I'm a white, British non Muslim woman, so why would I care right?
My husband is a British born Pakistani Muslim so in our house we celebrate it. We have three children together and we raise them to celebrate both of our beliefs. Christmas and Easter and Ramadan and Eid.
Our boys are 6 and 4 so they are still too young to really take part in Ramadan. We've never celebrated Ramadan with them only Eid. I felt that it was important that they remember they have another culture in their blood. I wanted them to feel excited about Ramadan rather than just think of it as the month you have to starve yourself. I took it upon myself to get them in the spirit of Ramadan by decorating the house and along side that show them the meaning of Ramadan through fun activities. Below is a list of the activities and the reason behind them.
Make prayer beads- Talk about the importance of prayer during Ramadan.
Make paper lanterns, a bunting and other decorations- To create a fun and exciting atmosphere for Ramadan.
Make star and moon cookies- Talk about the symbol of the moon.
Donate toys- To explain about less fortunate children and shape my children into caring, thoughtful, selfless and charitable young men. Also to teach them about 'giving up' something during Ramadan
Donate food to a food bank- To explain about less fortunate people and why donating during Ramadan is important.
Read book- To learn about Ramadan.
Below are two craft ideas we have done so far:
We made a bunting for our window. I bought some parcel tags with string from B&M. They were £1 for 20 tags.
I wrote a letter on each tag.
I then asked the kids to decorate each tag and once they had finished I tied them all together using the string they came with. The decorations were a packet of 24 individual bags of sequins that I picked up from B&M for £1.99.
We hung the bunting in our living room window.
The next craft activity I did with the kids was prayer beads. I sat them down and explain praying and why praying is important especially during this holy month. They created their own prayer beads using a pack of beads for £1.00 and also some elasticated string for £1.00 both of which came from Wilkinsons.
I know they don't look exactly like prayer beads but they had to be easy crafts for a 6 year old and a 4 year old.
I hope you enjoyed these simple craft ideas and that they gave you some inspiration. These craft ideas were super cheap and affordable. We live on 1 wage so even families on 1 wage can afford these.
