In conjunction of the Merdeka (Independence) day coming up, Grace and I thought it would be fitting to have our playgroup activity based around classic traditional games. These games were what we grew up with before the digital era began. We wanted our children to be exposed to this as it is also part of our culture and it reminds me of when times were more simple and innocent. Some of these games may look familiar to you, only we have different names for it.
This is the list of activities we did today:-
a) Lat tali tamplon
b) Penutup botol/Ceper (Carrom bottle cap)
c) Baling tin (Tin bowling)
d) Lompat getah (Rope jumping)
e) Ketingting (Hopscotch)
f) Malaysia flag art and craft
The Jalur Gemilang craft and States Matching Game
We started off with our Malaysia Flag aka Jalur Gemilang (directly translated as Glorious Stripes) and kept it to a simple cut and paste activity, though as expected, the moms did most of the legwork 😆.
The kids are still too young to learn the names of the states so instead they matched the flags according to the numbers or colours.
Baling Tin
The first of the games we did was the 'Baling Tin' which is basically bowling but using used tin cans. It created quite a noise and the kids loved it! Though some just settled with kicking the cans over which well, works too! haha.
Lat Tali Lat Tali Tamplom
We also tried doing "Lat Tali Lat Tali Tamplom" which is kinda like Rock Paper Scissors if you will but only with the show of hands - palms up or palms down. It is used to decide a splitting of teams or whoever is the odd one out - starts first.
Penutup Botol/Ceper
Then a game of "Penutup Botol" or "Ceper" which is the glass bottle caps.. how you play it is one has to flick the cap with your fingers to hit another.
Ketingting (Hopscotch)
Here's one we're all familiar with - classic game of hopscotch! Great for gross motor skills.
Lompat Tali Getah (Rubberband Skipping Rope)
Last but not least - another classic game of skipping rope basically, but it is made out of a chain of rubber bands... every other kid used to have one of these cos it's so cheap and easy to make! Khadeejah went to town with this one! 😂
To end our playgroup session, we refreshed ourselves with a glass of soya bean straight from the glass bottles in which we took the bottle caps from. Yums!
If you enjoyed reading about our playgroup activity, do subscribe for future updates on playgroup activity ideas inshaAllah! Feel free to share!
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BaarakAllahu feekum.
This year we kicked off our Hajj week with the story of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) from our 'My First Quran Storybook' by Goodword books. There are a few chapters in this book about the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and I was planning for us to go through it a day at a time but Khadeejah was really into it that she asked me to read them all, so we did. If you're wondering, here are the list of chapters:-
- The Prophet Ibrahim
- The Prophet Ibrahim's Faith
- The Prophet Ibrahim Travels to Arabia
- The Great Sacrifice
- The Prophet Ibrahim's Guests
- Building the Kaabah
- The First Call to Hajj
It's a wonderful book for ages 3+ to introduce them to the stories of the Quran and I'd highly recommend it. You can get it online at Dakwah Corner Bookstore .
What I would usually do whenever I introduce new stories to her is always to engage with her and ask her what she liked about the story and ask her again what she can remember and if she can re-tell the story on her own. It's the most simplest and effective way to improve her reading comprehension inshaAllah. Some of the things that made her face lit up was when the story mentioned that Allah took him as his best friend. She could relate it to it as she too has a best friend of her own (Her name is Saudah and they even send whatsapp voice messages to each other! They have a super cute friendship) so she understood how much Allah love the Prophet Ibrahim AS.
Then we reached the chapter of 'Building the Kaabah' and we decided to make a simple craft and found the perfect little box for it!
All you need:
1. Cardboard box
2. Black paint (I used the IKEA brand)
3. Brush and pallette
4. Gold ribbon
5. Double sided tape
Easy peasy craft! The painting of the kaabah kept her occupied for at about 10-15 minutes.
First item done for our Hajj Diorama! The next day we moved on to making the Mount Arafah (at first it was supposed to be for the Sa'ee but then realised it was too big). I cut out a part from a cup holder carton and stuffed it with some crumpled newspaper.
The Mina tents were the easiest, we just folded a white art paper (half and a bit on both ends to glue it down). As for Muzdalifah, we cut out little felt rectangles to make blankets/sleeping bags and crumpled brown paper into tiny pebbles.
The Saffaa and Marwah are made of crumple newspaper as well, wrapped in brown paper. Then the Jamarat are made out of paper towel rolls, cut into three different sizes. Recyclables FTW! For the signs we used toothpicks and playdoh but I would just to use sticky tack instead so it won't fall off so easily. I ended up just pasting the signs on to the board itself later on.
Last but not least, we made our little family pilgirms for use to play pretend Hajj on the diorama! How I plan to play with her is to sing these simple rhymes (found on @ifahussain 's IG) while performing the actions to help her remember the hajj terms and places.
The original is called 'During Our Pilgrimage' but I just changed the 'pilgrimage' to Hajj instead so it's easier for her to sing and pronounce.
During our Hajj
(Sing to the tune of “Skip to my Lou”)
We make tawaf around the Kaabah
We make tawaf around the Kaabah
We make tawaf around the Kaabah
During our Hajj
We make Sa’i
From Safaa to Marwah
We make Sa’i
From Safaa to Marwah
We make Sa’i
From Safaa to Marwah
During our Hajj
We spend the night
At Mina,
We spend the night
At Mina,
We spend the night
At Mina,
During our Hajj
We make lots of Du’a
At Mt Arafah,
We make lots of Du’a
At Mt Arafah,
We make lots of Du’a
At Mt Arafah,
During our Hajj
We pick up pebbles
At Muzdalifah,
We pick up pebbles
At Muzdalifah,
We pick up pebbles
At Muzdalifah,
During our hajj
We throw the pebbles
At Jamarat
We throw the pebbles
At Jamarat
We throw the pebbles
At Jamarat
During our Hajj
Super fun and easy! She quickly memorised the song and names in an instant!
