This year at BestStart Melling our Diwali event was a hit. We invited our whānau to come and join us in our Diwali fun.
Diwali, also called Deepavali, is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions. It symbolises the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance".
Each room had prepared two activities for the whānau and children to do together. From making diyas (lamps), face painting, henna art , salt rangoli art and creating lanterns - the parents and children had endless fun in seeing the different elements used to celebrate the Indian festival. While the whānau enjoyed the yummy Indian cuisine, we needed the evening with a Diwali dance which was learnt by all our preschool children.
After this wonderful performance the teachers had a wonderful surprise as well. Our team dressed up in different traditional wear and did a fashion show for all the parents. They showed all the whānau the endless cultural costumes people wear during Diwali. It was great to see Diwali such a success and it was an awesome event to bring the whole BestStart Melling whānau together.