Food, Kids, and a Camera
If there is only one way to eat meat, it should be kafta kabob. So juicy, tender, flavorful, and perfect with bread, rice, or salad. This kafta is seasoned with spices, onions, peppers, and tomato paste. This is one kafta recipe you can count on […]
Um Ali is a well known dessert in Egypt that dates back to the Abuyyid period. This ubiquitous dessert is an Egyptian version of bread pudding made with flaky layers of Egyptian bread soaked in a thick sweet mixture of milk, sugar, and cinnamon. The […]
Eid is only 10 days away! Are you ready? For some festive decor ideas and activities, be sure to check my post about Ramadan Fun and how to make Maamoul and Eid cookies with the kids. Most of the decorations and vendors I share are perfect for Eid as well! I made the sign below using cardboard letters, painting them with acrylic paint and then some glitter paint. There is also this festive LED letter option that I love!
Right about now, you may be searching for some fun Eid gift ideas for the family. Well, given our current circumstance of social distancing, most summer programs, camps, and travel is CANCELLED. To keep this Eid holiday exciting and also serve your summer plans, make sure you have some gift ideas to include outdoor play and indoor activities to keep the kids and everyone in the family active and busy! Here is a list of some of our favorites over the years, and some we plan to gift this spring to keep the kids busy all day, all summer!
Like most kids around the world, your child was likely in front of the computer or a screen for most of the remainder of the school year. It is time to get out and dirty with nature! Here are some of our favorites. You don’t need to guide the kids much; their curiosity and excitement will lead the way!
2. Garden tools: Plant some seeds or a seedling from a garden center (such as Home Depot) in the dirt or in a pot. Sunflower seeds, leafy greens, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes all grow well if tended to with some good sunlight and enough water. My kids absolutely LOVE harvesting the cherry tomatoes throughout summer. A handy garden kit with a shovel the right size for small hands is another wonderful tool set kids would enjoy for the outdoors, whether planting in a pot or right into the dirt. If your kids are older than age 5, you may want a heavy duty shovel that does get some garden work done. We love this trowel for its large heavy duty grip and purposeful shape to make the digging easier. Just be sure to practice safety first!
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If you are looking for a small container to observe critters for a longer period, this is an excellent carrier:
There is really a lot you can do outdoors, if you get creative. Here is a list of some of our favorite outdoor games, which are also great to pull out for large play groups or parties:
2. A basketball to shoot around with either at home, or the neighborhood playground and hoops can offer endless fun! A soccer ball is also very easy to enjoy anywhere.
3. Outdoor games such as bean bag toss or ring toss are always fun, especially for family gatherings or parties. These are also portable fun to take to parks and picnics, because soon we will be able to do this again I hope!
4. With high temps around the corner, you may want to get everyone a water blaster, especially if social distancing is prolonged into the summer. Children and adults alike will have endless fun having a water soaking fight! It’s a sure way to have great fun, from a distance!
5. This climbing dome is a top seller on Amazon and back in stock! It is durable to withstand both the weather and the kids climbing, and it is a great outdoor adventure if you don’t want to commit to expensive and permanent play-set installations.
6. Water bombs are another fun way to stay cool in the heat, while also maintaining social distancing. Water bombs are an eco-friendly solution to water balloons. They are reusable, will not litter the yard or space with latex and plastic, and usually dont hurt as much as a balloon popping on you! ALl you need is a large tub or bucket of water and throw these in and you are set for hours of explosive fun!
I have always organized all of our play objects in a way that they are conducive to creating, thinking, or problem solving. Storage bins to keep different play toys organized in is a life saver, and makes clean-up easier for kids.
2. Legos and a lego table are an excellent way to keep kids busy for a long period of time. The creativity and problem solving is also a wonderful element that goes into building. My kids love their legos, but they are always all over the place which is a real PAIN. I decided to get this lovely table that keeps legos organized in a bin, and also gives the children a clear boundary as to where these little painful blocks may lie around.
3. Building blocks are such a wonderful way to keep kids of all ages. This beautiful FAO Schwartz wooden block set allows kids to use problem solving skills to build a castle! You have the option to purchase a 75 piece set or 150 piece set, for only a $10 difference, so I would definitely go for the set twice as big. Lincoln logs are another favorite both in my home and the classroom. Kids love the open creativity to construct with these interlocking logs to create whatever they please with this set. Bonus fact: Lincoln Logs were developed by a Chicago local, John Lloyd Wright the son of famed Chicago architect, Frank Lloyd Wright!
