DIY Push Pins

EUREKA MOMENT

Where do you find large push pins ? As much as I wanted  to introduce the push pin activity to my kids I delayed it till I found one. Which I didn't ....Sigh ! 

Finally, I was just struck with the simplest DIY. Love those moments. Well I got right down to it, it was difficult to take pictures while doing it but you will see it is very simple really :) I just got our wooden craft beads from the $ store, push pins and a glue gun.

At a closer look you can see it's not the neatest job, but my glue gun isn't the greatest (doesn't warm up enough) so I have to use more glue to ensure a long lasting joint :)

For the activity I also glues together 2 square cork boards I got from the $ store......... To see the actual activity go here.

A Comment, A Qoute, A Reminder

Meaningful Gratitude

Gratitude is a way of life...something to be followed EVERYDAY every minute of our life....

The path of true and meaningful gratitude leads to more blessings. For, Allah says,

“And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings); but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily My Punishment is indeed severe.”

(Ibraaheem 14:7)

My each gratitude post is going to start with this supplication.....

All praises for Allah for directing me to the right path, May He continue to guide me and my family.........I am thankful each day for my whole family with all our strong points and shortcomings and May our bond grow stronger in His way. I am blessed to be homeschooling my children and learning so much through them and with them.......

ALHUMDOLILLAH

I am grateful for all comment on my Appreciating the little things post

A known fact and an excellent reminder....something that we parents forget at least once a day

 Anonymous said...

"Children learn more from what you are than what you teach."

~W.E.B. Dubois,1897

And if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. (Surah Ibrahim 14:34)

My Parents taught me so much

ALHUMDOLILLAH FOR MY PARENTS

I am grateful for all what my parents taught me....

I cannot pass a day without being thankful to something I learnt because of my parents in some or the other way. I've always had a habit of trying to think what I can learn from any given situation. I may not always remember what I learned... but that's another story. My parents childhood wasn't the greatest, my parents were divorced, but I am thankful to what I have become through all the great and difficult experiences in life. 

From all the good and tough times, I owe A LOT to what I learnt and who I have become my parents. Everything from the simple things to mannerisms and from skills to general knowledge, sharing experiences and discussion, understanding the highs and lows of life and how face the challenges life throws at you......and just so much more. Their diversity broadened my scale of seeing and understanding the world and people around me. Thank you Allah for my parents.

Now living far away in a distant land I miss and appreciate so many things that they did for me and I could do with them. I miss their company and enjoying a laugh with them. I miss serving them as I should in their old age. ............

Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour.  And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: "My Lord! bestow on them Thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." (Quran 17, 23-24)

  

May Allah unite us all in Jannah forever Ameen

An excellent and humbling article on the Status of parents in Islam

And if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. (Surah Ibrahim 14:34)

Appreciating the little things

THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE COUNT MORE THAN WE ACCOUNT THEM FOR

ALHUMDOLILLAH

Yes the little things in life that we couldn't do without, yet don't always remember to be grateful for..... 

I am grateful for my lil helpers who may not always make their bed in the morning, clean up after themselves all the time or keep their closet clean as I would like them to.....BUT they do.......

• take out the trash
•  pick the dust with dust pans that I sweep into the corners 
• bring us (baba and I) whatever we ask for  during the day...water, phone, laptop, charger, diaper, etc etc etc
• let me sleep in if I am sick and feed the younger sibling and bring food for me too Mashallah
• sort and put away their own laundry
• empty the dishwasher
• pick up this, that and more 

Yes I am grateful for  my lil helpers who help out in so many ways doing so many things during the day which are a big help in the craziness of everyday....

ALHUMDOLILLAH

And if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. (Surah Ibrahim 14:34)

Are you grateful each day?

GRATITUDE

Where did gratitude go ? 

Did we forget ?

Or 
Did we forget to highlight the important and little things in life ?

And if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. (Surah Ibrahim 14:34)

Gratitude is a way of life...something to be followed EVERYDAY every minute of lour life....NOT JUST ON SELECT DAYS.

When I think of gratitude, as much as I am able to feel it for so many major things in life,  our deen (faith), family, home etc etc etc  I hear so many sounds from throughout the day where I feel,we don't show the gratitude for the little things in life. I mean with all the problems we feel we have honestly speaking what is it compared to the ordeals our dear Prophets ?.... Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismael, (Ishmael), Ayyub (Job), Yaqub (Jacob), Yunus (Jonah), Yusuf (Joseph),  Musa (Moses), Eesa (Jesus) and Muhammad Peace and blessinsg be upon all of them.  

It makes me question my irritability, impatience and anger:( As much as I need, and am thankful for the little things in life.......I have to feel them, smile and vocalize my gratitude spreading it contagiously. My mood effects the mood of the whole house. which means I have  the bigger responsibility.......Sigh !

So in the stressful time I am feeling I am going through...health issues, packing and planning for a long travel, homeschooling highschool to preschool, and all other regularities and irregularities of life........

