Making children understand the meaning of the traditions of the holy month of Ramadhan will enhance their appreciation for these time-honoured traditions.
Since all of us are mostly confined at home due to the lockdown, we have an amazing opportunity to spend meaningful time with them and opens an opportunity to parents and guardians to sit them down, play or share some practises. By creating fun activities, we are also creating beautiful memories for these children and are also emphasising the importance of the holy month and the celebrations we do in between.
Buthaina bint Nooh al Zadjaliyah, media and communications expert, child rights and early childhood development and education specialist currently working at Learn & Inspire by Dr Taghreed bint Turki al Said, shared top three advices for parents and guardians of children should consider.
Advice for parents
and guardians
Active Listening
“It is important to listen to your child with your mind, heart and body language. Active listening is crucial to breaking down communication barriers and gives room for growth of the child’s communication skills. This is a skill, an art and a discipline which must be constantly practiced, and remember that such a process does not happen overnight. However with time, you will be amazed by what you discover within yourself and the child,” Buthaina al Zadjaliyah said.
Child-Rearing and Nurturing
“Through such occasions, this is an opportunity to further bond with children and encourage all areas of their holistic development. It is a challenge given the current circumstances, but it is also rewarding to truly discover a child’s personality traits and characteristics,” Buthaina said.
Cultivating Skills and Talents
“This is a period to get creative and reveal hidden talents. Give children the freedom to create anything and discover their surroundings in a safe space. This approach will certainly help your child cultivate a positive approach to life by helping others and seeing the beauty in everyday things,” Buthaina added.
Al Yamama bint Said al Saeedi, early childhood specialist and educator and educational activities developer, also working at Learn & Inspire by Dr Taghreed bint Turki al Said, pointed out that the importance of children’s participation in activities lies in developing thinking skills, creativity, exercising the small muscles, and motor coordination between the eye and the hand.
“Leaving sufficient space for the child when he applies the activities to be creative as he wants. The activity should not be implemented in the way that we have previously drawn, but rather we must allow him to apply it in his own way. Giving the child area to rely on himself and do most of the work without anyone’s help, and that parents do not expect the child to carry out the activity in an ideal way,” Al Yamama al Saeedi said.
Ramadhan activities
Theatrical acting activity
In this activity, the children are allowed to listen to a story and are asked to turn what they’ve heard into a play.
“This activity refines the child’s personality by enhancing his or her ability to act and simulate. It helps them gain self-confidence and expand their thinking range. The companions and followers can serve as their role models where children can take useful lessons from them,” Al Yamama al Saeedi said.
“This activity helps develop the cooperative thinking among his peers and family. When he performs a play, he is considered part of a team that must work in harmony for the play to succeed, and in the case of older children they can write the script to develop their writing skill,” she shared.
Making decorations
for the holy month of Ramadhan
“The children are involved in making Ramadhan decorations using papers, colours, scissors, strings, etc, and leave them a space for creativity, this activity develops the child’s ability to creativity and gives him a sense of pride and achievement when hanging decorations that he made on the wall of the house. It also develops his skill in using the tools available around him, and develops some of his skills such as controlling the hand and coordinating the movement of the hand with the eye,” Al Yamama al Saeedi said.
Moon Sighting Binoculars activity
It teaches children about astronomy, moon sighting and its relation to the Islamic calendar months. As well as encouraging the child’s interest in science, history and religion. “The skills a child gains from this activity is that the child will work on their fine motor skills in creating the binoculars and encourage language development with the use of correct terminology for the activity. In addition, the child will gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of the process of moon sighting and its importance to determine the start and the end of each Islamic calendar month,” Buthaina al Zadjaliyah said.
“This activity can be done through arts and crafts creation of binoculars using paper rolls, colour paint and Ramadhan-themed cutouts to learn about moon sighting and the importance of the Islamic calendar especially during Ramadhan,” she added.
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