Eid al-Fitr is around the corner, and you are looking for ways to make this holiday exciting and memorable for your kids. Here are some fun and easy activities that your kids can enjoy!

Crescent-Shaped Foods

It’s all about food during Eid al-Fitr, so let’s get to feasting! Kids can help make Eid sweets like cookies and cakes and savories like sandwiches. Cooking can be a fun way to get kids involved. So mix it up this year with some crescent-shaped foods.

1. Halal Rice Krispies Moons

Finally, a halal version of an American favorite that your kids can enjoy and share with other friends this Eid! Don’t worry about getting halal marshmallows. Simply use marshmallow fluff (recipe here) at the regular grocery store. Add sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or another add-in to make these beyond amazing. Make them crescents with a flipped upside-down glass (using this method) or a crescent moon cookie cutter (from Amazon or a Muslim shop.) These will be great fillers for an Eid goody bag (check out the idea below!)

2. Brunch Croissant Sandwiches

Get ready for an easy cooking project for your kiddos to tackle on their own that even the adults will clamber for at your brunch spread. Simply buy croissants from the store and cut them in half. Go for savory and sweet fillings and/or toppings. Take inspiration from lunch sandwiches and crepes/pancakes you’ve had. Here are some combos you might try!

Savory Croissants:

• Pizza croissant (great for kids!)
• Caramelized onions and goat cheese
• Halal deli meat, lettuce, tomato, and mustard
• Chicken or my favorite mayo-free tuna salad
• Cucumber, dill, and cream cheese
• Smoked salmon and herby cream cheese
• Eggs omelet or egg salad
• Halal turkey bacon, omelet, and cheese

If you want to warm the croissants, to melt cheese for example, but don’t want them to burn, wrap them in foil! This will also keep them warm until guests are ready to eat!

Sweet Croissants:

• Peanut butter and jelly (great for kids!)
• Nut or seed butter and sliced bananas
• Nutella and strawberries
• Gelato and raspberries (serve and eat immediately)
• Lemon curd (or simply a store-bought pudding mix) and fresh berries
• Honey cream cheese and strawberries
• Whipped cream and canned peaches

Give it a little extra flavor with a dusting of powdered sugar, cinnamon or pie spice, or a drizzle of any sauce you’d put on a sundae on top of any of these!

3. Fruit-Vessel Desserts

Bring on the sweets but maybe with some nutritional value and without as much of a sugar crash?

Cantaloupe/Honeydew Crescents with Ice Cream

For a dessert fit for summer, slice a melon into crescents and remove the rind. Serve with scoops of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce (recipe here). Your kids can help scoop out the seeds of the melon as well as assemble the dessert.

Biscuit, Nut Butter, and Fruit Crescents

Grab yourself a round cookie/biscuit and have kids spread it with a nut or seed butter of their choice. Slice an apple into crescents. Go for the extra mile with a slice of banana cut into a star shape.

4. Store-bought Crescent Cheats

When you don’t have time to prepare and cook food to help kids make Eid-themed desserts, opt for store-bought shortcuts. For example:

• Any circular dessert (like mini brownie bites or chocolate chip cookies) for your kids to add crescents with decorative icing or a sheet dessert (like a tray of brownies, or a cake baked from box-mix.)
• Sheet cake that’s already frosted and have kids punch out crescent shapes with a glass (using this method) or a crescent-shaped cookie cutter.
• Round cake and have kids assemble sliced canned peaches nicely with a repeating crescent motif.

Islamic Lesson for Crescent-Shaped Foods

The Prophet taught Muslims to enjoy delicious food and drinks on Eid. Having a special feast is a blessing Allah wants us to celebrate Eid with.

Abu ‘Ubaid said: “I was present at Eid with ‘Umar, and he started with the prayer before the khutbah. He said: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade fasting on these two days. The day of al-Fitr is the day when you break your fast, and on the day of al-Adha, eat the meat of your sacrifices.'” [Musnad Ahmad 163]

Eid Goody Bags

Encourage your child’s generosity this Eid with Eid goody bags. Make a handful and hand them out to other kids at Eid prayer, whether you know them or not, or have them at an Eid party you’re hosting or attending.

What should you fill your Eid goody bag with? These don’t have to be any more special than a typical goody bag, but if you want to go the extra mile, I got you. Your kids can use free printable stickers to decorate the bags or as treats inside. Opt for more eco-friendly paper bags with a coloring page card glued to the outside of the bag and a few crayons inside (just throw in a few new crayons or colored pencils in there.)

Don’t forget the edible treats. Keep it healthy with a fruit pouch/cup or healthy and eco-friendly with a clementine or small banana. And then, of course, add some candy…probably.

Islamic Lesson on Eid Goody Bags

Giving gifts to others is a great way to make new friends and become better friends with the ones you already have.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ata ibn Abi Muslim that Abdullah al-Khurasani said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘…Give presents to each other and love each other and enmity will disappear.’ ” [Muwatta Malik]

Eid Cards

Encourage kids to make Eid cards for their family and friends. Buy some blank cards from the store and have them use glitter, stickers, and colorful markers to make their cards festive. If you want to make them Eid-themed without much effort, have kids cut out and glue a large crescent from another sheet of paper. If you want to get complicated, go nuts.

Help them write meaningful messages customized for each card to help them express their feelings and become better writers. For a very special family member, you might find pictures of them and your child and include those on the card.

Don’t forget to mail the cards the week before Eid so they arrive in time–and yes, snail mail because getting non-junk mail is amazing. If you can snap them up online, don’t miss out on the Eid stamps from the US Postal Service. (They typically carry these at post offices during Christmas and you might not find them in person.)

Islamic Lesson for Eid Cards

Saying salam to others is a kind and simple way to make dua for them. Let’s say salam to everyone we care about, especially those who live far away and who we won’t see this Eid.

It was narrated from Abdullah bin ‘Amr that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: “Worship the Most Merciful and spread (the greeting of) peace.'” [Sunan Ibn Majah 3694]

Eid Star Decorations

Give your home a glow-up with some star decorations. Simply find any object in the store which is a star-shape, such as a wooden star or a wooden star wand (I find these at Dollar Tree or crafting stores). Let your child paint the star however they’d like and go over the idea of color mixing with them as they paint. Even very young kids can do this activity with finger painting. Now it’s time for you to help them get three letters on there–EID. Use stickers, freehand with paint, write with a Sharpie, etc. (Sticker letters look best in my opinion.) If you’re using three stars together for an Eid sign (one letter per star), go ahead and prop them up against a wall or object, or get out some power tools and drill holes to string them up.

Islamic Lesson for Eid Star Decorations

Allah created beautiful colors all around us on the Earth. When Allah [swy] blesses us with fruits that grow in all different colors, they are pretty but also give us different health benefits according to their colors!

“Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky with which We bring forth fruits of different colors? And in the mountains are streaks of varying shades of white, red, and raven black; just as people, living beings, and cattle are of various colors as well.” [Surah Fatir 35;27]

I pray you have a great time with the children in your life this year! Try any of these activities out and see if they stick as an Eid tradition you’ll return to next Eid al Fitr, inshaAllah! May Allah accept all of our worship, and have a very happy Eid to us all!

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