8 Ways to Entertain the Kids on Eid

We're excited!! Only 10 days left until Eid, insh'Allah. How do you entertain your kids on Eid? Here's an article written for this month's issue of Sister's Magazine:

Sitting in the garage drinking some sweet Lebanese tea, while smelling the scent of rose water coming from my mother’s rice pudding – that’s Eid for me! Eid is simply a joyous time filled with delicious food, cultural outfits, presents and kids!

After a long month of fasting and ibaadah, the last thing I want to do is plan a fun filled Eid for the kids. That’s why I prepare it way in advance. I only have a little baby – but my 10 nieces and nephews make up for it! So how exactly do you make Eid more memorable for the kids? I’ve listed a heap of ideas, which have been tested and loved by my bunch:

Anasheed cushions:

Line up cushions facing each other, one less than the number of children playing. Turn on the nasheed. This is when the children move around near the cushions. Once the nasheeds stop, they have to sit down on a free cushion. The player without a cushion is out; take away one cushion each time. Repeat until you have only 2 players and 1 cushion. The one to sit down first on the last cushion is the winner.

Anasheed bumps:

All players have to run, jump, skip, hop, dance etc. while the nasheeds are playing. When the nasheeds stop, they have to sit on the floor as quickly as possible. The last one to sit down is out. Continue until you have a winner.

Sweet Memory:

Place Eid sweets on the tray. Children get 30 seconds to view it. Now, remove the sweets off the tray and children must then write down what they’ve seen. The child with the most sweets listed wins!

Cotton ball pickup:

Spread out cotton balls in a designated area. Each player has their hands tied behind their backs and Vaseline (petroleum jelly) on their nose. When the game begins, the player walks to the cotton ball area, bends down and uses their nose to pick up the cotton balls. The player who gets the most cotton balls wins {you can also set a timer for this}.

Eid Hunt:

List objects that you’ll find on Eid day on paper. This list is then given to each child so they can search for these items. First person who collects them all wins!

Pass the Parcel:

Wrap a small gift in a layer of wrapping paper. Now wrap it in another layer with a new treat and repeat until you have at least 10 layers (or however many children there are). Sit everyone in a circle and play a short snippet of nasheeds.

When the nasheed’s stop, the person holding the parcel removes one layer of wrapping and gets that treat.

Repeat until the last layer of wrapping has been removed, restarting and then stopping the nasheed each time. Use different treats for each layer so it can add a bit of mystery.

Space Jump:

Form a group of 4-6 children and find an area viewable to the audience. The game begins when you yell out ‘space jump’. Child #1 jumps on the scene and acts out whatever comes to mind first. After 30 seconds, yell out ‘space jump’ again. This is when child #2 ‘jumps’ in and starts acting a different scene. Child #1 must play along with child #2. Keep doing this until all children are on the scene acting. You’ll be surprised at what children can come up with.

Balloon pop:

We usually decorate the house with Balloons on Eid. So before you blow and tie each balloon up, put a hidden message like; positive notes or even a treat voucher inside. By the end of Eid day, get the children to pop one balloon. They’ll then be able to read the hidden message etc. which insha’Allah will end their night in a positive mood! {You can also hide a picture inside, first person to find it wins!}

You can get creative and use whatever items you have at home to make these games special. You can even mix some ideas up for a little fun. For each winner you can make a little lolly bag or buy some really small stationary items.

So it’s time to start organising!

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{Photo Courtesy of Sister's Magazine}