It`s all about setting our minds to it and would like to teach it to my kids while RE learning myself.

INSHALLAH!  

We all know that gratitude is not something we should have here and there.....it's a mind set that one needs to have ALL THE TIME! EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY. 

BUT.... we forget. 

"And when some hurt touches man, he cries to his Lord (Allah Alone), turning to Him in repentance. But when He bestows a favor upon him from Himself, he forgets that for which he cried for before, and he sets up rivals to Allah, in order to mislead others from his path. Say: Take pleasure in your disbelief for a while: surely, you are (one) of the dwellers of the Fire!"

(Qur'an:, 39:8)

This excerpt from a lengthy article here really highlights the benefit and the danger of forgetfulness

Man was created forgetful so that he can forget the sufferings and troubles he may encounter in his life, otherwise life would be intolerable. But if one forgets his commitment to Allah, to worship Him in the best manner, it is then a disaster. Allah ordained that he should be worshiped by people and jinns, without any partner to Him. Allah also took the covenant of the people of the scripture to teach one another such a duty toward Allah. Man forgets suffering by the Mercy of Allah, but one should not forget the responsibility to worship Allah and thank Him for every good event or grace. One should not forget resorting to Allah in disasters as one should thank resorting to Allah at disasters as one should thank Allah for any grace. Though, it is man's nature to forget, intended forgetfulness is not a quality of the pious people.

Food for thought isn't it.......With the HECTIC schedule in the coming days committing to post everyday is a bigger challenge than I  think I realize myself, but would like to do it as

"Outshining yourself in harder times is true submission to God's will, along with practicing being a good person every day"  

'Good' here ofcourse means a list of positive adjectives........

thankful, grateful, happy, helpful, caring, gentle, thoughtful, careful, sincere, mindful, loving, .............................

So I will try and post our big and small gratitude-s here and there, as a reminder to myself first and foremost, with all the plight and trouble people face in the world I feel we have no excuse to complain.......yet we do!

And if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. (Surah Ibrahim 14:34)

The path of true and meaningful gratitude leads to more blessings. For, Allah says,

“And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings); but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily My Punishment is indeed severe.”

(Ibraaheem 14:7)

Islamic art with Constructive Triangles an Extension

Geometry and Islamic Art

Geometric patterns in Islamic art have always intrigued me. I have been waiting to explore them with my kids. So when a friend lent me this book, I started making mental notes on how to go about with a lesson using the book. Lil Muallim # 1 read the book, but I failed to take out time to actually work with it with him.

Lo and behold the day came for me to return the book, so our morning started with this fabulous lesson which really developed itself. What followed was one our best homeschool lessons. Alhumdolillah !

CREATING A DESIGN WITH POLYGONS AND STARS BY STARTING WITH A CIRCLE

Honestly speaking Lil Muallim #1 was quite surprised when I showed him how to make a circle using marker in a compass. 

The following markings and designs were made by him.

MAKING AN 8 POINTED STAR BY EXTENDING THE LINES OF A SQUARE

STUDYING ISLAMIC ART WITH CONSTRUCTIVE TRIANGLES

Following is a not a Montessori activity as I know of but a self created extension. Lil Muallim feels there are more Montessori materials in our home for the lil one than for him. I used this opportunity to show him how he could create his own Constructive Triangles Extension. 

We used  3 constructive triangle boxes, the triangle and small and large hexagon, to make and explore different Islamic Geometric patterns as highlighted in the book.

HEXAGON

6 POINTED STAR

DEVELOPING MORE COMPLEX DESIGN VARIATIONS

HEXAGON BRAIN TEASER

Many years ago I had done a lesson on bee hives with Lil Muallim #1, on how perfectly the bees make their hives with all hexagon cells exactly the same. Subhanallah! 

So after Lil Muallim # 1 made the following showing how two triangles fit in between two hexagons, I asked him......

 "How come there weren`t any triangles in between the hexagons in a bee hive ?  

He looked closely at the pattern above moved out the two triangles and moved the hexagon side ways saying ... ``That`s because they are attached this way`` Now that self discovery is priceless.

Following are a few more of his design formations.

I am looking into buying these pattern blocks or something similar to explore tessellation  If any of you have suggestions please share in the comments :)

I've linked this activity up on Living Montessori Now's

Update: Many thanks to Deb Chintwood of  Living Montessori now for adding my link in her DIY Construction Triangle post after my Monday Montessori link up.

Hajj and Eid Mubarak

HAJJ MUBARAK 

and 

EID MUBARAK 

to all

Hajj Activities for Kids 2

IDEAS IDEAS EVERYWHERE

I was looking for around for ideas for Hajj to do with kids. It's amazing to see how many wonderful ways other Muslim Moms do Hajj activities, with their kids Mashallah! Due to other engagements I am not able to do much hands on these days. But I am really enjoying these amazing ideas on Muslim Mom Blogs. 

So the next best thing to doing activities  is looking and teaching through them. 

