Qatar children's museum hosts series of engaging Ramadan activities

Qatar Children’s Museum (QCM) is celebrating the holy month of Ramadan with online activities centred on the themes of family engagement, heritage and culture to promote #RamdanJoyToAll. Throughout the holy month, the museum is working closely with members of the community to highlight how Qatari culture and family bonds feature an intergenerational perspective using oral history videos, challenges (fawazeer), and other various activities.

In celebration of Garangao, the annual children’s festival held on the 15th night of Ramadan, Qatar Children’s Museum hosted a workshop on social media with cultural expert, Najla Al Hemaidi, on 24 April, who demonstrated how to make various items such as medallions, bookmarks, baskets, and more using palm tree weaving. The workshop, open to Qatar Museums’ Culture Pass members, was held in partnership with Snoonu, who delivered all workshop materials to participants.

Essa Al Mannai, Director of QCM, said: “This Ramadan, we are celebrating the uniqueness of our culture and heritage by inviting the wider community to join in festivities with their families and communities. The Ramadan activities create an invaluable online platform for the wider community to share their authentic experiences for the benefit of children and their families. Over the past year, Qatar Children’s Museum has adopted new approaches to engage the community and to support learning that is rooted in local heritage and traditions.”

Mr. Hamad Al Hajri, CEO of Snoonu, said "Garangao is an authentic Ramadan tradition that brings joy to the hearts of young people as well as adults. Due to the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID19, we took an initiative to secure the health and safety of young people by collaborating with Qatar Museums to deliver the toolkit for the Garangao activity organised by Qatar Children's Museum, spreading joy in the hearts of children."

Meanwhile, throughout Ramadan, folklore and culture scholar, Dr. Khalifa Alsayed Almalki, is being featured in a series of social media posts, introducing children to traditional stories and songs pertaining to oral history, as well as to Ramadan customs and traditions.

As part of Fawazeer Ramadan, audiences are presented with a thematic selection of Qatari words to guess before the answers are explained contextually in both Arabic and English.

As part of its Ramadan activities, Qatar Children’s Museum has created a downloadable calendar to help children achieve their goals and optimise their fasting experience.

Qatar Children’s Museum provides innovative spaces and resources for child development, so as to support the efforts of families and teachers in building a sustainable and prosperous future. The museum focuses on each child’s unique needs of and development stage, using various forms of games aimed at stimulating learning.

Follow @ChildrensMuseum.QA on Instagram to join in QCM’s online activities.

To become a Culture Pass member, please visit: https://www.qm.org.qa/en/node/5451