MUSLIM EDUPLAYGROUP: THE WIND

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.