Roots & Rituals: A Family Journey Celebrating Kwanzaa

Age7-18
The Kwanzaa season is a time for Black families to celebrate heritage, culture, community, and each other. This book provides family centered activities for each day of Kwanzaa. Activities focus on Afrocentric principles and engage families towards exploring their roots, strengthening bonds, and carrying forward culturally centered traditions. Themes include honoring ancestors, cultural pride, setting goals, unity/community building, creativity, and problem-solving.

There is one pre-Kwanzaa chapter, and seven chapters with one or two activities for each day of Kwanzaa. Activities are written for children, youth and adults to participate. Children/youth aged 10 and older will be able to more fully participate. Younger children can also join in with extra guidance and support. Activities are presented in a set order to build upon ideas in previous chapters.

The activities draw from the author's decades of experience as an educator and expert in Child and Adolescent Development, with a focus on African American children, youth, and families. The activities are grounded in Dr. Grier’s extensive and diverse experiences working with and advocating for families, children, and youth. As such, the book is written to build upon the enduring values that Kwanzaa celebrates, and help families nurture unity year-round.

There are visuals throughout to make activities memorable and eventful. Included in the book is a Google Docs link where you can access, download, and print activity related visuals that are pictured. Alternatively, you can use the QR code that provides access to Google Docs. The Google Docs link also includes coloring pages for your enjoyment, and to keep younger children engaged.