Moon Sighting Binoculars

 

Get kids involved in the tradition of moon sighting with binoculars they can help put together. It’s a great way to encourage pretend play for toddlers and preschoolers and big kids won’t mind a peek through the binoculars either! You can use these binoculars twice – once to spot the crescent moon for Ramadan and then again at the end of Ramadan to spot the crescent moon of Eid Al-Fitr. Our moon sighting binoculars are purple and gold in keeping with the colors of Ramadan and Eid al Fitr. You can read more about our proposal for Ramadan and Eid colors on our Muslim holiday colors page. 

Materials for Moon Sighting Binoculars

• Two cardboard tubes
• Blue cellophane wrap
• Two small elastic bands
• 8.5 x 11″ sheet of purple felt
• Small scrap of white paper
• Golden star stickers
• Purple yarn
• Tape
• White glue
• Glue gun
• Pencil
• Scissors

Steps for Moon Sighting Binoculars

1. Use anything circular (like a small bottle cap) to trace a small crescent shape on the piece of white paper with a pencil. Cut out.
2. Cut out two square pieces of cellophane and glue paper crescent to one of the cellophane pieces.
3. Secure both cellophane pieces to cardboard tubes with elastic bands
4. Cut out two rectangles of felt to fit around each tube. Glue felt to tube with glue gun.
5. Cut out a piece of yarn and secure each end to the inside of the cardboard tubes with tape. Be sure to cut yarn long enough so that binoculars sit at child’s chest or tummy when worn around the neck.
6. Have kids decorate binoculars with golden star stickers and let the play begin!