Tag Archives | Loy Krathong

Whether or not we and our kids in class are Thai, we can certainly enjoy Loy Krathong. the Thai Festival of Lights. If you’re a teacher, introduce the holiday to your students, prepare Thai music, clear the clas room so you have enough space to celebrate, and away we go.

1) Make a KRATHONG. With any available craft supplies (or, if there are none, pure imagination), have each student craft a krathong that is chock full of the year’s memories. Write memories on scraps of paper . . . bring in photos from the year’s adventures . . . pick objects to symbolize events or happenings . . . . Place the objects into some sort of vessel that could conceivably float down a river.

2) Time to LOY (float) your KRATHONGs. Clear a space in the center of the room that could simulate a river. Place a scarf or piece of fabric “in the river.”Each student will put a krathong on the scarf and either s/he or you will pull it gently down the river, wiping last year’s memories away.

3) Look forward to a brand new day.

In Thailand, Loy Krathong, a yearly festival of renewal, takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar — usually some time in November.
During the Loy Krathong festival Thai people will celebrate by creating a “krathong” — traditionally a banana leaf adorned with flowers and candles — and “loy” (float) it down a river, sending the previous year’s troubles away. They also sned candle-powered lanterns up into the air. As we see in this video, that can be glorious.