Elephant Lapbook

A while ago Yusef was reading a book called “100 Things You Should Know About Elephants” published by Miles Kelly. It’s a fascinating book packed full of fun and interesting facts. Who’d have thought there was so much to know about elephants … and Yusef has managed to cram quite  a few of those facts into this lovely lapbook, masha’Allah.

I found a great set of templates for an elephant lapbook on the Homeschool Share website which we used to complete our lapbook.

This turned into a rather large lapbook in the end containing lots of information and interesting facts. Below are pictures of what the lapbook looks like as the pages are unfolded.

First is a small flap about how elephants communicate.

Next is a double flap looking at the extinct relatives of the elephant. Yusef glued down the pictures and wrote in the information.

Here is a flap all about elephant babies.

This is a small flap book about the family names for elephants, i.e. the mother, father and baby.

Next is a petal book all about the sensitive elephant trunk.

This is a fold out book about the strong bonds between elephant herd members.

This is a triple flap Venn diagram comparing the Asian and African elephants.

Next is a flap containing a Venn diagram comparing the modern day elephant to its extinct relatives.

Here is a stack book on classification of the elephant. To learn more about classification you can check out this great Animal Classification Lapbook.

There were two blank elephant-shaped templates that we didn’t know what to do with so I thought it would be fun to stick elephant jokes on them.

Next up are some English language exercises. This is an accordion book all about elephant adjectives followed by a flap book containing elephant adjectives and synonyms.

This is a pocket of vocabulary cards related to the subject of elephants.

On each card is a word and on the reverse Yusef wrote the meaning.

This is a pocket containing an elephant jigsaw puzzle. Yusef coloured the elephant picture and then we cut it into squares that can later be pieced together to complete the jigsaw.

This whole page is dedicated to a set of vocabulary flaps.

Under each flap the word is broken down to explain the meaning.

This is a triple flap matchbook about the elphants brain, skin and tusks. Yusef wrote information under each flap.

Here is another accordion book all about Terrific Trunks containing diagrams and information.

Here is a small flap containing information about elephants ears.

This balloon-shaped book shows how long elephants live on average in the wild.

This is a factbook stapled together. On each page Yusef wrote a fact that he found interesting accompanied by a drawing.

Here is another accordion book all about trunks. Yusef copied some information from the internet into this book.

This is an interlocking book explaining why elephants are endangered.

We like this clever little window book all about Elephant Olympics. It looks at the physical things that elephants are good at and not so good at and why the case may be.

More elephant jokes…

This flap explains what elephants like to eat and how much they usually eat comparing the difference between males and females.

We learned that elephants, like humans, are mammals so in this flap book we compared and completed a checklist of mammalian features for both elephants and humans.

This flap looks more indepth at 3 mammal body organs – the brain, the heart and the lungs.

Inside each flap Yusef wrote information on how each of the organs function.

This is a small flap all about where elephants live, i.e. their habitats.

This folding window flap book is very nice, all about war elephants. The Homeschool Share website suggests answering questions on Hannibal but instead we chose to add an Islamic element and do a small history lesson on Abraha, the Yemeni Christian who came with his army of elephants to tried and failed to destroy the Ka’bah in Makkah.

 

Here is a double flap book about elephants height and weight comparing between African and Asian elephants.

Next is a nice triple flap book all about Horton the Elephant. For anyone who deosn’t know, Horton is a character creation of Dr Seuss. He is a kind and caring elephant as portrayed in the two poems penned by Dr Seuss.

We read the two poetic stories about Horton and discussed some of his characteristics. Then Yusef used that information to complete the character flaps. We also watched the film called Horton Hears a Who.

These are a set of cards strung together and taped into the lapbook. They contain information about elephant occupations.

This is a bar graph comparing Yusef’s height to the height of an African elephant and an Asian elephant as well as other animals.

Finally, on the reverse of the lapbook is an envelope containing a set of word activity worksheets, including crossword, word search, spelling games and vocabulary games.

If you would like the files for this lapbook or the worksheets you will find them available to download for free from my File Share widget on the right of the screen.

 

 

Dolphin Lapbook

This is my daughter, Samira’s lapbook all about dolphins. I found most of the templates for this on the Homeschool Share website.
I also made a few additional templates of my own and I’ve made all files available to download from my File Share widget that you will find as you scroll down the right of the screen.

This lapbook is A4 size made of two A3 sheets of card taped together which are folded in on one another to close as an A4 size book. When it opens out at the first fold you can see two sections of mini books, and further content is revealed on the 4 pages that fold out to open the entire lapbook.

One of the first mini books is a window flap book looking at the differences between dolphins and porpoises.

Under each flap Samira wrote the description of the various body parts.

Next is a square fold book about the names for the dolphin family members. It folds out to reveal the names for the mother, father and baby dolphins.

This folded flap opens to reveal a bar graph showing the sizes of different dolphins and whales.

This is a cute dolphin-shaped tri-fold book all about mammals. On each section Samira wrote about one mammalian feature and drew a picture.

Next is a hinged book looking at the differences between toothed whales and baleen whales.

Then there is a small pocket with words containing the sound “ph” in them.

This is a small colouring by numbers activity.

Here is a nice spelling activity … how many words can you make from the word ‘dolphin’ ?

This is followed by a dolphin anatomy tab book. On each page Samira pasted the diagram and wrote some information.

Next is a rectangular T-book all about dolphins that are trained and how they will work for fish.

Then we have a classification flap book.

Here is a pocket of vocabulary cards that I created for Samira.

This is a folded flap containing a Venn diagram comparing the diets of dolphins and orcas.

These are a collection of page flaps that have word activity worksheets pasted on either side including wordsearch and crosswords.

This page contains a worksheet all about dolphin babies.

Above that is a set of fun fact cards that are strung together and taped to the page.

Next up are two flaps, one about Dolphin pods and one about echolocation.

This is a tri-fold book containing a maths problem.

I created this pocket of dolphin species cards and on the reverse of each card Samira wrote the name of the dolphin and we looked them up and used an atlas to find out where in the world they can be found.

This is a triple flap match book all about the way dolphins move in and out of the water.

Finally, on the back of the lapbook is this alphabet dot-to-dot that makes a picture of a dolphin.

Allah the Creator – Pizza Book

I was inspired to make this cute little pizza book after finding it on Umm Rashid’s blog.

I made it with my younger two daughters, Amina 4 and Basma 3. They made one each.

I like the idea that you can pack lots of information into a book that you can fold up and hold in your hand, masha’Allah.

First of all I cut out two very large circles of card. I didn’t have any large sheets, so I ended up taping two sheets together, which was actually helpful for creating a neat fold along the taped line which ran through the centre of the circle.

Then I folded each circle into half and then again into quarters. I then unfolded the circles which now showed 4 equal quarter sections. I then slit the circle up the length of one quarter to the centre of the circle, this helps with the neat folding of the finished book.

When the circle was prepared, I folded it up to prepare the front covers. I did this late in the evening while the girls were asleep, in preparation for the next day, so my older daughter Samira helped to make the front cover titles.

You will see below the elements for the pizza book which I printed for the girls to colour and glue down. I have made these printables available in my File Share widget for anyone wanting to use them, or you can print your own, or draw your own even.

When the book opens at the first fold it reveals two sections, one on the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and one on the creation of the Sun and the Moon.

The girls coloured the picture of the earth while we talked about Who created the earth and who lived on the land (animals and people) and who lived in the sea (fish). And then the girls stuck sticky silver stars around the earth to show the stars in the heavens.

The second section shows the Sun and Moon. while the girls coloured we talked about Who created the the Sun and Moon and why they had been created (for night and day).

I should mention here that because my girls are young I decided to make this book with them over 3 days, completing two sections a day. That way they weren’t over-whelmed and it helped them to better recall what they had learned the previous day.

When the Sun and Moon section folds down it reveals two further sections. One on the creation of the Seas and one on the creation of Plants and Trees.

We used some shiny blue card glued down to represent the ocean and the girls added some beautifully coloured fish. We talked about why Allah had created fish (“…so that we can catch them to make fishcakes…” was Amina’s answer, masha’Allah.)

Then we talked about the flowers and trees that Allah created and why Allah created trees (to produce fruit). Then the girls looked at the picture of the fruits and named them all as well as what colour they all are, masha’Allah.

The final two sections are revealed when the Plants and Trees section is folded down. Both of these sections are dedicated to the creation of Animals.

As Allah mentioned in the Qur’an in various ayat including ayah 40:79, He created animals for us to ride on and to eat:

Allah, it is He Who has made cattle for you, that you may ride on some of them, and of some you eat.

So one section was dedicated to animals that we ride on such as camels and horses, and one section was dedicated to animals that we eat. I discussed this with the girls and we talked about what each of the animals give us, i.e. milk from cows, wool from sheep, eggs from hens and the fact that we get meat from all three.

Finally here is a picture of what the pizza book looks like when it’s completely opened out.

