When children are young, I do not prefer to analyze spiritual stories and philosophy with them. Young children learn the best through hands-on activities, storytelling, and play. Their intellect is not yet developed to analyze complex subjects. As my children transition from lower grades to...
It's the beginning of the month of Kartik, a sweet time to spend with children doing special services for the Lord, like making and offering ghee lamps and singing the Damodarashtaka song. Children like this time of the year when we all sit together with...
For the auspicious day of the appearance of Lord Nrisimhadeva, I want to share with you a simplified version of Prahlad - Nrisimhadev story, suitable for tiny children. There are no details about killing Hiranyakashipu and attempts to kill Prahlada mentioned. It focuses on Prahlada's...
One of my favorite stories for children from Caitanya-Lila is the story of little Nimai and the dog. I find it relevant for young children because it is very near to their experience of loving pets. At the same time, it reveals the fundamental truth...
Tomorrow we celebrate the appearance day of Lord Nityananda, who is among the topmost important divine personalities in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of bhakti-yoga. Lord Nityananda is an incarnation of Lord Balarama, a divine brother of Lord Krishna, and has all transcendental qualities of Lord...
Tomorrow is the Vasanth Panchami festival. Although it is not celebrated widely in ISKCON temples in the west, our ten-year stay in India, Mayapur, has brought me into the habit of celebrating this festival in one way or another. In India, this day is considered...
Every January, we celebrate the feast of Ganga-Sagar Mela, the meeting of the Ganges and the ocean, by telling stories about the Ganga Devi. We include activities such as painting or drawing the river Ganga or making the map of her flow. As a part...
In the last couple of months, we have been super busy with our family busyness - producing and canning vegetables and fruits without using chemicals and preservatives. It has been a huge project for our little family team, resulting in a shortage of time for...
As I have promised, today I am sharing some of the practical cooking ideas for the Panihati festival for your inspiration! If you haven't read the story about the cida-dahi festival prepared by Raghunath Das Goswami for the pleasure of Nityananda Prabhu, which is the...
After Govardhana Puja, the Panihati celebration is my favorite Vaishnava festival to celebrate with children. It is all about cooking and preparing lots of sweet and salty milk-yogurt-rice preparations that we, as a family of cooks, enjoy doing. This year it comes at the same...