Introducing embroidery to children

As a little girl growing up in Saudi Arabia in the early 90's life was very simple. People found happiness in little things such as, going to the park, picnic, going for a walk, biking, playing with sand, and lots of crafts to explore. One of the things I got to introduced to very young was thread and needle and the wonders it can produce. I learned most of it on my own, through making mistakes and then correcting them. When we moved to Canada, it took me sometime to absorb the fast paced life and the lack of barakah in time. It wasn't long before I found myself running each day to complete one days tasks just like everyone else.

During summer vacations was when I was able to find time for myself and my hobbies, I would mostly go back to thread work. Till this day I love embroidery and bead-work. I love the feelings and memories of childhood it brings back for me. I always found thread work very therapeutic, I think that goes for all forms of handwork.

A few months ago I started an embroidery project and one evening when I sat down to work on it, AR came and asked me what I was doing and if he could do it do. I asked him if he would like his own embroidery loop and he was so happy and excited about the idea.

He helped me prepare the embroidery loop with a square cotton fabric piece.

We went on for 30 minutes, he helped me thread the needle every time. H give it a try too,  however I feel shes still too young and she pulls the needle too close to her eyes. We embroidery once a week, when she's asleep.

He has instead to work on the same piece. MashaAllah he's so proud of his hard work, he shows everyone and tells them "when ALL the yellow thread is finished we will cut and glue the fabric at the back and hang it on the wall!" I was impressed to hear his sophisticated idea. InshaAllah we will hang it, and it will be hung in our living room like some of their other art projects.

I feel it encourages children and builds their confidence and shows them their master pieces that they worked on with their tiny hands and creative minds are valuable and worth being hung for display on the walls. And that they give life and bring beauty to their house/walls and that they are not just for the study area or the fridge.

Boy or girl both should learn how to handle a needle safely and work with it. Since we very well know our beloved Prophet SAW used to sew his own clothes and mend his own shoes. So its important to encourage these essentials of life from the very start. Especially because a child is physically more involved in these activities its more satisfying and pleasurable to (most) children then being forced to or bribed to write.

The best part is... its so cheap!

This where we normally keep their paintings. Its hard to hang stuff on the walls here so we placed them on the shelves until we bring in the construction worker to drill in the walls.

Ramadan is around the corner once again!! Can you believe it??

DIY: Wood Math board

A great project to do with kids at home to introduce woodwork. Its a great tool to learn Math through play. It gives children a chance to practice holding yarn and weave it around the nails, they can learn yarn tension before they actually start knitting.

AR helped me mark the wood circle and then hammered the nails in place with me. Then we made many different shapes on it using different colored yarn, I chose bright spring colors to go with our spring theme these days. Even H played with it. 

We got the idea from this video. 

DIY: Kid's doll sling

A few months ago I made H this baby sling for her dolls, at first she didn't understand it but when I made one for AR and she saw him using it she started enjoying it a lot more. Its a super easy and fun project to do for our girls. I stitched this one with a pattern I have made myself. I also really like this easy tutorial at Progressivepioneer for a different style of a sling, maybe I'll give it a try when H is a bit older.

The whole thing cost $0! I used scraps left over from some other projects. The printed part is cotton and the black is jersey.

I have always wanted one of these baby wraps with both my babies but they were just too out of budget for us both times. Plus we got 3 of those backpack carriers, so we just used that despite the fact I did't really like them. Now that its so worn out, we might get this wrap. Simply love them! I love how the baby has such closeness to the mother/parent compared to the backpack carriers.

Has anyone used one of these baby wraps? How was your experience with them?

Product review: Arabic Alphabet Blocks

We found this a great learning-through-play tool for the kids to learn Arabic. We had been looking for a good quality wooden Arabic Haroof block set for the kids for a long time and we finally found  one, alhumdulillah. Its an awesome toy!

AR matching the shapes to form a word. Its like puzzle with endless possibilities of word formation.

H lacing the blocks.

Its comes with pictures and word that they can match, I  am not too big on this write now, right now they are just enjoying the different shapes.

Learning through play

I still remember when I attended the homeschooling conference in Toronto, I met a sister there who said to me "Oh, your son is still too young, don't worry about anything right now, just let him play till he's about seven. After seven is when children are actually able to learn, at that point you can start academic work with him." At first, what she said came as a shock to me but as I learned and researched more, the more I started to agree with what the sister had said. 

A lot of you have asked me what do I do with the kids all day anyways?? InshaAllah I will answer that one day! However, I would like to say one thing that are many AMAZING mommies out there that inspire me every single day one way or another. Some online, some in person and some by phone. Love you all and May Allah increase you (us) all in your (our) good righteous efforts and accept them from you (us). And chose our children for His deen Ameen

Until I post about what kinda stuff we do at home, here's a great article that will inshaAllah help those with little ones enormously and also give you an idea what we do around our home most of the time. The author talks the importance of learning though play.

What are the best cooking oils?

We often ask each other about what the best oils are for cooking as mothers/parents who want to provide the best for our families. I have put together some information from sites I trust very much when it comes to health and food information. This information has benefited me immensely when it came to choosing the best cooking oil for our family.

We pretty much use all kinds of oils we can find, for all types of things, cooking, body, hair, furniture and cleaning. When it comes to cooking we use coconut oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil, light olive oil (for low heat cooking) and ghee (clarified butter) I have been considering making our own ghee. Extra virgin Olive oil is also one of our favorites but not when it comes to cooking, we use it as salad dressing and on top of Zatir bread and hummus.

Best cooking oil information:

1. Here is what Food Matters's experts have to say about the best cooking oil and which ones to avoid. 
2. Wholeliving has a very nice article about many oil options one can have for healthier cooking.
3. LIVESTRONG has a great article on why to avoid cooking on high heat with olive oil. Also check this one. If you would like, you can read through some other very beneficial articles on which oils are best and why to use some oils and aviod others and there compositions.
4. Great video on good and bad oils by Josh Axe

Happy cooking to all our Natural Moms!

What oils do you use for cooking?

Have you ever considered making your own Ghee?

DIY: Baby Doll

I have always wanted to these German dolls (also known as Waldorf dolls) for H, they are very expensive, they cost $130 to $250 a piece. I love this one from Etsy and this one from Nobby Organics.

A month or so ago I had a newsletter in my email about a Doll Making workshop in London Ontario offered by Waldorf in March, for only $95!! Its cheaper then the doll itself! I would love to attend this workshop and make my own dolls for my kids and relatives. Check it out here, if you are interested in taking the workshop and live in Ontario.

Since I had made the felt puppets for story time for the kids (will share inshaAllah), I thought, why not try making a doll. I looked up some tutorials and made my first handmade doll for my doll!! Of course I didn't have all the things needed and neither do I have craft store like Loomis or Micheals to ran to for crafty needs. This was a project that made me pull out my creative side and I was able to complete this doll making project, Alhumdulillah. We are officailly becoming producers from consumers.

Here is how I made in a few steps:

I used a old skin colored t-shirt of mine  from our donation box and  cut out the arms  separately,  torso and legs together and a big circle for the head. I stuffed an old sock of H, (small size) with the filling. and tied it close, and then I tied a strong thread in the middle of it form an head. You can see a curved in line by the eye area. I then cover it with the skin color fabric. If you can get the proper equipment, it come with a tube for the head, which works great and doesn't bunch up at the back. I stitched the arms and body on the machine,  and the kids helped me stuff the whole thing. They are in love with it.

Stitched it all toegther, arms, then the body. Its a very easy project if you have little bit of back ground in stitching you can do it.  It took me total one hour, and i did it over 2 days, and ofcourse the kids were a great help so I had to slow down for them, they stuffed the doll for me, mashaAllah.

Took this old dress of H form the donation box and cut out 2 dresses for H's dolls.

 It cost me $0! and my little doll is so happy with it mashaAllah. Homemade toys can be super frugal!

Knitting away...

I had posted before (Click here) about how we have been knitting and crocheting. So here are some or our projects we have been working on. I will also share some resources that are available to learn knitting and crocheting for beginners. Although I knew how to knit a little bit these tutorials were a great help for those who know how to work with yarn. We will also disscuss why and how we should introduce these skills to our little ones.

There are many reasons why we should introduce knitting to children. I feel its a skill that teaches a great deal of patience (I am talking from experience here!!). Children feel a great accomplished and confidence when they make something with their own hands (and so do adults). It also teaches problem solving, you make mistakes while knitting and you have to correct them with patience. Great for fine motor skills especially in boys. They make amazing gifts for children to give to family, friends and relatives. Its imporatnt to teach our children from the beginning to be producers then consumers as much as we can, also a it frugal.

However, before we start knitting with our children we might want to consider some steps to introducing knitting. I will inshaAllah share with you how I slowly introduced knitting and crocheting to my children step by step, we started in after we came back from our summer vacation, I had brought some tools and yarn back with me, Ihad purchase some stuff here too and it was easily available here too, Alhumdulillah.

1. Be a silent role model - Knit and crochet in front of them, and they will ask you what you are doing, take that opportunity to introduce the yarn, crochet hook or knitting needles. Children are more likely to do things they see parents doing. Whenever we go outside I keep the knitting (or any other) project with me in a drawstring bag, so when we are in the car I work on it while reciting/memorizing with the kids or just looking outside.

2. Getting comfortable - Let them get comfortable with the yarn and other tools by letting them touch them and experiment with them making sure you are with them to be safe.

3. Yarn craft - Doing yarn crafts, glue yarn on paper in different shapes,  paint with yarn, nailed wood panel yarn activity, inshaAllah I'll share this one later. Its a wonder math activity as well. You can also practice cutting yarn, we did a measuring cut yarn activity as well.

4. Introducing knitting - Now that the kids are comfortable with the concept of knitting and yarn, you can start knit with them. And the best way to start is finger knitting! No hooks or needles! From whatever research and asking around I have done, I found that the best age to start knitting with children is ages 6 to 7 but some children can start earlier, if the parents have focused on handwork at an early age. Wood weaving tools are also a great way to start knitting with young children
Here are some of the resources we used to start finger knitting. 

• Knitting with kids
• Famly Fun - DIY colorful Jump rope - we are working on this one right now together, we used some old tees and made yarn balls out of them we are still short on old tees. 
• Video 1 - A boy teaching finger knittiing it was a good way to get him encouraged

• Video 2 - Earthschooling finger knitting tutorial... love it how she does it with a story. Since AR is still young I keep him in my lap when we knit and we do it together, so far we have just made strings and he's still learning, it a great bonding time for us. We stop as soon as he says I am done, if we are singing then we get many stitches! MashaAllah its really fun!

Resources:

1. Online - Great knitting tutorial for beginners and those who know how to knit a little, uploaded by Cital 86, They have 12 tutotialsand they are very easy to follow

For crocheting these videos are very helpful

2. In person - Find a teacher who can teach you, knitting is very common here in Saudi, I was able to find someone who could teach me but it was not working out so I started using the tutorial I gave above. If you are living in North American you can find cafes and centers where they teach knitting, crocheting and felting and if you have kids they will teach them needle felting as well. Some even offer private class, all that will cost of course and its not always easy to go. Learning in person is a great way, if you can find someone who can teach you for free, that's great!  Knit-o-matic is a great place to start looking into for classes and more info.

3. Buying - In Saudi almost all stationary stores carry knitting tools and yarns. I buy ours from these two online stores, I bought some in summer last year, it has great variety and great prices. 

• http://www.herrschners.ca/
• http://www.knitpicks.com/knitting.cfm

Here are some things we have made:

My first knit project, A purse for H. MashaAllah TabarakAllaha she loves it and takes it everywhere with her.

Ball for AR

This was a fun and easy knit project. I knit with a garter stitch 6 squares in 3 colors. and with a needle and yarn I hand stitched the pieces together same colors opposite to each other. What you see is the ball inside out, I left the yarn pieces un-cut, they added to the fill.

Turned it inside out and filled it with wool roving until it felt firm, and then stitched it close. The good thing about knitting squares and rectangles is that you can acctually put them together and make so many things about of them, rugs, floor chairs, baby blankets and throws.

A colorful handmade ball!

Baby Bennie for H's doll.

One of the string AR made, this was a gift for H from him.

I felt like making baby booties, so I started..

One completed and still working on the other one, thinking of giving it to preggo friend!

I am making more toys, a rug and a blanket inshaAllah its a slow and long process. I want to inshaAllah make this pouf for our living room (check them out) one day.

Teaching the Life of the Prophet SAW to children

Recently I started a series on Seerah by Yasir Qadhi 'A Mercy to Mankind' I am really enjoying and benefiting from it. One of the things I love about the seerah is that when we study the life of the Prophet SAWand ALL the hardships and difficulties he SAW went through, our problems and issues become so small and worthless. And if there is a hardship or fitnah we have in our life, studying the seerah give us the power and strength to move on and move away, by seeing his SAW's tests and tribulations. Its a wonderful series! MashaAllah.

When I started listening to it, I felt a strong urge/motivation to really focus on the Seerah with the kids on a regular bases. Make it an important part of our lives.

Here are some things we have been doing as an effort to help our kids develop a strong and unique bond with the Prophet SAW at a small age.

1. Almost everyday, after Asr, I put Yasir Qadhi's seerah lecture on so the kids can listen to it. Sometimes AR comes and sits to watch the video and of course H joins, they actually sit and listen mashaAllah. (I don't mind him watching a sheikh on the screen for a few minutes to gain knowledge).  The benefit out ways the damage in this matter in my eyes.

A Mercy to Mankind - Muhmmad SAW

2. We posted the Learning Roots 'Seerah -  Makkan period' chart up to keep track of how far and how much we have learned and how much more to go

I am not sticking the stickers on though, this way I can use it again too.

3.  Lastly but most importantly we started reading "The Noble Life of the Prophet SAW' with the kids at bedtime. I know some of you might be thinking isn't that too much for the little ones?? No, not at all. They really enjoy it mashaAllah! How can they not, its indeed the life of our Prophet SAW.  It did take some effort from our side, to have them start it.

Since AR was very small we would tell him the stories of the Prophets and Sahabas without books. When we moved here and I made our bedtime ritual, this time I added bedtime story books, which were never there before that. However a few months ago I stopped reading books to the kids at bedtime again and went back to our old storytelling method. It took me a two weeks or so to wine them off books and listen to all the wonderful REAL stories mama has to tell them. To be honest some days I would have to look at a story before I would relate it to them.

I don't believe in making up stories too much, there's nothing wrong with it, but why fantasies when we can tell true stories. Like, for example if you were to relate the story of Salam Al Farisi (R.A) to a child, how can it be possible that a child will not listen to his story?? Theres no way a made up tale can be as beautiful and as meaning full as the story of Salman Al Farisi or the story of Prophet Sulaiman (A.S). AR still get lost at the thought of flying in the air. In order for us to tell the stories from our Islamic history we need to learn them ourselves and learn them from the right sources and learn them over and over again. So we don't have to relay on non-muslim folk stories and fairy tales, which to be honest in my eyes are all imitations of stories from Islam, some what.

When we share a story of the past we shouldn't hesitate to tell our kids about good and bad, death, murder and physical abuse the muslims went through. I have seen many parents who feel like they are scaring the child or the child will be traumatized. I feel this is a wrong way of thinking, because if this was the case then why would Allah SWT mention death, Jannah and Jahnam to us over and over again?? And the consequence of our bad and good actions?? Its important that we teach children to be detached from this duniya and have a desire to die and go to Jannah, not be scared to death!

Its not easy! The worldly life gives children (and ourselves) an immediate gratification. And Aakhirah is something that we have to remind them about about. Why remind and not tell?? Because its our fitra (nature)! and that is what Allah swt dose again and again in the Quran. And for children, to develop a love and longing for the Aakhirah we need to give them a mental image, and image that is fixed in there minds of Aakhriah(Hereafter) is, Jannah(Paradise) and Jahnam(Hell fire) are. Its not easy, we have to constantly remind them and ourselves and most importantly fight the devil's whispers.

This storytelling phase really helped them move to the book. Since there are no pictures in the book they have to make an image in there minds just by listening which is a great way to promote imaginative thinking. 

When we read it we have simplify here and there a bit to make it comprehend-able to them. We skip some parts here and their that will be beyond there ability to understand. We don't want to make it a philosophical discussion. We still read books and we read lots, but just not at bedtime. 

The last thing I want the kids to sleep with is a story or image that will actually benefit him in this duniya and Aakhira, and that is definitely not in 'Curious George' or Dr. Seuss'  etc. I am not at all saying that these books are bad or shouldn't be read or somthing! I just don't want my child to fall asleep thing about 'Cat in the Hat' or 'how George is a goood little monkey'!

Since MashaAllah Baba is a better story teller then Mama, Baba reads the book to them most of the time. Its a great Baba and kiddios time, Alhumdulillah.

Allah knows best!