Celebrating Festivals – Class 3 The World Around Us Chapter 3 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 3The World Around UsChapter 3NCERT book: Our Wondrous World - Class 3

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 3 of the NCERT Class 3 The World Around Us book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 3: Celebrating Festivals

Introduction

Chapter 3 shows how people across India celebrate festivals with special food, dresses and customs, and how festivals bring families and communities together. Rishi from Jammu travels by bus with his parents to visit his Mama (mother's brother), Mami (Mama's wife) and cousins Chiya and Nonikaa in a small village near the mountains of the Himalayas.

What's in this Chapter

The bus journey: The roads have hairpin turns, the hills are covered with colourful flowers and there are tall trees. Near the village, a broad concrete road turns into a narrow mud road.

Road signboards: Children match signs such as No Parking, No Horn Please, Speed Breaker, No U-Turn, Men at Work and School Ahead with their meanings, and discuss safety while travelling, cycling and walking.

Festival of Flowers: In Mami's garden Rishi knows rose, marigold and hibiscus, but is amazed by a new flower — Nonikaa tells him it is a tulip. They eat the Kashmiri dish haakh (a leafy vegetable) with hot rice, and Nonikaa mentions the Kashmir tulip festival.

Spring festivals: Rishi shares that red buransh (rhododendron) flowers bloom in spring at his place; people place mustard and buransh flowers at every doorstep and elders give blessings, toffees and sweets. Chiya's friend Unni from Kerala celebrates Vishu with yellow amaltas flowers, fruits and vegetables to make Vishu Kani (seen at sunrise on the first day of the Malayali new year).

Mami explains: "Spring is a celebration of nature." After harsh winters, the sun shines, flowers bloom, grass grows and trees get new leaves.

Spring song: "Oh! Spring is in the air, / Happy children are everywhere, / New leaves appear on the trees, / As flowers sway in the breeze."

Festival foods: Thekua (Chhath Puja), Pitha, Plum Cake, Gujiya, Sadya, Holige and Seviyan are matched with Bihu, Christmas, Holi, Onam, Ugadi and Eid-ul-Fitr.

The Himalayas means "home of snow". Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is in Nepal and is about 8,848 metres high.

Sarhul: a spring festival of Jharkhand. People in traditional clothes walk in a procession to the sakhua tree, carry freshly germinated grains and sakhua flowers, make offerings to the Earth and the Sun, and sing and dance to drums (dhol, nagada).

Key Ideas

India has many festivals linked to seasons, especially spring.

Festivals have special food, dresses and customs, and people of all ages celebrate together.

Festivals express gratitude to nature — flowers, the Earth and the Sun.

Visiting relatives who live far away is a joyful family experience.

Road signs and safety rules keep us safe while travelling.

Activities from the Book

Share a bus-travel experience; list trees and flowers seen on a trip.

Match road signboards with their meanings and draw three more signs.

Ask elders about festivals in each season (spring, summer, monsoon, winter) and their special food.

Match festival foods with festivals.

Fill in the blanks about Rishi's trip (mountains, hairpin roads, mud road, buransh, haakh).

Draw school signboards: library, toilet, assembly, drinking water point, playground, classroom, stairs.

Words to Learn

Festival (त्योहार) — a special day of celebration

Spring (वसंत) — the season when flowers bloom after winter

Tulip (ट्यूलिप) — a colourful flower grown in Kashmir

Buransh / Rhododendron (बुरांश) — red flowers of the hills

Signboard (संकेत-पट) — a board that gives information or warnings

Hairpin turn (घुमावदार मोड़) — a very sharp bend in a mountain road

Mama (मामा) — mother's brother

Cousin (चचेरा/ममेरा भाई-बहन) — child of an uncle or aunt

Procession (जुलूस) — people walking together in a line

Mountain (पहाड़) — a very high hill

Tips for Parents & Teachers

Make a family festival calendar with one festival for each season and its special food.

On walks, spot road signs and ask the child what each means.

Invite children to bring pictures of festival dresses from their families.

Sing the spring song and add actions for leaves and flowers.

Common Mistakes

Saying Mount Everest is in India. The book says it lies in our neighbouring country, Nepal.

Mixing up festivals and their foods (for example, Thekua goes with Chhath Puja).

Thinking festivals are only about sweets; they are also about togetherness and respecting nature.

💡 Key Learning Points

✓People across India celebrate festivals with special food, dresses and customs, and festivals bring us together.
✓Spring festivals celebrate nature: Kashmir tulip festival, buransh flowers at doorsteps, Vishu in Kerala, Sarhul in Jharkhand.
✓Road signboards and safety rules keep us safe while travelling, cycling and walking.
✓The Himalayas means 'home of snow'; Mount Everest, about 8,848 metres high, is in Nepal.
✓Visiting relatives far away helps us learn about new foods, flowers and customs.

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Show pictures of hairpin mountain roads and ask children how travelling in the hills is different.
→Bring real or printed road signs and play a quick 'What does this sign mean?' game.
→Build a seasons-and-festivals chart with the class using the table in the book.
→Do the food–festival matching as a pair activity, then let children add foods from their own homes.
→Sing the spring song with actions and let children name flowers that bloom where they live.
→Read the Sarhul box aloud and discuss how people thank the Earth and the Sun.
→Take a walk around school and let children design signboards for the library, toilet and water point.

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the child name at least two spring festivals from the chapter and where they are celebrated?
Can the child match three festival foods to their festivals?
Can the child explain the meaning of at least four road signboards?
Can the child complete the fill-in-the-blanks about Rishi's trip?
Can the child say how festivals bring people together?

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