5 Pongal related activities you can enjoy with your toddler

The festival dates back to the Sangam period and is known as the "Dravidian Harvest Festival." However, other historians believe that this festival dates back at least 2,000 years. It was known as Thai Niradal.

According to folklore, unmarried girls prayed for the agricultural success of the country during this festive season, and for this goal, they performed penance during the Tamil month of Margazhi. Throughout the month, they avoided drinking milk and milk products and did not grease their hair. They absolutely prohibit the use of abusive phrases. A ceremonial bath in the early morning is part of the atonement process.

When exactly is Pongal 2023? Date Is Here

The Pongal festival will be held on January 15, 2023, according to the Gregorian calendar. It is a four-day event. As a result, it will be observed from January 15 to January 18, 2023.

With the festive season of Pongal around the corner, today we give you Montessori inspired activities that you can do with your toddler at home.

1. Learning numbers with kites: Cut out cardboard into 10 small kite shapes. Write down the numbers 1 to 10 in the kites. Hand over a basket full of clothespins or clips to your little one. The activity is to put the right number of clips on each kite. Pressing the clip and attaching it to the kite helps developing motor skills.

2. Alphabet making: Take an A3 size paper and write the word “PONGAL” on it as large as possible. Hand over pebbles or pompoms and ask her to fill up the alphabets using them.

3. Learning about the agricultural process: Pongal is celebrated to thank mother nature for a bountiful crop. It is a good time to introduce your munchkin to the process of growing crops. Take an A4 sheet and draw out 4 pictures, one each related to sowing, irrigation, fertilizing and harvesting. On another A4 sheet, make the same pictures again. Cut out the 4 pictures on one of the sheets, and get your little one to sort and match them to the pictures in the other one. While sorting talk about each of the activities.

4. Scooping: Make a mixture of til and jaggery. Get your baby to scoop out laddoos and put one in each cavity of an ice cube tray.

5. Farming:  Make an activity tray with a toy cow, brush, small cup of water and cloth, kumkum and some decorations. Let your child bathe the cow with the brush and water, wipe it clean and decorate it using small trinkets and apply kumkum on it.

Hope you have fun doing these activities with your toddler.

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