Ramadan 2022 - Inspired by Qur'an Montessori Prompts
And the tradition continues. (Read about our journey HERE.)
Bismillah! Here are our Ramadan 2022 Prompts:
1| "The month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an.." (Al Baqarah: 185)
"Yusuf, do you know what Ramadan is?"
"Ramadan, is Ramadaaaaaan!"
"Ok, but what do we do in Ramadaaaaan?"
"We eat!" (clearly this kid loves his food... or maybe because our Ramadan books are mostly about food!) '
We revisited the 5 pillars of Islam focusing on the pillar of fasting. It's important to have Yusuf understand that fasting is a direct order from Allah, so when it is time for him to fast (inshaAllah), he'll do it with the love of attaining Jannah. With me as his guide, he numbered the pillars in order, played match ups with props, practiced phonics and briefly touched on the Islamic months.
2| 'Say: “O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah...”' (Al A'raf: 158)
Sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ is one of the greatest acts of worship in Islam. It brings multiple rewards in one's life, is a means of having sins forgiven, helps dua's get accepted and many more.
We made this craft to remind us of this special prayer and it's benefit. InshaAllah we plan to spend some time every Friday noon sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ together.
There's a shorter version we recite daily which is much easier for younger kids:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ
O Allah, we ask for your peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad.
My 6 yo designed his own Ramadan Log Journal. He had his first fast on Saturday and lasted 3/4 of the way through. Super proud of him mashaAllah. We give Yaseen the choice of fasting certain times of the day, however, he insists to fast from suhoor. Let's see how this month plays Insha'Allah.
3| "And enter my Paradise." (Al Fajr: 30)
"I think Baab As Salaat, Mum".
"Why Yaseen?"
"I want to see the Prophet ﷺ"
"*smiles* inshaAllah"
To aid his Salah journey I made him a vision board which follows the Be-Do-Have Model.
Goal - To enter Jannah through Baab As Salaat
Be - We discussed the type of person he needs to BE to achieve his goal.
Do - I've made him Salah checklists of what he needs to DO to achieve his goal.
Have - We discussed the character he needs to HAVE to achieve his goal. I've added a random act of kindness checklist and a list of how Salah helps our character.
For my little Yusuf, we reused the Doors of Jannah board I made years ago. For him it was more about matching the cards, counting and recalling the doors.
4| '...Say: "Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Irresistible." (Ar-Ra'ad: 16)
We went on a nature walk to find things for Yusuf's 'Allah Made it All' Board. Yaseen found a quiet location where he started journaling about his 5 senses.
5| 'Verily, the Salah is Kitaban on the believers at fixed hours.' (An Nisa: 103)
Something a little calming today - painting the sky during Salah times. Last year Yaseen and I observed the sky during Salah times and took these photos. The sky hardly ever looks the same during Maghrib. We've witnessed so many different colourful sunsets- it's breathtaking subhanallah! He painted the sky during Salah times. This blending technique is one of our favourite ways to blend colours.
6| 'Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.' (Ar Ra'd: 28)
At home we are trying to get the boys to connect and understand emotional well being. Our journey began many moons ago and it was extremely difficult at first. We're slowly learning to control our thoughts and feelings to understand our boys.
I made an 'open me when you're feeling..." poster for my eldest. Inside each box are coping techniques or prayers he can use that will help him through his emotions. I used the Gottman Institute Feeling Wheel as a guide to increase his vocab (found this to be the simplest one out there). Now, it just needs to be introduced to him.
7| "So eat of the lawful and good food which Allah has provided for you, and be grateful for the favour of Allah." (An Nahl: 114)
For this Ayah we looked at a few things: Alternative to sugar, discussed the role of sucrose (table sugar) in our bodies and Yusuf was introduced to the food boxes.
A diet high in sugar can have harmful effects on our health. So what's the alternative? We find that the Prophet ﷺ sweetened his diet with 2 super foods - dates and honey.
