Snow Day Art Activity

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

This is a snow day art activity that was inspired by an activity I saw last winter ( I do not remember where I saw it to link back) but I didn't consider using it because it required using white-out to make the snow. But as winter is here in this part of the world alhamdulillaah, I was trying to think of suitable art activities to do and this idea came back to my mind (and a way to modify it came with it).

I made the activity for toddlers to use shapes to design a snow day scene (in the one I saw, the children coloured their scenes onto the page and the scene therefore could not change). I wanted the children to be able to use shape cut outs to redesign their backgrounds as often as they'd like insha'Allaah (this is also a fun activity for children learning their shapes). For the snow, instead of white-out, you can use non-toxic white paint! The fun is that other than being able to change their background scene, children can make it a clear winter day by peeling/lifting up the film or make it a snow day by simply lowering the film back down.

This is a fun, quick, snow day art activity that uses photo album pages, white paint, construction paper cut outs and imagination:

 Snow Day!

To make this, children simply paint white dots onto the film that covers the photo album page. While the paint is drying, give children different colour construction paper and invite them to cut out shapes to use to design their background scene insha'Allaah. 

Once they've cut out their shapes, they can design (and redesign) background scenes.

Once they are done, they lower the plastic film down and they have their snow day!

Note: The film that covers the photo album page is plastic. Please closely supervise young toddlers to ensure the film does not become a choking hazard.

And I forgot! *smile* If you do this and would like to share with us please do by using the linky tools below. We'd love to see your little ones art work. If you want to show a picture of this activity that your child has done, use the first linky tool. If you do this actitivty and want to link to that post only on your blog or website, use the second linky tool insha'Allaah. Please only link directly to the post showing this activity to make it easy for us to find your child's Snow Day art work. Jazakum Allaahu khayran!

Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Monday Morning Math: Make your own pizza manipulative!

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Math is fun alhamdulillah. Especially when your week starts off with art and pizza! Well, the pizza is not real but still, making it can be lots of fun alhamdulillaah. This is an idea that I got over the weekend at a strange time (there was nothing related to pizza going on!)....lol...but it seemed like it would be so much fun so...I tried it.

This activity is for Kindergarten students (and can be used in grade 1 was well insha'Allaah. It can also be used with preschool students to teach sharing). It helps introduce fractions to students in a fun way. The art part of this activity is a two day project (or for homeschoolers it can be a one day project insha'Allaah). When the art part is done, students use their pizzas to solve the problems in their mini-math workbooks.

First: Students make their pizzas:

To do this you will need:

- Two paper plates per child/student
- Brown, Red, Green and Yellow non-toxic paint
- Markers (optional)
- Real empty, clean pizza box (optional)
- Imagination!

The first step: Students take one of the paper plates and paint it light brown (or any brown you have).

After the brown paint has dried, paint on a layer of red paint. Remind students not to paint the rim of the plate. That is the crust of their pizza. After the red (pizza/tomato sauce) has dried, students paint on a layer of yellow for the cheese. Again, remind students to leave a little of the red showing all the way around insha'Allaah.

Next: Students can use a pencil and very lightly draw in their toppings. If they draw them too darkly, the paint or marker that they use next will not cover the pencil outlines of their toppings.

If using paint, students then paint in their topping outlines with the appropriate colours. If using marker, students colour in their toppings.

 Now, the students use a ruler to draw lines across their pizzas to make the slices

Next, they cut out each slice, using the lines as a guide.

I've set up a way to store these pieces so they don't end up in places I would prefer not to see them *smile*. Using the second paper plate, affix Velcro circles to the backs of each slice of pizza and to the plate (in the appropriate spots). When students are done, they put the pizza back together on the second paper plate and if you've got an empty pizza box from your local pizzeria, they can put it in the box and place it on a shelf insha'Allaah.

This should make it easy to keep your pizza all in one place insha'Allaah

Now, insha'Allaah, students are ready to answer the questions in thier workbooks using this fun to make manipulative!

Download Brother Ahmad's Pizzeria math workbook here insha'Allaah

Enjoy insha'Allaah!

Mixed-Media Hajj Activity

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

This is a mixed media (is that the new word for collage?) Hajj Activity that children can turn into the front part of a greeting card or a wall picture insha'Allaah.

This was done with foam (the sun), felt (the mountains), corrugated cardboard (the Ka'ba), yarn (the doors in the haraam, construction paper (the sky, the ground and the the background of the haraam and coloured pencils. I tried to photograph this so you can see the dimensions in the collage; the sun, mountains, Ka'aba and doors in the haraam are all raised.

If children make this the same size as a greeting card, you can make a greeting card from posterboard, using a tent fold. Children can then glue this to the front of the greeting card to make a three dimensional Hajj card insha'Allaah. Children can also use clay to make the mountains, sun, etc., and once dry, they can (with adult supervision) glue this onto the scene as well. Many possibilities alhamdulillaah.

This craft is for older children (4 and up) due to the complexity of layering the scene.

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!

Butterflies and Fruits (Books, An Activity & A Craft)

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

A few days ago we read this book:

and this was the craft that extended from it

A butterfly made with a Popsicle stick, four circles cut from construction paper and decorated with markers.

(In the book there are two touch and feel butterflies).

Yesterday, we found that this same company also has a beautiful touch and feel board book about fruits

And this is the activity that we did after reading this book alhamdulillah:

A Sorting Activity:

Using construction paper, I made some fruit cards that showed alike and different...

then we sorted the cards according to their attributes

(i.e. alike or different)

I had to make another set for younger toddlers (around 23-24 months old) so I took index cards, cut them in half and put only one fruit on each card. I "laminated" the cards with clear packing tape and after demonstrating how to sort the cards, I put the cards in a basket with the book on the shelf so they can be played with whenever the interest arises insha'Allah.

