Words of the Week

Balavihar 2009 - 2010

Jun 06: Revision of some of the words done in prior classes, along with the take home sanskrit book.
May 16: कलहंसः (kalahaMsaH - goose/duck)
May 09: सिंहः गर्जति (siMhaH garjati - Lion roars)
Apr 25: None
Apr 18: वानरः (vaanaraH - monkey); आपत्ति (aapatti - trouble)
Apr 11: सत्यं वद (satyaM vada - speak truth); परशुः (parashuH - axe)
Mar 14: गजः (gajaH - elephant); विष्णुः (viShNuH - Lord Vishnu)
Mar 07: अनलसः (analasaH - not lazy); अलसः (alasa - lazy)
Feb 28: मोदकम् (modaka - a sweet dish); प्रेमः (prema - love)
Feb 21: बृहत् सिंहः (bRuhat siMhaH - big lion);
लघु मूषकः (laghu mUShakaH - small mouse)
Jan 31: मूषकः (mUShakaH - mouse); चन्द्रः (chandraH - moon)
Jan 24: तृषितः काकः (tRuShitaH kaakaH - thirsty crow)
Jan 10: तिलः (tilaH - sesame seeds); गुडः (guDaH - jaggery)
Dec 13: वृकः (vRukaH - wolf); मेषः (meShaH - sheep)
Dec 06: हरिणः (hariNaH - deer); व्याधः (vyaadhaH - hunter)
Nov 22: रक्तः (raktaH - red); कुक्कुटः (kukkuTaH - Hen)
Nov 15: कूर्मः (kUrmaH - tortoise); शशकः (shashakaH - hare)
Oct 25: चतुरः शशकः (chaturaH shashakaH - clever rabbit)
Oct 18: एकत्वे बलम् (ekatve balam - Unity is Strength)
Oct 11: काकः (kaakaH - crow); शृगालः (shRugaalaH - fox)
Oct 04: सिंहः (siMhaH - Lion); शशकः (shashakaH - rabbit)
Sep 20: मूषकः (mUShakaH - mouse), मयूरः (mayUraH - peacock)
Sep 13: पिपीलिका (pipIlikaa - ant) & कपोतः (kapOtaH - pigeon)


Balavihar 2008 - 2009

May 31 मकरः (makaraH, crocodile)
May 31 स्वादुफलम्ः (svaaduphalam, apple)
May 17 बिडालः (biDaalaH, cat)
May 17 शुनकः (shunakaH, dog)
May 17 मण्डूकः (maNDuukaH, frog)
May 10 गजः (gajaH, elephant)
May 10 उलूकः (uluukaH, owl)
Apr 26 वानरः (vaanaraH, monkey)
Apr 19 तन्तुनाभः (tantunaabhaH, spider)
Apr 19 मत्स्यः (matsyaH, fish)
Apr 05 शीघ्रम (shiighram, fast)
Apr 05 मन्दम् (mandam, slow)
Mar 22 शशक: (shashakaH, rabbit)
Mar 22 सिंहः (simahaH, lion)
Mar 15 कीर्तन (kiirtana, praising, celebrating)
Mar 15 कीर्तनं करोति (kiirtanam karoti, singing the glory of)
Mar 08 कलहंस (kalahamsa, goose)
Mar 08 अंडा (andaa, egg)
Feb 22 कुक्कुटशावा (kukkuTashaavaa, hen)
Feb 08 बृहत् (bRihat, big)
Feb 08 लघु (laghu, small)
Feb 01 जगत् (jagat, world)
Feb 01 जनाः (janaaH, people)
Jan 25 काकः (kaakah, crow)
Jan 25 जलम् (jalam, water)
Jan 11 कूर्मः (kuurmaH, turtle)
Dec 21 शान्तिः (shaanti, peace)
Dec 14 वानरः (vaanaraH, monkey)
Dec 14 गदा (gadaa)
Dec 07 व्याग्र: (vyaagraH, tiger)
Nov 23 मूषकः (muuShakaH, mouse)
Nov 23 खग: (khagaH, bird)
Nov 16 मयूर: (mayuuraH, peacock)

