Design and make a prayer mat for Ramadan

Using our KS2 lesson plan and template, learners will design and make their own prayer mat for Ramadan using string, wool and colouring pencils while nurturing an understanding of the religious festival of Ramadan

In 2024 Ramadan starts on Sunday 10 March and ends on Monday 8 April. It is estimated that globally 1.6 billion Muslims will take part in Ramadan and will fast from sunrise to sunset for one lunar month.

In this lesson activity learners will look at what Ramadan is, what happens during Ramadan and what is important to Muslims during Ramadan. They will look at existing prayer mats and design a prayer mat using a provided template suitable for the KS2 level.

We’ve created this design activity to support the teaching of key topics within design & technology (D&T), religious studies and art.

This could be used as a one-off lesson activity to develop designing and sketching skills or an understanding of Ramadan. Alternatively, it could be used as a part of a wider scheme of work to develop designing and modelling skills in design & technology and engineering.

Tools/supplies needed:

Paper and card
Drawing implements: colouring pencils or pens, pencils and rulers
Scissors
Optional, if available – examples of actual prayer mats
For extension activities: glue sticks, string, wool, selection of materials

The Engineering context
All designers and engineers need to be able to produce ideas related to certain themes and follow a design brief. This ensures that the products they design will meet the needs of the end users, customers or clients.

Suggested learning outcomes
It is important for learners to understand all types of religious festivals as part of their religious education. This resource combines religious education with art and design and technology with the aim that the learners will be able to generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches and pattern pieces.

Specifically, children will learn the main considerations and features for designing a prayer mat for Ramadan and be able to design a prayer mat that reflects Ramadan using shapes and patterns.

Download our activity sheet and other teaching resources for free
All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.

The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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