I don’t know about you, but one of my most favourite parts of Ramadan is the first evening where everyone is busy moon sighting. Ofcourse, we don’t physically go out of our house, looking for the new moon, a thin silver crescent in the sky, which signifies the start of the new month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Nowadays, it’s more of a phone call from a family member, or a forwarded news article on the WhatsApp group, that confirms the new moon has been sighted, and the month of Ramadan is upon us. Nevertheless, it’s exciting. It’s in the moment you realise the blessed month is here, and you start to prepare yourself to cash in all those extra sawaab (reward).
As a parent, I want this moment to be something my children look forward to too. Difficult I thought, considering they rely on me or their dad to tell them whether the moon has been sighted. However, what if they could go look for the ‘moon’ by themselves.
Treasure hunt
Have you ever played a treasure hunt game at home with your friends and family? Where you decode clues on paper that lead you to the next one, until you finally reach the ‘treasure’. Growing up, I remember setting up treasure hunts for my siblings and now I do them for my daughter and nephew. As a player, the challenge to crack the codes and the anticipation of getting closer to the ‘treasure’, is so much fun. And, so, that made me think, what if I could create a ‘treasure hunt’ where children can follow clues that will lead them to look for the ‘moon’
How ‘Look for the Moon’ works
As the person designing the treasure hunt, I know coming up with the many different clues is the tough part. Luckily, I’ve done that for you!
Print the PDF below with the star clues and the moon. Cut out the stars and the moon, and hide them in the correct places corresponding to the clues. The third sheet has the answers to the clues, to help you out.
There are 7 clues written on seven stars. Following them will lead the children to the final moon. The children need to start with the first clue and work their way through all the seven clues in order to reach the moon.
Extra: You may have noticed, there are 8 stars in total. That’s because I have written up an extra clue on a star, just in case you wish to swap out one of the clues with this one. This is just in case a clue, or a hiding place doesn’t suit you. For example, one of the clues hints the player to check the dining table/room, however, I understand some families choose to sit and eat together on a rug, instead of the table.
Make it more interesting
Reaching the end of this ‘treasure hunt’ is going to be so much fun. You can choose to reward your children at the end too. It can be in anyway you want, such as chocolates, dates or a home made certificate.
You may choose to give this Little Acts of Kindness Calender, to your children to help them earn more blessings through kind actions for the entire month of Ramadan.
What about a Ramadan Basket, one that looks a little like this one that I gifted to my children earlier? Here’s a link to some of the printouts I added as part of the Ramadan basket.
Or a Ramadan Milestone printout, that would be fun to fill up and take pictures with for a cute memory sake.
Have a blessed Ramadan
I hope you enjoy using this activity with the children, and it may start becoming a part of your Ramadan ‘moon sighting’ tradition. I wish you and your family benefit greatly during this blessed month.
If you enjoyed this post, and do decide to create this activity for your children, let me know in the comments section below. Alternatively, tag me (@mumzynotebook) in your pictures on Instagram and Facebook, as I’d love to see them.
Disclaimer:
The PDF documents and pictures belong to me, and cannot be edited in any way without my permission. All thoughts and ideas mentioned here are of my own. PDFs and pictures are not for sale.