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Before you begin
Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.
This is a great activity to do to during the Islamic month of Ramadan. The dates of Ramadan change every year because Islam uses a calendar based on the cycles of the Moon.
You could get in touch with the Muslim Scout Fellowship (MSF), one of our National Scout Active Support Units, and see if there are any nearby predominantly Muslim Scout groups that you could link up with to run this activity together. You can also find your nearest group on the MSF website.
If anyone in your group is fasting, have a watertight container for them to take their shake home to enjoy during Iftar. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
You might want to practise the recipe before the session, to see how it works with your blender. If you need to make the dates easier to blend, they can be softened by soaking them in water for 10 to 20 minutes.
Using a kitchen and preparing to cook  
You could run our kitchen safety and hygiene activities, Kitchen risk bingo and Home kitchen hygiene prior to running this session. 
Remember to have a hand washing station and take extra hygiene precautions when handling raw meat, such as regular hand washing, having separate equipment for raw and cooked meat, and washing up equipment as soon as it's been used. Look at our guidance on food preparation. 
Make sure you’ve all the ingredients ready.
Remember to check your ingredients against any allergy or dietary requirements to ensure everyone can enjoy the recipe. This may mean using alternative ingredients. 

Resources

You’ll need
Ingredients (see recipe)
Blender
Cups
Tablespoons

Instructions

Introduction: Talk about Ramadan
Ask everyone why it’s important for people to learn about each other's faiths and beliefs, even if we don’t have a faith ourselves, and what’s important to them?
Explain that one of the Scouts values is beliefs. Scouts always respect people’s beliefs, faiths and cultures, and everyone should be open to learn.
Ask if anyone knows anything about Ramadan. Does anyone in the group observe it? What does it involve?
Share some information about Ramadan.
Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic year. It lasts for around 30 days and is measured from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.
It's a very spiritual time for Muslims, and an important time for self-reflection and gratitude.
It's the month where the Qur'an (the holy book of Islam) was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
It's a time for fasting, worship, service, coming together and spiritual development.
Explain that in Islam, fasting involves going without eating or drinking anything from sunrise to sunset. Several groups of people aren’t required to fast, including children, the elderly, people who are menstruating, people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and people who are ill.
Does anyone know what Iftar is? Iftar is the nightly meal that breaks the fast after sunset.
Does anyone know why lots of people like to break their fast with dates? The Prophet Muhammad used to break his fast with dates and water. Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad is the best example of how they should live their lives. Dates are also high in sugar, which means they’re tasty and a great way to restore low blood sugar levels after a day of fasting.
Explain that after Ramadan, Muslims have a day of celebration called Eid al-Fitr (‘festival of breaking the fast’).

Getting ready to cook
Everyone should wash their hands and gather in a circle. Tell everyone you’re going to make a date shake. You might want to remind everyone about ways to keep safe in the kitchen you’re using and to regularly wash their hands. 
Now, everyone should get into smalls groups and gather their ingredients and equipment. 
Date shake recipe
Ingredients:

200ml milk
One tablespoon honey
One tablespoon peanut butter
One ripe banana
Three dates
Pinch of salt
Ice (optional)
You can also use frozen bananas in this recipe.

Time: 5 mins

Makes: 1 date shake

Make your date shake
If your dates aren’t pitted, open the dates and remove the stones.
Peel the banana and break it into pieces.
Add the dates and banana pieces to the blender. You can also use frozen banana if you want to.
Add the rest of the ingredients, which are the honey, peanut butter, milk and salt. You may wish to add in some ice.
Blend until smooth.
Pour into cups and enjoy or put them in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Reflection
This activity gave everyone the chance to learn more about practices in Islam. Was there anything that surprised you? Is there anything you’d like to learn more about?

Can you think of any other faiths where people might practise fasting? Fasting’s practiced in several religions, such as for Lent, Yom Kippur, Fast of Easter and Ramadan.

For most people who follow a specific faith, this guides and governs their daily lives and practices. Whether you’ve a faith or not, what are your most important values or beliefs? For example, you may believe in kindness or value honesty and compassion. You could think about the values we share as Scouts; integrity, respect, care, cooperation and belief.

Muslim members of the group might also want to reflect on what Ramadan means to them or their family.

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