Take Advantage Of These Kids Activities By Muslim Mummies!

These Kids Activities By Muslim Mummies guide was made because we are seeing Muslim parents currently stuck at home. Along with having to homeschool, Muslim parents are also having to manage work, household tasks and other things.

Amongst this, it is well known that kids to sing “I am bored” around the house, to the point where parents might consider ripping their hair out!

2020 has been the year that turned our lives upside down. Suddenly schools were closed, and we became responsible for making our children get their education. Learning outside the classroom can be difficult, especially from younger children who need a little hand-holding.

If your children can continue to attend school, they’ll still be spending more time at home than they did before the pandemic. Finding a routine amongst the mist of the COVID-19 chaos is difficult. Looking after children without the help of family members and schools can be a challenge.

Our social media feed has been full of innovative ideas by Muslim mums on how to keep your kids entertained and learning during this third lockdown. We’re sharing our top ten tips below.

1. Make Activity Packs, do crafts and have fun

Whether your child is a toddler or school age, they’ll enjoy an activity pack. You want to put together things that are a mixture of fun while still being educational. Our kids fun pack is the perfect example of this. The set comes with an Arabic alphabet colouring book and a Dua colouring book. Your kids can learn letters and pronunciation while adding stickers and colouring in their activity books.

If your kids are older and can read independently, add in a book as well. Activity Packs are a relatively inexpensive way to keep your kids entertained for hours.

You can download so many different resources which are free if you don’t want to buy one. Check out our free resources for Islamic & other activities:

1. Ramadan Activity Pack – packed full of various fun activities revolving around Ramadan
2. Here you can find Artistic activities to do
3. Ayeina.com have a set of craft activities based around books that you can do at home with your children
4. teach your kids all about manners with our Akhlaaq Guide – packed with activities on Akhlaaq and some stories!
5. Multicultural Motherhood has some amazing activities on her website for kids. She homeschools all her kids and has some wonderful crafts and activities on her website. Take a scroll and choose what you would like to do.

2. Bring Out the Board Games

Keeping kids entertained can be difficult. Kids spend more time than ever on their iPads and watching TV, so getting them away from a screen can be difficult. One sure way of getting their attention is with a board game. @letslearnmama on Instagram shared a ‘Miracles of the Prophet’ card game that you play with your kids anywhere. The rainbow of colours will grab your kid’s attention, as it’s educational as well as fun!

Depending on how old your kids are you can also play the famous Quran Challenge game suitable for 9+ kids.

3. Start a Behaviour Chart

Let’s be real we’re all getting a little bored with being at home. Kids are used to spending their days at school, seeing their friends and getting all their energy out. Naturally, kids might become a little more difficult during the lockdown. If you want to encourage good behaviour in your children, then it might be an idea to start a behaviour chart. You can buy one online or make it yourself. All you need is a large sheet of paper to write each child’s name and chores or behaviour goals. Depending on their age, you can add things like sleeping through the night or doing their homework. Each time your child does something from the list, you add a star or tick next to their name.

The best way to make this work is to give your child an incentive to behave well. You can give them a prize after they receive a certain number of stars/ticks. While these prizes can be small, you might want to suggest something bigger if they keep up their good behaviour. The ‘My Talking Doll’, which is available in a boy and girl version, would make the perfect reward.

4. Make Cleaning Fun

Lockdown is the perfect time to get on top of little things around your house. You can get your kids involved by getting them to help you with sorting out their clothes. Kids grow like mushrooms and sprout up in no time. It’s always good to check what they’ve grown out of. You can turn into a fashion show for them by getting them to try things on to check the fit. You can take the clothes they have grown out of and give them to friends and family with kids around the same age. This is also a chance for you to look through your clothes and hijab collection to give it a refresh. You might even find a hijab that you forgot you owned!

5. Make an Inspiration Board

The last ten months have been hard on us all. We’ve all had to dig deep, keep calm and carry on. If you’re looking for a source of daily motivation for you and your kids, an inspiration board is a great idea. You can have a look around social media to find some inspirational quotes and images to print off. Your kids can help you cut and glue the pictures to a board, and you can read one to them every day. @the_odd_muslimah shares inspirational quotes on Instagram, which are great if you have teenagers or older children. Choose a few of your favourites from Umm and other content creators and let your kids get creative with your inspiration board.

