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Ramadan
Village
by Donna Alterkawi in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
skill level: easy to medium
cost:
$5-$20 Cost may vary depending on how creative
you get!
craft time: 4 - 5
hours
light cardboard boxes (empty food item
boxes)
scissors
tape
newspaper strips
white flour
warm
water
poster paints
string(s) of small holiday lights (your color choice -
but we used green and white)
sheet cotton (not balls)
can of gold, green
or light brown spray paint, if desired
Cut cardboard and tape together to
make building shapes (This part is for adults or older kids). We made a
traditional Saudi village with houses, a mosque and a Bedouin tent, but you can
make buildings reflecting wherever you live! In the back of each building, near
the top, cut a small hole big enough to insert one of the small lights into.
Cover the cardboard buildings with paper mache. Mix flour and water
together into a thick paste, about 1 part flour to 2 parts water. Adjust if it
seems too thick or too thin. It should be thin enough to work with easily, but
not so thin that the newspaper does not stick well to the cardboard. Dip
newspaper strips in the paste, gently squeeze off the excess and thoroughly
cover the cardboard shapes. Loads of messy fun for everyone! Even young children
can participate, because it doesn't matter how sloppy you are! When they dry,
they will be very hard and ready to paint and decorate as desired. If you like
you can spray some sealer on them to make them shiny and protect your paint. As
you can see, you can be as detailed or simple as you want with this project.
Arrange your town on a table, and weave the lights on the tabletop among
your buildings. As you do, insert a light in the hole in the back of each
building. Arrange the cotton on top of the lights. You can lightly spray paint
this green or brown or just leave it white.
If you wish, you can
embellish the town with appropriate landscaping, such as trees, etc., either
made or purchased, and put little "scenes" inside the houses. We found some
stickers showing people eating "iftar", reading Qur'an, etc. which we pasted on
cardstock and placed inside the houses. You can make a big moon and starry sky
to paste on the wall behind the town. Every evening at iftar, turn on the lights
for your town and enjoy!
This is obviously a project which needs to be
accomplished in stages and takes some time, but the creativity involved makes it
fun for kids of all ages. The whole family can contribute, and you can always
add elements every year or completely change your town to reflect a different
part of the world. It can be a great learning experience for kids. My daughter
was studying the history of Saudi Arabia, and had great fun designing the
buildings from what she had learned.
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