Jumu'ah Rangers - As Samee'

A week after our previous session of Jumu'ah Rangers, we had another one at Botanic Gardens. That week, the children learnt the hijaiyah letter س with a lacing activity, stamping, and tape-resist painting.

Lacing activity

Stamping

Happy to be on the purple mat during circle time

Painting with friends

Glamming it up with glitter

Removing the tape

And the letter س is revealed

After some songs, off they went to Drama Land, which later proved to be the most remembered piece of drama for the little girl. At Drama Land, they met Khadijah the Cat who was hungry, so the children helped by catching some fish (سمك) for her.

Off to Drama Land!

Look at how worried they were for Khadijah the Cat!

Catching some fish for Khadijah

Putting together the letters to form سمك

Giving the fish to hungry Khadijah

When the children were walking back to Khadijah the Cat to give her some fish, Khadijah was seen making du'a. When asked what she was doing, she said that she was making du'a to Allah as He is As-Samee' (The All-Hearing).

Then the children listened to the story Swimmy by Leo Lionni which was accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn storyboards. This was followed with some stamping with fish-shaped sponges on a big fish.

Stamping away with سمك

After Jumu'ah Rangers had ended, the children ran to the grassy area nearby to pick up twigs, play with dried leaves, swing on low branches, and run around under the shade of trees. I stood nearby and watched as the little girl, who is turning 3, laughed and chatted with other children of her age or older. They created their own adventures, exchanged stories, and laughed themselves silly. 

Exploring the low trees nearby

Playing with fallen leaves and twigs

Yes, it was a blistering hot day, but moments like these were too precious to let the heat spoil my day. I was so grateful that I had a chance to witness the little girl interacting with her friends and with nature. They even chanced upon a swarm of fire ants and I asked them not to go near the ants as they might get bitten by them. Then I pretended to be a fire ant, with fingers on my head as feelers, and chased after the children, which sent them screaming and scampering away. What a delight!

At home, we tried the tape-resist art again, this time for the hijaiyah letter ش. I also let the little girl watch another episode of Misri Bunch to enforce the lesson learnt that Allah is As-Samee'. 

Jumu'ah Rangers - Al Baseer

When I got to know that two of my mummy friends were going to organise weekly playdates on Asmaul Husna (Names of Allah) at Botanic Gardens, I knew the little girl had to be a part of it. With His Will, she got a place in the weekly Friday playdates which ran from May till late June.

For the first playdate, the children were introduced to the hijaiyah letter ب with two activities. One was a lacing activity and the other was decorating the letter with glitter glue and paint.

Lacing the letter ب

Getting in on the action

Decorating the letter ب

Then during circle time, the Jumu'ah Rangers were each given a personalised badge with his/her face on it, to hang around their necks. Then out came a magic bag with magnifying glasses and cameras inside them. The children then got to make their own binoculars for them to bring on their adventure.

What's in the magic bag?

Ready to make her binoculars

Pasting stickers after taping up the rolls

Choosing stickers is always fun

And after some songs were sung, off they went to Drama Land to help Ranger Ba (ب) look for the missing dot. During the search, the children were told that Allah is Al Baseer (The All-Seeing) and He can see everything at all times. 

Listening attentively to Ranger ب

Off to Drama Land to look for the missing dot

After they were back from Drama Land, it was time for stories! Oh how I love stories. The first was the story of ب ت ث. The story was accompanied by lovely hand-drawn story boards and I'm so glad that I took a video of the story being told. 

Next was the story of Ilyas and Duck Search for Allah. That's a story that all the children were familiar with and masyaAllah it was accompanied by the prettiest hand-made backdrops. After that, the children got to tie up twine for their very own goggles!

Beautiful backdrop for Ilyas and Duck Search for Allah

Posing with their goggles

We got to bring home a print-out of Al Baseer and so the next day, the little girl used an ice cream stick to smear blue glitter glue all over it. And we also made our own craft activity of ب using glittery paint, twine and googly eyes. I also enforced the lesson learnt on Al Baseer by letting the little girl watch an episode of Misri Bunch on YouTube.

Our take-home activity

Our follow-up activity

Jumu'ah Rangers may have ended last Friday but the little girl and I will have fond memories of our playdates at the park. Both of us have benefitted greatly from the sessions and I'm glad I had made numerous video recording of songs and stories. May Allah reward the mothers immensely for all their efforts in putting together the programme for us and may their plans for the future be realised.