Ramadan is the month of fasting for Muslims all over the world. Since Muslims follow the Lunar Calendar (called the Hijri Calendar), this year Ramadan falls in March, (1st-30th March 2025) and that’s just around the corner! So, this post is about preparing your children for fasting and how to go about it step by step.
What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is the holy month of fasting for Muslims all over the world. It is part of their faith that every year for one whole month, it is obligatory upon Muslims – young and old to fast the whole month.
Fasting is a part of most faiths, but Muslim fasts are a little a bit different. Firstly, it is for a whole month – continuously, without break. In Ramadan, you are to abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk everyday for a full month.
Secondly, it is about fasting not just food, but water too. You can’t eat or drink anything during the day.
Muslims have a breakfast just before sunrise (around 4am) called Suhoor. They can eat whatever breakfast they prefer and drink water. And then, they stop eating and drinking until sunset. At sunset, they open their fast with dates or water. This is called Iftaar. After Iftaar, they eat dinner.
Can Children Fast in Ramadan?
Ramadan fasting is only for adults. Children, pregnant women and sick people are exempt from fasting. There is no teenager age in Islam — people are considered either adults or children. So anyone, who has crossed puberty and has the understanding about religious responsibilities and consequences of breaking a fast (how to make up the missed or broken fast) is an adult and hence allowed to fast.
So, no …fasting isn’t obligatory upon kids. But many kids do enjoy “practice fasting”, and parents love supporting them — because it is sort of a milestone when your child can independently fast from dusk to dawn.
“Practice fasting” to prepare for the real fasting
Muslims have to fast in Ramadan for a complete month. They start fasting when they see the new moon (marking the start of the month) and they stop fasting when they see the new moon again (to mark the start of the next month). So roughly it is 29/30 days depending on when the moon is sighted.
So fasting in Ramadan isn’t something you get it right from Day 1. It is IMPOSSIBLE even for adults who have been eating and drinking normally to start fasting the whole 30 days. So most people (adults,) do “practice fasts” for 3-4 days or so in the previous month (the month of Sha’ban) before Ramadan starts so as to get the hang of it. It is like… a practice run before a marathon!
So, for kids, it is just natural that parents (Muslims) prepare their kids for fasting from years… before they are of age. Mostly children show the enthusiasm themselves. They are eager to fast like adults! After all… there is just so much excitement when you see the adults all around you fasting!
The steps of learning to fast in Ramadan.
Generally, children start showing interest in fasting from around 7-9 years of age and that is when parents feel it is appropriate to allow them to try fasting. But fasting a full day is not really easy.
A full day fast starts from dawn (sunrise or Fajr prayer, as it is called) to dusk (sunset or Maghreb prayer). Meaning to say: you start fasting before sunrise and stop fasting at sunset. Depending on the season and what part of the world you live in, fasting time may be anywhere between 10-15 hours!! That’s a long time!
So, in order to learn how to fast that long, most parents teach their kids Intermittent Fasting. Intermittent fasting means fasting a few hours, taking a break by eating and drinking and then fasting again. And this is quite easy for Muslims to do because a Muslims day is divided into five daily prayers.
- Fajr – sunrise prayer
- Dhuhr – midday prayer
- Asr – afternoon prayer
- Maghreb – sunset prayer
- Isha’a – bed time prayer
I have written in detail about Intermittent Fasting — why it is the best way to train your kids to fast this way and also the whole process on my parenting blog here. But, in this post I’d like to share my experience on how I supported my children when they were fasting.
Step by Step Ramadan Fasting for kids and How to Support Them
I have two teenagers and a tween now, but I remember the time my children fasted the first time. The steps that we took for each child was the same:
Step 1: Teach them about Ramadan
We first started by teaching them about Ramadan – what it is, why we fast and when it is coming. I started when they were 3.5 to 4.5 years of age – in Kindergarten, to be precise. We had songs about the 5 Pillars of Islam and did crafts and activities to help them learn our culture and faith.
