5 types of Ramadan activities for young kids to try this Ramadan

Ramadan activities can be quite divisive amongst Muslim parents!  Some think that they are a fun way of educating kids about Ramadan and involving even young kids in this special time.  Others believe they place an unnecessary burden on the parents and are an unwise use of time at a time when they are making every moment count.  Honestly, I think Ramadan activities can be really beneficial if you choose the ones that are right for you and your family. The pre-school/early years stage can be a bit tricky to find activities for.  Lots of the resources online are aimed at older children.  So if you have kids that aren’t fasting yet, here are 4 types of activities that are great for young kids to get them excited about Ramadan!

Arts and Crafts

Art projects don’t have to be complicated or messy for kids to love them.  They provide a memorable experience and as such, are a great way to teach.  When you link the art with something you want them to learn about Ramadan it makes it easy for kids to remember.  Plus, you can extend the experience by displaying the artwork which makes kids really proud and serves as a visual reminder.  For example, You may want to teach children that the fast ends at maghrib time when the sun sets.  The masjid sunset painting below is a great (and simple) way of reinforcing that.

Play

There is loads of evidence that kids learn best through play.  Playful activities can really engage kids with Ramadan.  There is usually a lot for them to process during Ramadan, the whole family’s routine changes, meal times are different, they are lots of guests and visits to other homes, family members are more occupied with reading Qur’an and night prayers are attended at the masjid.  You can help teach them about Ramadan and process these changes with thoughtful play.  

For example, a pretend Iftar is a great way to teach them about:

1. The reward of feeding a fasting person
2. The importance of honouring your guest
3. What foods it is good to break fast with
4. What time you break fast

Another way of playfully teaching about Ramadan is through games.  You can this popular post about different kinds of games to teach Islamic studies here.

Some kids love a challenge and this Qur’an listening challenge is brilliant for teaching kids to listen carefully when Qur’an is recited AND improve their Arabic.  It is designed for young children and kids who are unfamiliar with Arabic.  If you like it please leave a comment at the bottom of this post and I’ll try to create more inshaAllah.

Deen

This isn’t a style of activity but rather a category of activities where deen is the main focus.  You may want to teach a specific point like only certain actions break the fast.  A picture-sorting activity would then give children the opportunity to categorise actions into what breaks the fast and what doesn’t.  These are brilliant for focused instruction about Ramadan when you really want children to understand specific concepts.  

STEM 

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and maths.  They are not the kinds of activities that you might associate with Ramadan activities at first glance but actually, they are brilliant for helping kids make connections between the world around them and Ramadan.  The moon is heavily associated with Ramadan as it is a lunar month and the new moon’s sighting marks both the start and the end of Ramadan.  Exploring the moon’s phases as a scientific topic ties in nicely with educating children about Ramadan. 

You can also make your own balance scales at home and discuss why people try especially hard during Ramadan to do good deeds that will be heavy on their scale on the Day of Judgement.  Putting different objects in the scales to show how one side tips when heavier can really bring the concept to life.  You can check out the Ramadan Moon Phases Spinner in the video below.

Real Life

Have you ever had a child who liked playing with your iron, vacuum cleaner or other household items so you bought them a toy version which they never touched?!  Kids naturally gravitate to ‘real-life’ activities and objects.  They are brilliant natural learners and incline to what has real-life use.  The final category of Ramadan activities doesn’t require any special materials or prep, it’s just real life!  It does take patience though!  For example, it’s tempting to shoo them out of the kitchen instead of letting them ‘help’. 

Here in Saudi they often divide the women’s section of the masjid into two, an area for women with children and an area for women without.  This is a brilliant system as it allows the mothers to attend the masjid without worrying that their children are disturbing the other worshippers (because they are all in the same situation).  Plus women without children can worship without being distracted. 

It was very tempting for me to leave my 5-year-old at home and go to the kids-free section last Ramadan.  I actually did that several times.  However, when I took her with me one time, I saw how much she enjoyed seeing her friends and how many curious questions she asked about taraweeh.  It was a lesson to me about how important it is to bring kids along to experience things first-hand.  Plus when you make it your intention to help educate your kids you get added reward! Click here for free masjid activity pages to keep kids quietly occupied during prayers,

Ramadan activities unit

I hope you have found this post on 5 types of Ramadan activities for young kids to try this Ramadan helpful.  I created a Ramadan Activities Pack to help busy Muslim parents with 16 different activities in the 4 categories of Deen, Art, Play and STEM.  It’s packed full of hands-on learning that is simple, inexpensive and fun!  Check it out on Etsy and TPT and the Website Shop to learn more and get your copy.

Here are some other blog posts you may be interested in:

6 Free Easy and Fun Ramadan crafts

How to Use Ramadan Activities to Really Benefit Your Family This Ramadan