Progress Chart

Recently, my husband and I came to a decision to take our younger two girls out of the local nursery and start them studying at home with their older siblings.

We have established a daily routine and I created this progress chart with a weekly table for each of the four kids to add gold stars as they complete various activities throughout the day.

Each sheet shows 7 days of the week and various subjects including English, Maths, Science and Islam.

I have set targets for each of the kids to achieve on a daily basis. At present I expect Yusef to complete activities for at least 5 subjects a day; for Samira, at least 4 subjects a day and for Amina and Basma, 3 subjects a day, which will usually incorporate Phonics, Numeracy and Islam.

I make sure that we have a balance so that the older two cover every subject in one way or another, at least twice a week with English, Maths and Islam being fixed daily targets.

And I also set targets for the number of gold stars I expect them to achieve by the end of the week. For Yusef, he currently has a target of 25 gold stars a week, Samira is aiming for 20 and the younger two aim for 12. When they reach those targets they are rewarded with a small prize and they feel that they have really achieved something and they all enjoying working for their stars, masha’Allah.

Surah Al Kahf Lapbook

This is my son Yusef’s lapbook on Surah Al Kahf (The Cave), chapter 18 of the Quran. I was inspired to make this lapbook with him after seeing Umm Rashid’s fantastic Surah Al Kahf Lapbook here. I have made templates available for anyone who would like to make this lapbook. You can download them from my File Share widget as you scroll down the right of the screen.

This Surah contains many wonderful and miraculous stories, and we chose four stories to include in this lapbook.

• The Sleepers of the Cave
• The Two Men and The Two Gardens
• Musa and Khidr (as)
• Dhul Qarnain and the Iron Wall

We started by reading the small stories individually from the ‘Quran Stories for Little Hearts’ collection by Saniyasnain Khan, published by GoodWordKidz.

[Note: I have only taken what is authentic from the stories that correspond with Quran and authentic ahadith].

Having understood the stories, we then read from the Quran itself before looking at the Tafsir (commentary) for each story and discussing it.

When closed the lapbook is A4 size. We made the lapbook by taping 2 sheets of A3 card together. When the lapbook opens out at the first fold it reveals two pages, one on the story of the Two Men and Two Gardens and one on the story of the Sleepers of the Cave.

This is the close up of the page on the story of the Two Men and Two Gardens.

At the top of the page is an ayah that we felt introduced the story, ayah 18:32. Below that is a four door flap book that shows the ayat of what the men said to one another regarding their gardens.

Yusef wrote out each ayah under the relevant flaps.

At the bottom of the page is a piece of artwork showing a split scene showing the grateful man’s garden and the ungrateful man’s garden after it had been destroyed.

Yusef used felt and crepe paper to make the images.

The second page is the story of the Sleepers of the Cave.

At the top of the page is the ayah 18:10 which introduces the story and below that are 3 flaps. Two of the flaps pose questions while the third flap has some silver foil stuck to it to represent the silver coin mentioned in the story.

Under the flaps Yusef answered the questions with ayat from the Qur’an and under the silver coin flap he wrote the ayah in which the coin was mentioned.

At the bottom of the page is a large flap on the front of which is an image of a cave which Yusef decorated with scrunched up pieces of tissue paper to make it look realistic.

Inside the cave flap he wrote the story of the Sleepers of the Cave as he had understood it from reading the short story book and ayat and tafsir (commentary).

Then the first two pages open out to reveal the centre of the book which contain the stories of Prohet Musa (as) and Khidr and the story of Dhul Qarnain.

Two and a half pages inside the lapbook are devoted to the story of the Journey of Musa and Khidr and Khidr’s explanation to Musa.

The first part of the story focuses on the journey when Musa and Khidr boarded a ship. Yusef used card and felt to make the base of the ship, a pipe cleaner to make the mast and card and crepe paper to make the sails.

The base of the ship is a flap that folds down and Yusef wrote ayah 18:71 inside and we made one of the sails as a flap underneath which Yusef wrote ayah 18:72.

The next part of the journey focuses on the story of when Khidr killed a boy.

We didn’t want to depict anything in terms of physical violence so I thought it best that we use a brightly coloured, jagged speech bubble to express ayah 18:74 which Yusef pasted underneath.

Below that is a figure of a boy made from card, white crepe paper and felt. There is also a cloud shaped speech bubble containing ayah 18:75.

The final part of the journey leads Musa and Khidr to a town where Khidr rebuilds a crumbling wall.