4. Brain Blox are an awesome building kit that stimulates the imagination and creativity. This educational building set is perfect for all stages of brain development.
I also love this folding table by Little Tikes; we got it as a birthday gift when my daughter turn 1 and it has been use for all these years after. It also serves as a great outdoor space for painting, bubbles, gardening, and picnics.
2. Another way we have been keeping busy at home is with polymer clay. Polymer clay has a similar consistency to real pottery clay and it bakes in a home oven. The kids really love seeing their creations come to life, as their work becomes little ceramic pieces. This set comes with a variety of colors, as well as some useful sculpting tools they will need for details.
There are a ton of classic board games most people know about. Below I list some of my favorite problem solving and critical thinking games perfect to play at home, while applying mathematical and science concepts.
2. Rush Hour is one the best selling problem solving games. The whole family can enjoy this one too. The logic and problem solving skills in your child will come alive here.
3. SmartGames Little Red Riding Hood is an awesome puzzle perfect for preschoolers and up. Adults can use story telling as they play to really engage the child to help Red escape from the wolf. This is another logic based puzzle that serves from beginner level preschoolers, to masters. The puzzle in conveniently sized making it perfect for travel too!
4. SmartGames IQ puzzles is another favorite! We have 2 of them and there are a few other versions available on Amazon. The one below is my favorite, especially because it does not have so many little pieces that can go missing. This compact case holds everything you need, and slips right in my purse so I take it with me on the go (restaurants, someone’s house, travel). This will keep kids occupied with over 120 puzzles starting from easy level to master (where the parents even struggle to solve!)
Maamoul is a traditional cookie enjoyed throughout the Middle East come Ramadan, Eid, Spring time, Easter, and basically year round. But it is especially imperative during the holidays! Maamoul is a scrumptious butter cookie made with butter, flour, semolina and some rose extract and filled […]
Ramadan for me has always been a beautiful time of the year that brings us all joy. For us, whenever we are home in Michigan, it is basically like Thanksgiving holiday everyday for a MONTH. How amazing is that? Food, parties, gathering with friends and […]
Ramadan is here, and while we tend to plan mostly for our food (suhoor and Iftar meals), and a schedule to fit all of our work, school assignments and activities, family events, and nightly prayers in… if you have little ones in your lives, or even young adults, it is important to keep a regular routine for everyone’s sanity and make time for fun and memories.
This post aims to focus on placing a foundation to introduce habits and routines to help young children build a connection and love for their deen, especially during Ramadan. As I describe in my article Ramadan during the Qurantine, this Ramadan of 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis and shelter at home order, is an exceptionally unique opportunity for us to focus on connecting with Allah.
Growing up in an immigrant household decades ago, I definitely felt excluded from all of the fun festivities and holidays. When I became a parent, I immediately felt the need to create a fun and festive environment for my own children.
I remember my first Ramadan as a mother, I was alone in a new town. I had a bouncing baby girl, who cried endlessly, and not knowing how to soothe her, I turned to what I knew: cooking and food.
I called my mother to learn her recipe for petit four cookies, which she always made for us at the end of Ramadan. It was one of the first times I baked anything from scratch. It was kind of the turning point for me as a food and recipe composer. I had a new innate desire to connect to my roots and traditions, and I felt I could do this through cooking. Over the past few years as I adjusted to motherhood, I have found many ways to foster some of these beautiful traditions and celebrations and combine them with what I know about teaching children to create fun activities and routines in our own home for Ramadan. I wish to share these with all of you, as I know I am not alone in my struggles and goals.
The projects I implement in our family life have 3 main purposes:
I love elegant designs and incorporate elements of Islamic art and geometric motifs in my home interior design all year. So this month is a fun time for me to go all out with the Islamic design theme.
Here are some of our favorite decor items:
I absolutely love these star paper lanterns from Days of Eid. They come in two sizes so that you can vary the scale of the design with some medium and some large star lanterns. They light up with a string of LEDs inside. You need 2 AA batteries for each star lantern. They are easy to open, and I hang them from my ceiling with these 3M decorator hooks. It is a simple thing to do, with a big wow factor.
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The kids get SUPER excited when these are hung. The crescent and star shadows dancing on the walls all evening into the night feel magical even for the adults in the house.
These paper lanterns from Eid Way are also beautiful, although they do not have led lights inside them, you can always add them in. I plan to hang them when Eid comes around. The website has many more designs to look at.