My kids enjoy seeing what others did. So here's a list I collected for them and sharing with you.

Besides the resource links I posted in Hajj Activities for Kids 1 post here are some of the best I have seen Mashallah. You will find printable and activities. Choose what suits you and your kids. Inshallah.

Go all the way down on the post and look for this button to get the downlaod of Pillars of Islam Printable with Related Ayah and Hadith Mashallah

Find the pdf for things to do on the first day of DhulHijjah at the end of the post through this button.

And then ofcourse theirs Eid ul Adha :) Once again find this button at the bottom of the Celebration of Eidul-Adha link.

 

7 acts of Virtue in the 10 days of Dhul Hajj

Hajj Banner Cute Mashallah

Pillars of Islam Mobile So nicely done Mashallah

Hajj Model THE BEST! MASHALLAH

Road Map Makkah to Madina 

Hajj Pop Up Card, Dio Rama and more Very cute Mashallah!

Hajj Journey Wooden Board Game SUPER COOL MASHALLAH!

Hajj Diorama Very simple yet detailed Mashallah!

Hajj Lapbook :):):):):)

I found this carefully written 10 Activities to learn about Hajj 

Hajj for kids step by step Great effort Mashallah

Makkah Lapbook Mashallah

Jannah Steps has a whole set of posts on Hajj Activities countdown. For convenience I will post links of each here Inshallah.

First there is the Hajj Journal Print use Mashallah!

Hajj Countdown Activities 2/10 get the passport and pack the suitcase

Hajj Countdown Activities 4/10 Hajj Travel book and Map 

Hajj Countdown Activities 6/10 Ihram and Talbiyah

Hajj Countdown Activities 8/10 Mina tent and Arafah Dua

Hajj Countdown Activities 10/10 Jamarat stonning and Udhiya

 

Ilma Education and play has some very simple and interestion posts Mashallah.

Kabah Impressionist Painting So cute :):):):)

Islamic Mosaic Art Subhanallah! This ones a must do :)

3 Hajj Printable Glad to have found these Alhumdolillah

SUBHANALLAH!

May Allah reward these sisters immensley for sharing such inspiring activities Mashalah!

Learn About Hajj 1

 LABBAIK ALLAHUMMA LABBAIK

I came across this site and simply LOVE how it takes us through the Hajj journey Mashallah. May Allah  reward all responsible in its making ABUNDANTLY. A phenominal effort Mashallah..... 

You will find everything from important information to land marks, timeline, posters and so much more.

Here are a few images from the website Wathekker

SUBHANALLAH !

Check out for yourselves.

HAJJ JOURNEY @ wathakker.info

Mashallah , now that's one definite way of putting your graphic designing talents in good use. A wonderful Sadaqa e Jaria! May Allah increase all those involved in this project in khair to do much more in His way Ameen.

Wow Factor

THAT IS SO COOL!

Do you have those moments ? When you see something and find it SO COOL! It's fun to come across somethings that are just plain fun to see and enjoy and get the oo's and aa's from the kids....

So here are some of our oo's and aa's videos :) 

Some videos do have music so you may want to mute those.

Hajj Activities for Kids 1

Dhul Hijjah Activity Resources for Kids

It's that time of the year again. The blessed month of Dhul Hijjah. may we all be able to reap its rewards and benefit from its blessings Ameen.

 Too much is going on in our home, all at the same time so I wont be able post much here but would definitely like to re share our Dhul Hijjah activities along with the wonderful and beneficial list Umm Maimoonah has posted.

Hajj Prinatble and activity suggestions @ Umamah Learning Academy

Umm Maimoonah's Hajj activity list (loaded with links Mashallah)

A Hajj Activity pinterest board and another board 

If you have something related to share please do so in the comments and I will update this post with your idea too Inshallah.

Also you wouldn't want to miss Hajj Activities for kids 2 post.

Eid Muabark in Advance!

Leaf Sink or Float

A LEAFY EXPERIMENT

The final and the most fun activity we did with our leaves after the leaf comparison and leaf rubbing was ........... Leaf Sink or Float.  

I got the idea from Wonder Years. Her activity tray is so neatly set up, with true Montessori flavor :)

Step 1

First I asked Lil Maullimah,"What do you think will happen if you put a leaf in water ? Will it sink or float ?"

Lil Muallimah: "aaaaa.....sink"

Lil Muallimah: "huuuuuuhhhhh ! It didn't it, let me try another one.."

To my surprise and much delight.... she kept saying teh same thing and kept trying out every single leaf on the table :):):)

Step 2

"Will a coin sink or float"

Result: "Sink"

Step 3

Now try how many coins will it take to sink the leaf ?

Look closely... it sunk !

Let's try another one

And  another one.

Lil Mualliamh was totally absorbed in her leaves for a long time. Her comments, coin count and discovery was a pleasure to watch. Alhumdolillah 

Next time, whenever we redo this activity, I think we should do a bar graph for  the number of coins too.

I've linked this activity up on Living Montessori Now's