Skip to main content

Learning About India- Activities and Resources

The most recent country we studied as part of our world geography unit was India. We had so much fun learning about the amazing wildlife there, making rangoli style sand art, making Indian doughnuts, and much more. Keep reading for lots of fun activity ideas and resources for learning about India with your kids or students.


#thebarefootmom

Basic Information:

India is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the south. 

India is a geographically diverse country. The far northern region is mountainous. There are deserts in the western region, forested areas in the north and along the coast, and rolling hills and plains in the south. Climate varies depending on region, from tropical in the south and temperate in the north.

Capital- New Delhi

Population- 1.37 billion

Size- 1269345.6 square miles 

Currency- rupee 

Type of Government- federal republic

National Anthem- Jana Gana Mana

National Animal- Bengal Tiger

National Bird- Peacock

Flag-


Famous Monuments and Places:

Taj Mahal

Photo by Sudipta Mondal from Pexels

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum that was commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 to house the body of his wife. It sits on the bank of the river Yamuna in the city Agra. 

To learn about the Taj Mahal, check out this video from FreeSchool: The Story of the Taj Mahal for Kids.

Amber Palace

Photo by Parv Choudhary from Pexels

The Amber Palace, also known as Amber Fort or Amer Fort, is a 16th century palace known for it's unique mixture of Muslim and Hindu style architecture. It is one of India's most popular tourist attractions. 

You can take a quick virtual tour with this video from The Indian Travel Diaries: Things to See Inside Amber Fort.

Ranthambore National Park

Photo by Robert Stokoe from Pexels


Ranthambore National Park is a national park in northern India. It is mainly deciduous forest and is home to many animals including Bengal tigers, leopards, sloth bears, crocodiles, and striped hyenas.

You can check out the park and some of it's amazing wildlife with this video: Splendors of Ranthombore National Park, India.


Animals of India:

India is home to wide variety of animals including Bengal Tigers, Asiatic Lions, Asian Elephants, Indian Rhinos, peacocks, river dolphins, leopards and much more. Check out these resources to learn more about the animals of India:

-Wildlife of India- National Parks in India Video

-Wildlife in India from Thrillopedia


Recipes:

I couldn't talk my kids into trying anything with curry, so we made a variation on an Indian dessert called Gulab Jamon. They're similar to donuts and they're delicious. We used this recipe from The Spruce Eats: Gulab Jamon. We tweaked the recipe a little though because I couldn't get my hands on any rose water for the glaze, so we just rolled ours in sugar and a little cardamom powder after frying them. 

 

Here are a few other recipes to try:

-Sesame Naan Bread

-Beef Curry

-Butter Chicken


Crafts:

Handprint Peacocks

The Indian Peacock is the National bird of India. It is a common symbol in Indian art. 

For this craft you will need:

-blue washable paint

-blue, green, yellow, and black markers

-a piece of white paper

Paint one hand with the blue paint and make a hand print with fingers spread in the center of the white piece of paper. Then set it aside until the paint is completely dry.

Use the markers to make the thumb into the peacocks head by making an eye, a beak, and crown feathers. Draw a wing on the palm. Make the fingers into feathers. Add legs and feet at the bottom.



Rangoli Style Sand Art

Rangoli is an art form that originated and is still popular in India. Patterns are created on the floor or other surfaces using materials like colored rice, colored sand, and flower petals. Rangoli are often made for special occasions such as weddings and religious holidays, and are believed to bring good luck. 

You can learn more about rangoli here:

-Importance of Rangoli

Or watch a rangoli being made here:

-2 Easy Rangoli

Supplies you will need for this craft:

-a white sheet of paper

-glue

-salt or sand

-food coloring

-ziplock bags

You can either design your own pattern on your sheet of paper, trace something out of a coloring book, or print a design. For our rangoli craft we traced some mandala like coloring sheets out of a coloring book. You can find printable rangoli pages here.

Pour about a half a cup of salt or sand into a ziplock bag and add a few drops of food coloring. Shake the bag until the color is evenly dispersed. Do this for each color you want to use on your rangoli. 

Fill in your design one color at a time using the glue and the sand. Then set it aside to dry.


Additional Resources:

-India Country Profile from National Geographic Kids has lots of general information about India written specifically for kids. It also has some great photos to check out.

-India for Kids from Kids World Travel Guide has lots of interesting facts and cool photos.

-India- Taj Mahal learn more about the Taj Mahal with this video from the National Geographic Kids video series Are We There Yet?

-India Facts for Kids this short video from Junior Jetsetters has some fun facts about India for kids.


If you enjoyed this post, check out some of the other countries we've learned about this year:

-Russia

-Greece

-Norway

-The U.K.

-Germany

-France


Follow me on:

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo...
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill ...
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -sever...
5 comments
Read more