In honour of Holi, we have added a whole new section to our Busy Book featuring brand new illustrations, animations and sounds to celebrate the end of winter and the coming of spring. Kids can explore the festivities, watching families mix and throw coloured powders, learn about the delicious sweet and savoury foods that are traditional for Holi and dance to the beat of the celebratory drums.

About Holi

Holi is a Hindu spring festival that is also known as the “Festival of Colours”. It is celebrated all over the world in late February or early March with the full moon and is a time for people to come together in honour of the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil. It’s a vibrant, colourful gathering that brings lots of positivity — something we can all use more of in our lives!

The powdered paint that is thrown during the festival is called gulal and it used to be made out of flowers and natural substances. It is said to represent the fires from which Prahalad of Holi’s mythological origin story was saved, as well as the colours of the spring season. Additionally, each colour has meaning! For example, blue is associated with calm, bravery and Lord Krishna. Yellow represents sunshine, happiness and turmeric, and red for love, purity, fertility, etc.

Why learning about different cultures is important

Whether or not you and your family celebrate Holi, it’s always valuable to introduce a wide variety of cultures to kids. Not only does learning about different cultures help them to understand and appreciate diversity, but it also teaches them important social skills like empathy, respect and inclusivity. Festivals like Holi are also wonderful ways to encourage sensory play, dance and connection with family. Beyond just the Holi section, Busy Book has kids practicing working memory, cognitive flexibility, imagination, storytelling and more.

Pok Pok is a place that gives kids both windows and mirrors into the world. Windows let kids peek out beyond their own bubble of knowledge and learn about the way others live, who they are and discover what makes them special. Mirrors give kids a chance to see themselves and their families represented and validated. This means that we’re always mindful of representing as many different people, genders, family constructs, cultures and abilities as we can. We couldn’t be more excited to releasing a brand new section to Pok Pok’s Busy Book for children around the world to celebrate Holi!

At Pok Pok we’re known for our limited colour palette, but we figured that the most colourful festival on earth deserved a few new colours! We are so pleased to announce that we’re adding three new colours to Pok Pok for this update — and it doesn’t stop in Busy Book. We are also expanding our Drawing and Connect the Dots toys with these new colours, sprinkling the brightness of Holi into even more of the app.

Extend Holi beyond the screen and get colourful (and a little bit messy) with your kids! Here’s an easy activity that you can do with your kids this week:

How to make your own eco-friendly coloured powders

Add a few drops of food colouring to 1/4 cup of water. Add that to 3–4 tbsp of cornstarch and mix well. Pour it out onto a baking sheet or cling wrap to dry for a couple of hours. Then, grind it up with your fingers or in a mixer until you get a smooth powder.

Get your child involved in the preparation process — it’s great practice for following instructions, cooking and doing science experiments.

Then the real fun starts! Head outside and sprinkle the powder around, dance and throw it in the air to celebrate spring.

Busy Book: Holi is available now in the latest update of Pok Pok. We hope that our new update will bring joy and fun to families around the world. Happy Holi!

We’ve been so inspired by the unique approach of each child who plays with our toys and can’t wait to hear what families like yours think of this new expansion. We’d love to receive your feedback, see your play videos and hear your ideas — share your thoughts and say hello at hello@playpokpok.com or on social media @playpokpok.

Join our community to get insights from our educators and take a peek behind the scenes into our toy design process over on our Instagram and TikTok.