Another glamorous and elegant part of our decor that I just love is our Ramadan light up marquee on the kitchen cabinet, pictured above, which I will admit is quite expensive. When I got it a couple of years ago, I decided it was an elegant and modern element for out holiday cheer. It is something to light up our home for the month for years to come. When we walk into the kitchen during the wee hours of night, it is a pleasant welcome with its warm glow by our kitchen table as we enjoy suhoor. This is a product that you need to plan ahead for as they require pre-ordering at this time. We only bought the Ramadan part. Maybe next year we will add on the Mubarak 🙂
Also, from Days of Eid is our brand new, GORGEOUS wooden masjid. It lights up, and it has a mini drawer for each day of Ramadan. A calendar is integral to our Ramadan routine. In years prior, we used this calendar from Eid Way; it hangs on the wall and also has pockets.
I also tried the Hello Holy Days! Crate and Barrel calendar, which is so beautiful, vibrant, and colorful with motifs of the Ramadan drummer musaharati. I planned to use them again this year until I found the gorgeous 3D masjid design with the drawers…I caved and bought that and I gave my hanging calendar to my sister to use for her little ones. No matter what you use, I highly recommend a daily tracker of some sort because it supports our Ramadan schedule nicely.
I am pretty regimented, and we really want our kids to follow a routine so we can have some peace, structure, and set expectations in the home especially during Ramadan when everyone is tired, and likely sleep deprived. So I use this calendar to give my children daily tasks, which especially get them occupied first thing in the morning, giving us a few minutes (maybe an hour?) of extra rest in the early morning. This is the system I use:
You can check out a colorful printable PDF of my tasks and good deeds here. It is free for you to use, I simply ask you leave me a comment or feedback on the blog below, letting me know you find it useful 🙂 There are also a ton of amazing free printable and task cards on Days of Eid website. We are using some of the calendar cards for tasks of the day.
Lastly, I created a comfortable and inviting masjid space in our home. These Morroccan style lanterns from Pier1 really set the lighting mood in the space, and they have so many nice designs on their website every year. We also have several medium and small sized lanterns from Amazon which we have used for over the past 5 years. They are set throughout the kitchen and living space with flameless LED candles.
The Moroccan lanterns from Amazon are wonderful because they have a vast variety with different colors to suit your design, and best of all they deliver quickly for those who procrastinate on decor. I also wanted some gold lanterns to match my room with gold accents so I went for this stunning pair of beautiful lanterns also from Days of Eid!
I gave the girls a memory box this Ramadan. Inside the box, I had a new journal for them to record their gratitudes, along with a new Quran, wooden Quran holder, a pen, tasbeeh beads we made together, and a new watch to keep track of time (what better opportunity to learn how to read an analog clock, than when you are counting the hours of the day!) An important tool I implemented is the gratitude journal. They start their day with this activity (which also buys us a few more minutes of peace in the early morning!) They list 3 things they are grateful for, as well as indicate a person they are thankful for. Contemplating daily gratitudes is a sure way to remember Allah and his infinite blessings, and it also rewires the brain for positivity and happiness. We make a point to discuss their journals each day and at the end of their day before sunset, they shade in their feelings for the day.
We also gave each girl her own colorful Quran, which was SUPER exciting for them. They literally jumped up and down with joy. They also have fun going through the pages and finding their surah, as the chapters are color coded in rainbow pages. It is truly beautiful! I hope to get myself the turquoise one when it is back in stock. I found mine on the website, WithaSpin.com, along with some fun Ramadan shaped cookie cutters.
This is their Quran holder, the vibrant pink Quran with rainbow pages, and they also made tasbeeh beads using these beautiful beads and jewelry string. I think this craft is straightforward, but leave me a message in the comments below if you’d like a detailed tutorial.
In a salah prayer party, my girls hand sewed their own prayer scarves, which I can share with you on another post one day InshaAllah.
Ramadan is also about being charitable. One of the tasks I give them is to create a Ramadan sadaqa jar. Having a generous heart and always thinking of others is a character trait we hope to instill in our children for life. Another way we do this, is to make sure they do not get too attached to their belongings. I often encourage them to find some toys, books, or clothes that are in good condition that they can give away to benefit someone else. We started a Ramadan treasure chest that makes its appearance at the beginning of the month. They are encouraged to fill it up with things they can give away. They even choose some of their new gifts to donate, acknowledging “I don’t need this many new toys”. Throughout Ramadan, the treasure chest also gets filled with the gifts from family and friends for everyone in the household. They get to exchange gifts with family and open everything on Eid day.
