Low Budget Kwanzaa Crafts for Kids

Kwanzaa is a time of the year for a special celebration of African-American culture. This holiday celebrates seven principals; unity, faith, purpose, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, self-determination, and creativity. The celebration of this holiday reinforces both strong family and community values. This makes Kwanzaa the perfect time to gather your children together and engage them in the special holiday through crafts. Here are some ideas for some crafts that can be used to decorate for Kwanzaa on a low budget.

African Flag Banner

Since Kwanzaa is a time for celebrating African-American culture one great craft would be to make construction paper flags of different African countries. This will create a colorful festive environment while allowing your children to become better acquainted with some African countries. The Africa Guide gives an excellent interactive map. This map will give you more information on each country along with a picture of their flag.

To make these flags either use colorful construction paper to create each flag. If you don't have construction paper then white paper can be colored using markers or crayons. When the flags are finished, display them in your home by taping them to a long string. This is perfect for a decoration of the doorway.

Family Tree

During Kwanzaa a central theme is the celebration of the family. By creating a family tree poster you can show your children how your family is connected. This will also be a wonderful remembrance of family members who have already passed. This will make a beautiful display in your home at Kwanzaa and will reinforce the family togetherness of the holiday while still being low budget.

1. On a large poster board draw a large tree trunk with branches that represent your family branches. This will really depend on how much you wish to include in your tree. A little bit of brain storming should be done to determine the placing and size of the branches.

2. Help the children cut out large leaves for your family tree.

3. Next help the children write the names of family members on each leaf.

4. Help the children arrange the leaves on the tree appropriate to how the family is related.

Kwanzaa Book Markers

On the last day of Kwanzaa it is traditional to give a gift. This is supposed to be a meaningful gift rather than a commercial gift. I would suggest having children make book markers. Have them choose one of the seven principals. On one side have them draw a picture that represents the principal and on the other side write the name of the principal and what it means. This is a great low budget gift that will be very meaningful to its recipients.

You will simply need strips of paper that are a good size for a book marker and still large enough to color on and coloring markers or crayons.