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Description

Make a diya, and learn about the festival of light. Can you separate Diwali fact from fiction?
This is a great activity for an online session.

Courtesy of The Scout Association
https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/celebrate-the-festival-of-light/

Resources

Air-drying clay
Tea lights
Paint brushes
Paint suitable for clay
Clay tools (or alternatives like glue spreaders)

PDF "Celebrate the festival of light | Activities | Scouts" attached for INFORMATION ABOUT DIWALI and TRUE / FALSE STATEMENTS

Safety: Sharp objects
Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Instructions

Make a Diya
1. The person leading the activity should show everyone how to complete each step of the instructions to make their Diya. They should remind everyone that they can look at this web page to help them. ZOOM TIP: Try to do each step so it’s on camera. Give everyone time to copy and catch up before you move on to the next step.

2. Everyone should get a piece of clay and roll it into a ball about five centimetres big.

3. Make a hole in the top of the ball using your thumb. Gradually make the hole bigger, until your clay is shaped like a small bowl. It needs to be big enough to fit a small tealight inside, but not too deep – the wick of the candle should stick out over the top of the bowl.

4. Shape the bowl so it has a point at the front, a bit like a boat. Make sure it has a flat bottom, so it sits still on the table.

5. Use tools (or just your fingers) to decorate the outside of the Diya with patterns.

6. Leave the finished lamps to dry. If your clay isn’t air-drying, everyone should ask an adult to help bake them in an oven to harden the clay.

7. Once the lamps are dry, paint and decorate them, and leave to dry.

8. When the paint is dry, put in a tealight. Diyas traditionally use cotton wicks dipped in oil.


Learn about Diwali
1. Everyone should come up with an action to represent ‘true’ and an action to represent ‘false’. You could do thumbs up and thumbs down, try to make a T or an F with your arms, or move to different sides of the screen.

2. The person leading the game should say something about Diwali – it might be true, or it might be false. We've included some ‘True or false statements’ below to get you going (see PDF)

3. If players think the statement is true, they should do the action for true. If they think it was false, they should do the action for false.

4. The person leading the game will tell everyone whether it was true or false and explain why.

5. Everyone should return to a neutral position and get ready to play with another statement.


Reflection
This activity reminded everyone that they’re a local, national, and international citizen. Are there any similarities between Diwali and any festivals or celebrations people take part in? Are there any other festivals or celebrations that people would like to find out more about? Diwali is a time to think about others and people in need – is that a responsibility everyone shares, no matter their background?

This activity also encouraged everyone to respect and trust people from different backgrounds. How could everyone respect people who’re celebrating Diwali? Why is it important that people learn about festivals and celebrations that they don’t celebrate? Did anyone learn anything surprising about Diwali? How would people feel if they were invited to a Diwali celebration?


Change the level of challenge
Make sure the actions are accessible for everyone – you may need to keep it simple, choose something everyone can do sitting down, or avoid using left and right.

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Badge Links

• International - Festival
• Let's Celebrate - Craft
• Let's Celebrate - Festivals
• World - Faith/culture
• World - Worship
• World Faiths - Festivals