This week in our Muslim homeschool we have been looking at the story ofProphet Ibrahim (AS).
In my humble opinion, I find children retain these Islamic stories better if they are followed up with a hands-on activity. This craft is very quick and easy, and will help your children to remember what they have heard.
The story I related can be found in the Quran [6:75-80]. We began by reading a simplified version of this story from theI Love Islam Series: Book 1.
The story tells us how Ibrahim (AS) asked his people if they believed a star was God, but when the star disappeared in the morning he said, “See! That star is not Allah. Allah would never go away!“
Then he asked his people is the moon was Allah, but when morning came he said, “The moon cannot be Allah, because Allah would never go away.”
Finally he asked them is the sun was God, but inevitably the sun set and so the sun too could not be Allah. Allah always exists. He never sets and never goes away!
1. Begin drawing a sun, moon, star and a large semi-circle onto the foil-card with the permanent marker. Allow the children to cut them out.
2. Cut around the wording on the FREE PRINTABLE and glue it to the large semi-circular card.
3. Cut three lengths of string (approximately 15 cm each) and tape either the moon, sun and star to the bottom of each piece of string.
4. Tape the other end of the string to the semi-circle. In my opinion, it looks best if the strings are all different lengths.
5. Punch a hole in the top of the semi-circle with a hole-punch, and use some string to hang your mobile up. Our mobile has taken pride-of-place hanging from our kitchen curtain pole!
How have you taught your children this story? I would love to hear! Please leave me a comment below.
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Learning the ninety-nine names of Allah should not be just about memorising a long list of names. It should be something that helps children to understand their Lord and form a relationship with Him. It should be more than just words on the tongue, but should touch their hearts and deepen their love for God.
One way of engaging young kids in Islamic education is through arts and crafts
This week in our Muslim homeschool we learned the name:
Al-Malik – The King and Owner of Dominion.
We began by talking about the definition:
‘Al-Malik is both the Owner, who possesses and the King, who has complete authority and commands what He possesses. The One to whom the commanding and forbidding belong to. The King, The Sovereign Lord, The One with the complete Dominion.’
Whilst the kids were making the Crown Craft (outlined below) our conversation went something like this:
“Allah is The King. He is The King of kings. He is your King!
But what is a King? What does a King do?”
After a bit ( NO…. a lot!) of prompting they arrived at the answer,
“A king owns everything, tells everyone what to do, and punishes those who disobey him.”
“But who owns the King? Who tells him what to do? Who punishes the King if he is naughty?”
“ALLAH!”
“Allah is the King of Kings! Al-Malik!”
It is important for your children to understand that He is not like anything they can imagine. He is not like any King they know, and He most certainly does NOT have a crown!
Children’s Crown Craft
Materials Needed
Gold card
Tissue paper
Fun fur (1-2″wide)
Stickers
PVA glue
Stapler
Sticky tape
Now your kid is ready to be a king (or Queen!). Whilst they play remind them,”You are a King, but who is your King? Who is the King of kings? Who is al-Malik? ……. ALLAH!!!!
From the gold card, cut out two strips, each approximately 2″ wide.
Staple two card strips together. This will be the base of your crown.
Spread PVA glue along the bottom half of each card strip and stick the fun fur along this edge. It will look best if you allow some of the gold card to show at the top.
Meanwhile cut out 4 more gold strips from the card, each 1″ wide.
5. Staple 2 strips together, with the gold side facing inward.
6. Once the glue has dried on the fur, staple the wider card strip together, making sure that it is the correct size for your child’s head.
7. Attach this across the top of the crown base.
8. Repeat from step 5 with the remaining strips and staple them perpendicular to the first arch.
9. Decorate the crown with stickers and jewels.
10. When everything has dried, push the tissue paper up into the underside of the crown and use your sticky tape to secure it in place.
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As a part of our Muslim homeschool, I am teaching my children the ninety-nine names of Allah. It is my opinion that Islamic education should be taught in a creative and fun way and that is how I have approached this week in our Islamic studies.
