The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has unveiled their newly revamped Diwali Toolkit for 2020.

Often referred to as the “Festival of Lights”, Diwali is widely celebrated in India and across the Hindu diaspora.

This year, Diwali will be celebrated on November 14th.

The word Diwali derives from Sanskrit meaning “a row of lights” and clay lamps or diya are lit to signify the destruction of all negative qualities through knowledge, celebrating the victory of good over evil.

HAF’s 2020 Diwali Toolkit now has more information about the significance of Diwali and includes Common Core State Standards (CCSS) lessons for the classroom, which are implemented in 41 states and set the guidelines for learning in grades K-12. There are several new learning tools to teach about Diwali and activities geared towards Kindergarten-5th grade. We’ve included math lessons, a diya-based Sudoku (SuDiya), and a word search for all ages.

This toolkit is not just for the classroom as all lessons can be adapted to do at home with young learners.

In addition to the lessons, there are several challenging activities which are fun and engaging. Included is a A Draw Your Own Rangoli activity helps teach patterns and a challenging word search which helps test your knowledge about Diwali.

Parents are encouraged to reach out to their children’s teachers, letting them know that Diwali will be celebrated on November 14th this year, and that the toolkit on the holiday is available with lessons and English Language Arts lessons that adhere to the Common Core State Standards.

In collaboration with Hybrid Parenting, users are encouraged to share their completed Cycles of the Moon or Signs of Diwali activities with HAF on social media at #hinduamerican and #hybridparenting or through our email address, diwali@hinduamerican.org for a chance to win a personalized copy of the Amita Roy Shah book Lights Camera Diwali. Four winners will be chosen overall. Submissions will be accepted until November 20th.

To help make celebrations extra bright, share your Diwali celebrations with us using the hashtag  #HAFDiwali

Download the 2020 Diwali Toolkit here