The arrival of spring and the banishment of winter is celebrated around the world for a multitude of different reasons. From the colorful and vibrant Holi festivals celebrated throughout most of South Asia to Easter festivities taking place around the globe and the celebrations of the spring equinox in many countries, spring is a time of excitement and revival. These are some of the most loved and adored celebrations for both kids and adults worldwide.
Many of these traditions place a heavy emphasis on renewal and rebirth, which coincides with the reawakening of the land after a long slumber. For Easter, these celebrations include traditional Easter egg hunts, with food such as eggs, hot cross buns and much more. In Bosnia, Cimburijada (Festival of Scrambled Eggs) also highlights eggs, but they are served on the banks of the river and shared with friends and family. For South Asia, Holi is widely celebrated and is considered one of the most important spring celebrations, geared towards kids and adults alike.
Significance of Holi
Holi is important to many cultures and is celebrated widely for more than just the fun of throwing water and colored powder all over each other. Today, Holi is a time that focuses on starting fresh, forgiving past wrongs and debts, leaving your errors in the past and starting with a blank slate. Its roots run deep and are tied to the Legends of Lord Krishna, particularly the victories of good over evil and is celebrated for a whole day and night.
Holi and Colors
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna made Rhada accept his love and afterwards playfully applied red and pink Gulaal to her face, showcasing how he felt with the bright colors he had chosen. This is the beginning of the use of Gulaal and the reason why so many people still share this tradition today.
Holi flowers of the brightest assortment are also often chosen as gifts because of their ability to convey how people feel with their brilliant and striking colors. This use of color is what makes Holi known as the “most colorful festival in the world” and is a great way to help kids and adults share how they feel about each other in a fun and exciting way.
Holi and Gift Gifting
When people think of Holi, they think of two things: colors and gifts. Gifts are as important to Holi as the Gulaal you throw on your friends and family. These gifts can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and can be everything from dried fruits and chocolates (a family favorite) to Holi color packs (another favorite) and wall hangings. These come in gift hampers, individually wrapped, or thrown at you in the form of colorful powders, all to share love and affection with those you care for.
These gifts are more than tokens of appreciation and love. They are meant to highlight the spirit of the festival and bring to attention how much you value the relationships you have in your life, from parents, siblings, friends, extended family and more.
Our Holi Gift Ideas
Since gifts play such an important role in celebrating Holi, we have compiled a list of some of the most common, exciting, and playful gifts that you can give to your loved ones and friends as you celebrate the most colorful celebration in the world. What are the best gift ideas for toddlers and children when celebrating Holi?
Dry Fruits Gift Set
Dry fruit gifts sets are a staple of Holi gift-giving traditions and for good reason. Filled with delicious cashews, raisins, pistachios, almonds, dates, peanuts, and walnuts, they are a hit at any Holi gathering. A delicious mix of sweet and salty treats helps fuel the fun and are always welcome in any home enjoying Holi.
Healthy Treats
Healthy treats make some of the best Holi gifts for children and adults, especially because there are so many great options to choose from. Even better than the healthy treats themselves is the fact that you can customize each and every box of treats to have the recipient's favorite snacks. This is another way that you can show how much you care for and respect the person you are giving your gift to.
Holi Gift Box
Holi gift boxes make the day and night’s festivities even more fun by giving your friends and family baskets of goodie to enjoy. What can you put in these Holi hampers? You will often find gifts like pichkaris, vibrant Holi colors, Holi flowers and much more. They can also be ordered from India directly picked up from your local Indian store. Hampers like this can be small to very large and be decorated with beautiful colors, letting the whole world know that Holi celebrations are happening!
Natural and Organic Gulaal
Today, bright, vibrant colors are often associated with dyes and chemicals. Understandably, when you are having a great time dousing each other in coloured powder and water, you don't want to be doing that with synthetics and dyes. That is why using organic, natural gulaal is the only way to celebrate. This gulaal is biodegradable, non-toxic and is made from plants and plant extracts, making it safe to use. Gifting organic gulaal is a great way to encourage healthy and exciting celebrations for anyone you give it to, whether that be clients, employees, friends, or family.
Green Tea
Tea has long been a favorite choice of gift for those celebrating Holi. Tea comes in a wide array of gorgeous colors that tie in with the colored theme and green tea in particular is a favorite, due to its rich flavor, bright color and cherished place in Indian culture. Tea bundles are a healthy option that reminds people of the spring harvest, as this is when green tea leaves are harvested.
Holi Gift Ideas for Children
Adults celebrate and have a great time during Holi but if there was ever a celebration that was fit for kids, it's Holi. Throwing colored water and powder, delicious snacks and a whole day and night of excitement and fun? Sounds like a great time! What are some great gifts for children during Holi festivities?
Holi Craft Kit
Kids love to craft and use bright colors to express themselves. That is why Holi craft kits are as popular as they are. Paint brushes, color packets, special foam cut-outs and more are all part of the crafting fun. Foam cut-outs of notable figures in Indian culture are built, splash cards are decorated with gulaal, Holi coloring pages are colored and even more fun can come from each and every Holi craft kit.
Storybooks About Color
A festival of color with gifts for kids wouldn't be complete without books! Kids storybooks use colors to convey all sorts of points about the characters and the tone of the story, such as in The Caterpillar and in The Purple Crayon.
Cali’s Books has color and sound books that use both colors and sounds to help entertain and educate at the same time, making them a perfect gift for Holi. Kids will be pleasantly entertained and amazed by the sound and color books from Cali’s Books.
Eco-friendly Water Balloons
If you are going to be throwing colored water and gulaal, you can be sure that balloons are going to make in into the mix. When using water balloons this Holi, make sure to use eco-friendly balloons that are designed to biodegrade, allowing you to have the best water balloon-filled, Holi celebration of your life without hurting the environment. And remember, always make sure to focus on safety when using balloons, ensuring that kids are putting them in their mouths and other potentially dangerous activities.
Holi-themed Puzzles
Puzzles are another fun and engaging way to incorporate Holi imagery and themes in a way that kids enjoy. Puzzles can be everything from actual jigsaw puzzles to word search and crossword games and color matching (perhaps with some gulaal throwing!) games to keep kids occupied.
Holi T-shirts
Some of the best memories from Holi come from dousing your loved ones in bright, colored powder and water. Thankfully, these colors wash out but one great way to commemorate the festival is to give shirts that are designed in the manner and with the colors of Holi. Kids can wear shirts that make it look like they have been throwing gulaal at each other all day, any time of the year with these wonderful shirts.
Colorful Sunglasses
Sunglasses are an especially useful gift since they can be used all year round, regardless of the weather. Of course, in Holi fashion, ideally, they would be as colorful as the rest of the celebration and in a style that suits the person. Everything from horn-rimmed glasses to oversized frames and lenses is suitable, as long as you take into account the person's face and features. Make sure that you choose the right width of glasses for the person you are buying a gift for and that the lens size isn’t too big, providing a great fit for a stylish pair of glasses.
Holi Gift Ideas: The Bets Guide to Holi Gifts for Kids and Adults
These Holi gift ideas should give you everything you need to give the best possible gifts to your family, friends, and kids while keeping in line with the spirit of Holi. Some Holi gifts are dual-purpose, like sound and color books, Holi shirts and sunglasses, and others are delicious like the assorted Holi snack trays.
Adults and children will need different gifts but by considering the history of the holiday, the type of person that is getting the gift and how you want to respect your relationship, you will ensure that you get the most suitable and most exciting gift, every time.