This week we were looking at the name al-Khaliq, or The Creator.
We began by discussing the definition of al-Khaliq:
“The One who creates something from nothing and determines and creates according to the proper measure and proportion of each thing. The One who plans and determines how, when and where to create. The One whose works are perfectly suited, appropriate, fitting and proper.”
Then I gave out the Al-Khaliq colouring sheet and whilst they were decorating it, we memorised ‘al-Khaliq. The Creator.’
It was also an opportunity to revise the Arabic letters and see which they could identify from their sheet.
When they were finished, we cut around the words and stuck them in the centre of a large A2 sheet of coloured card.
Then I gave the boys a basket each. I encouraged them to go outside and collect things from our garden that Allah (swt) had created.
They scoured the garden (and later the park) and brought back a collection of leaves, stones, petals, seeds and a pine cone.
Using glue sticks and wrapping tape, we stuck these treasures around the name ‘al-Khaliq’ reflecting on how He (swt) has made these things from nothing. SubhanAllah!
We also used this opportunity to look up the names of all the leaves and flowers, so it doubled as a science lesson too!
It was a fun way to teach the children about God, to instill a sense of awe and wonder about Him, and ignite an interest and excitement about Islam. We made a lot of happy memories too!
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Lanterns are an festive way to decorate your home during Ramadan and to prepare your home for Eid. They are very easy to make and something that even the youngest children can help with.
Materials
A4 foil card
Scissors
Stapler
Ruler
Pencil
Sequins(optional)
PVA glue (optional)
How to make it
1. Turn the foil card horizontally, and cut a strip 1/2″ from the end.
2. Using a pencil, lightly draw a line 1″ from on the top and another 1″ from the bottom of the card.
3. Take the larger piece of card, turn it vertically, and fold it in half.
4. Then cut into the card, starting at the folded edge, all the way up to the pencil line. You will need to make between 12-14 cuts, each about 1/2″ apart.
5. Now its the fun part! Unfold your card and decorate. We used sequins and glue. If your children are younger you could use stickers.
6. Once the glue has dried, hold the card horizontally in your hands and curve it round. Holding the edges of the card together, use your stapler to secure it. Then take the small strip of card you cut off in step 1, and staple this to the top of the lantern to act as a handle.
7. Push down a little on the top of the lantern to make it ‘fan’ out.
You lantern is now ready to hang and decorate your home for Eid and Ramadan.
I would love to see photos of the lanterns you make with your children. Please share them with me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
This advent calendar is so easy and quick to make. It is a great addition to your Ramadan decorations and is a fun way to get you children excited about the blessed month.
We fill our advent calendar with halal sweets, and allow the children to open them up just before we go to our daily Ramadan class. You could also put a little note inside, indicating a new activity or game that you will be doing that day, or even a little toy.
If you don’t want to make the envelopes, you can buy them premade, and just decorate them. Its super easy, so why not give it a go!
Using your FREE TEMPLATE, draw the outline of the envelope on the back of a sheet of gift wrap. You will need to draw the around the template 10 times on each sheet.
Cut out the envelope outlines. You should have 30 in all.
Fold the envelopes and apply glue to the tabs to hold them in place.
Stick number stickers on the front of the envelopes.
Fill envelopes with ‘goodies.’
Hang string and attach envelopes with clothes pegs.
ENJOY! Have fun with it!
You can use any color gift wrap, coloured paper or stickers to create the look you want.
Give it a try! I would love to see how you’ve decorated yours.
Please share your photos with me and my followers on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
We love using an Islamic calendar in our homeschool. Teaching the Islamic months is an important part of any Muslim homeschool, and we use ours during “Calendar Time” in the morning.
I have been looking online for an interactive calendar for the
kids with inter-changeable Islamic months, lunar cycle and prayer times.
However after many
months of searching, I couldn’t find anything that I felt was suitable. So I
decided to make my own and share it with you!
It includes days, Islamic months, Year (AH), the lunar phase and the 5 prayers times.
