Passport to India
It’s a good thing I follow The Nelson on Instagram! They posted about their Passport to India cultural festival and I knew our family had to go. We scooped up all the kids and went to this awesome adventure with Beth and my nephew Nathan.
The event was free very kid friendly with activities, cultural events in multiple parts of the museum, and “passports” that the kids could get stamped at different stops.
Indian dancing is so very beautiful. I love the combination of fluid, graceful movement with powerful poses and stomps. I love that ankle bells are an audible rhythm corresponding to the movement. I love the stories some of these traditional dances tell. The kids were enthralled too.
When they started getting antsy, we moved to the art areas. The kids used ink techniques to make sun prints, Eliza learned to write her name phonetically in Hindi, and the kids learned about henna and received a few rub-on tattoos of their own. I was amazed at the quality of these projects and the wonderful people running them (did I mention this is a free event?).
We spent some time out in the sculpture park so the kids could expend some energy, then bought snacks of samosas and mango lassis, and listened to live played Indian music. Then Eliza learned how to put on a sari and the kids got to learn about traditional Indian dress.
I love that everything during this event had a learning and a playing component.
Our kids were so excited to go to this event, not only because it was beautiful and because they love learning about different cultures, but also because our friends were recently married in India and Sri Lanka and they want to learn more about the cultures and customs since we were unable to attend the wedding. (They’ve loved pouring over the pictures.)
I love big events like these–they feel like grand adventures. I’m going to make sure I’m following other places I love in my city on social media so I don’t miss out on more events like these in the future!
What sorts of cultural celebrations do you have near you?
