Games for Children Between the Ages of 1 - 4

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Alhamdulillaah, there are many beautiful, well-made toys for young children. These toys have the potential to keep children engaged for substantial amounts of time and they provide crucial learning that aides in development. Today, in'shaa allaah, some will be presented here, and later, craft ideas and activities that cost little or no money will be posted, that children will enjoy in'shaa allaah.  

The first toy is a Junior Ramp:

Children between the ages of 1 1/2 - 3 years old may enjoy sending the different colour cars down the ramp numerous time while they engage in imaginary play. 

The second and third toys, a Wooden Triangle Stacker and a Wooden Square Stacker give children between the ages of 1 1/2  - 3 years old the ability to practice developing their hand-eye coordination. 

The next toy is Small Wooden Stacking & Nesting Bowls, Natural

Young children will spend time learning about size and sequencing and they will also work on fine motor skill development. 

The last toy is a Little Lock Box:

This wooden box has compartments where children can hide objects and toys, it provides pincer-grip practice, and it helps children practice their coordination and manual dexterity skills. Plus, it is very attractive!

Toys such as those presented in this post teach children essential fine motor, hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity skills, and they also have the potential to provide children will quality play that lasts for a sustained period of time. 

Check back soon for crafts and activity ideas that cost little or no money and use materials that are commonly found around the house.
  

Ages & Stages: What Can Most Children Do - 2 Year olds

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Back-to-school is around the corner insha'Allaah. Let's get started by reviewing developmental information for 2 to 5 year olds insha'Allaah. Familiarizing ourselves with this information will aide us greatly when we begin planning our curriculum.

Two-year-olds like to be independent! Favorite words are "Mine" and "No" and "I do it!" Emotions take on a roller coaster-like quality as 2-year-olds can go from excitement to anger to laughter within a few moments. A great deal of time is spent exploring, pushing, pulling, filling, dumping, and touching.

Two-year-olds are surer of themselves and of what they can do as they grow. Their bodies stretch out, and most will lose the potbellied look during this third year of life. Their appetites lessen, and they may be particular about food. They are still growing fairly rapidly.

Toddlers are very attached to their caregivers. You may find them trying out new ideas and exploring their surroundings, but still staying close to you as they need a base of support and trust. Two-year-olds are usually interested in other children. However, social interest and physical abilities sometimes collide as a hug becomes a tackle and a gentle pat becomes a whack. You will need to teach children how to express affection appropriately.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT plays alongside others more than with them acts shy around strangers likes to imitate parents easily frustrated affectionate - hugs and kisses insists on trying to do several tasks without help enjoys simple make-believe like talking on phone, putting on hat very possessive - offers toys to other children but then wants them back needs considerable time to change activities capable of frequent tantrums, which are often a result of his inability to express himself even though he has ideas can show aggressive behavior and the intent to hurt others can be extremely demanding and persistent destructive to objects around him when frustrated and angry possessive about caregiver's attention; shows feelings of jealousy has fears and nightmares has sense of humor; capable of laughter shows interest in dressing, brushing hair and teeth cannot sit still or play with a toy for more than a few minutes

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT weight: 22-38 pounds height: 32-40 inches has almost a full set of teeth walks up and down stairs by holding onto railing feeds self with spoon experiments by touching, smelling, and tasting likes to push, pull, fill, and dump can turn pages of a book stacks 4-6 objects scribbles vigorously with crayons or markers many children (but not all) will learn to use toilet walks without help walks backwards tosses or rolls a large ball stoops or squats opens cabinets, drawers can bend over to pick up toy without falling

INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT enjoys simple stories uses 2-3 word sentences says names of toys hums enjoys looking at books points to eyes, ears, or nose when asked repeats words interested in learning how to use common items

   
Suggestions for Caregivers:

Baby-proof your house again. Two-year-olds are taller and more skillful at opening doors and getting into mischief.