Another fun activity is creating beautiful hand made greeting cards. The more kids you have around, the better. You can set up an entire assembly line to design these! We painted, stamped, added stickers, and had a great production line for about a week! I purchased these beautiful calligraphy stencils from Home Synchronize. We used them on plain white cards that we created patterns on with these vibrant watercolors. It is important to use heavyweight card stock as the water color paint and acrylics or tempera need to adhere to a matte card stock without a glossy finish. We stamped on the message of “iqr’aa” (Read) or “Kul 3aam wa antom bi khayr” (May every year you be well) using the calligraphy stencils. We added finishing touches with these beautiful Ramadan stickers from Eid Way.
This is a fun big project the girls worked hard on as we stayed home and played school this spring; it became an Arabic letter mini lesson, social learning activity as we connected with local family and friends for the holiday, and a much needed writing project! They had to learn how to write greetings inside complete with the friendly letter format, proper use of punctuation, and repetitive spelling of the word dear (not deer) over 20 times. I think they have gotten it down by now :). They joyfully stamped the beautiful Arabic calligraphy letters in colorful paint- with attention to the shape of the letters, even with the details of their accents and vowel marks over 20 times, which was much needed Arabic letter writing and reading practice. The project even included a great lesson on how to properly write a mailing address for each card they prepared for the postal service.
The girls are little foodies, just like me. They get excited to lay out an attractive spread and tablescape. I encourage them to join me in the kitchen to prepare special treats for Ramadan. Ramadan is a time to look forward to yummy qatayif, kunafah, and basboosa. They are the perfect reward after accomplishing a fast, some for the first time ever. It is important to encourage their efforts and remind them we are doing this for Allah SWT. Preparing these special desserts with my kids, as I did with my mom in Ramadan, just as she did with her mom, is such a special tradition to keep carrying on.
Ramadan is also a time to look forward to yummy date filled cookies called maa’moul or kahk.
We make date truffles with the left over date paste, filled with an endless possibility of add-ins from coconut and chocolate chips, to almonds and pumpkin or chia seeds.
Even though we are fasting, the girls have so much fun preparing all these foods with me. For dinner they often make our classic family recipe of lentil soup or sambousek. These are Ramadan staples on our spread.
As Ramadan comes to an end, we prepare all kinds of cookies from my Ramadan themed sugar cookies, Eid petit fours, and kahk (recipe coming soon!)!
We set-up and decorate a section of the kitchen counter with suhoor snacks and drinks. We have a Ramadan countdown on the message board, along with the iftar and suhoor times set up. It is the hub for Iftar/suhoor prep, and the kids love updating this station daily with
new times as well as new snacks like sliced apples, a bowl of granola and dried fruit they mix up, freshly baked banana date muffins, spinach pies, or zaa’ter and cheese croissants.
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A classic Egyptian comfort food, Macarona Bechamél oozes a creamy béchamel sauce, layered over penne pasta, savory beef, and gooey cheesy flavor throughout. This pasta casserole will be a huge hit with the whole family. The classic recipe with meat sauce can be found in […]
Egyptian massak’aa is easily one the tastiest dishes out there. In this version, sliced eggplants and peppers are lightly fried and then cooked in an irresistible tomato sauce simmering with garlic, onions, cumin, and vinegar. It’s really a simple dish to prepare with complex flavors […]
On about day TWO of isolation, I decided we would need a reliable batch of cookies to get through this pandemic/quarantine/homeschool/work-from-home situation. We love cookies in my household and I will find any excuse to incorporate them from improving lactation to supporting girl scouts! I think they are truly my only weakness in life. Oh, and did I really just use almost all of my flour and peanut butter during a food shortage making this twice in one week? Yes. It is that good. Peanut butter +chocolate+ cookies= survival.
I used the reliable and notorious New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe by Jaques Torres, tweaked it for some smooth peanut butter lusciousness, and TA-DAH! A worthy addiction. Enjoy! I’d bring the extras to my neighbors, friends, and work as usual…but we must shelter in place. #stayhome #eatcookies
These cookies are soft, chewy, and gooey, and maybe you won’t feel so guilty because it has less butter and more plant-based nut butters…yah? I make these into smaller cookies that yields about 36 total, and once I even baked half the dough into a 9 inch pan with some vanilla ice-cream on top. YUM!
Sambousek is also called Sambouseh throughout Egypt and the Levant regions. It is similar to samosas, but with a different flavor and spice profile for the filling. In the Arab world, it is basically a fried dumpling of flaky and crispy dough filled with beef […]
