While the presence of the sun is significantly obvious to
everyone, given its brightness, beauty and enormous size, this time, the theme
deals with something that we cannot see, but the effect of its presence is very
significant to the world, the wind.
1. Colouring pictures related to the wind
Colouring is also another great way to
start off a playgroup because it gets the excited kids calm down and focus on
the task being given to them. It also helps develop the child’s fine motor
skills, by the will of Allah, of course.
Colouring sheets containing pictures
related to almost any topic could easily be found on the internet. Examples of
things related to the wind include the windmill, wind farm, kites, windsurfing,
and many more.
Get the kids to finish their colouring and
make them put up their colourings on the whiteboard so we can use them for our
discussion. Indirectly, this gives the kid a sense of being appreciated and
also helps them to focus more on the discussion knowing that their work is
involved in the process. Having their work piece side by side with their
friends’ is also a good way to motivate the children to accomplish their task
properly so as to be at par with their peers.
2. Discussing the Wind
We started our discussion with my
hand-written home-made ‘book’. Most books about the wind are too complicated
for these kids level anyway. In making this book, I tried to give simple,
easily understood answers to the same basic questions used when discussing
about the sun (with a bit of addition);
-What
is the wind
-Other
terms used to describe the wind, including what we call wind in Arabic
-Why
did Allah make the wind
-The
wind in the Quran
-The
benefits brought by the wind.
At
this point, instead of just reading out to them the list of benefits, I made
them look at their coloring on the board and discuss about it.
-The
dangerous wind and how to keep safe in strong wind
3. Du’a in strong wind
Emphasize to them that despite all the
safety measures we might take when strong wind blew, only Allah can save us
from any harm brought by the wind. Make the kids realize that the wind comes
from Allah and the only One who can stop it is Allah. Therefore, we have to ask
from Allah. This is a simple du’a that can be memorized very easily by the kids.
Get the kids to read out the du’a and
understand the meaning.
4. Blow Art
This art is to be the frame of our du’a.
We get the kids to put a few drops of very
diluted paints on a thick piece of paper and then, using a drinking straw, blow
on to the drops of paint to create the blow art effect.
Then paste the du’a in the middle.
5. Sail boat race
This was made an open ended craft, whereby
kids were just left with recycled items and some craft stuffs to come up with
their very own sail boat that will be used for a sail boat race at the end of
the session. In the race, get the kids to put their sailboats in one of those
kids inflatable pool and get them make their own wind to get the
sailboats reach the finishing line.
