Ramadan A-Z ألف باء رمضان

A set of A-Z cards curated to introduce vocabulary, concepts and practices related to Ramadan.

"Ramadan A-Z" offers insights into Qatari and Islamic customs observed over the holy month through key vocabulary. The English version supports those who do not observe Ramadan and introduces transliterated Arabic words linking them to what they witness around them. The Arabic set supports those observing the holy month to deeply explore the spirit of Ramadan through key Arabic vocabulary.

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Shortlisted

Overview

HundrED shortlisted this innovation

HundrED has shortlisted this innovation to one of its innovation collections. The information on this page has been checked by HundrED.

Web presence

2022

Established

3K

Children

1

Countries

Target group

Other

Updated

April 2024

At Dadu, we offer opportunities for life-long learning through open-ended and meaningful experiences, present diverse avenues for children to play, ask questions, and participate in conversations. With Ramadan A-Z, we aim to support children on literacy aquisition and cultural fluency using their own life experiences; and support adults to play an active role in their learning.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

In preparation for Ramadan 1443/2022, and being recently out of covid, our goal was to create an online campaign that supports parents of different backgrounds to explore with their children meaning behind relevant Ramadan practices, phrases, and food as a response to a being unable to experience that authentically due to quarantine constraints. The success led to the physical cards.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

The open ended cards allow for different modes of play that suit different age groups, literay levels and cultural bacckgrounds. The cards are conversation starters for parents and children. Children can also apply their knowledge to create categories, do a word search, guess the word of the letter, or combining different letters to create words and more. Overall, the different opportunities support language acquisition, pre-literacy skills, comprehension, and communication skills, as well as exposure to cultural and religious practice. So far many of the responses we are receiving from parents and caregivers praise the specific differences between the English and Arabic set and how it considers each target group's assimilated and pre-existing knowledge about Ramadan. Parents have also used the cards to explore Arabic conjugations with their children.

How has it been spreading?

The original digital cards were posted on the museum instagram account. These were reshared by followers, often on a daily basis with a different letter released eah day. Due to the positive feedback, EXPO 2023 and a local company - Baladna sponsored the printing of the physical cards for Ramadan 1445/2024. The physical sets of cards were distributed in multiple Qatar Museums including Dadu, Children's Museum of Qatar, the National Museum of Qatar, Museum of Islamic Art and Mathaf - Arab Museum of modern art over Ramadan for free to visitors. In a special event for Palestinian evacuees during Ramadan, extra sets were offered for attendees to bring back to share with their community.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

The cards are now being given away to visitors, partners, and colleagues as part of Dadu's #GiftsofRamadan campaign for this year. Audiences who visited Dadu on site during Ramadan have all received their own sets. The cards have also been gifted to Dadu's Ramadan completion winners on instagram. The online version can be found on the Musuem's instagram account @daduqatar.

Implementation steps

First Impression

Once the child opens the box, the deck of cards would be arranged in alphabetical order.
Children can go through each card, read the letter, then trace it, read the word, and observe the art.

Pre-Literacy Level

For children who are preparing to learn how to read, they can start practicing the phonics and sounds of the letters with the support of their parents. Additionally, they can start to familiarize themselves with the shape of the letters by tracing them with their finger. The Montessori inspired design is intentionally created to provide a multi-sensory learning experience.

Early reading level

Children who are beginning to learn how to read can start by reading the letter, and spelling out the words phonetically. The words should be legible for early reading levels. On top of that they can start to use their own words to describe what they see in the illustration. This supports with language acquisition and gaining confidence for emergent readers.

1st grade and above

For children getting more comfortable with their reading level, they can go through each word, and try to guess what it means based on their own knowledge and experience. They can observe the included illustrations to guide them to understand the meaning of each word. They will also use the back of the card to read the premises definition of each word and learn about its meaning.

More play opporunties

Once children are familiar with the cards, they can start to test each other on the different meaning of each word. They can also try to guess what word belongs to which letter. Children can also pair different letters together to spell out different words.

beyond the cards

Invitation to play:
Parents choose a card or more to spark a themed playtime. Create an engaging setup with related toys, sensory activities, and books that inspire deeper exploration of the theme. Creativity:
Parents and teachers can exnourge children to create their own illustrations inspired by the cards. Cultural Exchange:
Parents/ teachers can facilitate cultural exchange by using the cards with children as conversation starters in different social settings.