How to Talk About Diwali at School in the USA – Crafts, Books, and Fun Ideas

Discover creative ideas for your Diwali presentation for school, including simple craft activities, engaging books to read, and fun ways to introduce kids to the meaning and traditions of Diwali. Perfect for classrooms in the USA!

For the past two years, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to share about Diwali and how we celebrate it at my son’s school. It’s always such a special experience to talk about our culture and bring a little piece of home into the classroom. Introducing it to young kids, however, is a whole different ball game — it has to be brief, fun, and engaging. In today’s post, I’m sharing all the details from our Diwali presentations over the past two years — from how we introduced the festival to the craft activity we organized and the festive snack we brought to school.

I was in my third trimester, pregnant with my daughter, when we did the presentation last year — so don’t be surprised if you see some photos of me with a baby bump and others without; the latter are from this year!

Other Posts on Diwali You Might Like-

• Entryway Diwali Decoration
• Diwali Crafts for Kids
• Simple Diwali Decoration Ideas

Diwali Presentation for School

We divided the entire presentation into three parts:

1. Introduction: Explaining what Diwali is, why we celebrate it, and how it’s celebrated.
2. Diwali Craft: A simple Diwali-themed craft that captures the essence of the festival.
3. Diwali Sweets: A fun Diwali treat for the kids to enjoy and feel part of the celebration.

1. Introduction to Diwali

Here are two simple ways to introduce Diwali to kids:

• Create a paper or PowerPoint presentation based on your child’s age.
• Read a Diwali-themed book to them

A. Paper or PowerPoint Presentation On Diwali

Since the presentation was meant for children aged 3–5, we keep it screen-free and created a paper presentation instead. It featured photos from our own Diwali celebrations, adding a personal touch that the kids really enjoyed. Last year, I had extra help from my parents, which allowed me to spend more time preparing. It was also my first school presentation, so I was especially excited and motivated. If you don’t have the time to prepare this, go for option#2 below-

I included pictures for the following sections:

• What is Diwali? – Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is celebrated by lighting small clay lamps called diyas, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.
• How is Diwali Celebrated?– I included photos of fireworks, people sharing sweets (in the U.S., we often celebrate with potlucks), performing Lakshmi Puja, and creating colorful rangolis.
• What Do We Wear on Diwali?– I added a photo of our family dressed in traditional Indian attire. For the presentation, I wore a salwar suit, my mom wore a saree, and my son wore a kurta — giving everyone a real-life glimpse of what we typically wear for Diwali.
• Our Diwali Family Traditions- I also shared a glimpse of how we celebrate Diwali while living far from home — decorating our home, doing Diwali-themed crafts, enjoying a festive dinner with friends, and ending the evening with a few fireworks.

Note: I took a clay diya from home to show the class. The kids were so curious — they touched it, examined it up close, and really enjoyed the experience. I do wish I had taken a battery-operated tealight as well, so they could have seen how a diya looks when it’s lit. I highly recommend taking one for your presentation!

B. Read A Book On Diwali

For this year’s presentation, I chose to read an interactive book on Diwali (the first one in the list below). It’s a short and engaging book that highlights the key aspects of Diwali — lighting diyas, making rangoli, worshipping Goddess Lakshmi, and enjoying fireworks. I also showed a clay diya with a tealight to the kids while reading.

Diwali books I recommend for School (if you have any other suggestions, leave them in the comments below!)

1. Busy Diwali (Interactive Board Book) – This book is perfect if you’re looking for something short and straightforward. It’s interactive, allowing kids to see diyas being lit and rangolis being completed. You can preview all of the pages in the product images on Amazon. This year, I read this book in class and added a few extra details to make it more engaging.
2. Diwali (Celebrate the World) Board Book – This book is a bit more detailed and beautifully explains why we celebrate Diwali, along with the significance of each of the four days of the festival. You can preview some of its pages in the product images on Amazon.
3. Binny’s Diwali – This popular book follows Binny as she prepares to talk about Diwali in her classroom, showing how she overcomes her fear and confidently shares the festival with her classmates. If your older child is getting ready for a Diwali presentation for school, this book is a wonderful way to inspire confidence.

2. Simple Diwali Kids Craft Ideas

I’m sharing a few Diwali crafts you can plan as part of your Diwali celebration in the classroom. The first one is what we did last year, and the second is what we made this year.

A. DIY Diwali Greeting Card

I wanted the kids to have something they could take home and share with their parents — and the DIY Diwali greeting card was perfect: easy to make, engaging for little hands, and quick to make if you have a time limitation. I made cutouts of diya, base from solid cardstock, and gold glitter cardstock for the flame. To make the greeting cards complete, we added a “Happy Diwali” cutout as well. This was a simple gluing activity for the kids

We arranged all the pieces on the kids’ desks in the order they needed to be glued, making it easy for them to assemble their greeting cards. Cutting out pieces for over 20 students took a couple of hours, but the activity itself was quick and engaging!

If you don’t have time for the full DIY, you can try this foam craft set — it comes with pre-cut DIY shapes and rhinestones for decoration, making it easy to create and incorporate into a Diwali greeting card.

Craft Links

Solid Cardstock (used for the Diya base and greeting)

Gold glitter cardstock (used for flame)

Foam Craft set (readymade cutouts you can use for the greeting); Also available here (use Diwali15 for 15% off)

Glue Stick

B. Rangoli Coloring Kit

We got these Rangoli coloring kits along with tealights for this year’s Diwali presentation craft. They turned out so beautiful! No matter how the kids colored them, the tealight made each one look festive. I was thrilled when I came across these — it’s such a lovely way for the kids to bring a bit of Diwali spirit home! This particular activity takes longer to complete because of the details; the teacher eventually had to pause the activity since they had a library period right after our presentation. But the kids were able to finish it later in the day. If you’re short on time, I suggest choosing a simpler design — I’ve shared a few options below..

Craft Links

Rangoli coloring kits | Also available here (use Diwali15 for 15% off)

Simpler designs to consider here, here, and here (use Diwali15 for 15% off)

C. Diya Coloring

Diya coloring is an easy and fun activity to plan for kids. This set of 20-50-piece Clay diya set is perfect for this activity. Pair it with a 25-color acrylic paint set for decorating, and additionally, add a tealight to make a complete diya

Craft Links

21 Clay diya set

25-color acrylic paint set

D. Multiple Crafts

You can also set up multiple crafts on a table and let the kids choose which one they want to do — this works especially well for slightly older children. Some ideas include a DIY Diwali banner, Rangoli sand art, diya wooden coloring, and Diwali coloring pages

3. Diwali Treats To Consider

When it comes to Diwali treats, it can be a bit tricky since most Indian sweets contain nuts and dairy. We didn’t have any allergy restrictions, so we took motichoor laddo the first time and Kaju katli the second time. Many kids loved them and asked for more, while a hanful of them didn’t try it, which will be the case with any food you take.

Here are Treats you can consider –

• Motichoor laddo
• Kaju katli
• classic Haldiram’s Soan Papdi
• Jalebi — though it can be a bit greasy for kids trying it for the first time, it’s usually nut-free and easy to find.
• homemade ladooo
• Kalakand
• Carrot Halwa balls

We took a few pictures with the whole class and teachers at the end, and they even made it into the yearbook, which made me so happy! I really appreciate the school and teachers for promoting diversity and cultural awareness. Because of this, my son is getting the chance to learn about different traditions; for instance, last year he learned about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, from another parent.

That’s a wrap on our Diwali presentation for school! If you’ve ever shared about Diwali or any Indian festival at your child’s school, I’d love to hear about your experience. What tips or advice would you offer to other parents planning to do the same?