Guru Nanak Jayanti with children: simple ways to celebrate and learn at home
Guru Nanak Jayanti – also called Gurpurab or Prakash Purab – marks the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. It falls on the full moon of the month of Kartik, which this year is Tuesday, 24 November. Whether your family is Sikh or not, it is a lovely festival to share with children, because its message is easy for even a four-year-old to understand: share what you have, work honestly and treat everyone as equal.
Here are simple ideas for Nursery to Class 3 children. Choose the ones that suit your child's age and your week.
1. Tell one short story
Small children remember stories, not dates. A favourite is the story of the "true bargain" (Sacha Sauda). When Nanak was a young boy, his father gave him twenty rupees and asked him to go to the market and make a good deal. On the way, Nanak met a group of hungry holy men. He spent all the money on food for them and came home empty-handed. When his father was angry, Nanak said that feeding hungry people was the truest bargain of all.
After the story, ask one or two questions: "What would you buy with twenty rupees?" "Why do you think Nanak gave the food away?" There is no wrong answer – the aim is to get your child talking.
2. Prepare for a gurdwara visit
Gurdwaras welcome everyone, and Gurpurab is a beautiful day to visit. Children feel more at ease if they know what to expect, so tell them a day before:
- We take off our shoes and wash our hands before going in.
- Everyone covers their head – a scarf, dupatta or rumaal is fine, and most gurdwaras keep spare head coverings.
- We sit quietly on the floor and listen to the kirtan (holy songs).
- In the langar hall, everyone sits together in rows and eats the same simple food. Nobody is more important than anyone else.
Many gurdwaras also hold early-morning prabhat pheris and a nagar kirtan procession in the days before Gurpurab. If one passes near your home, step out with your child to watch and listen.
3. Do a little seva at home
Langar is run by volunteers who cook, serve and wash up – this selfless service is called seva. Children love being given a real job. Let your UKG child put rotis in the box, your Class 1 child lay out plates, or your Class 3 child help knead a little dough. Another idea: sort out clothes and toys that are too small and give them to someone who needs them. Talk about how this is sharing, just like Guru Nanak Dev Ji taught.
4. Count, draw and colour
Festival things are perfect for maths. Count the diyas on the shelf, the marigold flowers in a garland or the ladoos on a plate. Our Gurpurab Counting sheet for LKG has diyas, candles, marigolds, ladoos, rotis and bowls of halwa to count from 5 to 10. For UKG, Gurpurab Drawing – Draw a Diya shows how to draw a diya in four easy steps, then children trace, colour and draw one of their own.
If you light real diyas and candles in the evening, let your child help arrange them – but an adult should light them, and keep dupattas, curtains and paper decorations well away from the flames.
5. Read and talk about the day
For Class 2, the Gurpurab Reading Comprehension sheet tells the story of Simran and her brother Jaspreet at the gurdwara, with true-or-false sentences and short questions to answer. Let your child read it aloud first, and help with words like kirtan, langar and karah prasad.
Class 3 children can practise Hindi at the same time. After the gurdwara visit, ask them to describe the langar with one word each – गरम रोटी, गाढ़ी दाल, मीठा कड़ाह प्रसाद. Those describing words are विशेषण, and our विशेषण अभ्यास - 1 sheet gives more practice with pictures and sentences.
6. Keep the message simple
Guru Nanak Dev Ji's teachings are often summed up in three ideas: remember God (Naam Japna), earn an honest living (Kirat Karni) and share with others (Vand Chhakna). For a young child, you can put it even more simply: be honest, work hard and share. Over the week, notice and praise every time your child shares a toy, helps a friend or tells the truth. That is the best way to make the festival mean something – long after the diyas are put away.