"In my head, an imaginary staircase reaches the top of the minaret. I drew it from childhood, and it seems that I passed it on to my children because of what I talked about."

He tells Al-Jazeera that his daughter Samar drew a line going up and under a staircase, and she began to color each step with a color, writing incomprehensible symbols. Fasting became easy and pleasant for her, and she remained stained without symbols.

It is useful to gradually accustom the child to fasting, performing religious rites, and reading the Qur’an and supplications until he reaches the age of commissioning and is ready (Pixabay)

Train and reward

Mohsen adds that Samar, who later studied engineering, is trying with her children to organize food intake outside Ramadan, with 6 hours between one meal and the next without any food or snack, only water.

She says it will become easier for them to cope during the fasting month.

By leaving one meal that is based on their training since the age of six, and to encourage them, they have the right, if they succeed in leaving a meal, to ask for a reward that is a gift, a picnic, or a specific dessert.

Mohsen tells that the idea of ​​the minaret stairs came from the muezzin going up the stairs before the presence of loudspeakers, to reach the top and give the call to prayer.

Children used to think that the muezzin consumes its length throughout the day to reach the top of the minaret at sunset, so they fast as many steps as the muezzin reaches at noon.

Yasmina and her sister Sarah's fasting boxes (Al-Jazeera)

Decorations, chocolates and aids

Yasmina Karakuz is a 9-year-old girl who learned to pray alone by standing next to her father and hearing him, to her family's surprise that she enthusiastically started performing the prayers alone.

Her mother, Batoul, says that last year her daughter also started fasting alone until noon, until lunch time as a matter of experiment, and this year she tried fasting 4 days before Ramadan in the months of Rajab and Sha`ban.

In order for her mother to encourage her to fast, she began to pay attention to Ramadan decorations at home, and to prepare boxes of chocolates that she loves in innovative shapes with her name. After fasting, she chooses which box she wants to open, including moon shapes or decorated stars, and has set up a schedule of the foods she wants to eat during Iftar.

And Batoul tells her without any intimidation that God loves those who pray and fast and is pleased with him, rather she asks her all the time if she feels hungry to break her fast before the call to prayer, and this encouraged Yasmina to adhere to fasting and prayer, as they are a beautiful and beloved part of life.

In addition to linking the month of Ramadan and fasting with aid, so Yasmina contributes part of her expenses to help families and children less fortunate financially.

Putting what the child loves in a reward fund is a form of encouragement during fasting training (Al-Jazeera)

Ramadan calendar and messages

For her part, Fatima Mari designed a calendar for the month of Ramadan for children, in which there are 30 pockets, each one has information related to the month of Ramadan and its activities, such as charity, memorizing a Quranic verse, helping the mother in the kitchen, and memorizing a supplication before breakfast.

In the rest of the pockets there are messages exchanged between the parents and the child, either in which the parents leave their messages or vice versa, so the child leaves, for example, his wishes and the activities he wishes to do, such as the list of food that he wants to eat at breakfast time, or his desire to wake up for the pre-dawn meal, or an invitation One of his friends at breakfast, or meeting an invitation, or his wishes regarding the Eid clothes .. This calendar can also be used later in any month to be useful in exchanging messages and surprises every day between the child and the parents.

Although children want stimulation, Fatima does not prefer the idea that the child does something only to get something in return, noting that it must be motivated by gifts, invitations and rewards.

She adds that children can be made to watch videos and songs related to Ramadan and fasting that encourage them to perform the rituals of the holy month.

Ramadan calendars designed by Fatima Merhi to encourage her children to fast (Al Jazeera)

By example only

Abdullah Snow says that children wait for any opportunity to identify with adults. Just as they imitate their parents in dress and speech, so they imitate them in prayer and fasting.

And he tells that his children used to insist on fasting only in order to wake up at the time of the pre-dawn meal, as waking up was forbidden except for those who were fasting, and they were happy with this "lumen" or the gathering of the family at night.

Abdullah never asked his children to fast, as he recounts, and says that he and their mother were a role model. Before the age of their mandate, children wanted to follow them.

But his son today is trying to encourage his children to fast by bringing them gifts and giving them money, which is what Abdullah does not prefer and finds that he might teach the child to blackmail!

Waiting for Eid

Fatima Shahour tells that her aunt who lives abroad is working hard to make her children live the atmosphere of the month of Ramadan, hanging lanterns, and devising a calendar for Ramadan activities such as reading the Qur’an and prayers. She also urges them to help her to prepare iftar together and prepare Eid gifts, noting that fasting is accompanied by gifts, festivals and clothes. New.

Attention to feeding children while fasting is essential to maintain their health and growth (Pixabay)

Attention to food

Hanadi Jumaa, who has studied nutrition, believes that it is important to pay close attention to the health of a developing child, and stresses the need to pay attention to compensating for what vitamins and fluids he may lose on the day of fasting.

And she insists on making the matter optional for the child so that he does not have to lie or eat in secret, so that he does not feel psychological peace with fasting.

And she tells that most of what she does with her children is to fast whenever they want to bring nutritious juices and delicious foods away from fatty sweets and foods that cause hunger, while sticking to sahoor for children in particular.

Regarding the ideal training, you see that it is better for the child to start fasting first until the noon prayer for a period of 10 days, then until the afternoon call to prayer for 10 days, so that the child can fast until the sunset prayer in the last ten days.

Thus, he attains the age of commission, ready to fast, aware of its challenges, and with complete ease.