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Join us as we journey to the incredible country of India! During this virtual tour of India for kids, we’ll enjoy fun and inspiring India activities. This India virtual field trip is a perfect way to explore and also serve the world right from home during this holiday season!
You can find the full list of countries for the global children’s advent right HERE. Be sure to sign up for the email list to get all the information in advance and to receive fun extras!
This India virtual tour contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but doesn’t change your price.
Akshaya Patra manages a school lunch program for children in India. It provides lunch for children dealing with food insecurity who may not have food to bring from home, or who may not be able to fulfill educational aspirations due to hunger. Their hope is that no child in India will be deprived of education due to hunger by providing at least one wholesome meal per day.
Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth by Sanjay Patel (Author), Emily Haynes (Author)
There is no national language in India. The official language of the Union is Hindi (note: Hindi is the language, Hindu is the religion), and the official government language is English. States can choose their own languages. There are about 780 languages spoken in India!
Color in India on this map of Asia!
Flag from HERE
HERE is a fun printable India flag coloring sheet!
The Taj Mahal is a beautiful and famous white mausoleum, or tomb, built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The whole thing is made out of white marble! She died while giving birth to one of their children and he eventually was laid to rest next to her.
Mohandas, or Mahatma, Gandhi helped lead India to independence from Great Britain. He was a proponent of nonviolent methods and inspired nonviolent movements for civil rights all across the world.
Gandhi was a devout Hindu and also was a trained lawyer. He lived in South Africa for over 20 years and learned about nonviolent resistance there. Gandhi did a great deal to help with poverty in India, and also supported women’s rights. He also ended sanctioning a group of untouchables, or people who were separated from society due to their background.
Gandhi’s birthday is a national holiday in India and is celebrated on October 2nd. It is also recognized around the world as the International Day of Nonviolence.
Ravi Shankar was an Indian classical musician. He also wrote a great deal of Hindustani classical music. In addition to writing music, he was one of the most famous sitar players of the 20th century. He also often played with tabla players, a type of Indian drum.
Ravi started out in the arts as a dancer and toured Europe while dancing. But he soon gave up dancing to take sitar lessons. After completing his studies and working as a composer for a short period, he began to tour Europe and the Americas as a musician. He relied heavily on Carnatic music influences, a style of Indian classical music, especially from Southern India.
Ravi was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honor in India.
Art in India is very old! It dates back to before recorded history. In fact, the oldest art currently known in the world was discovered in India in 1957.
Ancient petroglyphs weren’t just used to make a place beautiful. Instead, they were used to share ideas and messages. They used ancient symbols that are different than our own, but they may have shared similar ideas.
Discuss what different symbols mean in your family or culture. For instance, if you included a sun or a baseball bat, what would that mean?
Imagine you’d like to send a secret message to a friend or family member. What would you draw on your rock to send your message?
After discussing the symbols, create a few different rock art images. You may like to paint them, as well. Pass them around and see if others can figure out what they mean!
REFERENCE for doing a petroglyph activity with kids
Consider celebrating Holi with your family. It’s surprisingly inexpensive and really fun – here’s where you can purchase Holi powder yourself!
Coloring page from HERE
Cricket and badminton are popular in India. Here’s a simple badminton set if you’d like to play on your own. It’s a perfect backyard activity!
The earliest known predecessor of chess was probably invented in India. If you’ve never played before, it’s a perfect time to try out this Indian game!
Dance is also very popular in India. A couple of popular dance forms are Bollywood and Bhangra. Bollywood dance is typically used in that style of movie. Bhangra is a very active dance form with lots of shoulder and leg movement. Here’s a fun video to learn some bhangra steps!
If you’re looking for some other ideas for Indian games and activities, here are a few simple and fun ones:
There are many different kinds of music in India! Bollywood, or Indian romantic film, music is popular and catchy. Bhajans are used for prayers. Carnatic music is a type of classical music featuring the veena instrument. There are many more!
Indian food tends to be heavily spiced with chili, cumin, coriander, and more. A food that is flavored with a mix of spices is called a curry. Indians traditionally eat with their right hand, but many now use western utensils. If you don’t feel up to making a whole recipe, consider just smelling a few of the common Indian spices you may have in your cupboard! Many grocery stores also have frozen Indian entrees and naan bread, or you could visit a local Indian restaurant.
Here are some of our favorite kid friendly Indian food recipes!
Hindus consider cows sacred. Because of this, they often wander in the streets in India and no one stops them! Some parts of India also ban beef for this reason.
It is also very common to see monkeys in India.
India also has a number of endangered animal species.
After having all this fun, consider planning a virtual or real trip. What sites or cities would you visit? What food would you eat? Here’s a list of 7 reasons to visit India with kids.
We’ve loved putting together this resource to virtually visit Ecuador. We’d love to hear if you do any of these activities for a homeschooling India unit, or if you visit in person!
We hope to inspire curiosity and connection through exploring and learning, and we hope this guide helps you and your families. Please share any activities you do with us over on our Instagram. And we’d be delighted if you passed this India for kids virtual tour and homeschooling resource along to others, as well!
