Celebrating festivals with family and friends is always a time of great joy, harmony and peace in our homes and lives. Festivals are those precious times when there is a lot of excitement in people’s homes. Everyone looks forward to spending time with their loved ones. Every family has a way of celebrating festivals that are unique to their family traditions and culture that is passed down from generations. Children will learn about it all only when they are made a part of such celebrations.
Learn about one’s tradition and culture:
Based on factors like religion, region and language, every family celebrates a particular set of festivals. They follow various traditions and rituals as part of their celebrations. Children, being very inquisitive about everything around them and their surroundings, love to enjoy every aspect of the celebrations. They observe and participate in those traditions and rituals and learn about their significance in their family. All these get imbibed into their minds and stay with them all their lives. This way, they carry their family traditions and culture with them wherever they go and pass on to their children when they grow up too.
Form strong family relationships and bonds:
Any relationship grows strong when enough time is spent together. This time of togetherness means spending time doing lots of things together. It could be participating in preparing decorative things during festival times, cooking a special dish together, sharing chores, talking, or explaining the importance of family traditions and so on. Time spent together increases a sense of belonging, a sense of being cared for and loved. Spending time together during festivals makes children feel connected to their parents. Every family member feels a tight bond with one another. Strong family relationships are important for children to be emotionally stable and make them happy individuals. They grow up to be confident individuals because they know that their family has their back at any point in life. Strong bonds once formed during childhood last a lifetime.
Learn respect and build social relationships:
Schools also celebrate all festivals with children through fun activities and games. This teaches children about festivals that may not necessarily be celebrated at home. They learn to respect other religions and festivals celebrated by others in their community. They learn to build social relationships with people from other cultures and traditions. This makes children more tolerant and understanding towards other cultures and festivals they see around them. They learn to appreciate others and form wonderful friendships too.
We see how celebrating festivals with children can have such a profound impact on their lives. Childhood is made even more beautiful when parents, family members and schools celebrate with them and give them a great opportunity to participate in every aspect of the festival. Festivals are not just exciting times where we eat special food or decorate our homes or wear new traditional clothes but it is also the most valuable family time where children make bonds forever. Children bond deeply with their mother, father, sister, brother, grandparents, other family members and close friends. Fun things like decorating the house with flowers or lights is a family activity. Children can also help their parents in preparing delicious delicacies like special sweets or meals, dressing up together and helping each other is all part of the celebration. Children can be dressed up in traditional clothing and jewellery during these special times. It gets them very excited and enjoy the festivities with their whole heart, mind, and soul.