6. Think Outside the Box

One consequence of lockdown is that a generation of children is losing out on their education. With all the uncertainty, it’s difficult to sit your child down to study a textbook or fill in a worksheet.

Learning doesn’t have to come from a book, and in fact, your child might learn more from the world around them. You can turn any activity into an educational experience. You could take your child for a walk and use it to teach them about different plants and wildlife.

We salute @ayeina_official on Instagram who after having suffered a loss of a child, got together with her kids and filled their imagine Jannah series (do check out their Alhumdolliah journal, Mashah’ Allah it’s gorgeous). This is a great idea for any loss. With the current climate, we have all lost some close to us, or we have heard of death one way or another.

It might be a good idea to get creative and discuss death with children, just discuss the concept of Jannah s children are aware of it.

As the seasons change, you can take inspiration from what is right outside your door. We love how @ourmamahsourfutures used ice as part of sensory play to teach her son about maths and science. You can show your children how to read with books about their favourite fictional characters or teach them how to count by using daisies from your garden. Thinking outside the box can help your children learn and take away the stress of textbooks or lack of resources from their school.

7. Download Online Resources

The internet has a wealth of resources that you can use to entertain your children. If you don’t want to put together a full activity pack, you can download education worksheets about Ramadan. Alizehmysoul is a Muslim mum blogger who has a collection of activities that you can download from her website for your children. Her ‘Ramadan Lapbook’ is a mixture of maths and English activities that will keep your children entertained for hours. Best of all, the printable book is free to download from her website!

You can also get inspiration from Juzaila Jumari with her 21 activities to do during coronavirus.

You can also check out @radiance_of_delight she does a range of activities in her homeschooling journey but also offers free printables here.

Why don’t you let your kid get creative like Little Noori who created Macaroni and Rock Hopper to play a maths game. It’s creative and unique and you’re getting your daily dose of maths!

8. Join a Virtual Storytime

Everyone loves storytime. One of the unfortunate things about lockdown is that kids can’t enjoy the simple pleasure of having someone read a book to them. Thankfully, technology has a solution! Keep an eye out on social media for different ‘virtual story times’ that you can join with your child. @taleswithmimi hosts her virtual storytime sessions on her Facebook book club. Add the date to your calendar and join the reading session with your child or let them watch the recording back the next day. If you’re looking for inspiration for children’s books with a Muslim focus, then her feed is full of book reviews.

9. Get Your Child Involved with Cooking

We all have memories of helping our parents to cook dinner. Whether it was chopping up vegetables or helping to stir the pot. It’s easy to make any food preparation child friendly. It means you can get your cooking or baking done, without worrying about what your child is up to.  Cooking together is a great bonding experience, and it’s never too early to teach them how to make food. If your child is younger, then might find baking more enjoyable. The internet is full of halal recipes that you can try out with your child.

10. Spend 1000 Hours Outside

During the lockdown, we can all feel like we’re stuck inside the four walls of our home. Even under the highest levels of restrictions, we’re able to go outside to exercise with our family. Spending even a little time outside every day can improve your child’s mood significantly. One movement that you can consider joining is ‘1000 Hours Outside’. The purpose of this movement is to match the amount of screen time that kids have with the time that they spend outside. On average, children consume around 1200 hours of screen time each year. You can download fun PDFs for your child to colour in to track their process towards 1000 hours outside.

Research local walking paths in your area and make a plan to take at least one walk outside with your child per day. You can research whether there is any local wildlife in your area or scenic spots that you can visit with your children. National parks are an option if you live in a city. Why not use this time to teach your child how to ride a bike? If you have young children and need to take an infant for a walk in a pram, then it’s the perfect opportunity to take other children along with you.

Although walking and experiencing new activities is ideal, any outdoor space will work. As spring starts to approach, you can encourage your children to spend more time in the garden and less time in front of the TV. Spending time outside can help improve your child’s health, productivity, and wellness.