4 family friendly Kwanzaa traditions

If you want to learn about ways to celebrate Kwanzaa with your family, check out these four family friendly traditions.

Kwanzaa is a harvest holiday that originated in Africa and is now celebrated across the world.

• Not only is it a traditional winter holiday celebrating the Earth, but it is also an opportunity for friends and family to get together and be festive.
• Kwanzaa lasts for seven days, and there are many traditions to help bring families together during the celebratory time.

Part of the Kwanzaa holiday is celebrating the harvest and the food you can grow from the earth.

• Because of this, it's custom to have a large feast with family and friends on the sixth day of the holiday.
• People often cook autumnal fruits and vegetables and invite large groups of friends, family and neighbours to enjoy the meal. After the feast, many families enjoy traditional music and dancing.

The gift exchange tradition of Kwanzaa is different from Christmas or Hanukkah in that the holiday calls for the exchange of handmade gifts.

• Since the holiday is about hard work and creativity, many people choose to do a homemade gift exchange with their family members.
• Make a gift that suits each family member, then exchange them during the holiday. The result will not only be a personalized gift exchange, but also one that allows people to exercise their creative muscles.

Kwanzaa has seven associated values or concepts: unity, self-determination, collective work, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

• Families light a candle each night of Kwanzaa, and it is a tradition for each member of the family to talk about how the holiday's principle of the day affected their life that day. Take turns talking each day about what that day's principle means and how it appeared in your daily routine.

Kwanzaa not only has principles associated with it, but also symbols, and it's traditional for families to sit around and discuss what each of the symbols mean.

• The symbols include the mat, the unity cup, fruits and vegetables, the candle holder, the seven candles, corn and gifts.
• Families can take a bit of time each day to understand what each symbol means and why it is in the home.
• Some families have each child research a symbol and report back to their families what it means and why it's important.