Tressie
Hey Artists!
Did you know that today is Multicultural Children’s Book Day? It’s a day to bring attention to all of the amazing children’s books available that celebrate diversity. One of today’s book review + craft was inspired by Come Celebrate Onam With Me! by Shoumi Sen.
Find out more about MCBD and how you can get involved at https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/.
Shoumi Sen is the creator of “From The Toddler Diaries”, a series of children’s books on Indian culture and mythology. ‘From The Toddler Diaries’ began as a series of poems that Shoumi wrote for her daughter. This collection was the life of several bedtime story sessions and play dates with friends. Inspired by this interest among kids and encouraged by their parents, she decided to publish the collection.
*I received a copy of Come Celebrate Onam With Me! book free in exchange for offering an honest review.
Now it’s craft time! After reading Come Celebrate Onam With Me, I wanted to create a craft that reflected the beauty of the Pookalam designs.
“A pookalam (Poo=flower, kalam=artwork) is an intricate, colorful arrangement of flowers on the floor. During Onam, families decorate the entrances of their homes with beautiful pookalams to welcome King Mahabali.” – Shoumi Sen
I have also included a matching coloring sheet for younger kiddos that may find this craft too challenging. Click the buttons below to download this FREE Pookalam Papercraft and coloring sheets.
Gather your materials. Click on the green button above to print out the Pookalam papercraft sheets in the image below. Cardstock paper is best for this craft but copy paper will work too. I purchased pre-cut tissue squares from Hobby Lobby.
Click here to purchase tissue squares through Hobby Lobby
Print out an extra copy of the Pookalam design on copy paper. This will serve as a color guide as you start gluing the tissue paper down on the cardstock. Take note of the different colors of tissue papers that you have. Color your flower design based on those colors. Cut it out when finished (optional).
Get the first color of tissue paper you'll use in the center of the design. Pinch the piece of tissue paper between your fingers to make the paper come to a point. Add glue to the first circle and press 3 pinched tissue papers to the middle of the design. View the slideshow below for examples.
In the next row, add glue little by little and add tissue paper until you go around the whole circle. I used 9 tissue papers. View the slideshow below for examples.
The next several rows will get more complicated, but that all depends on you! You can either follow your color guide completely, or you can adjust those colors and placements as you go to make it easier to apply more and more papers. Let your artistic voice guide you. 😉 I used 2 yellow and 3 blue tissue papers for the petal and 2 green papers between the petals on the design.
In this row, I started making adjustments because the flower was covering some of the design. I skipped a row in my color template and adjusted it by adding 1 white and 3 yellow tissue papers for the inner petal and 6 red papers for the outer petal. View the slideshow below for examples.
Here I used 3 pink tissue papers for the flower designs and 5 blues papers for the outer arch. View the slideshow below for examples.
I changed the pattern here to incorporate more colors. I used 2 white, 3 pink, 3 red, 2 yellow, and 3 pink tissue papers as a repeated pattern. View the slideshow below to see the progression.
First, if you haven't already, cut out the circle so you won't accidentally cut tissue paper in this final row. I used 3 greens, 2 white, and 1 blue tissue paper as a pattern all the way around the circle. When you've finished, gently smooth down the tissue papers down towards the edge of the circle. View the slideshow below to see the progression.
Great job! Show off your Pookalam art!
#ReadYourWorld #Saturdaycrafts #ShoumiSen #kidsbookreview #kidscrafts #papercrafts #subscriptionbox #crafttutorial #blackownedcrafts #entrepreneurmom #entrepreneurwomen #mommyandkids
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators.
Eight years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.
MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!
FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com)
Platinum Sponsors: Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 50+ Languages, Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media
Gold Sponsors: Barefoot Books, Candlewick Press, Capstone, Hoopoe Books, KidLitTV, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.
Silver Sponsors: Charlotte Riggle, Connecticut Association of School Librarians, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Pack-N-Go Girls
Bronze Sponsors: Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED!, Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press, My Well Read Child
MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!
Poster Artist: Nat Iwata
Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell , Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author Diana Huang & Intrepids, Author Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club, Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Natalie Murray, Natalie McDonald-Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams-Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series
MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!
MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by these Media Partners!
Check out MCBD’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!
FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents
Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit
FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program
TWITTER PARTY! Register here!
Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party!
This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.
We will be giving away an 8-Book Bundle every 5 minutes plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **
Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. See you all very soon on Twitter!
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.
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