Class Story List

Balavihar 2009 - 2010
(Click on the highlighted stories to see their short animations)

May 16: Goose that laid the golden egg
May 09: Androcles and the Lion
Apr 25: Monkeys and the cap seller
Apr 18: Monkey and the Trouble
Apr 11: Woodcutter and his axe
Mar 21: The story of a parrot
Mar 14: Gajendra moksha - Mythology
Mar 07: 3 Little Fish - Folk tale
Feb 28: Ganesha and Kubera - Mythology
Feb 21: Lion and the Mouse - Aesop fable
Jan 31: Ganesha and the moon - Mythology
Jan 24: Thirsty Crow
Jan 10: All about Sankranti (Pongal) festival
Dec 13: Boy who cried 'Wolf!' -Aesop fable
Dec 06: Deer and his Antlers
Nov 15: Hare and the tortoise - Aesop fable
Oct 25: Clever Rabbit - Panchatantra tale
Oct 18: Unity is Strength
Oct 11: Crow and the fox - Aesop fable
Oct 04: Clever Lion - Panchatantra tale
Sep 20: Ganesha and Subrahmanya squabbling over the mango.
Sep 13: The ant and the pigeon - Aesop fable


Balavihar 2008 - 2009

May 31 The Monkey and the Crocodile
May 17 The Monkey and the Cats
May 10 The Swan and the Crow
Apr 26 The Monkey and the Pickle
Apr 19 The Three Fish
Apr 05 Tortoise and the Hare
Mar 22 Foolish Lion and the Clever Rabbit
Mar 15 Sudhama and Lord Krishna
Mar 08 Goose and the Golden Egg
Feb 22 The Little Red Hen
Feb 08 The Lion and the Mouse
Feb 01 Whoever You Are
Jan 25 The Thirsty Crow
Jan 11 The Talkative Tortoise
Dec 21 The Peace Book
Dec 14 Hanumaan thinking that the sun was a mango ...
Dec 07 Once a Mouse ...
Nov 23 Story of Pigeons and Hunter
Nov 16 Birth of Kartikeya

Snippets

Balavihar 2009 - 2010

Jun 06: It was a very fun class and everyone enjoyed chit chatting with each other. (We do not get to do that very often amidst our busy schedules in the class :). Hence, there were lots of snippets...

May 16: During the story of 'The goose that laid the golden egg', aunty said, 'how will he get eggs if the goose is hurt?' Our toddler replies 'I get eggs from 'Stop and Shop'!' Now, why didn't the farmer think of that option :-).

May 09: 1. During shloka time, aunty applauded all the kids for their participation last week in the geeta chanting. Aunty asked 'do you know who told bhagavadgeeta?'. One of our toddler lifts his hand up indicating that he did! Ofcourse, he did - last week!! But after rephrasing the question as to 'who bhagavadgeeta came from originally?', only then did we get the answer 'Krishna'!

2. During the story time, aunty was trying to establish a point and she said, 'do you think someone would volunteer to be eaten by a Lion?' with her hand raised. Suddenly a very concerned toddler said, 'then we will have nobody to tell us stories!'. How thoughtful!! Don't worry, aunty is going nowhere. She will come back with another story next week :-).

Apr 25: During the story when the cap seller was selling the caps, calling out 'buy my caps, buy my caps', one of our smart shoppers said, '2 at the price of 1'! Boy do we have a pack of smart kids (buyers) or what :-)

Apr 18: Aunty held up a monkey mask while telling the story. Immediately one of our toddlers pointed out that it was a 'girl monkey'! Because, the mask had a bow on one of it's ears :). Accepted. We have to be 'technically correct' when we say anything to our smart toddlers :)

Apr 11: In the story, aunty said, 'the wood cutter's axe fell into the water... He sat on the bank of the river with a sad face because he lost his axe...'. Our toddler says, 'I go to swimming classes...!' Dah! why didn't the wood cutter think of that. If he took swim lessons, he could have procured his axe himself :-).

Mar 21: After the story, aunty said - 'I will keep saying - eat the food, eat the food - but just sit in front of the plate, or, I will say - don't run on the street, don't run on the street - even as I am running across the street, can I?' The kids laugh hysterically and say, 'No you can't. That doesn't work!' - Isn't it as simple as that!!

