Welcome to the latest installment of “What We’re Watching,” a weekly Paley Education@Home guide. During this unprecedented time, we are continuing to reach out to our community with tips and ideas for consuming media with kids! We know that screen time has increased and so we’re here to help. Each week we are highlighting a different theme that connects to selected programs for younger and older viewers, with related activities and resources.

Consuming media with your kids is a perfect jumping-off point to making media literacy a part of your everyday lives. Familiarizing yourself with the basics is a great first step. In case you missed it, you can view our first edition about media literacy best practices. We also recommend the National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Parents Guide—it’s a terrific introduction!

For connection details, please RSVP to eduny@paleycenter.org.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Over the centuries the celebration has become international with different groups of people observing for various reasons. The festival is typically celebrated over five days, this year it falls on November 14. The festival includes specific traditions each day like cleaning and decorating your home, eating big meals, fireworks, and gathering with family and friends. Make sure to prepare some Indian snacks and sweets for watching our recommendations this week!

Make Gulab Jamun and Ladoo

Make chaat masala mixed nuts

During Diwali many Hindus welcome Lakshimi into their homes by cleaning and decorating. Tiny footprints are found around the house to show her arrival. You can make your own Diwali footprints by tracing your feet onto paper with a pencil, and then outlining in marker and coloring/decorating them. Cut your footprints out and place them around the house at will.

The Little Book of Hindu Deities by Sanjay Patel

Ramayana: Divine Loophole by Sanjay Patel

Sanjay’s Superteam, Disney+

No introduction to modern Indian culture would be complete without a Bollywood movie and no modern Indian celebration would be any fun without music and dancing from a Bollywood movie. Although the Bollywood film industry is considered number two in the world, it produces more movies on average than any other country making more than 1000 a year. There are hundreds of films that include great music and dancing and every fan has their favorites. One of the great Diwali scenes in film comes from our recommendation this week. The story is this: Rahul marries a poor woman, for which he is immediately disowned by his father and he then moves to London to build a new life. Years later, his younger brother Rohan embarks on a mission to bring Rahul back home and reunite the family. Packed with icons of the industry—Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kajol, Amitabh Bachan and Kareena Kapoor—K3G is a romantic family drama that includes the hit songs, “Bole Chudian,” “Yeh Latka Hai Allah,” and “You are my Soniye.”

Chak de India (2007), Amazon Prime

C/O Kancharapalem (2018), Netflix

Lagaan (2001), Netflix

Mohabbatein (2000), Amazon Prime

Quick Gun Murugan (2009), Amazon Prime

Rang De Basanti (2008), Netflix

Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, or ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at eduny@paleycenter.org.

Happy viewing,

Rebekah Fisk, Director of Education

Caroline Quigley, Senior Manager of School & Family Programs

Photos—Mighty Little Bheem: Netflix; Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham: Dharma Productions

We hope this inspires you to watch and learn together in a new way at home! The Paley Center is here for you and, now more than ever before, we would deeply appreciate your support. Please consider making a donation: