Prophet Muhammad Lapbook (Makkan Period)

I have searched and searched the internet looking for a lapbook on Prophet Muhammad, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam, but as of yet I have been unable to find anything, so I decided to make my own.

Last Eid ul Adha I got a wonderful set of timelines for my kids from Learning Roots which displays the Seerah (biography) of Prophet Muhammad, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam, in two parts – the Makkan period and the Madani Period.

Each separate timeline comes with a set of stickers containing specific events in the life of the Messenger of Allah, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam, and the children have to stick the events down on the time line in the correct order.

My son, Yusef made this lapbook in conjunction with the timeline, and we learned step by step the events that took place during the Prophet’s time in Makkah. We are also used the book ‘The Story of Muhammad (saas) in Makkah’ by Abu Zubair available from most Islamic bookstores (published by Darussalam).

I have made all the mini-book templates available to download from my file share widget which you will find on the right of the screen as you scroll down.

I made this lapbook by taping 3 sheets of A3 card together. When the lapbook opens out, this is how it looks. The front pages open like shutters.

The centre page folds down to reveal two more pages of mini-books.

The first page in view when the front cover is opened out is a page title ‘BEFORE PROPHETHOOD’. It contains 4 mini-books on Prophet Muhammad’s life before he received revelation.

First is a flap about his birth and childhood.

Then there is a flap about his youth and his journey with the trade caravan to Syria.

Next is a double flap about when he reached adulthood and got married to Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her).

Here is a T-fold book about the Black Stone dispute at the Ka’bah.

The page folds down to reveal the sectioned titled ‘THE SECRET CALL’

Here is a mini-book about the First Revelation in the Cave of Hira. From this point the different mini-books have subtitles above or below them indicating how many years after the advent of prophethood that each event occured.

Here is an oval-shaped tri-fold that talks about the first people to accept Islam and become Muslim.

Next is a flap about the call from Mount Safa – the beginning of the Open Call to Islam.

Below that is a shutter book about the miracle of the Splitting of the Moon.

In the section titled ‘THE OPEN CALL’ there is an accordion book all about the migration of the Muslims to the safety of Abyssinia.

Below that is a flap book all about the prophet’s uncle, Hamza and Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with them) accepting Islam.

When the book opens it reveals a pop-up Arabic calligraphy (Radhi’Allahu anhum – May Allah be pleased with them).

Attached to the centre of the lapbook is a collection of triangle-shaped cards which talk about the boycott of the tribes of Bani Hashim and Bani Abdul Muttalib.

Next to that is a collection of question and answer flaps focusing on the Year of Sadness in which the Prophet, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam lost his beloved wife, Khadijah and his uncle, Abu Talib, who had been protecting him.

This was followed by the Isra wa Miraj (The Night Journey to Bait ul Maqdis in Jerusalem and the Ascension to the Heavens)

The book opens out to reveal a series of flaps with questions of the front and the answers written by Yusef inside.

Also on the same page is a small flap about the Men From Madinah who came to embrace Islam.

The final section is titled ‘THE CALL BEYOND MAKKAH’ where Islam was beginning to spread outside of Makkah all the way to Madinah.

First up are two flaps that mention the pledge of Al Aqabah by the men of Madinah, followed the next year by 73 men and 2 women from Madinah, all who pledged allegiance to the prophet, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam and promised to protect him from his enemies.

Finally is this quartered flap book that tells the story of the migration to Madinah and the miraculous story of the Cave of Thawr in which Allah protected the prophet, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam and his companion Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) when they hid in the cave and the spider built its web over the entrance.

SUBHAN’ALLAHI WA BIHAMDIHI, SUBHAN’ALLAH AL ADHEEM

Glory be to Allah and all Praise, Glory be to Allah, the Almighty and Magnificent

Volcanoes & Earthquakes Lapbook

My son, Yusef did a project some time ago which we called Extreme Earth. He learned all about the amazing structures, climates and environments on our planet and he was fascinated with volcanoes, which led us to make a more detailed lapbook on volcanoes and earthquakes.

Most of the templates I found on the HomeSchool Share Website. We combined the Volcano Templates and the Earthquake Templates into one large lapbook and I also made a few additional templates. I have made all the files available in my File Share widget which you can find on the right of the menu screen as you scroll down.