• Read aloud to children every day. Encourage toddlers to look at books with large pictures and sturdy pages. Simple story lines are best.
• Try to expand a 2-year-old's knowledge of words and sentence structure. Let her hear the correct word order, but don't demand that she imitate you. For example, if she says "more juice," say "Anna wants more orange juice."
• Encourage them to identify noises like vacuum, tap water, thunder, airplane, and car.
• Let toddlers help you with simple chores such as picking up toys or putting clothes in the laundry basket. Encourage them to name things that you are using.
• Add new information to what a child is saying. "Yes that's a blanket, a soft, warm blanket."
• Give toddlers clear and simple choices. "Do you want to drink milk or juice? Do you want to wear green or blue socks?"
• Know how to handle a temper tantrum:
  1. don't yell or hit the child,
  2. remain calm,
  3. talk in soothing tone,
  4. put your hand gently on child's arm if possible.
• Provide newspaper, flattened grocery sacks, and computer scraps for drawing and painting. Color books, workbooks, and ditto sheets are not recommended.
• Avoid making models of clay or drawing pictures for children to copy. They learn more by working out their own ideas, and adult-induced items can actually hinder learning.
• Do not expect toddlers to share or take turns. Right now they are focused on learning how to physically handle themselves and on learning to talk. Learning to share will come later.
• Provide spaces where toddlers can spend time alone. An old cardboard box or a blanket over a card table works great.
• Avoid pressuring children to be right or left handed. A few 2-year- olds will begin to show preference for one hand, but many children will continue to use both hands for a few years (AMCIB note: the exception here is eating and using the bathroom - follow the Islaamic guidelines for use of right and left hand).
• Provide safe outlets for physical activity and space exploration like small steps, boxes, barrels, tires, pulling and pushing toys, ride-on and ride-in toys.
• Provide opportunities for learning about cause and effect by giving toddlers many opportunities to fill, dump, collect, gather, give, hide, and seek.
• Play "parade" or "follow the leader."
• Encourage verbal skills by giving simple directions like "Close the door, please" or "Would you pick up the doll?"
• Encourage a toddler's love for imitation by teaching fingerplays. Play "you are a mirror." Stand or sit facing the children and have them copy everything you do. Reverse roles and let the child lead while you mirror the actions.
• Encourage sand, mud, and clay play. Toddlers enjoy messy play and learn a great deal from mixing, sifting, pouring, stirring, and shaping.

Reprinted with permission from National Network for Child Care -NNCC. Oesterreich, L. (1995). Ages & stages - two-year-olds. In L. Oesterreich, B. Holt, & S. Karas, Iowa family child care handbook [Pm 1541] (pp. 199-201). Ames, IA: Iowa State University Extension.

Arabic Letters Handwriting Workbook now in French!

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Alhamdulillaah the Arabic Letters Handwriting Workbook is now in French! Jazakillaahu khayr to our dear sister Umm Sawda for doing the French translation and also jazakillaahu khayr to sister Umm Tesnim for her valuable input. If there are still errors dear sisters (when the translated text was inserted into the file) please do let me know.

Click here to download the book - the French version has also been added to the original post along with a picture of a bound book.

Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Arabic Letters Handwriting Workbook now in Dutch!

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Alhamdulillaah the Arabic Letters Handwriting Workbook is now in Dutch! Jazakillaahu khayr to our dear sister Umm Lynah for doing the Dutch translation (and so quickly too tabarakallaah!).

 

Click here to download the book - the Dutch version has also been added to the original post.

 

The French version is coming soon insha'Allaah! Check Back!

Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Arabic Letters Handwriting Workbook in French?

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Maybe insha'Allaah....if one of our French speaking sisters would be very kind and review this file, identify the errors, and supply the corrections, a French version will be added to the original post insha'Allaah.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done for other languages due to the fact that it is time consuming BUT....(ears perked up sah...*smile*).....the first person to leave a comment indicating that they are willing to send me the translated text (including those pesky Terms of Use) for the language they would like the book in, will have the book in that language added to the original post insha'Allaah.

Conditions:

1. The translated text must be sent to me within one week or the next comment in line will be chosen.
2. Translated text must be sent either in the body of the email or in a MS Word file.