Mar 14: During the bhajans, aunty said that the next one is for both Lord Krishna and Rama together. Our toddler says, 'Ravana is a bad guy, we will not sing song for him!' Obviously! Who sings the glories of the bad guys!! Simple words, great thoughts - that is what we get from our toddlers.

Mar 07: During yoga time, to sit in vajraasana, the instruction was 'sit on the knees'. One of our toddlers starts looking for his mommy's knees! Then we had to correct the instruction and say 'find and sit on your own knees' :).

Feb 28: After the story, aunty was testing the kids. She asked, is it nice to say to a friend, 'I've more toys, better toys. My red car is better than yours, etc.' Our toddler immediately says, 'No! That is not nice to say.... Every one has nice cars!' Such a beautiful thought and so simply put, too!!

Feb 21: 1. The kids chant shlokas so well, aunties and uncle applaud them with - 'Good job!' every now and then. When that did not come right after a shloka ended, one of our littlest ones, very sweetly claps and says 'good job!'

2. During yoga time, uncle was showing 'vajraasana', facing the children. In order for the children to see the way his legs were, he turned back. One of our sweet toddlers thinks that is a part of the 'aasana' and he too, turns backwards, facing the wall :).

Jan 31: During the story of 'gaNesha and the moon', aunty said, 'moon laughed at gaNesha's big belly, long nose, small mouse, etc....'. Then she asked the class 'do you think it is a good idea to laugh like that?' All the children immediately reply 'No..!' One toddler quietly says 'but if somebody tickles you, then you can laugh!' Now, how can we help ourselves and not laugh at such a comment! Aunty had to rectify her sentence to be politically correct and say 'you can laugh at a joke or when someone tickles you. But it is not nice to laugh at someone, right'. Only then did we get a unanimous 'ye..s'!!

Jan 24: On one of the shlokas, when the volume was going down a little bit, aunty asked 'What happened...? No gas?' Everyone laughed. But that's not the real snippet of the week. During story time, aunty said the crow had been flying for a looong time. Then aunty said, 'do you know what happened?' and our toddler goes, 'No gas...' instantaneously!! That caused a bigger uproar :) Isn't it amazing when toddlers pick up lines and apply it in their tone.

Jan 10: We were learning colors with flash cards and more new colors were being introduced. Aunty was holding the cards and the children were trying to name the color. Aunty, in an attempt at tricking the kids, held up a plain card thinking that they would say 'it is empty'. But, our toddlers almost always come up with very spontaneous and hilarious, at the same time, very cute answers. One toddler instantaneously goes 'white-aH'! He sure observed that a lot of words in Sanskrit end with an '-aH' sound! Very impressive...

Dec 13: The question during the shloka time was 'what instrument does Lord Krishna hold in his hand'. The children replied 'a flute'. The follow up question was 'what does it do - play music or make noise'. One of the parents replied 'depends!' (on who is playing it :)

Dec 06: After the story, aunty said "Oh, my brain makes me smart, it helps me think. But my hands can't think. Maybe I'll leave them at home today..." They squealed with laughter and replied, "then you can't eat!" Then, aunty tried saying "I have pretty eyes, but I don't like my nose. May be it should be cut off..." Our smartie pies said, "then you can't smell!" So we concluded saying that - there are so many people in the world who may not be bestowed with all senses, hence we should not be proud, but very thankful to God for what we have been blessed with, which is - A LOT!

Nov 22: The question was 'Who said Bhagavadgeeta?'. Instantaneously, the children pointed towards aunty who helps them learn Geeta, with full fledged enthusiasm! (Some time ago, one child even thought aunty's name was 'Geeta' and had very cheerfully replied 'Geeta aunty', pointing to 'Rashmi aunty' :)

Nov 15: During shloka time, we were talking about Hanuman. The question asked was 'what does Hanuman give us?' The prompt answer from our toddler was 'Mountain'. Well the logic behind that, probably, was - one can only give what one has... and, fortunately or unfortunately, He has a mountain in his hand!