You can see below how large this lapbook is as the photos show how the lapbook opens out.

First up are a selection of mini-books about the structure and layout of the Earth. This shutter book shows the different layers of the Earth.

We did a small experiment with a hard boiled egg which I cut in half and showed the kids to help them understand the structure of the Earth’s layers. I took a picture of the egg and labelled it.

Next is a flap containing a world map where Yusef labelled the continents.

Then there is the pocket containing Earth trivia cards, with a question on the front of the card and the answer on the back.

Next is a tri-fold book all about different rock types.

Next is a tab book about the different kinds of faults in the earth that result in earthquakes.

And here are some more trivia cards all about earthquakes. It’s worth noting that the answers given to the trivia questions on these cards are now out of date, so you’ll have to do your own research to find up to date answers to questions such as ‘What was the longest ever recorded earthquake?’

Next we looked at the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ – a hot bed of tectonic plate activity where most of the world’s volcanoes are found.

In this tri-flap mini-book we learned about volcanoes that are active, dormant and extinct.

In another tab-book Yusef drew and wrote about the four different types of volcanoes.

This is a flap containing a diagram of the internal structure of a volcano which Yusef labelled.

Next are some flaps about the different types of lava. There is Aa lava (pronounced ‘ah-ah’) and Pahoehoe (pronounced (‘pa-hoy-hoy’). These names come from the Hawaiian languange which describes the way in which the lava flows and cools.

Followed by a second set of flaps all about visiting volcanoes.

Here is a layered book all about types of mountains. Yusef copied the diagrams and wrote some information about their structure.

Next is a book all about Black Smokers, which are under water vents.

Here is another pocket of trivia cards, this time all about volcanoes.

The answers are on the reverse side of the cards.

Then we have an accordion book all about what volcanoes give us.

I always like to include some Islamic elements wherever possible into our lapbooks and in this notebook flap we discussed a very important ayah (verse) from Quran about why it’s not possible to predict earthquakes.

Next is a pin-wheel about the disasters that can result from an earthquake. Yusef included things like tsunamis, fires breaking out, disease and illness spreading, no utilities (gas, electric, water) etc.

This is a collection of cards strung together with facts and details about tsunamis.

Yusef wrote the translation of the word tsunami which comes from the Japanese language meaning ‘Harbour Wave’. He even wrote ‘tsunami’ in Japanese, masha’Allah.

Next is a another set of cards strung together which list the ways in which we can be prepared in case of an earthquake.

Next is a flap containing the hadith from the prophet Muhammad, sall’allahu alayhi wasalam in which is mentioned how earthquakes are a sign of the coming of the Hour and they will occur with more frequency (or intensity) towards the end of time.

And from Surah 99 of the Quran – Surah Zalzalah (The Earthquake). Yusef did some copy work, writing up the surah in English. We discussed it and looked at the tafsir (commentary) of this chapter.

Here is a map showing where most of the volcanoes are found in the world, and underneath is a bar chart showing the number of volcanoes in each country.

Next are a set of vocabulary flap books which include many of the words we came across whilst working on this project.

Similarly, here are a set of vocabulary tab cards which Yusef completed at the very end of this project.

Then we have a Creative Writing Pocket which contains Yusef’s short story about a boy who wanted to visit a volcano, and who built a helicopter which crash landed on a volcano crater!

Here is a fold out book all about plate tectonics. On the first map Yusef coloured the different plates and made a key to show which plate was which. And the map below shows a transparent diagram of the plates and their boundaries over the surface of the earth.

Then we have another set of mini-books all about the way plates move.

Here is a flap book about the Richter Scale. We also looked at the Mercalli scale, but we didn’t include it in the lapbook because it is the Ricter scale that is well known and more commonly referred to when discussing the power of earthquakes.

Here is a layer book about the different types of energy waves that move through the earth when an earthquake occurs.

Finally there is the fold out flap which lists the top 10 major earthquakes that have occured over the last decade.

Yusef said this has been one of his most favourite lapbooks so far because he learned so much, masha’Allah. And as someone who studied Geography at A’Level, this was a wonderful little refresher … and I even learned a thing or two!

GEOLOGY ROCKS!

