Eid Mubarak at Tic Tocs Nursery
At our Devon Nursery, Tic Tocs on Haldon Road in Exeter, we pride ourselves on offering inclusive and culturally diverse education and experiences for children.
Last week, Eid marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan. We are lucky enough to have three Muslim members of staff who were able to teach the children all about Eid celebrations and why they are important to Muslims.
Muslim Culture
The Preschool children of Tic Tocs got to learn all about Muslim culture. They read a story called “The Most Exciting Eid” which explained to the children about what celebrations Muslim children get up to. They learnt all about why the celebration is so important, to mark the end of Ramadan. They also learnt about why the celebration is so important for the children, all the exciting presents they get! Much like Christmas!
The children also got to practise kneeling for a Muslim prayer as Ghada taught them the rituals such as taking off their shoes and kneeling down with their hands to their forehead.
We also set up our role play dressing table with Hijabs and beads. Ghada taught the children that Muslim women must wear Hijabs in the Muslim religion. They also spoke about how the longer prayer beads have more beads so prayers are spread further.
Celebrating Eid
The children and staff at Tic Tocs had a whole morning to celebrate Eid. Eid marks the end of Ramdan and is determined by the Islamic Lunar Calendar, when the moons line up. Eid celebrates the end of Ramadan and is usually celebrated by a big meal in Muslim culture.
So, the children celebrated Eid by baking some tasty treats! Eid is a time for families and friends to come together and share food with loved ones so we encouraged the children to make a treat and choose a friend to give it to.
Henna patterns are a big part of Muslim culture and are used in special events such as Eid, weddings and parties. Ghada drew some special patterns on the children with some semi-permanent Henna ink and explained to them what it was. They all for sure loved their designs!
Celebrating different cultures
Educating children on and celebrating different cultures is a vital part of early education at Devon Nurseries. We want our children to take interest and learn all about different people and their cultures from around the world! Celebrating other cultures gives young children a better understanding of the world and the shared human values.
Check out Tic Tocs’ Facebook and Instagram for more activities. Fancy another read? Check out Tic Tocs’ fabulous colour mixing activity last month!
