Children’s museum celebrates Kwanzaa

Pretend City Children’s Museum in Irvine is hosting a Festival of Kwanzaa for kids, featuring a daily lighting of the kinara, which contains seven candles representing the seven principles of African heritage.

Pretend City’s five-day festival began Friday with activities for children ages 3 to 6. Saturday’s activities include making a Kwanzaa quilt.

Kwanzaa is an African-American holiday observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. It celebrates the seven core principles, or nguzo saba, that Kwanzaa founder Maulana Karenga called the “best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world.” They are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

The children’s museum offers the Festival of Kwanzaa from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Tuesday. Remaining activities include Kwanzaa corn on Sunday, necklaces on Monday and the unity cup on Tuesday.

The festival is included in the $12.50 price of admission to the museum, at 29 Hubble.

For more information, call (949) 428-3900 or visit pretendcity.org/events.

—Rob Vardon