Hajj Lapbook 1431/2010

My son Yusef, aged 7, started his Hajj lapbook in the few weeks before Dhul Hijjah (Mid-October). We were hoping to have it finished in time so that I could blog it before Dhul Hijjah, but as it turned out he only manged to put the finishing touches to it a few days after Eid ul Adha, which explains why I am only just getting round to sharing it with you now. All the templates to make this lapbook will be available in my BOX file sharing window as you scroll down on the right of the screen insha’Allah. I will provide links to borrowed templates from various other home-schooling blogs, and may Allah reward all those sisters for taking the time to make their templates and ideas available, ameen

When the front flaps of the lapbook open out it reveals the first page dedicated to the Islamic months. On one of the inside flaps is some info dedicated to the subject of Sa’i between Safa and Marwa, and on the other flap are two mini books dedicated to the subjects of Ihram and the Talbiyah.

Yusef made a similar page on the Islamic months for his Ramadhan lapbook. The idea for making this page came from the Raising Muslims blog and you can download the actual template here.

We put Arabic numerals onto the front of the flaps and because the month in focus was Dhul-Hijjah, the twelfth month, we made this numeral red.

When the flaps open the name of the Islamic months are revealed written in both English and Arabic.

In the centre of the page is a large flap which reveals the names of the Islamic months and their meanings. On the opposite side of the flap are some block font statements about Dhul-Hijjah and Hajj.

When the Islamic Months page is folded down it reveals two pages focusing on the rituals of Hajj day by day with a route map explaining the journey of the pilgrims.

I got the idea for making a Hajj Route Map simply by browsing Hajj tour guide websites. I selected and printed a simple map that shows the main stations of Hajj (Makkah, Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat). We created a colour key. The 5 colours represent the 5 days of rituals and the journey of the pilgrim can be followed easily day by day. The colours also correspond with the Hajj Day by Day circle flaps on the page below the route map.

Each of the rituals glued on the map are coloured coded according to the day on which they are usually performed.

This page is a collection of stacked circle flaps dedicated to the rituals of Hajj day by day. You can download the templates for this here from Umm Abdul Basir’s blog.

When the title flap is lifted, inside are a series of day by day flaps written up by Yusef to explain the rituals performed each day.

On the flap for day 2, Yusef wrote up an explanation of the Day of Standing in Arafat which corresponds with the circle flaps.

The circle flaps are nice and simple to explain the rituals of Hajj step by step, day by day.

These little circle flaps are so simple and easy to understand that I even used them with my younger girls when they made their Hajj Mini Lapbook.

On the inside of one of the front flaps is a piece dedicated to the ritual of Sa’i and how it came about. Yusef wrote a small recount of the story of Hajar (may Allah be pleased with her) and the Miracle of the Well of Zam-Zam.

On the other front flap are two mini books dedicated to the subjects of Ihram and the Talbiyah.

Front cover of the mini book on the state of Ihram. A purified state that the pilgrims must adopt before setting out to perform Hajj.

Inside the mini book, Yusef wrote some details on the state of Ihram, how the pilgrim prepares for Ihram and the prohibitions whilst in Ihram.

The front cover of the Talbiyah mini book.

When the Talbiyah mini book is opened it first reveals the talbiyah is transliterated Arabic and the meaning in English.

When the English translation flap is unfolded it reveals an explanation on the talbiyah written up by Yusef.

When the Hajj Route Map page is folded back it reveals two more pages of information and mini books.

These are a selection of mini books on the reverse of the Hajj Route Map page.

These two mini books are at the centre of the lapbook.

This the front cover of a mini book on the subject of the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah.

When the flap is opened out it reveals the ayat from Qur’an from Surah Al Fajr where Allah swears by the 10 nights, meaning the first 10 nights of Dhul-Hijjah followed by a hadith from the prophet, sall’allahu alayhi wasalam, in which he declares that doing good deeds in those 10 days are more beloved to Allah than any other day.

Then Yusef wrote up several more flaps on different good deeds that a Muslim can perform during the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah.

Next up is a nice mini book all about making Tawaaf (circling the Ka’bah).

On the front of the mini book Yusef wrote up a little piece explaining the spiritual significance of performing Tawaaf.

When the front cover is pulled down it reveals a bird’s eye view of the Ka’bah with directional arrows showing how pilgrims perform Tawaaf. It also icludes pointers to indicate where the Hajr al Aswad (Blackstone) is located as well as the Maqam Ibrahim. The Ka’bah itself is actually a cuboid net that when unfolded folds out 3 dimensionally, masha’Allah!

On the reverse of the Hajj Route Map page are 3 more mini books and a spelling tab.

This is the front cover of the D-H-U-L-H-I-J-J-A-H spelling tab courtesy of Umm Abdul Basir. If you like this tab you can download it via her blog here.

When pulled out the spelling tab looks like this, brightly coloured by Yusef.

This is the front cover of the mini book all about the Day of Arafat. It unfolds to reveal further pages written up by Yusef explaining all about the Day of Arafat, masha’Allah.

A famous statement from the Prophet, sall’Allahu alayhi wasalam, on the Day of Arafat.

We used clipart to create this Pillar flap to explain that Hajj is the 5th Pillar of Islam.

Inside the flap Yusef wrote a few sentences on the call to Hajj by the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi salam)

Finally we made a ram-shaped flap book to write up all about the sacrifice of Eid ul Adha.

