Discover great ways to celebrate Kwanzaa this year. Below are activities, recipes, and crafts you can do with the ones you love. Get ready for seven great nights of celebration!  

Kwanzaa Activities 

Dance, decorate, and explore with these fun Kwanzaa activities.  

• It’s time to dance! Look up traditional African dances and learn them together as a family. If you can’t be together in person, set up a virtual party with friends or family and dance together.  
• Spend time together learning about Kwanzaa history traditions. 
• Make an unforgettable Kwanzaa tabletop decoration. Place fruit in a basket on the table to represent the beautiful harvest and add a pop of color to the table. Some things you can incorporate to add a mix of texture are straw mats, ears of corn, and of course the zawadi for the last night. Make beaded napkin rings using red, black, and green beads on a wire and simply wrap them around the middle.  
• Break out some of the zawadi from previous years and play games together as a family. 

Kwanzaa Crafts 

 Check out fun craft ideas to get you ready for Kwanzaa.  

• Make a handprint kinara by painting the palm of your left-hand gold, your middle, ring, and little finger red, and your index finger black. Place your hand onto a piece of paper. Then paint the palm of your right-hand hold gold, your middle, ring and little finger green and your index finger black. Place your hand on the paper overlapping the index finger where the other index fingerprint was previously placed. Then dip one of your fingertips into yellow paint and place your print at the top of each candle on the paper to look like they are lit.  
• Buy air dry clay to shape and make your very own kinara. Mold yellow or brown clay into a rectangle and before it dries use the bottom of candles and push them into the clay so when it dries you can pop the candles in easily.   
• Make flower vases that will brighten up the table. Take an old glass and cut corn husks to match the height of the glass. Then simply glue the corn husks to the outside of the glass and trim any overlap on the top. Then take a paint brush and paint a red, black, and green stripe around the side. All that’s left is to place beautiful flowers in it!  
• Learn how to make a clay necklace using traditional Kwanzaa colors.  
• Create bright and colorful tie-dye items using red, black, and green! 

Kwanzaa Recipes 

Here are some delicious recipes that will have your mouth watering.  

• Check out these festive recipe ideas for Kwanzaa. 
• Try these yummy and healthy Kwanzaa recipes. 
• Taste this incredible African peanut soup. 
• Winner winner chicken dinner, soul-smothered chicken.
• Make scrumptious cookies of your choosing and use traditional Kwanzaa colors to decorate them. If you don’t have a piping bag, put the icing in a plastic bag and cut a tiny tip off one of the corners.  
• These benne wafers will have you grinning from ear to ear.  

Ways to Give Back 

Help others and learn how you can make a difference in your local community.  

• Collect books to donate to those less fortunate.  
• Create gifts for those who won’t be able to afford their own this year. You can spend time together as a family making beaded jewelry and baskets.   
• Cook and bake a few of the delicious recipes above and bring the meals to an elderly neighbor.