Insha'Allah, I'll make more of these with different fruits.

This was also a language activity in that we discussed Who Provides fruits for mankind, how fruits are a blessing to us, and why the cards showed alike or different.

You can read the following ayaat along with the activity:

الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

سورة البقرة

{Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped).} Al-Baqarah, 22

and

وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَدَّ الْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَأَنْهَارًا ۖ وَمِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ ۖ يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَ‌ٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

سورة الرعد

{And it is He Who spread out the earth, and placed therein firm mountains and rivers and of every kind of fruits He made Zawjain Ithnain (two in pairs - may mean two kinds or it may mean: of two varieties, e.g. black and white, sweet and sour, small and big). He brings the night as a cover over the day. Verily, in these things, there are Ayat (proofs, evidence, lessons, signs, etc.) for people who reflect.} Ar-Rad, 3

And of course there are many more ayaat that can be read with this activity alhamdulillah.These books are illustrated using collages and the result is beautiful. Enjoy insha'Allah!

Preschool/Kindergarten Lesson Plan: Nabi Musa

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

I fell a bit behind on the lesson plans I've been working on for the Prophets Sent by Allah series but I'm getting back on track insha'Allah *smile*. Hop on over to The Well Read Muslim to see all of the details for the Preschool/Kindergarten Lesson Plan for Nabi Musa -alayhi salam-. 

Here's a peek at some of the activities we did with the story (click on the image for larger view insha'Allah):

Pictured: A Harf Meem Word Reader, A Sheep Scene

and a supplementary reader for the Story of Musa.

Click here to see the lesson plan and the activities insha'Allah.

Enjoy insha'Allah!

Islamic Door Hangers

Assalamu alaikum,

This idea came at a strange moment. I was near a bathroom and thought about those door hanger tags that are used to help children learn the ad'iya (pl. for dua') for entering and leaving the bathroom and I thought...hmm...what other ad'iya can be learned using that same concept? This is the result of my thinking...not a single dua' among them...I got sidetracked!...lol. You can click on the images for a larger view insha'Allah.

In the file, the door hangers for the baby sleeping say, "The baby is sleeping" not "The baby is sleep" as in the pictures above. 

I even made some for Ramadan:

These are so easy to make subhana'Allah. Look here for lots of templates to make your own insha'Allah. All graphics on the door hangers came from Easel & Ink alhamdulillah.

You can let children design their own using stickers, markers, crayons, etc. A wonderful, easy art project insha'Allah. If you want to use those that I made you can download them here insha'Allah (I recommend printing them on card stock for durability insha'Allah). Enjoy insha'Allah!

Dragonfly Clothespin Magnets and Popsicle Shed Crafts

Assalamu alaikum,

These two crafts are connected to the book we read for "Together We Read", so this post will be linked up to our first "Together We Read" post this Saturday insha'Allah.  We made dragonfly magnets out of clothes pins but my favourite one, the green one with pink wings, got its wings torn off!....eek!...lol..beware of baby fingers.

and next we made a shed using popsicle sticks and construction paper:

Materials needed for both crafts:

- Non-Toxic paint

- Clothes pins (preferable with the rounded tops)

- Construction paper (for the wings)

- Glitter (optional)

- Paint brushes

- Glue (non-toxic)

- Popsicle Sticks

- Markers

This gives you a sneak peek ;) at what our book was about but come back this Saturday insha'Allah to see the book and all of the activities related to it insha'Allah.

Enjoy insha'Allah!

Miniature Felt Writing Notebooks

Assalamu alaikum,

Around 18 months of age toddlers begin to show an interest in writing, colouring, holding pencils, crayons, markers, etc. Observing that this has become a favourite pastime here, I decided to make some miniature writing notebooks to encourage this interest.

And I thought the ladybug phase had passed (smile)....

I was wrong. One of our books happened to have a picture of a ladybug/bird in it and that picture was enough to start the love of the ladybug all over again. Do you know how many times I heard the word ladybug that day? (smile) And please overlook the condition of our work table - it's been through play-dough, planting soil, spilled water, crayons, and other activities that contribute to its ever fading colour...lol.

This is the inside of the notebook

This is a prayer rug miniature notebook

the inside

All I used to make these was cardboard and felt cut to the pattern of the books.

I first cut two cardboard patterns out and then traced that pattern onto the felt. For the ladybug/bird, I used the hot glue gun to attach the dots and to glue the black and red body together. When it was assembled, I glued the felt ladybug to the first cardboard pattern for extra durability. I used the second cardboard ladybug cut-out for the back cover and cut a single sheet of computer paper into four circles. Then I stapled them to the back cover and then stapled the felt ladybug front cover to the pages and back cover. The staples are hidden under the ladybug's head for safety. I used pipe cleaner for the antennae and used my hot glue gun to attach them to the back cover of the book. I intentionally put the antennae right over the second set of staples (those that were visible from stapling the paper to the back cover) so that when I glued them on, the hot glue would cover the staples and the pointing parts would be hidden safely under the glob of hot glue (I hope that is clear as I was not able to take pictures of the step by step assembly). The process was roughly the same for the prayer rug book.

These little notebooks were immediately written in (and coloured in) and I even took some time to sit down and doodle too!  There are many ways you can be creative with these insha'Allah. Kindergarteners can cut out felt and design their own book covers if provided with cardboard patterns insha'Allah. These are fairly easy to assemble and there are many ways to personalize them as well.

Enjoy insha'Allah!