Oct 25: During shloka time, aunty asked 'which shloka do we chant next'. The clue was, 'It is for someone who holds a veena in her hands'. Toddler says - 'Me!' Unfortunately, we couldn't come up with a shloka on our toddler. We had to settle for the one we knew on Goddess Saraswati :).

Oct 18: Our toddler dialogues seem to come during story time generally. (And rightfully so, that's the time they have a say regarding their opinions :-). The question was - do we help our parents at home. The chorus of course says 'Yes, I help my mom/dad!'. The follow-up question was - 'How do you help?' Our toddler promptly says 'Make her cook!'... How generous :-).

Oct 11: During bhajans, after learning the Ganesha bhajan and moving on to Subrahmanya bhajan, the question was - who is Subrahmanya's brother. Promptly got the answer from one toddler - 'Ganesha'. Then when asked what does Subrahmanya sit on, another toddler very cheerfully repeated - 'Ganesha'!

Oct 04: In the Story of the 'Clever Lion', the rabbit thinks that the sky is falling on his head. Of course our toddler has a line to say - 'No, the sky can't fall. The sky is up in the sky!' - in a matter-of-factly manner.

Sept 20: When Ganesha was sharing the mango with his brother Subrahmanya, the lesson learnt was that we have to share with our brothers, sisters and friends also. Our toddler said "sometimes..., we can share with mommy and daddy also"! How thoughtful :). Well, the catch phrase being 'sometimes' ;)

Sept 13: During the ant and the pigeon story - 'the ant bit the hunter's leg to save its friend, the pigeon'. "oh, oh! Biting is not a good thing to do..." said one of the toddlers very sweetly. (Din't it take Lord Krishna the whole 18 chapters (of Geeta) to explain this to Arjuna :)

Picture Archives

Balavihar 2009 - 2010

June 6th, Class Party

May 23rd Class - Parent Participation Week

May 16th Class

May 9th Class

May 2nd - Geeta Chanting Presentation
Pictures
Video

April 18th Class

April 11th Class

March 14th Class

March 7th Class

February 28th Class

February 21st Class

January 31st Class

January 24th Class

January 10th Class

December 13th Class

December 6th Class

November 22nd Class

November 15th Class

October 25th Class

October 18th class

October 11th class

October 4th class

Sri Sadguru Aarati

aarati shri chinmaya sadguru ki
divyaroopa mooruti karunaa ki…. aarati shri...

charano me unake shaanti samaaye
sharanaagath ki bhraanti mitaaye
paap taap santaap haran ki….. aarati shri...

ved upanishad geetaa ko gaayaa
dharm sanaatan phir se jagaayaa
shuddh neeti preeti shankar ki…. aarati shri...

siddhabaari ke tapobhoomi me
nitya viraaje guru hamaare
bhakta hridaya aanand srota ki…. aarati shri...aarati shri..

Sanskrit Alphabet

अक्षरमाला

अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ॠ लृ ए ऐ ओ औ

अं अः

क ख ग घ ङ
च छ ज झ ञ
ट ठ ड ढ ण
त थ द ध न
प फ ब भ म

य र ल व
श ष स
ह

akSharamaalaa

a aa i I u U Ru RU lRu e ai o au

aM aH

ka kha ga gha ~ga
cha Cha ja jha ~ja
Ta Tha Da Dha Na
ta tha da dha na
pa pha ba bha ma

ya ra la va
sha Sha sa
ha

Sanskrit Shapes

आकाराणि
aakaaraaNi
Shapes

वर्तुलः
vartulaH
Circle

आयतः
aayataH
Rectangle

त्रिकोणः
trikoNaH
Triangle

चतुर्भुजः
chaturbhujaH
Square

अण्डाकारम्
aNDaakaaram
Oval

वज्राकारम्
vajraakaaram
Diamond

Sanskrit Book of Shapes, Colors, etc. (Year end project)

Materials:
Designer Hand made paper
5 Designer card stock cards
Hanuman sticker
Rhine stone stickers
Construction paper in different colors
Spiral binder
Spiral binding spine
Clear printable labels