It is so easy to make! You definitely
don’t need to be ‘crafty.’
We use this calendar as part of our ‘calendar time’ in our
homeschool day. After Quranic memorisation in the morning, the children work on
this calendar and their Gregorian calendar.
It is a great way to introduce small
kids to the Islamic months, the lunar phases and prayer times, as well early
years numeracy. We use it to discuss the significance of certain months in Islam, as well as a countdown to Ramadan!
Below are the instructions for how to make your own Islamic
Calendar including a FREE download
I would love to see how yours look and how you decorate
them. Please share you pics on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag
#MyIslamicCalendar, or leave a link in the comments below.
My Islamic Calendar
Materials Needed:
A3 coloured card (1 sheet) – I used navy blue to match my
Gregorian calendar
Using your glue stick, glue on the ‘My Islamic
Calendar’, ‘Date’, ‘Month’, ‘Year’, ‘Lunar Phase’, ‘Fajr’, ‘Dhuhr’, ‘Asr’, ‘Maghrib’,
‘Isha’ tabs.
Laminate the remaining cut-outs.
Using your strong adhesive glue, glue the blank
white rectangles/squares that you have laminated onto the A3 card. These will
act as a background to each inter-changeable section. Leave to dry according to your
glue’s instructions. My glue required me to leave for 24h.
Stick the Velcro dots onto the back of the
numbers, months, years, lunar phases. Stick the Velcro dots onto the front of
the blank laminated rectangles/squares on your calendar. Note: you will need
two Velcro dots in the ‘date’ section, and one in the other sections.
Now its time to work on the clocks. Using your
coloured card, cut out 5 long clock hands in one colour, and 5 short clock
hands in another colour.
Position the clock faces on the A3 card below
each prayer name. Using a pin, pierce a hole in the centre of each clock face,
and through into the card below. Thread the clock hands onto the paper fastener.
Then use your this paper fastener, to go through the small holes, securing the clock
to the card.
Your calendar should now be ready
to use!
The calendar in this download has straight title text. After playing around with it, I felt it looked better. However, if you would prefer ‘My Islamic Calendar’ to be curved, please leave me a comment below, and I will upload another printable insha’Allah.
We keep all our extra pieces in envelopes next to the calendar; one envelope for the numbers and lunar phases (things that change frequently) and one envelope for the months and years. By keeping them in two envelopes, it makes it easier for the kids to find what they need. You could also use little baskets or attach separate pouches to the calendar itself.
I would love to see how yours look and how you decorate
them. Please share you pics on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag
#MyIslamicCalendar, or leave a link in the comments below.
This homeschooling activity was inspired by the book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle. This preschool activity helps with letter recognition, putting the letters in the correct order, sequencing, as well as letting the lil’ ones be creative and have some fun.
Alphabet Caterpillar
How to Make An Alphabet Caterpillar
Begin by having you child draw around a circular object, like a cup, to create at least 27 circles. We used lots of different coloured paper, to make it more interesting.
Tracing around a cup
Then either cut the circles out yourself, or let him/her have a go. In my case I did most of the cutting myself as Dino-boy is still a little young.
Next ask you child you put glue the circles down in a particular order (Blue, green, red, blue, green, red etc.). I was amazed at how excited Dino-boy got by this exercise. It was wonderful to see.
Gluing the circles in a sequence
Adding the eyes
Then draw on /stick on the eyes. We had some foam eyes left over from another craft pack, so we used them. It gave our caterpillar a rather menacing look!
Then I asked Dino-boy to stick some alphabet stickers onto the caterpillar’s body, in order. In hindsight, it may have worked better if the stickers were stick on first, before each circle was glued down. However, both achieve the same learning outcome. If you child is older, you cold have them write out the letters on each circle.
Sticking on the letters…
Next, we drew on the legs. Technically a caterpillar has only 6 legs, so I guess ours is more like a millipede!
Draw on the legs…
Our Very Hungry MILLIPEDE!
Then we added some grass and a sun, and got a bit creative!
Scissors
