Celebrating Ramadan for Kids

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and is a time when adults fast during the day and celebrate the end of the month with a holiday called Eid.

Kids aren’t required to fast but they might be tasked to do a good deed each day of the month, or they may collect money or clothing donations to go to a good cause. They can help set up the iftar (evening meal that breaks the fast), help prepare traditional foods, make crafts and take time to be good to other people. Modest Munchies has a great list of ways to include kids in your Ramadan observance.

Hana’s Happy Home has an adorable printable Ramadan “advent” calendar you can add activities or little treats to for your kids.

NutureStore has a collection of printable Ramadan matching cards that can be used to educate kids of any background about the month. They can also serve as a visual reminder to Muslim kids of what activities are going on such as reading, praying or visiting the mosque. (These are free when you sign up for emails.)

Paper Trail Design has a Ramadan I-spy that can be used in the classroom or at home if kids need something to do while waiting for iftar.

Check out this post from Red Ted Art for lots of ideas of how to craft and decorate for Ramadan and Eid. You can also buy a unit study on Ramadan from Teach Me Islam if you want to dig deeper with STEM, arts and crafts and creative play activities around the month.

If you want to learn more about Ramadan with your kids, the picture book Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr by Sara Khan is a good place to start. It follows a girl talking about the preparations her family does for Ramadan and how they celebrate Eid with their community. It also includes information about the lunar calendar used in Islam, which is why Ramadan happens at different times of year. There’s also a tutorial for making a Ramadan pop up card, information about why Muslims do good deeds during the month, and a recipe for Ramadan cookies (butter sugar cookies).

Ramadan Lantern Crafts

DIY Lantern Favor Boxes for Eid

Eid Coloring Page

Next Plan Idea:

Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply