Hold On Tight

One of the treasures we found at the beach was this group of clams that were clinging to the rusty blade of an old knife. I tried to imagine where the knife was from and how it landed in the sea, why the clams decided to make it their home and where the group of them might have been before the tide brought them to the beach. MasyaAllah it was too mind boggling but there they were for us to look up close and take a time-lapse video. 

Before we left, we discussed what we should do with the knife. Should we throw it away so that others wouldn’t accidentally step on it and get hurt? The Messenger of Allah ‎ﷺ said, “Every small bone of everyone has upon it a charitable act for every day upon which the sun rises. Bringing about justice between two is an act of charity. Helping a man get on his mount, lifting him onto it or helping him put his belongings onto it, is a charitable act. A good word is a charitable act. Every step you take toward the prayer is a charitable act. And removing a harmful thing from the path is a charitable act.”

In another hadith, the Messenger of Allah ‎ﷺ said, “ Faith is seventy or sixty-some odd branches. The most virtuous of them is the statement, ‘There is none worthy of worship but Allah.’ And the lowest of them is removing something harmful from the path. And modesty (hayaa) is part of faith.” 

But then the clams would die if they were out of the sea. So after considering, we decided to throw the knife back into the sea. But what do you know, the tide brought it back to the shore! We threw it back one more time and watched as the waves beat the knife this way and that way. But the clams stuck tight to the knife before the group of them finally disappeared under the water with the knife.

I thought to myself Subhanallah. We should be like the clams. No matter how the waves crash on us, no matter where the tide brings us to, hold on tight. Hold on tight to the Deen. Hold on tight to the Quran. Hold on tight to the Sunnah of Rasulullah ‎ﷺ. Hold on tight to Allah ﷻ. Till we finally reach our Destination inshaa Allah. And may it be a beautiful Destination 🌹

And the book below made a perfect accompaniment to our close encounters with the creatures at the beach.

Adventure Playground @ Jacob Ballas

I had wanted to go to Botanic Gardens but we ended up at Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden instead. We love the new additions to the garden but this tree house is, as they say, an oldie but a goodie. We had the tree house all to ourselves. Alhamdulillah. With an overcast sky and the sounds of chirping birds and gushing water in the background, it felt kinda surreal, like we were in our own world. MasyaAllah.

When Ustazah Umm Muhammad was in town recently, she reminded us the importance of forest bathing and grounding for children. She couldn’t have been more right. It’s important for adults too. It’s what our teachers prescribe for healthy children inshaa Allah. I went home with so much joy and lightness in my well-being. Alhamdulillah. Allah ﷻ knew that I needed that quiet contemplation in nature.

We then went to the pond at Jacob Ballas and had the blessed opportunity of meeting a white-breasted water hen and a pair of terrapins. After observing them for quite a while, they came close to us as we kept really still and quiet. Thank you for coming up to meet us! Alhamdulillah!

After stopping at the tree house, nature playgarden, pond and waterfall, we stopped at a map to figure out where to go next (and to impart some map-reading skills to the girls). Big A said that she wanted to go to the flying fox which was at the other end of the garden. I supposed this was the new extension to the garden and we had not been there before.

We walked along a bridge from Jacob Ballas that brought us over the carpark at the entrance. Then we walked further and found an adventure playground tucked amidst the trees and it was totally empty! Little A had rushed ahead to follow her sister and so I hitched up my abaya (eternally grateful for pants) and followed along. At one point while crossing the swaying bridge, Little A said to me, “Mummy, you are too big for the bridge.” Thanks, Little A.

They tried everything there and found most delight in the flying fox. They squealed happily each time they hit the spring at the end of the line which would throw them high up into the air before they go zipping back down the line. MasyaAllah such pure joy. We will be back inshaa Allah!

Every Small Deed Counts

Just earlier in the day during our session of the Al Ghazali Kids’ Club, the children learnt the Hadith in which Rasulullah ‎ﷺ said: “The deeds most loved by Allah ﷻ (are those) done regularly, even if they are small. [Bukhari and Muslim]

I asked the children what small deeds they could do regularly. They said they could help to wash the dishes, sweep the floor, hold the lift door for others, smile more, and feed the stray cats.

Later that night, their intention to feed the stray cats was realised when they found Dino the Cat with an overturned water bowl. Dino was so thirty after his meal that he wanted to drink from their bottle! So they poured their water into Dino’s bowl and he lapped it up thirstily, much to the girls’ delight.

Thank you Allah ﷻ for giving the girls their wish. May they persevere in carrying out their small deeds to gain Your Pleasure. Aameen.