I took Yaseen on a journey inside the human body to explain to him what sugar does to our body. Sugar or sucrose is a combination of glucose and fructose - too much of this can cause metabolic damage to our body. Once consumed, both glucose (green) and fructose (yellow) travel to the liver via the portal vein. If the liver doesn't require energy the glucose is sent to other body parts and used as energy. Meanwhile, the enzymes in the liver 'capture' fructose and turn it into fat. This fat travels into the bloodstream where it starts sticking to the artery walls. Depending on the severity, this can lead to a heart attack.
Yusuf was introduced to our Halal, Tayyib and Haram food boxes. His task was to place food into the correct box. This activity is to equip him with the knowledge that eventhough halal is what we're allowed to consume, it is the Tayyib wholesome food we should aim to have as part of our diets.
8| "And Allah has made for you from your homes a place of rest..." (An Nahl: 80)
We often look at what others have and forget the blessings we have been gifted with. The home we have been blessed with someone else is praying for - never forget that. My children looked at different types of homes from all over the globe. We discussed why they were built that way and materials used. The boys then chose their favourite type of home to build together.
9| 'And whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it' ( Az Zalzalah: 7)
So what exactly is an atom's weight of good? To demonstrate what an atom is to my children, I asked them to smash an egg until they can no longer break it further. I asked Yaseen to pick up the smallest part and told him an Atom is smaller than this and can only be seen with a microscope. He was surprised that Allah will reward us for something so small!
They got brainstorming and came up with small deeds which they thought were insignificant, like giving an ant a crumb or putting dishes in the sink! But no act is ever too small in the sight of Allah, even if it's an atom's weight! The kids now realise that it's these small deeds done purely for Allah's sake that may earn us heaps of Jannah ticks and points.
10| 'O you who believe. Spend out of what We have provided you...' (Al Baqarah: 254)
I have memories of my father coming home from the Masjid holding bags of fresh bread. It was the best thing ever (and made me so happy!) I wanted my children to experience spending for the sake of Allah and the act of giving first hand. I wanted them to feel the satisfaction of making others happy too. They attended their first Taraweeh prayer with their father a few nights back, and donated fresh Turkish bread to the people at the Masjid. Alhamdulillah. I pray this small act inspires them to initiate the act of giving from now on. Share below how you inspire your children to give.
11| "Do you not see that Allah drives clouds? Then He brings them together, then He makes them into a mass, and you see the rain emerge from within it." (An Nur: 43)
I find nature Ayahs from the Qur'an so easy and interesting to work with! We had some hands on play with the Water cycle replicating @playfullearning water experiment. This was simple and fun!
First up is Evaporation. We placed a jar of water outside and marked the water level. Every hour or so we'd go outside and check for changes. It was a cool day so only some water had evaporated.
Then we have Condensation. We poured hot water in a jar, then flipped an empty jar and placed it on top. We placed 2 ice cubes on top of the empty jar and waited. As steam (water vapor) rises it cools down and starts to form droplets (clouds). The longer we waited the more droplets were formed.
Lastly, we have Precipitation. We filled a jar with water and sprayed shaving foam on top (this was our cloud). We added around 5-8 drops of blue food colouring. As the cloud became heavier it started to rain.
The boys then played with their water cycle puzzle. My preschooler's task was to explain the water cycle while completing the puzzle. The older child identified each part using labels. I'd definitely do this again!!
12| '...Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination'. (Luqman: 14)
After Luqman advises his son, Allah mentions the hardships a mother goes through in bearing and raising a young child. Allah knows how we stay up trying to put our child to sleep. He knows the struggles we face . Allah then mentions to be grateful to Him and to your parents. He will reward us generously for our kindness towards them. The pleasure you will earn with Allah can be earned through pleasing your parents.
After explaining the Ayah to Yaseen, he decided to embroid his own 'Alhamdulillah' banner for his bedroom. Still incomplete though.