Multiplication Lapbook

When I first started teaching my kids maths, I made a series of arithmatic lapbooks covering addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. My daughter Samira made the addition and subtraction ones while my son, Yusef made the multiplication and division ones.

This one is the multiplication one, and it’s great for looking back and reviewing and also for introducing arithmatic to the younger kids. Once they have memorised their times tables, with regular reviewing, they will know them by heart and be able to solve problems at first glance.

Here is what the lapbook looks like when the pages open. I made this book by folding a sheet of A3 card in half and taping another A4 sheet in the centre.

Turn the centre page over …

And on the reverse of the lapbook, I pasted a multiplication square and a pocket holding number cards to play ‘Take Two’ where the student has to choose two number cards at random and multiply them together.

There are two lots of number cards, numbered 1-9. They should be laid face down and two cards picked at random.

The two chosen cards must be multiplied together, i.e. 6 x 5

I found the templates for this lapbook here, on the Homeschool Share website and I’ve also made them available through my File Share widget on the right of the screen as you scroll down.

Here are some more photos close up.

Addition Lapbook

When I first started teaching my kids maths, I made a series of arithmatic lapbooks covering addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. My daughter Samira made the addition and subtraction ones while my son, Yusef made the multiplication and division ones.

This one is the addition one, and it’s great for looking back and reviewing and also for introducing arithmatic to the younger kids. Learning the number bonds helps children quickly master addition and subtraction.

Here is what the lapbook looks like when the pages open. I made this book by folding a sheet of A3 card in half and taping another A4 sheet in the centre.

Turn the centre page over …

And on the reverse of the lapbook, I pasted an addition square and a pocket holding card dominoes to play ‘Domino Addition’ where the student has to add together the sum of the two sides.

I found the templates for this lapbook here, on the Homeschool Share website and I’ve also made them available through my File Share widget on the right of the screen as you scroll down.

Here are some more photos close up.

Most of the addition fact families are set out in neat little flap books but this one below for the six family is on a sliding scale where the student has to slide the pointer up (or down), reading aloud and answering the sums as they go.

Amina’s Bits & Bobs: Kite

My 4 year old Amina has been having loads of fun at nursery and I’ve decided to keep a photo diary of all her ‘bits & bobs’ that she makes. She is very into sticking and making things. Every day she comes home with something different that she’s made. Today she came home with this beautifully decorated kite, masha’Allah.

Very easy to make, simply cute out a diamond (kite) shape, glue and decorate with whatever comes to hand: glitter, sparkly bits or even just pens and crayons. Then attach some string to the end and there you have it. If you have time, you could always add shiny sweet papers or couloured tissue paper to make ribbons for the tail. Finally, attach some blutac to the back and hang it on the wall.

Lovely, masha’Allah!

COMING SOON: History of Masjid Al Aqsa Lapbook

We recently started an Islamic History project focusing on the History of Al Quds and this lapbook looks at the History of Masjid al Aqsa, the third most sacred mosque from the time of Prophet Adam (as) right through until the present Israeli Occupation.

I couldn’t find anything in the way of lapbooks on this subject online so I have designed this from scratch with the help of two amazing books by Abu Huzayfa, may Allah reward him.

The first book is History of Masjid Al Aqsa

And the second is called The Prophets in Palestine – Prophet Ibrahim (as)

Both of these books are available from most Islamic books and can also be purchased from the Friends of Al Aqsa website, alongside some other wonderful products, masha’Allah.

As soon as we have completed this lapbook I shall make the templates available to download insha’Allah.

Ancient Egypt Lapbook

This is my son, Yusef’s lapbook. We enjoyed working on this topic for a good couple of months and we are still putting the finishing touches to a few pieces of work. 

This topic is so vast that I decided it would be a good idea to make a lapbook that covered Ancient Egypt in general and then make smaller lapbooks on the many different aspects of Ancient Egyptian life. So as we went along we slowly added to this large lapbook as we complete the smaller units.

Below are some photos showing how the lapbook opens out and what it contains.

The centre page folds down to reveal more attachments in the centre of the book.

Many of these templates came from a unit study I found on the Homeschool Share Website, and others I found through various search engines. I have included all the files on my BOX file share widget which you can find as you scroll down the menu bar on the right of the screen.