*Remember: comments are moderated but blogger keeps them in order alhamdulillaah so do not worry if you do not see your comment appear right away.*

Ready....set....GO! (Comment has been received alhamdulillaah)

*Sis Umm Lynah, jazakillaahu khayr for your comment. Please send the Dutch text to me using the 'Contact Me' button on the right hand side of the page. Insha'Allaah, the book in Dutch will be added to this post in about 1 week.*

Arabic Letters Handwriting Workbook

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

*Post Updated!*

 

 

Also in Dutch! Download below insha'Allaah!

 

Now in French! Download the file below insha'Allaah!

This Arabic letters handwriting workbook provides children with the opportunity to shape each letter with play-doh, recognize each letter as it appears in isolation, in the middle of a word and at the end of a word. Children also practice writing each letter in each of the three above-mentioned forms. When done, children are given the opportunity to locate and identify each letter in actual words, helping to support letter recognition insha'Allaah.

The book is meant to be (but you don't have to) printed on card stock, laminated and bound so that students can use a dry-erase marker to use the workbook repeatedly for handwriting and letter formation practice (with play-doh) insha'Allaah. To keep cost down you can print the workbook on card stock and instead of laminating each page, use clear shelf liner, and then bind it.

Click on the picture for a close up view insha'Allaah

This book has a vinyl cover on both the front and back, is spiral bound, and has clear shelf liner only on the bottom half of the page where students will do their work.

To use the book in your Quraan or writing centres you can print, laminate, and bind two or three copies, provide a basket with three different colours of play-doh and put three black dry-erase markers in a cup. To avoid disagreements about who will use which colour play-doh you can buy the round dot stickers from your local dollar store and place a dot sticker that corresponds to the colour of play-doh for each book on the top right hand corner of the book cover. When students have their time at that centre the teacher can have a laminated sheet (this way you can use a dry erase marker to change the students names as needed insha'Allaah) at the centre (tapped to the table or hung on the wall at the students' eye level) that has the same colour dot and next to it a space for the student's name who will use that colour that day. Students simply look at the chart, find their name and see which colour dot is next to their name and they know which book and which colour play-doh they will use that day. So on Monday, for example, next to the red dot on the sheet is Abul Aziz's name. He will use the handwriting book with the red dot on its cover and the red play- doh to do his work insha'Allaah.

The workbook is not intended to replace direct instruction but is intended to support it. The workbook can be used to allow children extra practice or to assign homework for additional practice insha'Allaah. There are no graphics that will distract the child from the goal of producing precise formation of the letters and attending to the text.

Download the Arabic Letters Workbook here insha'Allaah

Download the Arabic Letters Workbook in Dutch here insha'Allaah

Download the Arabic Letters Workbook in French here insha'Allaah

 

Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Theme Pack: I Eat (Manners From the Quraan and Sunnah))

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

This is a thematic pack that helps teach preschool children that wasting food is not from the correct Islamic manners. Children also learn/review that we eat with our right hand only and they learn the terms/concepts "right" and "left", "near" and "far". They also learn about foods that are healthy and foods that are unhealthy and should be consumed infrequently.

Included in the pack is a mini-poster with an ayah specific to not wasting food, two mini- student readers (in Arabic only). The first student book teaches the manner in which we eat (رابط التحميل); the second student reader teaches how healthy food helps us grow (رابط التحميل). In the pack there is also a 20 page student workbook (رابط التحميل). Each activity in the workbook helps children develop a specific skill such as: determining which object does not belong in a group, sorting based on the characteristic of healthy and unhealthy foods, a math activity (addition sentences) and several other activities.

A place mat (رابط التحميل).that reminds children to say 'Bismillaah', eat with the right hand, and helps them place their eating utensils in the correct place. This can also be used as a Montessori activity by giving the child a small plate, small spoon and small cup and inviting them to place them correctly (without food or drink in the cup and bowl).

The Student workbook (رابط التحميل): cover page, sample pages and assessment page on the back cover

The teacher/parent assessment sheet

Due to time constraints the mini-student readers are not available in English but in the English student workbook, the last page is an assessment page for the teacher/parent that is intended to help in the record keeping process. This is not in the Arabic version. 

