments with her.
Festivals are those times which can help us spend quality and stress-free moments with our loved ones and create memories to cherish for a lifetime. This Diwali, celebrate with your family without thinking about work or any other commitments and just live those moments to the fullest. Hope you have a wonderful and zestful festival time!
Happy Diwali!