Rivers & Lakes Reading Corner

While we were in the midst of the previous reading corner on birds, I didn't know why but I just wanted the next theme to be on rivers. I figured we could visit the River Safari, and I already had two types of river toobs. It would be fun too to talk about the natural environment, which is the river.

So even when we started the theme at the end of October (we had a little breather after the previous one), we had no idea that we would be taking a trip very soon to a land of not only rivers, but lakes and mountains too. And still not knowing of the trip, I had decided to include lakes in our theme too because of the book Little Beaver and the Echo. Was it all a coincidence? No, I don't believe in coincidence. I call it Fate.

Exactly a month into our theme, we had the opportunity to go for a holiday which we hadn't intended to earlier. Since the trip would take place three weeks after that, it wasn't easy to choose a destination and get flights that were not too exhorbitant. In the end, we settled for South Island, New Zealand. We had always wanted to go back there and we were so excited to have the little girl with us this time.

After our flight to Christchurch were booked; and I thought of all the magnificent lakes at South Island, where I sat with my hubby and marvelled and pondered, and thought and dreamt of when we were back home; my decision to do a theme on rivers and lakes totally made sense. It had all been Written.

I had decided that for this post, I shall not be too long-winded and ramble like I always do, but my introduction is already four paragraphs long. Gosh! I promise that this shall not be a 5000-word essay. I'll try!

Reading corner

So we had our usual reading corner but getting books to suit the theme was tough. First I had to find out which are the animals that live in or near rivers and I found out some of them are hippos, bears, beavers, raccoons, ducks, river otters and crocodiles. Finding interesting books about those animals was the big challenge and these are the ones that I got. All the books I had bought them online from Amazon or Book Depository.

Our reading corner

Reading with a crocodile toob

Among the books, our favourites have to be The Selfish Crocodile, Little Beaver and the Echo and Raccoon at Clear Creek Road. The last book came with an audio CD of the book and I like to pop it in so that the little girl can listen to the story while I'm preparing breakfast for her. 

Activity corner

We had two more books at this corner and they were to accompany the dress-up family bear puzzle and Malay picture-matching cards based on the Brown Bear book. The picture cards were made by a friend as part of a busy bag exchange. 

The thing I loved most about this corner was the small world set-up with the river animals. Many of the animals, like the bears, raccoons, deer, otters, hippos, tigers and frogs, came in pairs. That delighted the little girl of course as she loved pairing the "mummy and baby" animals together.

Our activity corner

 Dressing up mama, papa and baby bears

Matching the picture cards

Food play

The little girl got a tub of alphabet and number cookie cutters as a birthday gift and finally the letters came out of their tub. We had fun cutting our pancakes to spell the names of the animals. I also bought another tub of animal cookie cutters which we used to make edible art for breakfast. It was fun to make them and eat them!

Spelling with pancakes

Making duck scrambled egg

Toasting cheese on bears

Sensory play

Based on the book Little Beaver and the Echo, we had ice and bubble play at the water table. Like in the book, the beaver went out on his boat to look for The Echo, but instead found the duck, the otter and the turtle who became his friends. 

Ice and bubble play

And we had an animal matching game in water beads which she played with her papa. Since many of the river animals came in pairs, they took turns to look for the match when one found an animal in the tub. It was a great father-daughter bonding time on a Sunday morning.

Matching animals in water beads

Quranic literacy

For this theme, it was the little girl who unknowingly chose the topic for our Quranic literacy. I had intended to look up the verses on rivers in Paradise and to talk to the little girl about them, but she had other ideas, and child-led learning is always the best. She had taken an interest in Surah Al Feel, which is the 105th surah in the Quran, mostly because of the elephants in the pictures that were mentioned in the surah. 

Surah Al Feel

So I decided to let her pursue her interest in the elephants while always referring to the surah during our conversations and Quran recitation. We went to the zoo to watch the elephant shows and got to feed an elephant too. After feeding the elephant, we had a hard time peeling her and Ayn away from the elephants as they were busy pretending to be little mahouts while sitting on the elephant statues. In fact, the little girl has already requested to sit on a real elephant the next time we are at the zoo.  

Watching the elephants at the zoo

I found illustrated lessons from Surah Al Feel by Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan which proved to be really beneficial for me. After a few weeks of talking about the surah, the emotional moment came when we were seated outside Masjid Sultan one evening while waiting for her papa. It was the time of the month for me and I couldn't perform my prayers. She was listening to the imam's recitation, asking who was reading it and all, and then she asked me, "Is the imam going to read Surah Al Feel?" I think for now, it is her most favourite surah.

