Five Ways to Celebrate Dussehra at Home with Your Kids

Dussehra is here, and given the present circumstances, celebrating it at home is a wonderful
opportunity. The festival marks the end of Navratri and is considered extremely auspicious. The
traditional belief is that people should do just good, happy, and fun things as they will invite
prosperity, peace, and good luck into their lives.
Here are five unique and fun ways to celebrate Dussehra at home with your kids, family, and
friends.
1. Organize Saraswati Puja
Goddess Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, learning, art, music, and speech.
Having a Saraswati puja is a tradition during Dusshera. It is a great way to teach children about
your traditions and religious beliefs. Also, the puja teaches them to respect and value their
books.
The puja is very easy to arrange. You need a symbol of the Goddess that you can place on a
clean chowki. Arrange the books next to the symbol. Then you and your kids can light a diya,
offer flowers, haldi, and kumkum to the Goddess. Also, light incense sticks.
2. Create a Ravan Effigy at Home
During Dussehra, Ravan’s effigy is burned. Since you are celebrating the festival at home, it is
not possible to burn the effigy. However, you can come with an alternative. Involve all family
members to make an effigy of Ravan using organic paints and newspaper. Use a toy bow and
arrow to shoot it. Get each family member, including kids, to participate in the shooting.
Explain to your children the symbolism of shooting the Ravan effigy. Tell them that by shooting
the effigy, they promise to destroy bad qualities in them and embrace good qualities. It will
make them understand the reason behind the act and make a fun activity for the whole family.
3. Have a Story-telling Session
After you finish shooting the effigy, it is time for the entire family to gather around. If you like,
you can invite your children’s friends over. Explain the story behind Dussehra and why people
celebrate it. You can also read the Ramayan and throw in some sound effects to make it more
interesting.
Another way to celebrate Dussehra at home is to prepare a small skit based on Ramayan. You
can involve adults and kids to act out the skit. It is best to give the main roles to children so that
they have fun while acting.
4. Host a Dandiya Party at Home
Dandiya is extremely popular in western India, especially in Gujarat and Maharashtra. However,
regardless of where you live, you can organize a dandiya party at home. Dandiya is an integral

part of Navratri, which culminates in Dussehra. It will be a lot of fun. Invite your neighbors,
extended family, and friends. The more, the merrier.
Arrange dandiya music. You can find an array of songs online. Also, inform the invitees that
there is a dress code – chaniya-choli for ladies and kurta and dhoti or pyjama for gents. You can
easily buy the bamboo sticks used for the dance. Just make sure that you have a sufficient
number of sticks for everyone.
5. Make Rangoli

Host a rangoli-making competition for your kids and their friends. You can use regular rangoli
color, or you can opt for flowers. Rangoli invites happiness and prosperity into homes, which is
why it is created in front of the door.
You can give age-appropriate designs to children. Or, you can ask them to create rangoli from
their imagination. Divide the kids into pairs to make rangoli. They will have fun. Give
homemade sweets to the winners and all the participants.
These are some of the ways you can celebrate Dussehra this year in your home. As you can see,
there are many fun and interesting ways to enjoy and celebrate this festival with your family
and friends.