Whanganui preschool celebrates Diwali with week of activities

Clockwise from top are Ramjeet Kaur, Nitisha Saraswat, Deepika and Neeti Gautam henna painting little hands at Wanganui Montessori Pre-School. Photo / Bevan Conley

Children and teachers at Whanganui Montessori Preschool have been celebrating the festival of Diwali.

"I read that the first day of Diwali is often spent cleaning," head teacher Fiona Penn said.

"We decided to start the week off that way too and the children were really good."

Throughout the week, children made rangoli patterns, laddu sweets and Diya lanterns and did traditional dancing.

On Friday, four of the pre-school mothers spent the morning painting mehndi designs with henna on children's hands.

"We wanted to celebrate Diwali, our Indian families and the cultural diversity of Whanganui," Penn said.

Diwali, or Deepavali, is an ancient Indian festival also known as The Festival of Lights that is celebrated over four or five days each spring in New Zealand.

The religious festival's annual dates are decided by the lunar calendar and this year it coincided with Labour Weekend.