Have you made a hajj diorama before? Do share and tag me on Instagram at @muslimmummyhood if you do! This was a very fun activity for us and we loved playing with it and learning about the hajj journey.
Looking for more ideas for #hajjactivities with the kiddos?
Get some awesome FREE downloadable printables and more #hajjactivities ideas here!
1. Hajj Lapbook - ABC's of Hajj by Umm Abdul Basir
2. Hajj Colouring Play Set by Smart Ark
I just HAVE to write about our field trip earlier today cos it was SUPER FUN Alhamdulillah! and also VERY informative too (mostly for the parents). Who would've thought a visit to a local fire station would be such an awesome experience!
So this idea came about by my playgroup partner-in-crime, when she found out that a friend recently held their kid's birthday party at the Balai Bomba TTDI (TTDI Fire Station). Turns out you didn't have to pay any fee to organise a visit and all you had to do was write in to them! Easy peasy. Well my partner did all the legwork, so kudos to her for doing the write-in and contacting. May Allah bless her efforts. Ameen! We did however, agree to organise a small donation from each parent for them as a token of appreciation for their time and hospitality. The firemen were very warm (pun intended) and welcoming especially to the children.
So here's how our day started. The moms and kids gathered at the fire station around 10 AM. There were about 30 kids in total along with the mothers and helpers. Our kids ranged from babies to ages 10 or 11. Alhamdulillah it was manageable and there were plenty of parking spaces available within the compound. Overall environment was clean and spacious, so the wide open space made us feel at ease. And you know how it is, children + open spaces means plenty of room to move around (and subsequently, mothers chasing after them). So always keep an eye out for the little ones!
Introduction + How to contact a Fire Department
The session started with an introduction by the chief fireman, who gave us an insight as to how fire stations operate, how many there are in the Klang Valley etc. He reminded us that the 994 fire emergency number is no longer relevant and that the emergency number for all types of emergency (whether you need the fire dept, police, ambulance etc) are to be reached with 999. You will be connected to a call centre who will direct you to the help you need. However, he recommended that it would be even better if you familiarise yourself with your neighbourhood/town fire dept number so that you may call them directly. This will save time and help them in responding quicker. So look up your nearest fire station now and save that number in your phone!
Reporting a fire or suspicious smoke
If ever you are driving by some place and see a suspicious smoke or fire happening then report it, be sure to stick around that area until the firemen arrive. Your information is vital for them to locate the exact fire. An incident has happened before where someone had reported a suspected fire while driving by but by the time the firemen were there, they couldn't locate the fire reported and the reporter was already long gone from the scene. Do not waste their time and be responsible if you are reporting a suspected fire.
Stop, Drop & Roll!
What do you do if your clothes catch on fire? Stop, Drop & Roll! The kids had fun acting this out.
Working a Fire Extinguisher
Let's be honest, the majority of us don't really know how to work a fire extinguisher. A simple way to remember is by remembering the PASS rule: Pull (the pin to break the tamper seal), Aim (at the fire source), Squeeze (the handle to release the extinguishing agent), and Sweep (the hose from side to side at the base of the fire until it is out) Watch the area. If it re-ignites, repeat steps 2-4.
You should be at a distance of at least 3 feet from the source of fire if you are attempting to do this.
This is for small fires or for fires that have just broke out such as a kitchen stove fire.
Do's and Dont's
- DO GET OUT of the house as fast as possible!
- DON'T go into the toilet/bathroom. This is an even more dangerous place to be in within a house with a fire because the water will boil and make the bathroom even hotter.
- DON'T throw a pail of water at the fire source.
- DO use a wet towel and throw on to the fire source if you want to attempt putting it out this way.
If you have the slightest doubt that you cannot put out the fire, evacuate immediately.
Uniforms and Suits
There are several uniforms for a fireman I think the chief mentioned there were 6 or 7 different types for different purposes, (i.e. natural disaster, fire resisting suits etc). This was the fun part where all the kids could try on real fire jackets and helmets! Apparently, a full suit weighs about 8 kilos. So imagine running through a fire with all that bulky weight on you and not to mention you gotta carry the heavy equipments and masks etc. It takes a lot of stamina to be a firefighter. Much respect! Not only do you need to be in good shape but you need to have a good eyesight. The chief says that many young people are failing the examinations due to poor eyesight as we are too exposed to screens and gadgets nowadays.
Riding the Firetruck! HIGHLIGHT of the whole trip (for me)
This was so exciting for all of us albeit some of the kids including Khadeejah were terrified of the loud sirens. They took us around the compound twice for a little joy ride. The inside was spacious and comfortable (AC on full blast) and from the inside the sirens were not that loud.
Watch a clip of the firetruck ride here!
Last Activity : Hose It Down!
A wonderful sight to end our trip. To see the children playing under the water just having a total blast and having pure fun is totally priceless! Some of the moms were joining in too! Unfortunately Khadeejah wasn't too keen on joining the fun. She even had a little yellow raincoat on! Oh well. She did marvel at the huge fire trucks the whole time!
For more info on fire safety and the fire stations in Malaysia visit http://www.bomba.gov.my/
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