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.

DIY Children's Easel

We have been wanting to get the kids an easel, but haven't found one that we an get here for a reasonable price. So I decided to designate a wall space for them as an easel. We put an old table cloth on the floor to catch any spills and drips from their masterpieces. Alhumdulillah they're enjoying their DIY easel.

Kids love paints and painting, it give them a creative outlet and also encourages imagination. AR loves talking about his artworks, and we love displaying them. They also make wonderful gifts and gift wraps!

Big girl!

Last week, while AR was gone to school, I did my usual morning routine with H. After that I went to do the house chores for a bit, usually when I do that H normally plays around me, we talk and recite and sing nasheeds and nursery rhymes. On Monday however, H decided to stay in the Rawdah, after about 15 to 20 mins of silence I thought I should check on her.

So I did... and mashaAllah she surprised me with THIS...

Yes...MashaAllah she made the train track all by herself. Also attempted to puzzles at the back. Apparently this was not the first time. When I told my husband he said she did this in last month too, I was not aware of it. We were proud of her little achievement.

I strongly believe when toys and educational equipment is accessible to kids, it gives them more opportunity to learn. Kids tend to learn better when they have the freedom to explore their environment. As parents its our duty to try our best to make the environment safe for them. It's really important to teach kids and supervise them. However, it's as important to give them an unsupervised learning experience. This teaches them to be independent, confident and gives them a sense of responsibility and trust.

YES, at times this unsupervised learning can be messy, but that's okay. Simply in a calm voice just ask the child to help you clean-up, and most of the times they will be more then willing too. 

Train track letters

Letter practice using train tracks. We used AR's train track set we bought him last year for Eid-ul-fitr and made letters with it. I showed him that if he connected the tracks in different ways they make things, shapes and letters. He was thinking so hard to figure how to connect the tracks to form letters, it was really nice mashaAllah. We also practiced letter tracing using the trains. We also had H trace the letters and make them/break them with us, however she was more interested in breaking then making. :)

Crayon Hockey Pucks!

We made these chunky crayon hockey pucks. Why they might be good for you to try??

1. They are lots of FUN for the kids  as they watch them melting
2. A little science experiment about how heat melts an object
3. Great color mixing experience for them to watch
4. Amazing for the tiny toddlers hands
5. No wasting those tiny non-handleable broken pieces of crayon

What you will need:

1. A muffin tray
2. Aluminium foil
3. Broken/small pieces of crayon 
4. A napkin with  little oil to slightly layer the foil with oil. (you can also use oil spray)

Place it in a warm oven not HOT. After melted, let it sit until its cool and hardens. 

Ta da!

Yogurt Painting

We did yogurt painting! both the kids loved!! It was initially suppose to be for toddler activity for H but AR really wanted to do it too so he did some too.

Four teaspoon of yogurt with a drop or two of food coloring 

What you will need:

1. Yogurt
2. Thick paper, cardboard or bristol board
3. Food coloring
4. And some cute toddler hands!!

This is a wonderful activity for the toddlers and its safe, they can lick their fingers!

Play-dough numbers

We bought these play-dough number cutters the kids, for only 2 RIYALS!!

AR had a great fun/learning experience. Its a great way to teach counting and number recognition. The set also included addition subtraction, multiplication and division cutters to teach Math at a later stage inshaAllah.

Homemade play-dough

We made play-dough at home with AR's helping hand, he enjoyed making it a lot and also playing with it. I really like play-dough for AR because he has very delicate fingers and playing with play-dough, kneading it and making things out of it helps him strengthen his finger muscles and fine motor skills. Alhumdulillah he loves playing with play-dough!

Even our daughter H loves playing with it and sometimes EATING it! Alhumdulillah it's non-toxic so no worries... but it still has lots of germs!! She will get use to not eating it.

Play-dough recipe for those interested. Why buy those toxic play-doughs when you can do-it-yourself at home!

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup salt
• 4 tbsp cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Food coloring

Instructions

Combine the flour, water, salt, cream of tartar, and oil in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. When the play-dough begins to form a ball, it's cooked. Cool for five minutes and then knead in food coloring. 

I divided the dough in 4 balls and then added vanilla essence, mango essence and coco powder with the food coloring.

Learing and playing

We used  play-dough to learn letters and to learn the shapes of the letters.

we used fridge magnets to imprint the letters in play-dough.

 My letters kept getting stuck in the alphabet frame, so AR taught me how to press it in gentle and lift slowly!

We made letters out of play-dough

We also wrote letters on a ziplock which I filled up with hair gel and added a few drops of food coloring. Initially it took him some time to learn how to press on the gel to make letters or shapes. We also used the decor crystals to trace the letters we had made by pressing on the gel filled ziplock.