Yusef covered a split flap with light brown card and then cut some block shaped pieces of brown felt to glue down to look like the bricks of a wall.

Under each of the flaps Yusef wrote ayah 18:77 and 18:78 which tells the story.

On the bottom of the third page is a flap book under the title ‘Khidr Explains To Musa’.

On the front of each flap is a question asking why Khidr did the things he did on his journey with Musa and under the flap Yusef wrote the explanations based on the ayat from Qur’an.

Above the Musa and Khidr section is a small flap which I decided to include as an additional lesson from Surah Al Kahf all about the importance of saying ‘Insha’Allah (God Willing)’.

The front of the flap depicts the Arabic script reading ‘Insha’Allah’, decorated with a gold glitter-glue pen.

Underneath the flap Yusef wrote the ayat 18:23-24 plus an explanation of it’s meaning.

The final page is all about the story of Dhul Qarnain and the Iron Wall.

The page shows the two mountains mentioned in the story with the wall being built between.

The two mountains are actually flaps that contain the ayat which tell the story.

There is also a flap which shows a smelting pot, underneath which is written ayat 18:97-98.

The wall itself is made of a piece of card covered in silver foil and then the brickwork has been drawn using a permanent marker. This slots in place between the two mountain flaps. On the reverse of the wall is ayah 18: 97 which explains that the armies of Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog) cannot dig through it nor scale it.

And when the wall is slides out of place, behind it is revealed the ayah 18:98 in which Dhul Qarnain warns that the time will come when Allah will permit the armies of Ya’juj and Ma’juj to break through the wall.

We had so much fun making this interactive lapbook and Yusef really learned the stories from the Surah thoroughly, masha’Allah by breaking it down in this way, and we quite often refer back to it when reading Surah Al Kahf on Fridays.

MASHA’ALLAH!

 

Glove Puppets

My girls are very creative and love all sorts of arts and craft. Recently I was in our local supermarket when I spotted a whole section of assorted sets for kids to make and do.

I picked up this set of 3 glove puppets for just £2.25. The material is all pre-cut which saves a lot of time and it even included assembly instructions. It included a large tapestry needle and tread and the material had the holes marked out so all my girls were easily able to stitch their puppets together with very little help from me and Samira did hers all by herself.

The girls then glued the remaining parts together to give their puppets features. They used a pritt stick glue which was fine at first but half an hour later it started falling apart so I got a tube of copydex glue (fabric glue) to secure the features and we left them to dry over night.

This is Samira’s monkey.

This is Amina’s kitten.

This is Basma’s butterfly.

Animal Classification Lapbook

This is my daughter, Samira’s Animal Classification Lapbook. We have been doing a lot to do with animals lately and alot of vocabulary has been cropping up relating to classification and I was fortunate enough to find this Animal Classification Lapbook on the Homeschool Share website.

Samira completed the lapbook and I also made a few extra worksheets for her to review what she had learned. We also made an Animal Classification Wall Chart for interactive learning.

Here’s what the lapbook includes as the first page folds out.

Here is a close up of the Wordsearch and Crossword puzzle that I made.

On the reverse is a Missing Word activity sheet.

Here is what the lapbook looks like when it’s opened out completely. It’s packed full of little mini books.

The first page contains mini books all about how animals are classified.

The next two pages are divided into booklets on Vertebrates and booklets on Invertebrates.

First up is a flap looking at the structure and classification of animals into their various groups.

Then there is a double flap to understand what are vertebrates and what are invertebrates.

At the bottom of the page is two mini books explaining that vertebrates are split into 5 main groups and invertebrates are split into 4 main groups and under the flaps Samira wrote the names of each of those groups.

In the vertebrates section the first minibook is all about mammals and how mammalian features are identified.

Then we have a stacked set of cards all about amphibians.

Below that is a matchbook about fish and a T-book all about reptiles.

Finally, completing the vertebrates section is a set of fact cards all about birds which are held together with string.

Moving onto the invertebrates section, the first flap is all about arthropods. Under the flap Samira explained what an arthropod is and listed a few examples.

Next is the echinoderm matchbook. Echinoderms include animals such as starfish, sea-urchins and sea cucumbers.

Next to that is an accordion book about annelids. The only examples of annelids that we were able to find seemed to be various forms of worms.

And finally, a collection of cards strung together containing facts about mollusks – land and sea varietes.

This was a very interesting project and even I learned a thing or two. If you would like to make your own lapbook you will find all the templates and worksheets available to download for free from my File Share Widget which you will find as you scroll down the right of the screen.