Stations were set up around the hall – these are the details:
1. Remembering the Imam: out of my mystery box I will pull out around items on imam mahdi and stick onto my felt board explaining each one (M/meem for Mohamed Mahdi, compass for ‘the guide, sun behind the cloud, last prophet (I did a picture of people in line with arrow on last one), the number 12, Money (to show he will have all the wealth and distribute it equally), a cave with three books (I ask children what books they think came out —Quran, Bible, Torah because he will guide each religion through their own books), a peace on earth felt, a united group of people for bringing unity etc. ( I will send a picture). Then I will turn over my board and sing a funny song about ‘something happening to my board’ song while removing all items and tell children they must or tell me what things were on the board for me to bring it out and if they get all they get a prize. Kids who guess all the items correct have one more mission to recite Dua Faraj (I had a copy ready one child to read and lead the group) and they all got to pick one small lollipop before moving to next station)
2. Pledging to the Imam: Using magnet sheet squares kids write or have written their ‘pledge to the imam’ on the middle and then paint/decorate around it. Eg: I pledge to help everyday with my chores.
3.Celebrating the Imam: We purchased plain cupcakes and bought frosting and sprinkles, mini mnms etc to decorate cupcakes. Each kid will get a candle and they will end station by singing happy birthday to the imam
4. Eagerly awaiting the imam: This document covers what happened in this fun obstacle course. We made a large sun behind the cloud on a wall and after each accomplished task, kids would have to ‘touch’ it and shout “Ya Mahdi”
5. Preparing for the Imam: a worksheet with a suitcase called “preparing for imam” and kids would get another worksheet with images of good and bad actions to prepare like giving Sadaqa, kicking etc. kids will cut out the good actions. This was adjusted for older kids by having them write down what they can do to prepare for imam inside suitcase instead of cutting and gluing out images
The event ended with cake of course! Everyone cried out ‘Ya Mahdi!’ as they wished the Imam a very happy birthday. A fun day full of learning for all 🙂
Love this idea by Zayn Gulamhusein to mark the Prophet’s birthday
Story bags are a great way to teach younger children! Ask the children: What’s in my bag? After the song and drumroll pull out a nappy. Go around asking the children whose it is. Then narrate the story about a time a baby urinated on the Holy Prophet and when people rushed to take the baby away he said ‘Don’t worry it’s okay’ get the children to repeat this line.
When things go wrong remind the children of this story.
Another story is when people were throwing stones at a cockerel. You can tell the children what a cockerel is in Arabic and play the sound it makes. Prophet Muhammad saw stopped them and said we don’t hurt creations of Allah SWT. Choose a line for the children to repeat.
What’s in my bag? After the song and a drumroll bring out a hairbrush. Is this anyone’s? Get the children giggling then ask the children is Abdulhafeedh better than Fatimah? Is Fatimah better than Noor etc they will all say no! Then explain how Prophet Muhammad said we are equal like the teeth in a comb. The best one is the one with the shiniest heart, then discuss what behaviour makes our heart shiny!
You can also explain how the holy Prophet would brush his hair before going out.
You can give mini hairbrushes as going home gift or gift to family and friends!
I love this crytograph for older children that Beb e Kazim shared on FB:
At the top there is a KEY that lists all the letters from A thru Z with a box below. Each of the letters has a corresponding number.
The bottom part contains a maxim of Imam Hussain a.s. Each of the blanks has a number underneath it. Fill in the letters that correspond to the numbers below the blanks to discover it.
For older kids, 12shiaimams.com is a great site for more info on the Imam.
Inspired by a game I played recently, I put together a game to play with extended family to try and get some learning going, as well as some activity (lots of running around!) and fun too!
You can play it for the wiladats of all of the Ahlul Bayt – why not try it for Imam Ali’s birthday which is round the corner! I have included the documents I’ve put together so far, and will keep adding different personalities over time as I do them Inshallah.
So how to play? You can do this just with your own families or do it on Zoom and challenge other families too! The host asks a question and gives the children some time to look up the answer if need be. Then the children need to rush and get something to show the answer. E.g. To show the answer 5, they may bring 5 pens, or a 5 fingered-glove!
I’ve also included information related to the question to add to their learning – this can be relayed to them once they’ve brought the object. The information will need to be paraphrased to be made simpler for younger children, or can be given in full to older children.
(Note: I’m a fan of collaborative games as opposed to competitive ones. So there was no scoring or noting who came first. The emphasis was on siblings working together to answer the questions, thinking of an object and taking turns to bring it!)
I’ve played this with two different sets of families and it’s been SO MUCH fun!
Here is a pic of them on Zoom with the objects they found to answer a question:
And here is one of all the items together (based on questions on the 9th Imam!). One of the answers is zero, which they are showing with their hands!
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