DIY Advent Calendar

Here's a fun way to celebrate the blessed month of Ramadan with your kids and count down till Eid!

My son is almost three this year and it will be his first year officially celebrating the month! His understanding of Ramadan is strong enough for him to enjoy the festivity that this blessed month brings into our lives.

Earlier today, I asked him: "What is Ramadan, Yusi?"

He responded: "The baby moon comes and no eating." (I knowwww, I just wanted to eat him right then) Little ones and their innocent outlook on life are so so precious.

To make my little one even more excited and and to help him learn a little more about the wonderful things Islam teaches us, I decided to make him his very first advent calendar. This advent calendar has 30 little treat bags, each filled with a few small and easy good deeds of the day (that I will read to him and explain), a Quranic word of the day, a surprise toy, a candy, a date, and a few stickers. Some of the good deeds are smiling at your family, helping the elderly, and donating a favorite toy or outfit. I plan to have him open each bag during iftar with the whole family present.

One activity I'm planning to do with my son this year is a "find the Quranic word" activity. This fun little activity, planned by Sara of the Parenthood: Muslim Style blog, is a really great way to get young children excited about reading the Quran. You can read more about the activity and find all the printables on Sara's blog- here. 

Now, a little more about the DIY process. Making this calendar was not difficult at all, and besides the treat bags and treats (which I got from the dollar store and dollar section at Target), I had all the materials at home. It took me around 4-5 hours over the span of a day whenever I got the time. The color scheme matches my son's toddler room because all of the material was leftover from when I decorated his room. I am really pleased with the result, Alhamdulillah.

I hope you are able to give this cute and fun Ramadan advent calendar a try. Good luck!

Ramadan Advent Calendar

Materials:

really large canvas 

enough fabric to cover the canvas

stapler

felt

card stock, ribbon, markers (optional- use whatever you have to decorate)

30 treat bags 

30 clothespins 

yarn

your choice of treats to fill the bags

Press the fabric and any frayed or uneven edges.

Cover the canvas with the fabric. Use a stapler to secure the fabric to the back of the canvas. If the calendar is handled gently, just a few staples should be more than enough to hold it. 

Now is the fun part - decorate! Use felt, card stock, markers, ribbon, and whatever other crafting supplies you have and design and decorate your board. Use fun colors to match your playroom or the rest of your Ramadan decor. If your children are old enough, this might be a good time to get them involved. I wouldn't recommend involving the littles (they just make a mess and will probably end up running away with the treats before they even make it to Ramadan Day 1).

After you are done decorating, cut 4 or 5 pieces of yarn long enough to cross the board horizontally. Staple those pieces of yarn to the board in equally spaced distances. Only six treat bags would fit across the width of my board, so I needed to have 5 pieces of yarn total.

Now the tedious part begins - label and fill 30 treat bags. Yawn, this gets pretty boring and repetitive really fast, so I recommend having a Yasir Qadhi lecture playing in the background. His Seerah of the Prophet series is captivating and the descriptions of the Prophet's (SAW) life are astounding and in depth. By the way, I used these links for free printable easy good deeds for kids to do - here and here. 

Lastly, hang the treat bags on the yarn with clothespins. Step back and admire your work! I'm sure your kids will love it, inshAllah.