Kwanzaa Crafts for Preschool

Kwanzaa crafts and ideas for your preschool children or preschool classroom!  There are so many to choose from!  Most take items that you most likely already have or can access easily!

Kinara (Candleholder) Headband

Make a headband out of long construction paper.

You can either pre-cut the shapes or provide a stencil for the children to trace and cut out their own (the more activities where we allow the children to do the tracing, cutting, etc., the more opportunity they have to develop these skills).

Have the children paint or decorate candle shapes.  I love glitter, but where these will be on their heads, the glitter may end up in their eyes so I'd suggest avoiding glitter for this project 

Have the children glue the candles onto the headband.

Feast Jewelry

Make preschool style cuff wrist bracelets for the celebration.  Cut a paper towel tube into fourths.

Cut a thin slice out to make this like a cuff bracelet.

Paint.  When dry, glue on glitter, jewels, etc.

Handprint Fingerpaint Kinara

Help children to paint their middle, ring and pinky fingers the colors of the kinara candles.

Use green paint on the fingers on the right and red paint on the fingers on the left.

Help them press their fingers on the paper, leaving a space in the middle.

Have the children paint a black candle in the middle.

African Drum 

In advance, collect coffee cans or other cans with lids (ask parents for help in collecting!)

Cut the paper to fit around their can.

The children decorate the paper with red, green and black crayons.

Help the children to tape their design on the can.

Use the can for some celebratory dancing!

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Adinkra Painting...Kind of!

Adinkra is a kind of cloth that is worn in Western Africa that is printed with a grid-like pattern.

Have the children make their own by painting with forks!

They press the fork into paint and then press onto paper.

Bendera Flag

Materials needed:  Paint and paper with flag or picture of one hung up in your classroom.

Encourage your children to paint a flag using Kwanzaa colors or other colors to create their own flag.

VARIATION:  Provide strips of red, black or green paper to make flag patterns.

Fruit and Vegetable Basket

Make a basket template from a manila folder

Have children trace the basket shape onto a brown grocery bag.

Have the children cut out their basket shape.

Provide magazines and scissors.  Have the children cut out fruits and vegetables from magazines.

Glue the pictures on the basket.

VARIATION: Rather than use magazine cut out, provide fruit and vegetables cut in pieces.  

The children dip them into paint and print onto their basket.

Kufi (hat)

Provide each child with 6 strips paper (2 red, 2 yellow, 2 green) 1" wide.

Place them on top of each other so they criss-cross in the middle (like a star shape).  Staple them together.

Attach the ends to a black head band using glue.

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