By Sudduf Wyne from salamsudduf.com (info@salamsudduf.com)

My favourite past time as a child was making crafts. Glue, scissors, glitter, stickers, recycled household items, and more. You name it, I crafted with it. What better way to welcome Ramadan with your kids then some arts and crafts. Not only will it keep them busy (for hours!) while you prep for Iftar (or rest – fasting is hard!), it will also get them excited about this blessed month.

My triplets are too small to craft – we tried coloring last week and their little hands couldn’t handle it. But these crafts have been tried and tested by the children who signed up for craft workshops at Toronto Ramadan Market. They are inspired by several amazing craft experts online and I’ve created some quick supplies and instruction lists here for you to create them with your kids. If you do try these crafts, I would love to see your creations! Tag me (@salamsudduf) and show me your crafts!

Bonus – almost all of my supplies were purchased from the dollar store. You may even already own most of the supplies.

Sun Catcher Ramadan Lanterns

This craft was inspired by Zair Zabr Play

Supplies
  • Lanterns – you can use any free printables from online. I like these ones from Sweet Fajr.
  • Crayons and stickers
  • Single hole punch
  • Tissue paper
  • Glue sticks
  • Kid scissors
  • Yarn or string

Instructions

1) Print out the lantern printables in black and white
2) Cut them out and use a hole punch to design the “sun catching areas”
3) Use crayons and stickers to decorate the lanterns
4) Cut the colored tissue paper into squares
5) Glue them behind the lantern
6) String the yarn through the hole and tie a knot. Add a tassle to the bottom of the lantern if you’d like.

Zair Zabr Play shares a few idea on how you can decorate with these lanterns, including a lantern mobile, garland, or a sun catcher. You can find more details on her website here.

Suhoor and Iftar Ramadan Placemats

This craft was created by Zair Zabr Play

Supplies
  • Print out of the placemat free printables here
  • Crayons and stickers
  • Laminator
  • Laminating pouches
  • Dry erase marker

Instructions:

1) Have kids color and decorate their place mats. Make them write their names in the corner. They can use flat stickers to decorate but nothing with too much depth.
2) Place their paper between a single laminating pouch
3) One by one help them feed the laminating pouch through the laminator 4) Use a dry erase marker to fill in the blank spots on their place mat. They can update their place mat with the dry erase marker every day!

This activity is a great learning took to discuss suhoor and iftar times with your children and what they mean. It also helps keep them busy before iftar time as they can go around the dinner table and update everyone’s placemat with today’s iftar time.

This is also a fun gift item for kids to make for their friends for Ramadan.

Ramadan Moon Sighting Telescope

 

This craft was inspired by Little Life of Mine.

The new moon signals the start of the holiest month for all the Muslims across the world, Ramadan. In this craft kids can create a telescope that you they use to find the Ramadan moon, and keep track of the different phases of the moon.

When we did this craft at the Ramadan Market, we started by reading the book “The Ramadan Moon”. It was a great introduction to the craft itself. You can purchase the book here.

Supplies
  • Paper towel rolls
  • Construction paper
  • Markers and stickers
  • Tape and glue
  • String
  • Hole puncher
  • White tissue paper

Instructions

1) Have the kids color and decorate their paper towel rolls. They can color it or simple wrap a construction paper around it.
2) You can have them even cut the yarn and make tassels to add to their telescope
3) Once done, have them punch a hole on either side of the paper towel hole
4) String yarn through the hole to make a handle for them to carry it with!

Children can use their moon sighting telescope to look for the Ramadan moon that signals the start of Ramadan. They can also use it all month long to see the moon in it’s different phases. It’s a wonderful teaching opportunity for parents and kids!

Something fun we did was add a small crescent moon cutout to the end of the tube so that the really small kids would see a moon in their telescope no matter when or where they looked. Just some added fun!

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I can’t wait until my children are a little older so we can craft together. I think it would be amazing to create a new ramadan tradition of making creative things together to welcome this beautiful month.

By Zabiha Halal

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