Here are some ideas for Ramadan with small children.
Step 2: Help them celebrate the month
Next, when they were at the age to understand months and season, we would help them recognize that the Holy Month. We would make Ramadan exciting with calendars, Ramadan books and activities.
One year we created a handprint countdown calendar as a Ramadan craft. But generally, I’d have a countdown to Ramadan and Countdown to Eid calendars. We would display the Date of Ramadan too.
Step 3: Involved them in our Ramadan routine.
When my children were small, I wouldn’t wake them for the Suhur (breakfast) meals because little children need their sleep. But through the day, I would let them join me in my prayers, Quran reading and I’d fill their library up with Ramadan books, journals and activities.
I would also invite them to my kitchen – often just to help me but sometimes, I’d let them cook small recipes with me in the kitchen. They would often have their own “special” dish to share with the family or neighbors too and that made them so proud.
Step 4: Involve them in the charity.
Ramadan isn’t all about just fasting. It is also about praying, reading the Quran, doing good deeds and charity. In fact, charity is something we do a lot more of in Ramadan.
So, I’d help my kids volunteer in doing good deeds like creating Iftaar Boxes for the needy and distributing them. They would also be helping out at the mosque or having a good deeds jar at home wherein they had more ideas to choose a variety of ways to help people around them.
Click here to read about 10 activities for tweens and teens in Ramadan.
Step 5: Wake them for Suhoor.
When they were around 7-9 years old, on the weekends, I’d wake them for Suhoor meal – the early morning breakfast. But after the meal, they’d pray, play a bit and go back to bed to wake up around noon. We’d call it Half Fast or Quarter Fast because they were allowed to have 1-2 breaks in the middle. After eating they’d continue fasting until the next prayer. This way they knew the prayer timings, were praying on time, eating and drinking, but still fasting short intervals.
Step 6: Try the full day fasts
Once they were able to fast Half Fasts confidently, the next time, we’d try Full Day Fasts. Often, they would give up mid-way, forget or want out. It is okay if your kids break fasts this way because they are just practicing… it’s not obligatory and they won’t be held accountable. When kids keep full fasts, I found that it helped them understand that fasting is a big responsibility.
When they gave up, they were allowed to eat and drink, but then I would still remind them that they needed extra training. We would also discuss the consequence of breaking a fast if they were an adult. This helped them understand and learn that fasting was not an easy thing and that they needed more practice.
Step 9: Fast the full day with confidence
When they were able to fast a full day, we would let them fast weekends or on alternate days. This took about 2-3 years to master.
Most Muslims like to celebrate their child’s first fast. It is a milestone for the child. We invite relatives and friends over and this serves as a motivation for the child. It also marks their big day.
Step 10. Fast the full month
Around the age of 13 and 14, my kids learnt to fast most of the days. I watched out for how they look – tired, fresh, lethargic or active, before I let them fast the next day.
Generally, before this age, I avoid letting kids fast during school days. It requires a lot more energy to go to school and be active while fasting so, I try to not let my kids fast at school.
Fasting isn’t compulsory or obligatory on children and for a reason! More than staying hungry, it is important for them to learn to pray – because training children to pray Salah is from the age of 7 years onwards but fasting isn’t until 14 years or after puberty (whichever is earlier). Once children are 14 and 15 years of age (some take longer), they start fasting the full month.
This has been my experience with teaching my kids to fast in Ramadan. The 10 steps I took are usually how most Muslim parents teach their kids. I hope you enjoyed this article about Ramadan fasting for Kids. Tell me in the comments: What’s your experience with fasting? Do you have a tip for us?
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As the Baha’i fast overlaps with Ramadan this year this article was timely and helpful with my teen approaching her first fast. I agree it is helpful to encourage them even though they may not be able to do the entire fast from start to finish. And involving them in all parts possible teaches them by observing and doing.
What great tips! My oldest will be starting to do our Baha’i fast this year, and your advice is really helpful. Plus it is wonderful to learn more about Ramadan and how families prepare their children for it.