Living as muslim immigrants in a western country with no immediate family, I try my best to get my daughter excited for our religious festivities. As a minority where less than 1% of the community celebrates the same occasions as us, the job becomes extra hard especially in comparison to the dominant religious occasions like Christmas, easter, halloween, etc. Growing up we did not see our parents decorating for Ramadan or Eid. But living in a Muslim country, we saw these occasions celebrated everywhere. There was a time we used to get vacation during the entire month of Ramadan so that everyone can focus on their spiritual growth during this month of blessing. Now that we are parents here in Canada, the situation is completely opposite. And that’s why I find various ways to incorporate these rituals in our kids’ lives. As my kids are very young, I focus on making the occasions fun by decorating for Ramadan and Eid and arranging lots of Ramadan arts and crafts. Some of the things my daughter looks forward to every Ramadan is the Ramadan Calendar (for it’s treats and the good deeds activities) and the Ramadan Basket (for all the goodies). She also waits eagerly for this month for her Eid presents by the end of 30 days of Ramadan. As I’ve said, as my children are young, my focus is not so much on the spirituality rather on the familiarity of these religious concepts and for them to feel comfortable celebrating these occasions among their peers with no hesitation.
This year for Imaan’s Ramadan basket in addition to adding things she wanted, like:
- An Eid outfit
- A hat for summer
- Modeling clay
I also added school supplies that she ran out for example:
- Painting/school supplies; i.e. acrylic paint, brushes, a canvas, pencil, eraser, dry erase markers, pencil case and a sharpener.
I also added craft supplies for some Ramadan crafts we will be doing throughout the month of Ramadan. I have included:
- Supplies to make a Ramadan calendar: small brown paper bags, small clips, twine, a wooden hanging plaque and a stencil.
- Supplies to make a Ramadan wreath: a plain jute wreath, some faux flower stems, a wooden plaque
- Supplies to make a Ramadan Sign: A readymade decorative sign which we will paint over to turn it into a Ramadan sign.
She loves to bake so I also added some:
- Eid/Ramadan inspired cookie cutter, and
- Some candies
Lastly I added some Ramadan/Eid books to complete the basket.
And the basket is an old one that I use every year.
All the craft supplies are from Dollarama.
Tell me what else would you add or remove for your kid’s Ramadan Basket? I will be sharing blog posts once I do the crafts with my daughter to make the Ramadan calendar, the wreath and the Ramadan Sign for her playroom. Be sure to drop by in a few weeks to see them.
Lastly I have rounded up some kids islamic books as well as books for Ramadan and Eid for you guys below. Hope your kids love them as much as my daughter does.
