There are many benefits to doing crafts with kids, and one of them is being able to introduce them to a variety of cultures from around the world  and India. Arts and crafts are a great way to keep old traditions alive, and even breathe new life into them! One such ancient Folk art form from India is that of Warli Art.

The basic Warli figure is easy to draw, we even made a warli art using a potato. Once you learn it, then there’s no stopping you; you can draw Warli figures anywhere!! Today, we’re using these lovely figures to make some simple bookmarks, that are great to gift or keep for yourself!

DIY Warli Bookmarks

The Warlis are a group of tribal people who have a unique art form comprising of circles, triangles, and squares. These simple structures lend themselves to some intricate patterns and are often seen on pottery and walls of the homes of the Warli people. The patterns generally depict scenes from daily life of the Warlis, like farming, fishing or drawing water, as well as festivals or weddings.

To make your own Warli bookmark, you will need:

1. Cardstock in bright colors

2. String or strong thread in bright colors

3. Colored sharpies

4. Jewel stickers (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut your cardstock into bookmarks of the size you want them to be.

2. Punch out a hole at the top of each one, for the string to pass through.

3. Start drawing your Warli figures. You can actually draw them doing anything you like; here we’ve drawn a series of dancing ladies, with leaves in their hair, holding hands. To make the final result neater, you can draw lines or circles in pencil first, and then draw the figures with your markers or sharpies. Don’t forget to erase the pencil lines later!

4. If you like, you can stick on some jewel stickers, for some ‘bling’! They’ll go great with shiny string!

5. Coming to string, make tassels by winding some string around a piece of cardboard, and then cutting off one end and securing the other to make a tassel. Loop another piece of string through the top and attach it to the punched hole in the bookmark.

Your bookmark is ready! Make several in different colors of card and string, and give them out to your friends! With Diwali coming up, this will make a great gift for school going kids, one that takes very little time and requires nothing more than cardstock and string!! Be aware,  drawing Warli figures is quite addictive and you’ll soon find that you can’t stop!

We painted a Warli  Tray , a post box  ..

even painted our walls