Directions:
1. Size and cut the hand made paper (outer cover) to the required dimensions.
2. Fold the card stock cards in half.
3. Punch holes in each of the card stock halves, by the edge that is folded.
4. Punch holes correspondingly on the outer cover papers as well.
5. Spiral bind the outer covers along with the card stock (the card stock will be the the pages of the book).
6. Stick the Hanuman sticker on top cover.
7. On a clear label, print the sanskrit script, transliteration as well as translation, in 3 different lines (Sanskrit script for the book).
8. Cut to size, the script, for the content of the book.
9. Stick the script on the bottom of the pages, as per desired order.
10. Get Swamiji's blessings on the book (his signature).
11. Make die cut shapes out of construction paper of different colors.
12. Apply glue to the backs of the die cuts and lay them on the respective pages of the book, firmly.
13. Decorate the book with the rhinestone stickers, as per taste.
14. Make sure you practice all the sanskrit words we have learnt in class!

Monkey Mask

Materials:
Light paper plate
Brown paint
Yellow construction paper
Quarter
Scissors
Cotton ball
String
Glue

Directions:
1. On the back side of the paper plate draw out two quarter sized circles for the eyes.
2. Put a blob of brown paint and spread it around with a cotton ball.
3. Cut out the spiky edges of the plate to give it more even look.
4. Punch out holes by the eyes to tie the strings.
5. Print out or draw the ears and mouth of the monkey as shown.
6. Cut and glue them on to the mask.
7. Tie the strings to the sides.
8. Tie the monkey mask onto the face of your little monkey :).

Woodcutter's Axe

Materials:
Light paper plate
Wooden stick (paint stirrer)
Aluminum foil - 2 pieces
Glue
Scissors - under adult supervision

Directions:
1. Fold the paper plate in half.
2. Draw arcs on both sides, to make the shape of the axe blade.
3. Cut out the arcs to get the blade of the axe.
4. Glue the blade the to the wooden stick, making it the handle of the axe.
5. Wrap the bigger sheet of aluminum foil around the blade, including the handle near it.
6. Wrap the smaller sheet of foil around the rest of the handle.
7. Tuck the extra foil all around to give a neat finish.
8. The axe is ready to go!

Elephant with a Mysterious Trunk

Materials:
Light paper plate
Construction paper
Googly eyes
Grey paint
Cotton balls
Scissors - under adult supervision
Toddler hand!

Directions:
1. Draw a small circle (as per the size of the child's hand), slightly off the center of the plate.
2. Put a blob of gray tempra paint and spread it around with the cotton ball.
3. Cut out the circle drawn.
4. Glue the googly eyes above the hole, on the shorter side of the plate.
5. Cut the shape of large ears on a piece of construction paper.
6. Glue them to the sides of the plate.
7. Now, push the plate through the child's hand, making his/her hand serve as the trunk!
8. Trumpet along and act as if the elephant is drinking water, taking a shower and whatever else you can imagine.

Paper Plate Clock

Materials:
Heavy paper plate
Numbers 1 thru 12 (stickers or print your own)
Foam
Brown paint
Cotton ball
Piece of cord
Attache
Glue stick

Directions:
1. Make a small hole in the center of the plate.
2. Put a small amount of paint on the back of the paper plate.
3. Spread it all over using the cotton ball.
4. Cut the number squares to size, if printing your own.
5. Glue the numbers around the edge of the plate like a clock.
6. Cut the foam to make 2 needles, one big and one small.
7. Using the attache, tack the two needles to the hole in the center of the plate.
8. Make two holes on the top of the clock.
9. String a piece of cord through the holes and tie the ends, so that the clock could be hung.
10. Tick away. Make sure you are on time!

Join the dots, Ganesha picture coloring

Materials:
Printer paper
Pencil
Colored markers
Crayons

Directions:
1. Join the dots on the picture from 1 thro' 80 with a pencil.
2. Trace the outline with a colored marker, if desired.
3. Color the picture.
4. Get creative and dress up Ganesha as you please :).

