ARTS AND CRAFTS:
Children love Arts and Crafts,
so try and adapt work in this area to be Islamic. Here are some activities and
suggestions that have worked with our children. We would welcome your ideas (and
your children’s ideas of course) for the next newsletter!
1.
Mosques:
a) Age 3-5 years. Draw an outline of a mosque with a black marker pen, using
different shapes e.g. squares for the mosque buildings, rectangles for the
minarets and doors, triangles for the minaret domes, a semi-circle for the main
dome, a circle for the sun, etc. Now cut out the same shapes from different
coloured sugar paper. Ask your child to stick on the shapes in the correct
places (Older children could cut out the shapes themselves). This is a good way
to teach shapes and the result looks effective.
b) Age 5+ years. Cut out a large mosque shape from card. Using different
coloured paper, cut out lots of small squares, 1cm² (for younger children make the
squares bigger). Your child can now create a mosaic mosque using glue and
perhaps make designs with the squares if they are older. Use silver foil to
stick onto the domes. Try to find pictures and information about mosques that
are decorated with mosaics as a follow-up activity.
2.
The
Ka’ba:
Age 4+. Draw the
shape needed to construct a cube on thick card (don’t forget the tabs for
sticking). Children can then paint or colour it black. Help them to cut out and
construct the Ka’ba and, with the help of pictures use a gold marker pen to
add the patterns. Using a large thick circle (polystyrene pizza bases are
perfect!) stick the Ka’ba in the centre. Children can then make small prayer
mats to stick around the circle to understand more fully the concept of how we
all pray in the direction of the Ka’ba.
- Umm Hafsa
***********************
3.
Paint with brushes, sponges, fingers, toy cars or anything
else you can think of.
Recipes for Paint:
-
Finger
Paint: ¼ cup corn flour; 2 cups water; food colouring
Mix ingredients in a saucepan. Boil until the mixture
thickens. Allow to cool, pour into jars or other storage containers then add
food colouring.
-
Salt and
Flour Finger Paint: 2 cups
flour; 2 teaspoons salt; 3 cups cold water; 2 cups hot water; food colouring
Mix the salt and the flour in a saucepan. Pour in cold water
gradually and beat the mixture with an eggbeater until smooth. Add the hot water
and boil the mixture until it becomes glossy. Beat until it is smooth. Mix in
food colouring.
-
Condensed
Milk Paint: 1 cup condensed milk; food colouring
Mix one cup of condensed milk with food colouring. This makes
a very bright, glossy coloured paint.
-
Sparkle
Paint: ½ cup flour; ½ cup water; ½ cup salt; food colouring
Mix the ingredients together. You can add sparkles for extra
effect.
4. Save everyday items to do arts and crafts and to use in other activities...
These could be things which we use daily and would normally throw out. Milk
boxes can be turned into building blocks or a cardboard box into a ‘house’.
Some standard items are: egg cartons, cereal boxes, paper towel rolls, plastic
fruit trays and plastic soda bottles. Look out for new and unfamiliar items. You
could go to a fabric store for swatches, felt, large buttons, threads, yarn,
etc. With tape, scissors, glue and paints you and your child can easily collect
all the resources needed for many creative activities.
5.
Bake Cookies or Cakes Together.
-
Cooking can be particularly engrossing for children, with all it’s mixing, stirring and transformations.
-
Get together all you need before you start cooking, so you do not need to leave your child unsupervised.
-
Teach children to wash their hands before cooking and to ask before tasting anything.
-
Toddlers will usually start off by stirring and mixing things for you. If you put a damp cloth under the mixing bowl, it will stop it slipping.
-
Don’t let young children touch electric appliances or the cooker. Turn pan handles inwards or use a cooker guard and use the back burners whenever possible.
-Various Sources
***
ISLAMIC
HOME SCHOOLING
ADVISORY
NETWORK
-IHSAN-
PO
Box 30671, London, E1 OTG, ENGLAND
Phone/Fax: 020 8851 1866