We reviewed Gandhi for Kids: His Life and Ideas, with 21 Activities (For Kids series) by Ellen Mahoney.

I’ve long been a fan of Gandhi and his philosophy.

In light of recent world events and tension in the USA, we’ve been studying peace-keeping and cooperation.

The book offers lovely illustrations, maps, images, and the history of Gandhi.

There are 8 sections that follow his life chronologically, including famous world figures, a timeline, and pronunciation glossary.

There are 21 learning activities such as recipes, poetry, anti-bullying, public speaking, and art projects.

We’ve read about the salt walk and even studied the evaporated salt when we lived near Salt Lake City.

We discussed Gandhi’s peaceful philosophy and how we strive for cooperation and peace in our home and interactions with others. We have been bullied and have witnessed bullying and this is an issue close to my heart.

We learned about other leaders who were influenced by Gandhi’s life and beliefs.

We chose to complete a Rangoli sand mandala:

I set up the paper and got out some sand. We watched some videos of very beautiful and elaborate rangoli.

I created a very simple compass and made designs in the sand:

Then, the kids made a mandala of their own.

I love how they cooperated to make their sand compass:

They said the designs make it look like peacock feathers!

We discussed the fleeting beauty of the sand art.

It’s temporary, just like human beauty, and should not be idolized. It’s very time consuming to create the intricate mandalas with sand, and it is time consuming for us to develop character and inner beauty throughout our lives.

We did some henna art last year:

Some great times to study Gandhi:

• International Peace Day: September 21
• Gandhi’s Birthday: October 2
• International Day of Non-Violence: October 2
• Anti-Bullying Month: October

We enjoyed reading Gandhi for Kids and highly recommend it to everyone, not just kids!

About the author:

Ellen Mahoney is the author of Nellie Bly and Investigative Journalism for Kids and coauthor with Edgar Mitchell of Earthrise: My Life as an Apollo 14 Astronaut. She is currently an instructor of journalism and technical communication at Metro State University of Denver. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.