We used a huge number of resources during this topic and I will list our recommendations at the end of this post.

First up is a vocabulary flap book.

The word is on the front of the flap and the definition is written inside.

Then an accordion book listing the many different games played by the Ancient Egyptian children.

Next is a stacked flap book showing a few of the major gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt.

On each page Yusef wrote a few facts about how and why the god/goddess was revered and how they are related to the other gods and goddesses.

This is a fan book about Ancient Egyptian furniture.

We had fun looking at hieroglyphics and trying to read them. Yusef even wrote his name in hieroglyphs.

Next up is a flap all about the Sphinx.

Before we even started this subject we first had to learn where Egypt is, hence this little shutter book with map.

We all had a laugh trying to solve this funny little riddle.

Can you work it out ……….. ??

That’s right, it’s …..

This is a folded flap book all about houses in Ancient Egyptian times. Yusef included information about the houses of both the poor people and the rich people.

Next is a fact flap all about the life blood of Egypt, the river Nile.

This is a fan book filled with facts about pyramids.

Next are a few tri-fold books, this one is about Science in Ancient Egypt.

Yusef wrote up on the different scientific areas studied and relied upon in Ancient Egyptian times.

Then a tri-fold book about Pharoahs.

Using several books, Yusef wrote in some facts about Pharoahs and then he drew the crowns for Upper and Lower Egypt.

This was an interesting fact book, all about the foods of Ancient Egypt.

Then there is a flap about entertainment in Ancient Egypt which largely revolved around music and dancing.

Here is another small match book on Pharoahs followed by another one on scarab beetles and their significance.

Next is a scroll shaped note book which explains step by step how papyrus was made.

Next is a flap about the different methods of transportation.

Then we have a pin wheel looking at some of the many jobs carried out by the people of Ancient Egypt.

Here is another fan book which goes into more detail about some of the toys and games played in Ancient Egypt.

Next is a flap all about canopic jars.

Inside, Yusef stuck down pictures of the 4 most well known forms of canopic jars from the New Kingdom.

Inside this flap Yusef wrote about some of the many objects found in the tombs of Ancient Egypt.

Next is a mini book on Shabtis. These little models of servants later replaced the (sometimes) live burial of the servants of the deceased pharoahs!

Next is a book all about amulets. Yusef drew some examples of amulets worn by children and pharoahs.

Next is a match book about the Book of the Dead.

Here is an accordion book explaining step by step how a mummy is made.

This is a collection of flap books all about the funeral preparations and procession for the pharoahs.

Under this flap Yusef wrote about how, when the body arrives at the tomb, the priests perform the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ceremony.

Next is a flap book which explains how Ancient Egyptians believed their body’s possessed two spiritual components known as ‘Ka’ and ‘Ba’

Finally, on the reverse of the lapbook is a stacked flap book with information from our case study on Tutankhamun and the discovery of his tomb. There is also a pocket containing a pyramid jigsaw puzzle, just for fun.

As I mentioned earler, we used a huge number of different resources for this project, including books, dvds and websites.

One of the best websites we used was this Ancient Egypt Website which lists hundreds of useful links to all sorts of facts, photos, videos and pieces of information.

We also got a huge amount of information from books including:

• 1000 Facts of Ancient Egypt
• DK Ancient Egypt (Eyewitness Project Book)
• 100 things you should know about PYRAMIDS
• Egypt Action Files
• Insiders Alive – Ancient Egypt
• Ancient Egyptians (As seen on Channel 4)

We also watched a lot of the documentaries on the Discovery channels, as well as some clips from Youtube. I also brought several DVD boxsets including:

• The Ancient Egyptians (8 DVD’s)
• The Book of the Dead (1 DVD)

COMING SOON: Ancient Egypt Project Folder

It seems to be taking me forever to get round to blogging our Ancient Egypt work. The kids worked so hard and we spent a good two and a half months on the subject, making lapbooks and file folders and presentations and more. I am slowly working my way through the photos and I shall be sharing this neat little 50+ page project with you soon insha’Allah.

Hijaab Lapbook

I was first inspired to make this lapbook after seeing a wonderful lapbook over on Umm Abdul Basir’s Blog.

