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Ramadan Coming!..How Kids Can Observe Fasting?


Sun 03 Mar 2019 | 06:00 PM
Salma Yassin

By Salma Yassin

CAIRO, March 3 (SEE)- Ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, mothers are asking about ways to encourage their kids to observe fasting in their early ages.

Dr. Ahmed Ali, a psychologist and behavior modification specialist, told (SEE) that parents have a major role in raising kid’s awareness towards their religious rituals.

Dr. Ali advised parents to mention virtues of fasting to their kids as a reason for eternal blessing in the hereafter as God has specified “El Rayyan” door in heaven for those who are fasting.

“Train kids to observe fasting should be gradual starting from age of five,” he added.

[caption id="attachment_39030" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A child praying in a mosque[/caption]

He demonstrated that kids in this age could fast only from the dawn till noon, then at age of 6, fasting period could be extended to the afternoon.

At the age of seven, Dr. Ali stressed that kids have to observe a whole-day fasting till sunset.

To avoid kids’ suffering while fasting, the doctor urged parents to let children fast couple of days in Sha'ban; the month before Ramadan.

In the same context, he stressed the importance of delaying pre-dawn meal (Sahoor); as this could keep children away from feeling hungry the next morning.

“Also, rewarding kids and praising them in public if managed to fast for a complete week will encourage them a lot,” he said.

[caption id="attachment_39032" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mom rewarding her daughter[/caption]

If kids feel tired during fasting, Dr. Ali advised mothers to distract their attention either by sleeping or doing some activities that don’t need a lot of efforts like painting and watching cartoons.

If a child refuse to fast, Dr. Ali said he should be prevented from taking his favorite food, plays and places besides informing him with dangerous subsequences of his actions.