13| 'By Time.' (Al Asr: 1)
When Allah makes an oath in the Qur'an, it's to acknowledge the magnificent nature of something. It demands reflection. In Surah Al Asr, Allah swears by Time. He is calling us to reflect on the passage of time. Time is something we are constantly seeking. We run after things that actually distract us from our real purpose in life. We need to slow down and reflect. How are we spending our time left on Earth?
We read through Surat al Asr tafseer then revisited our clock puzzle. The outer layer are actions we do for Allah to increase our time and become successful. The inner layer shows actions we do that shatters time. This clock is a conversation starter!
Yaseen chose his first inner piece - 'doing things to please people'. I explained that doing things to please others, instead of Allah, can have negative consequences. You worry about what people think of you instead of what Allah thinks of you. If people say something harmful, this will affect your mood. You can't be your normal self because you're too busy making others happy. Sometimes it's tiring because you're constantly thinking about what you can say or do for others to like you.
"Yaseen, what can we do for Allah to place barakah in our time?". This is when he placed the missing puzzle piece which read 'doing things to please Allah'. Allah's approval is more important than the approval of any human in this world. If Allah is happy with us, we should say Alhamdulillah and keep striving to be better Muslims. We should seek to please Allah in everything we do.
(Please note there's a huge difference between being generous/helpful and people pleasing. Generosity comes from a healthy self esteem and you genuinely want to do good without expecting anything in return. While people pleasing comes from a lowered self esteem and the need of other's approval. You often feel like you have to do something in order for others to like you.)
14| '...Eat of their fruit in season, but give (the poor) their due on harvest day. And do not waste, for He does not love the wasteful.’ (Al An’am: 141)
Islam requires us to live a balanced and moderate lifestyle. Allah prohibits things for our own good, just like extravagance. I decided to focus on the latter half of this ayah and discuss Allah's love for His servants that do not waste. Note: A simple lesson from this ayah won't do it any justice.
Now, my sons went through a stage where they'd only eat half an apple or leave spoonfuls of food in their plate. Sound familiar? Well this led to numerous conversations about food wastage, our environment and the blessing of food Allah has gifted us. He doesn't need to feed us, but it's out of His love and Mercy that He does.
Alhamdulillah we don't create a lot of rubbish in the home, but we do leave behind heaps of fruit and veggie scraps. Although we can not give these to people to eat we can still make use of them, right? We've been trench composting for the past few years so we decided to continue to nurture the environment by adding a worm farm. It's another way to recycle organic waste which then turns into liquid fertiliser for your garden. (More on this in our gardening/sustainability unit insha'Allah.) The boys do the good deed of feeding the worms their fruits/veggie scraps and making sure they're looked after. As for me, I'm enjoying growing my herbs, seedlings and other veggie roots in there. Alhamdulillah!
15| 'Say, “Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful. Whichever [name] you call – to Him belong the best names.” (Al Isra: 110)
I introduced my 6yo to his wellbeing chart this morning; a cardboard puzzle designed to improve his emotional wellbeing and help us live through Allah's names. The idea is for him to use the puzzle anytime he needs to. He writes down his feeling and what caused it, then marks the body showing where he felt it. Six of Allah's names have been linked to the emotions I chose. These are used to make dua with. I've also added a Qur'an ayah which will help comfort him and have listed some coping strategies from the sunnah to help him regulate his emotions. It's currently up on the wall along side his "Open me when I'm feeling' craft we did during day 6. Now I'm eager to see how he goes with this!
This puzzle will also help me understand what he is feeling throughout the day so I can also help him. For us parents, it's so critical that we help them understand and manage their emotions. Begin by helping your child understand what they're feeling by helping them develop emotional language. When you see your child showing a specific emotion, label it. For example, 'You have a huge smile on your face. You must be happy see your friends'. You can also try using expressive words around your child to help define your own emotion. For example, 'I feel frustrated that this isn't working.'
For older children, you can start discussing emotions that book characters are experiencing or even give them opportunities to explore through hands on play.