Masha’Allah, making this lapbook with Yusef has been a real journey for the both of us and having been able to make the mini books at the same time as viewing the Hajj live on the TV made it even more special and exciting. My knowledge on the rituals of Hajj was very limited, but masha’Allah we learned together and both have a clearer understanding of this amazing pilgrimage.

Hajj Mini Lapbook

My three girls, Samira 6, Amina 3 and Basma 2 all helped with putting this mini lapbook on Hajj together and they have all been learning together masha’Allah.

It is based on Umm Abdul Basir’s Hajj Lapbook and all the templates for the various minibooks are from her blog, may Allah reward her abundantly for sharing, ameen.

When the lapbook is opened out it looks like this:

We put together a mini shutter book that shows Hajj day by day.

The front of the book is decorated with gold glitter and I thought it would be nice to give the book an Islamic architechtural shape.

When the book is opened it reveals a set of day by day circle flap books.

Under each of the circle flaps are the various rites of Hajj that are performed on that particualar day (or days).

On the first day the pilgrim puts on the ihram and makes the intention to perform the Hajj.

The next flap reveals the next rite, which is to perform the Welcome Tawaf, circumambulating the Ka’bah seven times.

The next flap reveals the Maqam Ibrahim where the hujjaj are expected to pray 2 Rakah after performing the Tawaf.

The next flap reveals that the hujjaj must then perform the Sa’i, walking between the two hills of Safa and Marwa seven times.

The flaps reveal that on the third day (10th Dhul-Hijjah), the hujjaj take part in the stoning of the Jamarat, perform their sacrifice and shave or shorten their hair.

If you would like to make a similar day by day mini book, you can download the template here.

Next we put together this lovely little book on Hajj Colours.

And similarly we put together the ABC’s of Hajj book.

If you like these two mini books you can download them here insha’Allah.

Colours of Hajj Mini Book

ABC’s of Hajj Mini Book

Next I printed out these Animals for Dhabh cards. Included are cards showing the animals that can be used for sacrifice and cards with silhouettes of the animals so that the child can try to match the animal to its silhouette. The girls had great fun with these.

You can download these cards here, courtesy of Umm Abdul Basir.

Next I printed off these wonderful Hajj themed counting cards.

A close up of a couple of the counting cards.

These cards are very useful, and unlike a counting tab they allow the children the opportunity to try to put the numbers in the correct order by themselves.

If you like these cards, you can download the template here.

We also put together this spelling tab to spell out the name of the Islamic month in which Hajj is performed: D – H – U – L – H – I – J - J – A – H.

When the tab is pulled out it reveals the spelling of the Islamic month.

You can find the template to make this spelling tabe here.

Finally, we made these Hajj Mini Jigsaw Puzzles. My younger two girls never tired of playing with them. Just as well I pasted them onto sturdy corrugated card.

You will find the file for these puzzle templates here.

We thoroughly enjoyed putting this lapbook together and we have learned alot and had a lot of fun too, masha’Allah.

Miracle of the Well of Zam-Zam Poster

This poster was also part of our Focus on Hajj theme with our local home-school group. It is designed to tell the story of the Miracle of the Well of Zam-Zam. The story is split into four parts with an image for each part to help tell the story.

The first part of the story shows a camel and footprints in the desert sand.  The footprints represent the journey of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), peace be upon him, when he journeyed into the desert with his wife Hajar and son Isma’il, peace be upon them. It was Allah’s command that he leave them in the desert valley of Makkah.

The camel is made to look 3D. We did this by placing a tab of stiff card behind it and attaching it to the poster. The sun is made with different coloured layers of tissue paper.

Under each of the parts of the story are narrations written by the older children to explain the story.

The second part of the poster depicts a hot dry desert. We made the sun larger to signify the intense heat and thirst that Hajar and Isma’il would have experienced. We also made a 3D cactus plant in the same way that we attached the camel.

This image depicts the running of Hajar back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwa in her desperate search for water. The children were then able to link this story to the ritual of Sa’y performed today during the Hajj Pilgrimage.

The final image represents the springing forth of the Well of Zam-Zam from beneath the feet of the baby Isma’il by the grace of Allah. We then went onto discuss the Well of Zam-Zam as it stands today and about the benefits of drinking it’s blessed water. We also talked a little about the history of Makkah and how the city came to be thanks to the plentiful water supplied from the miraculous Well of Zam-Zam.

ALHAMDULILLAH!

Papier Mache Kab’ah

This project started out as part of our ‘Focus on Hajj’ theme at our local Home-school group. For a few weeks I saved a number of cereal boxes and the day before we met for the group I taped the boxes together to form a large cuboid. I used 10 boxes altogether.

On the day I prepared some papier mache paste and cut some newspapers into strips ready for the kid to start the first stage of making a papier mache model of the Kab’ah.

The kids from the home-school group worked together to paste strips of newspaper all over the cardboard boxes, covering it with a few layers of paper. At the end of the day I took it home to let it dry until the next session. When I took it back next time it looked like this:

During the next session we let the kids loose with black poster paint, painting the model until it was black all over.

At the end of the session I took the model home to finish drying. Unfortunately it happened that the home-school group had to break up for the holidays, so I let my two older kids finish the model at home.

They decorated it using gold glitter while I printed out images of the Kab’ah door and the Hajr al Aswad (the Black Stone) for them to paste on.