After the child completes the workbook, the teacher/parent can quickly go through the checklist and mark off what applies. In this way, when needing to refer back to the students work at a later date, the teacher/parent can see at a glance how each student interacted with this particular activity. 

Download Theme pack here insha'Allaah

Download Workbook (English) here insha'Allaah
Download Place mat here insha'Allaah

Download student workbook with no text here insha'Allaah

(this file has no text enabling teacher/parent to hand write the directions in the language of choice insha'Allaah)

Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Another Way to Encourage Children's Writing

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

What do you get when you take a box:

a few paper towel rolls,

and add a little clip art, some paint and a lots of imagination?

............ a portable toddler writing centre!

Inside, children find both regular and colour pencils, crayons, a glue stick, small envelopes, a writing pad made with scrap paper, erasers, a ruler that was made with cardboard and a fine tip marker, and stamps downloaded from Easel & Ink. 

As early as 18 months, some children are able to hold markers, pencils and crayons. Thus they begin their first attempts at writing and although we may not be able to decipher the text they happily present to us, these are their first steps toward what will later develop into letters and pictures insha'Allaah. 

As parents and teachers, we can help children in this process by providing crayons, pencils, markers, scratch paper, erasers, and all sorts of goodies that children love to "write" with. Keeping these accessories handy encourages children to begin to attempt writing insha'Allaah.We can also help by cheerfully acknowledging those doodles and scratches when the little ones show them to us. By acknowledging these attempts with comments such as "Masha'Allaah! What a wonderful truck you've drawn" or "That is a very neat letter C masha'Allaah!" (or whatever they have told us their writing/drawing is) we are helping children feel that what they have attempted and contributed counts and that we truly value it. And as children begin to understand that print conveys meaning, they are also beginning another incredible journey...learning how to read insha'Allaah.

This little writing centre is portable and while I say toddler writing centre, the portable part and all other aspects of it really go right up to Kindergarten. So grab a box, some paper towel rolls, some paint and imagine away! Whatever you and your children design, it will be "write" on target insha'Allaah!

Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Toddler Driver License

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Children ask for the funniest things! I was asked for car papers today. For toddlers? Hmm....

When folded each side shows the tot driver license and the tot's box registration

I put the papers into a plastic card holder so it looks "official"

Of course this license only entitles the holder to drive a box (smile) but that seemed to be exactly what was ordered.

If your tot would like papers, you can download them here insha'Allaah

Toddlers Driving.....Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Pre-School Cut and Paste Activity: Buttons On My Thoub

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Here is another cut & paste activity we did to go along with our study of harf zay. 

The focus of the activity was on gluing a button (zirr) into each square on the thoub.

Download the file here insha'Allah (Arabic)

Download the file here insha'Allah (English)

Enjoy insha'Allah!

Pre-Writing and Cut & Paste Worksheets

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

These are pre-writing worksheets and a cutting worksheet that I put together to help children (from about 2 years old) begin to learn how to trace a vertical line and progress to more challenging lines and angles insha'Allah and to learn to use a glue stick.

I intend to laminate the writing practice worksheets, place a dry erase marker in a basket with each mat (one at a time, in succession) and after demonstrating how to use the mat and marker, allow the activity to be used whenever the interest arises insha'Allah. The cutting practice worksheet involves practice with using a glue stick for younger children and practice using scissors (both fine motor skill work) for older children.

The Cutting & Gluing Practice Worksheet

A line appears around the scissors in the PDF file but not to worry, it does not print.

I was surprised by how much excitement this activity generated masha'Allah!

One child's  finished project

Download Cutting Practice worksheet here insha'Allah (Arabic)

Download Cutting Practice worksheet here insha'Allah (English)

The Vertical Line Tracing Workmat

Download Vertical Line Tracing Mat here insha'Allah (Arabic)

Download Vertical Line Tracing Mat here insha'Allah (English)

The Horizontal Line and Angles Workmat (or worksheet)

Download Horizontal Line Tracing Mat here insha'Allah (Arabic)

Download Horizontal Line Tracing Mat here insha'Allah (English)

Enjoy insha'Allah!

