Ramadan Coloring Sheet Printable
My neighbors are Muslim and they’ve told me about Ramadan all year long with great excitement. As we’ve shared Halloween and Christmas and all the other various secular and religious American observances with them, they eagerly explained that Ramadan was coming up. Of course, English is their second language and they’ve only been in the US a little over a year, so hammering out the details of when and how this holiday works has been a bit of a learning curve for me. But, I do know that Ramadan is a very special holiday that they can’t wait to share with me so I thought I’d share with you.
Ramadan starts this year begins on May 5th and lasts until June 3rd. This is based on visual sightings of the crescent moon and its changes into a full moon, which takes about 29-30 days. During this time Muslims worldwide fast from dawn until sunset each day. They have breakfast at three in the morning (or at least my neighbors do) and then don’t eat all day until 8pm. This doesn’t exactly sound like a “fun holiday” at first, but the more I researched fasting the more I realize how it can revitalize and intensify your experience, which is focused on increased spiritual reflection, prayer, worship, devotion and charity. Children, those who are sick or pregnant, traveling or even menstruating are not required to fast. This is something for those considered healthy enough to do, to strengthen their faith.
To kick off Ramadan, I thought we’d learn to write Happy Ramadan or “Good Ramadan” in Arabic. This was a bit challenging for me, but as you can see Arabic is a beautiful language to write. The long sweeping letters go from right to left and include lots of little dots and swipes for various sounds that I have trouble making. Basically, the words below say Ramadan Kareem which means Good Ramadan or Generous Ramadan because Ramadan is a time to be generous and also thankful for all the blessings and things we have.
After we played around with Arabic calligraphy for a while…
… I scanned in the letters and created this Ramadan printable for you! It’s just a simple picture of a girl and boy pointing up at the night sky.
(I intended the children to color the night sky a darker shade, but as you can see it can be interpreted in many ways.)
This is a great time for children to learn about the phases of the moon. Fasting might be a bit of a difficult concept for young children to understand but it is a great experience for them to watch their parents and older relatives practice self-discipline and learn more about prayer and meditation.
I am not Muslim but I think anyone and everyone can take away a valuable lesson from this. Doing something positive and consistently for 29-30 days is a great way to make changes that can eventually become good habits.