Excursions

We went to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park so that the little girl could have her first experience in a river. Little did I know that the river in the park was actually part of Kallang River! It had rained earlier so to get to the river, we had to squelch down a muddy slope and walk through some grass. Doesn't that just remind you of We are Going on a Bear Hunt? Then the little girl gamely asked if she could walk in the river, which she did with her papa. Later on, she asked if she could swim with the fish in the river. Not in the mucky water, my dear! 

Walking in a river at a park

We made a few trips to Botanic Gardens to see the nesting black swans which I had written about before. Two books came in handy for the trips, namely Ducks Don't Get Wet and A Nest Full of Eggs. To read in books about birds laying eggs or ducks preening their feathers to make them waterproof, and to actually see these animals and their actions in person, are just worlds apart. I'm really grateful that the little girl could experience such wonders and that I was right beside her.

Nesting black swans and ducks at Botanic Gardens

We made another trip to the River Safari to see some river animals. Sadly, the animal show that we caught previously where we got to see the animals up close was no longer showing. But the little girl didn't mind at all as she was busy playing with her little friends.

Nile crocodile, river otter, Amazonian manatee and crab-eating raccoon at River Safari

Holiday experience

Our holiday trip to South Island of New Zealand was the highlight of the year for us. The last time we were there was to celebrate our third wedding anniversary so we were ecstatic to be back there with the little girl in tow. We wanted to share all the delightful places we had visited with her and we wanted her to experience His Beauty in all its majesty. 

It was a free-and-easy, self-drive holiday which started and ended at Christchurch. We drove in a clockwise direction, staying at Christchurch, Tekapo, Queenstown, Wanaka, Fox, Greymouth and finally back at Christchurch again. I could go on and on about the trip, but I guess I shall save the lengthy write-up of the trip and let the pictures do the talking for now. These pictures show the child-led activities of my little girl amidst beautiful nature and magnificent scenery. 

Throwing rocks at the top of Mount John, with Lake Tekapo in the background

Chasing ducks by Lake Tekapo

Throwing acorns into Lake Pukaki and watching them float 

Picking acorns for her chosen activity

Picking up rocks to serve as food on a plate to a passing duck at Lake Wakatipu

Throwing rocks into Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables mountain range in the background

Watching ducks and throwing gravel at Lake Wanaka

Feeding ducks at Lake Wanaka

Wondering how to get down to Clearwater Creek

Picking flowers and running in a meadow beside Clearwater Creek

Crossing a suspended bridge at Fox

Watching the running water that flows from Fox Glacier while on the suspended bridge

Picking up fallen leaves and twigs during a forest walk at Fox

Finding company in a duck at a fantastic playground at Greymouth

Taking a walk with the duck around the park at Greymouth

Art and craft

I had written before of the free-form art that the little girl had done during the course of the theme. With some paint, watercolour, brushes, plastic cutlery and cotton buds, these are what she came up with.

Free-form art

I love to cut up scenes for the little girl to paste. My husband always says that I look to be having more fun than the little girl when it comes to art. Well I love craft and having the opportunity to cut up some coloured papers always cheers me up. I wouldn't want to do something that bores me to tears, would I?  So our collaborative art is what I call a win-win situation.

Scenes for the ducks and hippos

Collaborative art - done with paint and paper cut-outs

Done with watercolour and duck stamps

It was the first time that we did some craft with felt and I'm hooked! The elephants were done to tie in with the elephant excursions that we did and the ducks were done after all the ducks that we saw in New Zealand. I didn't realise it at first but later on I realised that there were so many circles in both crafts! So we got to talk about shapes too, which included rectangle (legs), triangle (beaks) and semicircle (ducks' bodies).

Felt craft

In conclusion

All praises to Him for giving the little girl and I the opportunity and knowledge to put together the theme and carry out the activities together. In the end I did look up the verse in the Quran, in which rivers of water, milk, wine and honey are mentioned. For the Paradise is where we are striving for during this short life of ours. 

"The description of Paradise which the Muttaqun (pious) have been promised is that in it are rivers of water the taste and smell of which have not changed; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine delicious to those who drink; and rivers of clarified honey (clear and pure) therein for them is every kind of fruit; and forgiveness from their Lord. (Are these) like those who shall dwell for ever in the Fire, and be given to drink boiling water so that it cuts up their bowels?" (Quran, 47:15)

You may wish to read:
Birds Reading Corner
Ramadhan & Eid Reading Corner
Marine Reading Corner