Iftar Celebrations at Falcon British Nursery

Hosted by the Arabic department, the Falcon British Nursery children celebrated Iftar as part of Healthy Week. They focused on a different area of cleanliness every day. This, in turn, helped Falcon children who are not Muslim understand a part of Islamic life that holds great importance to our Muslim students and their families and helped our Muslim children remember what is significant to their culture and religion.

“The school is proud to promote activities that showcase the UAE, its culture, its leaders and its people’s values. Arabian hospitality and helping children understand they are a global citizen in a multicultural world is part of the school’s vision. That was this vision behind the Healthy Week programme and Falcon’s Iftar.” Said Amelia J Brown, principal of Falcon British Nursery.

On the first day of Healthy Week, the Falcon children focused on a clean body. They learned how to wash their hands properly, and that water is precious, especially when living in a desert. Water is scarce. “We need to turn on the tap, wet our hands, turn off the tap to make bubbles by rubbing our hands together and then turn the tap back on to wash the bubbles off. That way the water does not run down the drain, which is wasteful.” said students from Orange Class. The baby dolls were given a bath by the children in the classroom using cloths and baby soap to demonstrate why it is important to keep clean and germ-free.

On Day 2, the Falcon children learned about clean clothing. The baby dolls made an appearance again, but this time it was the dolly clothing that was washed and hung up to dry. The children learnt that clothes get washed in the washing machine and they all took turns in putting on the washing machine and adding soap powder. They learned the washing machine is not a toy and they should never touch it without mummy or daddy with them. After the clothes were clean, everyone helped hang up the washing on the clothesline.

With body and clothes clean, day 3 focused on clean teeth. The children all brought their toothbrushes to school for an oral hygiene day. Teeth were brushed with toothpaste and children brushed off germs from their laminated teeth cards with school toothbrushes.
The 4th day focused on healthy and clean insides. Children had the opportunity to sort out 40 different foods into healthy and unhealthy boxes. They learnt that healthy food gives a healthy. strong body that can easily fight off germs.

Our final day culminated with a marvelous event – an Iftar experience for the Falcon children. The auditorium and the gym were set up to depict a Muslim home at sunset, with lanterns twinkling on floor, sitting areas adorned with rows of long table cloths and colourful lights on the walls. The side wall was adorned with a massive video of iftar in the UAE. Our Falcon Arabic teacher explained to the children that from sunrise to sunset people taking part in Ramadan do not eat any food or drinking anything. They live a clean life. The Arabic teacher read a story about Ramadan and the senior Islamic class sang a song about Ramadan. Then the children heard the adhan call to prayer and watched the senior Islamic Class demonstrate the Iftar prayer. Children who had never been to an iftar and children who have Iftar celebrations every night were delighted to get a taste of a real Iftar right in school. After dates and laban/water to break the fast, children could choose to try jasmine rice, chicken, vegetable risotto and hummus for an Iftar feast as well as trying the ever-popular drink Vimto in a social setting amongst friends, staff and even some parents in an area adorned by twinkling lights and lanterns.

“Celebrating Iftar together was a remarkable experience that all the children have been speaking about ever since. This is the exact result the Falcon team was aiming for when deciding on this activity – sharing a meal together and enjoying the warmth of Ramadan together. Ramadan Kareem”, said the principal.