16| “And if you should (try to) count the favours of Allah , you could not enumerate them.” (Ibrahim: 34)
Acknowledging the favours Allah has bestowed upon us is the key to unlock the door of abundance. When we slow down we start appreciating life as it is. We're able to see the blessings and genuinely thank Allah for them. So how do we unlock this door of abundance? One way is by shifting our perspective. Doing this allows us to focus on these blessings. For some time now I've been training myself to say Alhamdulillah I get to... do the dishes (others don't get a chance to eat). Alhamdulillah I get to... spend time with my kids (others haven't yet had children). Alhamdulillah I get to... clean this house (others can't). You get me. It's made a huge difference in my life and has helped me appreciate what I have. I perceive things as a positive instead of a negative. I just didn't say them out loud so my children and husband can hear them too. But Alhamdulillah, I have time to fix that.
I made these cards so my children can get into this mindset and appreciate what they have. We live a very short life and if we're not grateful now, when?
17| 'And it is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (celestial bodies) in an orbit are swimming.' (Al Anbiya: 33)
I'm one of those people who gets amazed at the beauty (and mystery) of the night sky every single time! This Ayah in Surah Al Anbiya demonstrates Allah's Omnipotence. It is from His decree that all planets revolve in a circle around the sun, and the sun itself orbits the centre of the Milky Way. He is in control of everything. He is Al Malik (The King and Owner of Dominion) and Al Khaliq (The Creator). The boys had some hands on play with their solar system.
18| 'And We created from water every living thing'. (Al Anbiya: 30)
Pic 1: We discussed why water is important for life on Earth. Diagram illustrates Earth with water vs without.
Pic 2: We went into a little more detail and discussed water in our bodies. What happens when we drink clean water vs contaminated water.
Pic 3: Here we discussed the blessing Allah has provided for us. How grateful are we? We just need to turn on the tap while others need to walk down steep rocky paths with large containers to collect dirty water from a river that's almost non existent! I didn't have much time to research any videos so we ended up watching the first on YouTube 'The journey Episode 2: Life without clean water' by charity water. This shows the life of a 12 yo girl who collects dirty water each day. I challenge you not to cry! Please watch it with your children and discuss this blessing we take for granted.
19| 'And it is He (God) who has made you successors upon the earth...' (Al An'am: 165)
I made my boys a book to help them understand the 7R's of Sustainability and how our actions impact Earth. It serves as a conversation starter and something we can always come back to. I've added some examples from the Qur'an and Sunnah and some tips we can implement right now.
I felt the need to add 'REFLECT' in there because Allah has entrusted this planet to us and we need to ensure that Earth's resources are used in a sustainable manner for our future generations. How else will we nurture our environment if we don't reflect?
If we ponder over the Qur'an we will find countless of ayahs reminding humans not to be wasteful, to care for the environment, to not over consume etc. When we look to the Sunnah we learn that Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) mended his own clothes and reminded us to look at those who have been given less so we don't feel the need to buy more.
With small changes in our home we can inspire others to do the same.
20| 'Those who believe and do righteous deeds-those are the companions of Paradise; they will live there forever.' (Al Baqarah: 82)
In the home we say thank you (most times), but the better way to thank someone is to make a dua (prayer) for them, in this case it's JazakAllah Khair (may Allah reward you with good).
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Muslims to reward people by making dua for them. He said, “Whoever has had something nice done for him and then says to his companion, ‘Jazak Allahu Khayran,’ then he has surely excelled in praising (him).”
I asked the boys what their favourite part of Ramadan was and they both responded going to the Masjid with dad. So we decided to write JazakAllah khair cards for him. Yep including me. The only thing left is for my husband and I to be consistent and model this out inshaAllah.
This was our final Qur'an inspired Montessori prompt. A big jazakumAllahu khairan to everyone who participated and showed support in anyway. BareekAllah feekum. This really means a lot.
- Zayneb x
