Feb 24, 2021 | Aimmah
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!
Here are the questions for the Imams done so far:
Imam Ali (as)
Imam Muhammad Baqir (as)
Imam Muhammad Taqi (as)
Here are questions for younger children:
Imam Ali (as)
Mar 26, 2020 | Ramadan
Aim/Objective: To familiarise children with the times/terms of fasting – (Age Dependent, whether you want to use terms or specific times).
How to Play:
One child is chosen to be Angel Jibraeel, who then stands at one end of the room/garden. The other players stand in a line at the other end. Angel Jibraeel turns his back to commence play by saying “It’s Sehri time, nom nom nom, I’m full!”
The players call out, “What’s the time, Angel Jibraeel?” and Angel Jibraeel turns and answers with a term or time (e.g. Fajr time OR 5.20am). He then turns his back again while the children advance again chanting “What’s the time, Angel Jibraeel?” to which Angel Jibraeel will continue to respond until the players come very close (eg. Zohr time, Asr time, 4 o’clock, etc).
Once the line of players is close to Angel Jibraeel, he can respond to the chant with “It’s IFTAR time!” (or state the specific time of iftaar for the day, e.g. it’s 7.32pm!) at which point, he will chase the players back to the starting line with the aim to catch one of the them, who will then become Angel Jibraeel for the next round of the game.
Dec 11, 2013 | Salaah
- I loved this game idea shared by Islam from the Start!”We laid out the musalas (one for each child) around the room. Then we …asked them to run around the room, this symbolised our daily life and how we are always rushing around from one activity to another. We then played the Adhan, which symbolised Allah’s call to us. We talked about how Allah calls us to good deeds like prayer, being kind to others, truthfulness etc. The children had to run to a musala as soon as they heard Allah’s call. After each round we removed one musala to find the winner! We then talked about how Allah is the fastest at responding to our prayer.”
- Play Simon says – Simon says go in ruku, Simon says stand in qiyam… Why not sub in Bilal for Simon?!
- There is a great book and corresponding game called ‘Tweet, Tweet, It’s Fun to Pray’.
For the toddler age group, one suggestion is to printout the pictures of the birds (it’s a free printable that you get when you get the book) and stick it on different walls of the house for a treasure hunt after reading the book.
Also check out the related game cards here:
Tweet Tweet It’s Fun to Pray! (2-in-1 Game Cards)
- An awesome card game designed by Kids n Islam (and available for purchase through Buzz Ideazz!) is ‘My Salaat Fun Cards’.
The cards are a great way to help children understand the special conversation taking place between ourselves and Allah (swt) in Salaat.
There are two games that can be played – Memory Match and Salaat Snap – both of which encourage familiarisation of the Arabic and English translations of the dhikr in Salaat.
Check it out here:
My “Salaat” Fun Cards
The cards can also be used as a visual aid for constant reference and reinforcement – here is what one mum did:
