This month at the Discovery Museum, in addition to Christmas, we’ll also be celebrating Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.
Celebrated annually Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, Kwanzaa is the world’s fastest growing holiday, with more than 20 million celebrants worldwide.
Kwanzaa is meant to connect African American people with their African roots and give them time to focus on Nguzo Saba—“The Seven Principles” of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. The kinara and its seven candles, which are lit throughout the week, symbolize these principles.
At the Dec. 9 Tuesday Tales, we’ll read Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story about seven bickering brothers who must learn to make gold from seven spools of thread or be turned out as beggars.
At the Dec. 10 Preschool Patrol, we’ll make Kwanzaa necklaces and learn about the kinara and the seven principles. Then at Passport Thursday, Dec. 11, we’ll travel to Ghana to celebrate Kwanzaa together!
After celebrating Kwanzaa, we’ll move on to celebrating Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Dedication, an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple. This year, Hanukkah is celebrated Dec. 16 through 24. The symbol of Hanukkah is the menorah and its nine candles, eight of which are lit each night of the festival.
The activities for that week include reading Potato Pancakes All Around for Tuesday Tales (Dec. 16), making paper plate menorahs at Preschool Patrol (Dec. 17), and traveling to Ukraine on Passport Thursday (Dec. 18).
The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum is at 705 S. McClelland St. in Santa Maria. We are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
Amy Blasco, program director for the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum, wrote this week’s Discovery Corner, a weekly column in the Sun highlighting events, science activities, and more. Send comments to discoverycorner@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 4-11, 2014.