My daughter Samira will be seven this coming weekend insha’Allah, and although we haven’t gone into great detail about hijaab at her young age, she still knows and understands enough about hijaab which made me realise I can explain the purpose of hijaab  to her further insha’Allah.

She has worn a khimaar since she started attending the local Islamic nursery from about 4 years old, masha’Allah, and I’ve often heard her saying she wants to ’wear niqaab like mummy’ when she grows up, masha’Allah! 

Insha’Allah she will learn to love hijaab and join the future generations of muhajabaat (women who wear the hijab).  

Umm Abdul Basir kindly provided all the adorable templates for this lapbook, may Allah reward her abundantly, ameen. You can download them for free over on her blog (which everyone should absolutely check out!), and you can also find them to download from my BOX file share widget (which you can find in the white box as you scroll down the menu bar on the right of the screen).

There are mini books for the different sorts of hijaab, such as niqaab, jilbab, overhead abaya, khimaar and gloves and each book is shaped like the item it represents.

We got a bit creative with our mini books. Instead of simply colouring in each front cover, we went through our scrap materials box and drew around each template and created the mini books using material, making them look more like the real thing.

When the lapbook opens out you can see the various material mini books, and each one has a label next to it to know what style of hijaab it is.

Then the folder opens out to reveal more attachments in the centre of the lapbook.

Here is a close up of the niqaab (face veil) mini book made of brown felt.

The material cover lifts up in a note book style and inside on the first page Samira wrote a definition of niqaab.

And on the next page she wrote about the hadith in which Aisha (radhi’Allahu anha) mentions that when the verse of hijaab was revealed, the women immediately began to tear material from their aprons to cover their faces.

Next up is a style of hijaab known as the over-head abaya which covers from head to toe as a one piece, loose-fitting garment.

Inside this mini book she wrote down three parts from the verses of hijaab as mentioned in the Qur’an. In the picture below, the correct spelling of the Arabic word is JUYUBIHINNA (which is the neck, chest and bosom area).

These ayat (verses) are from Surat An-Noor (24:31) and Surat Al Ahzaab (33:59) and show the clear commandment that hijaab is an obligatory commandment for the Muslim women.

I sat and explained these verses to Samira and we read a little of the Tafsir from Ibn Kathir so that she could understand the comparison between the way the women used to dress before Islam came and the respect that women received after they began practising the hijaab. Masha’Allah she understood it all very well.

Next up is a mini book all about gloves and why some women choose to wear gloves as part of their hijaab.

We made reference to the hadith of At-Tirmidhi in which it is mentioned that the Prophet, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam said “The woman is awrah”.

Awrah, linguistically is that which is required to be concealed/covered, and is also referred to as ‘the private parts’. The awrah of a man is from navel to knee. According to the strongest opinion, based on this hadith, the whole of a woman is something which should be covered which also includes the face and the hands which is why some Muslim women wear face veils and gloves.

For more information on niqaab (face veil) and gloves, please refer to my blog for Muslim women in the article titled “Must a Woman Wear Niqaab?”

Next up is the Khimaar mini book. The khimaar is a head covering sometimes referred to as the head scarf.

Inside the cover of this mini book Samira wrote the definition of Khimaar.

Then on the following pages, after discussing each of the points, Samira wrote down the Conditions of Hijaab. You can read more about the conditions of hijaab here.

Then we put together the Jilbab mini book (sometimes refered to as an abaya or shoulder abaya).

Inside she added a few lines from her favourite poem about hijaab from the book “I Can Wear Hijaab Anywhere!” by Yasmin Ibrahim.

In the centre of the lapbook is a pocket containing a paper doll mounted on stiff card and lots of little items of paper clothing representing many different styles of hijaab.

Samira coloured in the paper doll and all the clothes and accessories and then we had fun dressing up the doll to be a little hijaabi or niqaabi.

And on the reverse of the folding out page is a pin wheel showing the virtues of hijaab.

At Samira’s tender age she won’t understand the full meaning of the virtues of hijaab, but from the little that I explained to her she understood enough to realise its importance, masha’Allah.

Then we put together the cardboard measuring tape and recorded her measurements in the heart-shaped mini book

Now all that’s left is for me to treat her to her first abaya, maybe as a gift for this Eid ul Fitr insha’Allah.