Aaminah made Hajj! Well, sort of ;)

We did this today at home. We didn't have quite enough cotton balls so we had to separate them to make enough. ;) I cut out the shapes then she glued all the cotton balls and body parts on. She also stuck on her name in glittery stickers.

Here are some of the projects the older children did, mA!



The hallway decorated so nicely mA! They made sai in this hall. :)

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll! Aaminah is a little hajji now! Her school had an amaaaazing Hajj program on Friday which they invited the parents to watch. It was awesome! I didn't find her a white outfit; the prayer outfit she has is a hand-me-down and it's a bit stained and snagged. So she just wore a black abaya we got at Sunnah Style a couple of years ago. I got it for like $8 because it was a factory-reject. Misplaced snap or something. :)

Anyway the school looked AWESME and jazakum Allahu khair to everyone who helped! I wish I had better pics; I borrowed a few pics from a friend but I don't really wanna put up pics of other people's kids. They were so cute btw and mA! Little boys in their ihrams (sheets and towels mostly lol) and the little girls all in hijab and abaya. Every year they make a new Kaaba so the children can participate. Here is how they made sai between Safa and Marwa. :)

 

Great idea!



They even had a sacrifice station. What a cute idea! Aaminah gently slide her hand across the sheep's throat and I explained the meat is donated to the poor. It was so much fun! I got to do tawwaf with her at the end of the Hajj and we went around chanting the dua.

Cute little sheep mA!!! :)

They ate their snack while "camped" at Mina. I can't explain how great of a job they did!

 I didn't walk over when they went to Arafat; it was at the other side of the parking area and I was really tired that day. But I joined her when she went to stone the pillars (and shaitan!). I can't show pics of it because there were so many cute little brown, white, and beige faces in it! :) But the pillars looked so nice and they got to go and pick up 3 little smooth pebbles. Nice small pebbles so the excitable kids do not hurt anyone. :)

Next time I'll try and remember to get better pics that I can share. Just didn't feel like blocking out 10 faces in a pic. :)

Hope ya'll have a great eid if I don't update before then and may Allah swt bless all the hujjaj and accept their ibadah amin!


Craft time, la la la!

Our Hajj felt board; fun to make, fun to play with too!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I made this lovely little felt board about Hajj for Aaminah. Insha'allah it will help introduce her to important vocabulary and just be plain ole fun!

I got the idea for it here. This is a blog called "A muslim child is born" and the sister running it, Umm an-Numan is masha'allah very talented and creative. I adapted her storyboard idea and came up with this a couple of nights ago.

I bought regular felt in a variety of colors and then wanted a large piece of stiff felt for the background. I got grass green which I thought was lovely 'til I got home and the realization dawned on me that there isn't alot of grass in Makkah! lol Oh bless my heart, yes bless it indeed! I should have gotten either sandy color or sky blue but alhamdulillah I had those other colors in the softer felt so no harm, no foul.

Side note... I just got an unrequested kiss from a crazy haired little sweetie. Masha'Allah I love it!

OK back to subject. Upon speaking with my husband (ya Shaykh!) I discovered that Mina is about 14 miles from the plain of Arafat. However I wanted my stones on the story board so I took a little artistic license. I also made a kufi for the brother but obviously he won't wear it til Hajj is complete!!! lol

Those who know me are aware of my affinity for black; black abaya, black hijab. It's somewhat of a joke with my more fashion-concious friends. Anyway I opted for a white overgarment on the sister because it looked nicer on the board.

Anywho, no templates are needed just freehand it. You can pencil in your design if necessary but I only did that for the Ka'aba. I had to do it a few times to get it right but alhamdulillah I am pleased with this overall.

Insha'allah ya'll will enjoy making this too. If your children are older they can help. For my childless sisters, make this for a friend's kid and enjoy craft time yourself.

Oh another couple of great websites I found my browsing the blogs of homeschooling sisters: Handmade Beginnings and Islamic Lapbooking. Pass them on insha'Allah!

Ma salaama...