Adam (AS)

Day 3:

Apart from a recap of what we learnt in the earlier two classes, we did this.

I explained the meaning of Ta'awwudh. We spoke about the word protection. I also asked them if they knew who the devil was. I told them that we sometimes do naughty things or at least feel inclined towards doing something which is not right because the devil or shaitaan is whispering in our ear and coaxing us into doing wrong. He acts like he is our friend but he is not. He is tricking us and we must not be tricked! So to protect ourselves from him Allah has taught us these awesome words which would help in driving him away.

I must add here that I had not planned on any explanation to Ta'awwudh but Alhamdulillah while I explained it to them, the import of those words made such an impression on me that I was amazed at this process we call teaching.

Similarly, we spoke about the two attributes of Allah mentioned in Tasmiyah.

I told them the story of Adam (AS) being created, being moulded from clay. To explain moudling, I gave each of them homemade play dough to mould. It was an activity right in the middle of the story!

The activity proved to be a big hit and the kids didn't want to stop. One little boy wanted to make accessories like shoes, a hat and buttons! :)

Here is the link for the fabulous homemade play dough recipe.

Day 2: Allah's creation

It's Saturday night and in shaa Allah tomorrow morning I have my fifth class. But I must must must do the post for day 2, 3 and 4 before I sleep. Why? Simply because I know if I don't get this done now, I will not be able to get the post for day 5 up tomorrow and this lag time between the actual event and the post will become a habit that I detest. I refuse to let that happen. Alright then!

Day 2:

Every interaction and effort with the right intention leads us to more good and positive learning. Divine enlightenment, I like to call it. When we truly look, we find divine enlightenment in every little gesture, every little smile, every little tear.

On day 2 I realised that day 1 was just about warming up to my audience and my seeing myself as a teacher before anyone else sees it. Day 2 began with a lot of excitement, ideas and confidence. The kids looks happy to be there and Alhamdulillah I tried my best to make the session worthy of their eagerness. In shaa Allah I hope Allah blesses every Sunday of ours with oodles of child-sized curiosity, fun and blessings.

1. I began again with this.

I made the kids repeat the Islamic greeting 'Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu' and the reply to the greeting 'Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu'.

I gave them the following handout and explained the meaning of the greeting and the reply.

I also made a few of them do a mini role play where they said the greeting and reply to each other with the meaning. Of course they needed help with the words but they had fun with the impromptu role play.

2. I taught them the words 'La ilaha illalah Muhammadur Rasulullah Sallalahu Alaihi wa Sallam' with a wonderful tune that helped them pick up the words almost instantly!

3. We discussed Allah being the CREATOR of everything. I asked them to name creations of Allah. They began naming people and animals. I told them to look out the window and look for more of Allah's amazing creations. That way we got to name the sky, sun, birds, trees, mountains, leaves, insects and lots of other things under the category of Allah's creations.

I told them a story from the textbook which speaks about Allah creating the universe and the things he put in the universe.

4. We then had a related activity where they drew and coloured different creations of Allah.

I also had a colouring sheet for them.

5. It was the alphabet song time then. We went on to learn the next 3 alphabets and practised writing them.