Kwanzaa Craft Projects: Kid-friendly Kinara, Kwanzaa Streamers, Mkeke Kwanzaa Table Mat, and Unity Cup

An African-American holiday, Kwanzaa lasts from December 26 - January 1^st. The foundation of the celebration is based on traditional African festivals. Created as a way for African-Americans to reflect on their African heritage, Kwanzaa is a family-oriented holiday, well loved by children and adults alike. Kwanzaa craft projects for kids can be a great way for children to get involved in the Kwanzaa celebration, and these projects are inexpensive and lots of fun. These projects make great budget-friendly decorations for your Kwanzaa table, too. You will learn how to make Kwanzaa Streamers, a Harvest Popcorn Chain, a Kikombe cha Umoja (Kwanzaa Unity Cup), a Mkeke Kwanzaa Table Mat, and a kid-friendly Kinara (candleholder).

Kwanzaa decorations feature 3 colors: black, red, and green. Each color represents a different aspect of the holiday: Black is for the color of the African race, Green represents hope for the land of Africa, and red; the blood shed by African ancestors. You'll be using these colors to create your budget-friendly Kwanzaa decorations!

Kwanzaa Streamers

Keep the kids busy for hours making these fun Kwanzaa streamers. Great for a rainy day, when yours kids have plenty of time, and you've lot plenty of patience. All you'll need is black, red, and green construction paper, glue (glue stickers work great but any glue good for paper will work just fine, paper clips, and scissors.

Cut the construction paper in 1 x 4 inch strips. These do not have to be exact! Arrange into piles by color. You will need three times as many red and green strips as black, but the exact proportions don't matter.

Using the glue, use one red strip to create a circle. Clip over the join with a paperclip, if desired, to hold in place. Using another red strip, create a circle joined with the first circle. Join your strips in this order: 3 red, 1 black, 3 green, repeat. These represent the Kwanzaa colors. Keep doing this until you have a length of chain that you can use to decorate anywhere through the house. Remove the paperclips when dry.

Harvest Popcorn Chain

Like the previous project, you only need free time and a few items: a needle, a spool of button thread, and lots of air-popped popcorn - no butter, please! Cut a long length of thread to the length you'd like your Harvest Popcorn Chain to be, thread needle and add one piece of popcorn, slid carefully all the way to the last foot of the thread. Carefully tie the popcorn into place, leaving a tail of at 10 inches at the end. Add popcorn, carefully, until the chain reaches your desired length. The chain represents Mazao, of crops, and is a great way to keep children busy for an hour or two! Warning: you might be busy, too, making extra popcorn to replace what your kids eat as they work!

Kid-friendly Kwanzaa Kinara

The Kwanzaa Kinara, or candleholder, has seven candles called Mishumaa Saba, which represent Nguzo Saba, the Swahili word for Seven Principles. The Seven Principles are:

Kujichagulia - Self Determination

Nia - Purpose

Kuumba - Creativity

Umoja - Unity

Ujima - Social Work and Responsibility

Ujamaa - Cooperative Economics

Imani - Faith

With three red candles on the right, three green candles on the left, and a black candle in the middle, the candles are lit each day of Kwanzaa, starting with the center candle, then alternating from left to right. On the last day of Kwanzaa, the children receive gifts, which are typically educational presents or heritage symbols.

To make your own, you will need red, black, yellow, and green construction paper, a cardboard egg carton, scissors, a paintbrush, acrylic paint in dark brown, glue and cellophane tape.

First, cut the egg carton into individual cups. You will need seven for this project. Save the rest for another project, or discard. Paint each of the cups dark brown and allow to dry. When dry, use the scissors to cut small holes in the top (you could also use a pen or other pointy object). The top was the bottom of the cartoon, but turn each piece so that the open end is at the bottom.

Using seven sheets of paper, roll lengthwise into tubes that will fit into the holes you created in the last step. Secure with a piece of cellophane tape. Place these candlesticks into the holes on the eggs cups. Glue or tape into place.

Using the yellow paper to draw flame shapes. Cut out. Glue flame shapes onto black paper. When dry, trim so each flame has a thin black outline.

For each day of Kwanzaa, attach a flame with a small piece of cellophane tape to the top of the candles you created. This is great for small spaces and to involve younger children in the Kwanzaa celebration without the fire hazard.

Kwanzaa Unity Cup

Symbolizing the foundation principle of the Nguzu Saba, Umoia (Unity), this traditional vessel is used to pour Tambiko, which means "libation for our ancestors." On the sixth day of Kwanzaa, the Unity Cup is filled with wine, or grape juice, and passed to each family member, eldest to youngest. Each person says a blessing to the family ancestor then drinks from the vessel.

You will need the following items:

1 glass goblet, with a long stem. If you are low on cash, buy your glass at the local thrift store or recycle one from your own cupboards. Any designs on the goblet will be hidden by the end of the project, but you may find you'll need extra black tissue paper to cover the designs.

3 sheets black tissue paper, torn into 2 x 2 inch pieces

1 sheet tissue paper in green and red

Decoupage glue, or lightly watered down Elmer's glue. If you want your unity cup to be used for years to come, make sure to use a glue specifically design for glass.

Paintbrush

Small bowl, for glue

Glitter, optional

Using the paintbrush and glue, coat the outer surface of the goblet with the black tissue paper by spreading a light layer of glue in small sections and coating with the tissue paper. Do a full layer, allow to dry, repeat twice, or until any designs on the glass are covered. Allow to dry for two hours, or overnight. NOTE: make sure not to cover the inside of the mug. For a neat edge, leave tissue paper sticking up around the edges then use a sharp cutting tool to trim when dry.

Fold the sheets of red and green tissue paper into quarters. Draw people shapes that will fit well on your goblet and cut out. You should have four copies of each image. Mix glitter into your glue, if desired. Affix images onto the goblet, adding double, triple, or 4-deep layers of each people, depending on how you want the goblet to look.

When satisfied, let dry 1 hour. Coat with a thin layer of glue, allow to dry, and repeat. Do this a few times, until the coating is fairly thick. Allow to dry over night.

The Kwanzaa Unity Cup, made in the traditional Kwanzaa colors, is great for a family celebration, but if you're a teacher or aide who works with younger children and you need a quick project, use Styrofoam cups and clothespins in place of the glass goblet. For a very basic, and non-water-resistant cup great for story time, use black construction paper with felt people shapes.

Mkeke (Kwanzaa mat)

Warning: This project requires adult supervision, as the first part of the project involves carving with knives. Make sure you have older teens or yourself on hand to make sure there are no accidents.

You will need: ½ yard of burlap, or a similar natural matural--linen, unbleached cotton, or muslin will also work, potatoes, acrylic paint, small plates.

Cut the potatoes in half. Using a sharp knive (grown ups only, please!), carve people shapes in the potato halves to use as a stamp, with a small amount of paint on a plate. If you are very talented, you could make an ear of corn and cut out letters and use to form words like Kwanzaa, Unity, or Peace. This will not be washable, but you could spray the letters with an acrylic clearcoat before using to protect your work.

Variations: Use paper if you don't have fabric. Paint directly onto the fabric with a paint brush. Use pre-purchased stamps, if you have them. Fuse a piece of fabric to a fusible sheet, which will allow you to iron it onto fabric. Cut out letters to form the words of your choice. Use small, skinny twigs or long grasses to weave your own mat (caution: takes a long time!).