Mouse Puppet

Materials:
White card stock
Black marker
Yellow crayon
Pink crayon
Popsicle stick
Glue stick

Directions:
1. Draw the parts of the mouse on the white card stock.
2. Color the outer ears and tail, pink.
3. Color the cheese yellow.
4. Cut out the parts on the outlines.
5. Stick them together to make the mouse.
6. Stick the mouse on to the popsicle stick.
7. Scurry away! Your mouse is ready.

Ganesha Paper Bag Puppet

Materials:
Brown paper bag
2 googly eyes
yellow, red, black and white card stocks

Directions:
1. Cut the shapes of the crown on yellow, ears on the red, the trunk on the black and tusks on the white card stocks as shown in the picture.
2. On the brown paper lunch bag, use the folded base of the bag as the face and glue all the pieces on to it.
3. Stick the googly eyes and draw the eyelids with a marker.
4. Create your own designs on the crown and put ornaments of choice using marker and crayons.
5. Put the bag on to the hand and move the palm like Ganesha is talking to you!

Crow Puppet

Materials:
3 black chenille stems
1 popsicle stick
2 googly eyes
1 piece of yellow felt
3 black feathers
Glue

Directions:
1. Braid the 3 chenille stems together.
2. Make 2 pieces of the braid, one measuring a third and the other measuring two-thirds.
3. Curl both pieces of braids like a snail, to get a small circle and a bigger circle.
4. Stick the little circle on top of the popsicle stick, to be the crow's head.
5. Stick the bigger circle below that on the stick, to make it the crow's body.
6. Stick the 2 googly eyes on the head and the yellow felt triangle as the beak.
7. Cut the black feathers proportionate to the crow's size.
8. Stick two black feathers on each side and one on its head, making sure that the feather is visible behind the head.
9. The crow is ready to flit and float with your little one.

Sankranti Pot or Lamp

Materials:
Crayola Model Magic (Clay)
Gem stones
Little fingers to work with!

Directions:
1. Take approximately an ounce of the model magic compound in any color of choice.
2. Make a smooth ball using both hands.
3. With one thumb, push into the ball and make a hole.
4. Turn it around, expanding the the hole and deepening the shape.
5. When desired size is attained, pinch one point of the rim, to make room for holding the wick of the lamp.
6. To make a pot, hold the ball between the thumb and index fingers of the other hand and shape the neck of the pot and flatten the rim.
7. Continue expanding till the desired shape and size is obtained.
8. Stick the gem stones as per design.
9. Let it air dry for 5 - 6 hrs. The lamp or pot will hold its shape permanently!

Sheep Hanging Puppet

Materials:
Black card stock
Googly eyes
Cotton balls
Glue stick
Thread

Directions:
1. Cut the black card stock like the palm of a hand. (Children enjoy tracing their own hand and making the cut out).
2. Punch out 2 holes on top of the hand print and tie the thread to use as a hanger.
3. Make a small kink on the thumb of the cut out and glue it down, so that the Sheep's head will look up (as shown in the picture above).
4. The thumb will work as the head, the other 4 fingers will work as the legs.
5. Smear glue all over the palm part of the cut out.
6. Pull pieces of cotton and stick it all over to make it look like a fluffy sheep.
7. Stick the 2 googly eyes on the thumb.
8. Now the sheep is ready to bleat on your door knob or any other place you choose.

Deer Paper Bag Puppet

Materials:
Brown paper lunch bag
Big googly eyes
Red pompom
Black chenille stem piece
Red card stock
Pencil
Glue sticks
Scissors - with adult supervision

Directions:
1. Fold the card stock in two, so that a single trace and cut could be used for two antlers.
2. Trace the shape of the child's hand on one side.
3. Cut out both layers together to get the shapely antlers of the deer.
4. On the base of the paper lunch bag, stick the googly eyes, red pompom nose and the black chenille stem piece for mouth.
5. Make a small fold on the two bottom corners to give the the face a shape.
6. Stick the antlers from the back.
7. Put the hand into the paper bag and move it as if the deer is talking!

