Discussion

Discuss with students the traditions they observe for holidays or special occasions.

Are there any unique activities or traditions observed by the student’s family?

      What are the student’s favourite parts of these traditions?

Invite students who celebrate Diwali to share some of the activities that are meaningful to them that are connected with this important part of their culture.

Read aloud the lyrics of Celebrate Diwali

• Discuss the four activities that are presented in the lyrics (one per verse).
• Do any of the students take part in these same kinds of activities even if they celebrate a different holiday that is not Diwali?

Add instruments

Add instruments to the performance of Celebrate Diwali.

Choose an instrument to play every time you sing the word celebrate.

Use a triangle, finger cymbal, vibraslap or other similar instrument.

Choose another word in the song. Add a different instrument to be played on this word.

Play the different instruments on one selected word per verse, or use a combination of all the different instruments playing all of the selected words. Make a musical decision regarding how you will add the instruments to your performance.  

• Is it too busy to include all the instruments in every verse?
• What words do you want to accent by adding an instrument?

Be sure that the instruments do not detract from the most important part of the song – the singing!

Performance suggestion

Add scarves to the performance for visual interest.

Have students wave their scarves every time they sing, “Celebrate Diwali”.

Two scarf options: 

1. For the final verse have students gently throw their scarves into the air and let them fall to the ground (without interfering with their descent!) to simulate the fireworks.
2. Divide the class into three groups. Have one group throw their scarves the first time “fireworks” is sung. The second group will wait until the second time “fireworks” is sung. The third group will throw their scarves on the final beat of the song.

The voice of experience when dealing with falling scarves. This works best if all students know that they are NOT to impede the falling scarves, and to let them lie where they fall. At the end of the song, a designated scarf collector can quickly manage the scattered scarves more safely than to have a scrambling group of children trying to accomplish that task!