Together We Read: Shapes Mini-Unit Using a Wonderful Book

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

This is a very cute book! And you can get this book on Amazon.com for a penny! I know, I know, me and that penny again....lol...but really a book for a penny...hard to pass up (and it's a board book!). Keep reading and at the end of this post insha'Allah, you'll see why this book is not only cute but unique in it's presentation and method of teaching shapes.

I thought this book was so cute that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some activities with it.

Here is the first (and here the most popular alhamdulillah) activity:

Over-head view

To make this, I took a box and made cardboard separators for each shape and the needle and thread. I placed three different shapes (which were all in the book) into the box with the needle. Because I demonstrated how to do a threading activity previously (in this posts' activity), there was very little instruction needed.

This activity is on the shelf and can be easily accessed whenever there is interest insha'Allah. So far the interest has been wonderful alhamdulillah. There are about 30 shapes in that box and each shape was threaded onto the string (more than once) with focus, joy, determination, concentration, and I even heard self-instruction! Subhana'Allah! (I heard that word several times by the way....from the child doing the activity!.....lol)

After the child has mastered the above threading activity, he/she can move on to more difficult threading cards such as this one:

You can find tutorials for these all over the Internet as they are easy to make and very popular with toddlers and pre-schoolers. It is amazing to watch them focus so intently on these subhana'Allah. As young as two years old (and younger), they are able to focus and thread with amazing accuracy subhana'Allah!

وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

{282, سورة البقرة }

and Allah teaches you. And Allah is the All-Knower of each and everything.

{Surah Al-Baqarah, ayah 282}

Next we had a shapes hunt and match. You can find this activity and its directions here insha'Allah.

Then we made shape bracelets and for the boys, shape ship key chains:

Next we made shape bookmarks (There are three different bookmarks in the file):

These can be used in two ways insha'Allah: 1). As an assessment tool. Give each child a book mark and provide the child with construction paper shapes that can be matched to the shapes on the bookmark. Invite the child to match and glue them to the corresponding shape on the bookmark. The finished product will give you an idea of what shapes need to be retaught insha'Allah. 2). You can invite the child to colour the shapes.

And I also put out PomPom balls (and a sorting tray) to be sorted according to colour insha'Allah (because they are round/circular).

Mystery Bag Montessori Activity -- powered by eHow.com

Then, we made our own version of the book so when it is returned to the library insha'Allah,we can still enjoy our shapes.

Front Cover

Below are samples of the inside pages and here you can see how the book  (Eric Carle's book) is unique. The pages are cut in half and the shape on the top part of the page does not match the shape on the bottom half of the page. Children have to flip through the bottom half of the book to find the shape that matches the one on the top part of the page. Because the book is wordless (Eric Carle's book) it encourages discussion among parent/teacher and child. Children can see the contrast in the shapes as they page through looking for the matching shape. I think the concept is quite nice and the book can even be used with younger infants if the parent just uses three or four pages/shapes and discusses them (i.e. "This is a square but this one (point to the shape on the bottom of the page) is not a square. This one is a hexagon. Let's try to find a square to match our square here on the top insha'Allah").

Here, the shapes are matched. The top page is the last page in the book and the bottom page is not.

I also took out the shapes puzzle from this post and the shapes memory cards from this post and we had a nice game of memory alhamdulillah.

To end our mini-unit about shapes, I think we should bake sugar cookies in different shapes insha'Allah. Using cookie cutters is great fine motor skill work and fits right in with Practical Life Skills alhamdulillah. Plus, the results are tasty alhamdulillah! Hmm..yes, definitely need to bake sugar cookies insha'Allah. Oh wait! Maybe we can just make play cookies out of cardboard and decorate them - great for pretend play insha'Allah! Decisions, decisions.....

Photo Credit: Creative Commons Copyright: Patent and the Pantry

If your local library has this book, I recommend that you check it out but if you think a penny is just a great price for a book then you can get it on Amazon.com insha'Allah. Either route you take, I think your child(ren) will enjoy this book insha'Allah.

Enjoy insha'Allah! I hope you will link up and join us insha'Allah!

*When linking up, please link directly to your Together We Read post (and not your blog's general page) to allow everyone to easily and quickly find your post...Jazakum Allahu Khayran!