Red Hen

Materials:
Red (Hefty brand) disposable cup
2 Googly eyes
Red card stock (for wings)
Yellow pipe cleaner
Yellow beak (could color a white cut out)
Red feather
Glue dots

Directions:
1. Cut out the shape of the wings on the red card stock.
2. Cut the shape of an open beak on yellow card stock, or, cut a white paper beak and color it yellow.
3. Twist two small pieces of yellow pipe cleaners like the toes of the hen.
4. Make 2 holes by the rim of the cup to insert the feet and 1 on the base of the cup for the feather cap.
5. Insert the feet and feather in their respective spots.
6. Use the glue dots to stick the eyes, beak and wings.
7. Cluck along with your Little Red Hen :).

Rabbit Finger Puppet

Materials:
Yellow Poster board
Cotton balls
Brown construction paper
Eyes (googly or plain round)
Satin ribbon
Glue stick
Scissors (under adult supervision)

Directions:
1. Cut the poster board in the shape of a rabbit.
2. Cut the brown construction paper like a 'T' of one centimeter thickness.
3. Stick the vertical portion of the 'T' to the bottom of the rabbit, as shown in the picture.
4. Spread glue on the rabbit, including the part of the construction paper on the rabbit.
5. Pull out pieces of cotton and stick it onto the glued side of the rabbit.
6. Flip the rabbit over and repeat the previous step on that side as well.
7. Stick the eyes on both sides of the rabbit.
8. Tie the lace around its neck. (The edges of the lace can be folded and trimmed like a 'v' by cutting at an angle.)
9. Wrap the horizontal part of the construction paper 'T' around the child's finger - for size.
10. Glue the ends accordingly to make the finger holder for the puppet.
11. Now hop along with your very own bunny rabbit!

Diwali Card

Materials:

Black cardstock
Any colored cardstock or poster board for the diya
Gold or silver card for flame
Colorful stickers to decorate the card
Glue Stick
Crayola Gel pens (They work like magic on dark or black cards)
A beautiful handwriting
A colorful envelop

Directions: 1. Cut the black card to the desired size. (This one was a 8.5 x 11 inch).
2. Fold it in half.
3. The edges could be rounded if desired.
4. Stick the border on the corners of the card. (2 or 4 sides - as per choice.)
5. Cut the shape of a diya on the colored card and flame on the gold/silver card.
6. Glue them on to the front of the card.
7. Decorate the card with the stickers.
8. Use the Gel pens to draw fireworks, candles, more diyas....
9. Write the message inside, the address outside.
10. Mail it out to your family/friends.

Lakshmi Toran

Materials:

Green colored construction paper or card stock
Green wire or string
Lakshmi stickers (could print your own on address labels if desired)
Scissors (with adult supervision)
Glue stick

Directions:

1. Draw the shapes of the long mango leaves on the card stock.
2. Cut them out accordingly. Generally an odd number of leaves are put on the toran. 7 or 9 leaves would be apt.
3. Cut the string according to the desired length of the doorway.
4. Fold the top about a quarter of an inch and glue it such that the leaf hangs from the wire.
5. Stick the pictures of Godess Lakshmi on each leaf.
6. The toran is ready to begin the festivities.

Paper bag Lion puppet

Materials:
One brown paper lunch bag
One white paper plate
White card stock
Brown construction paper
Washable brown paint
Cotton ball
Black marker
Glue stick
Scissors (with adult supervision)

Directions:
1. Print the template (above) onto the white card stock directly.
2. Cut out the shapes.
3. Trace the shape of the inner ear onto the brown construction paper.
4. Stick the brown inner ears onto the white outer ears.
5. Put a blob of brown paint onto the plate.
6. Use the cotton ball to spread the paint to cover the inner circle of the plate.
7. Smear the outer circle of the plate lightly with the cotton ball so it gives the appearance of the mane of the Lion.
8. While the paint is drying, prepare the face of the lion on the brown bag by sticking the eyes, nose, ears and teeth.
9. Draw the nose and whisker spots with the black marker.
10. Fold the painted plate in half.
11. Make a slit in the middle of the plate as shown in the picture.
12. Push in the prepared brown bag (from the bottom end of the bag) into this slit.
13. Glue the paper bag to the plate on the back if required (it may not be).
14. You have your own paper bag Lion puppet to roar with!