Morocco Lapbook

My daughter Samira recently brushed up her knowledge of the continents of the world by making her Continents and Oceans Lapbook, and now that both of the older kids are familiar with the general layout of our planet we decided to step up our geographical knowledge by focusing on a country a week.

Throughout the week we watch videos online, read books and do lots of  research on our chosen country … and as an added extra we also get to do a bit of cooking and various arts and craft things too.

At the end of the week we put together a lapbook with lots of interesting facts, pictures and maps. Our latest lapbook focuses on the beautiful and colourful country of Morocco.

Both Yusef and Samira made a lapbook each. I found the templates available to download from Homeschool Share and I’ve also made them available in my Box File Share Widget which you can find as you scroll down the right of the screen.

The lapbooks are made by taping 2 sheets of A3 card together and folding them in on themselves until the lapbook closes to A4 size.

First is a shutterbook with a map showing which continent Morocco is found.

Next are some flaps about the size and population of Morocco.

Using percentages, Yusef and Samira learned how to create a pie-chart graph in Microsoft Word to show the percentage population make up.

This is a question and answer flapbook which involved using a textbook atlas to research the answers and write them under the flaps.

Here is a bar graph diagram showing the population comparison between Morocco and the UK.

Two flaps that show the Official Name of Morocco and the Official Language.

A flap that gives the name of the currency and a flap that explains about the religion of Morocco.

To decorate the book, the kids stuck down photos of foods and products related to Morocco and wrote a few sentences to explain each picture.

Here they learned about famous foods and drinks from Morocco.

This was a blank map and the kids had to follow the instructions, using an atlas, to label it and draw on features such as rivers and mountains.

This is a flap about the climate.

Here the kids learned a bit about the history of the capital city, Rabat.

More photos – the kids learned all about the famous souqs and we watched videos online showing how the Fez tanneries dyed the various animal skins and how shoes, potteries and carpets are made and sold.

In the centre of all the phots is this flap which explains about some of the more famous products that are sold and exported from Morocco.

This is a vocabulary flap to learn and understand a few of the words we came across in this project.

This is a stack book in which the kids wrote about some of the different types of animals found in Morocco.

The kids had a chance to practise their Arabic writing skills to complete this vocab chart.

This tri-flap explains about the different people who inhabit the different regions of Morocco.

This double flap shows the time difference between the UK and Morocco.

Finally, we added on an extra page with the recipe and photos of the Orange and Almond Basbousa that the kids made together.

New Baby Lapbook

Masha’Allah, tabarak’Allah, I am expecting my baby daughter at the end of March insha’Allah so I thought it would be a nice idea to involve the kids in a family project that can help them better understand what it means to have a new baby in the family.

I was inspired to make this lapbook after seeing Umm Abdul Basir’s lovely lapbook here. She very kindly made printable templates available to download. The Islamic elements are her own design, masha’Allah.

Here is how the lapbook folds out.

On the first page is a set of 4 flaps that ask questions and give answers about what happens when the baby is ready to be born.

This is a diaper shaped pocket and inside we put the scan photos showing various weeks of development, we may have a couple more to include over the next few weeks insha’Allah as I have a few sizing scans to attend.

This nice little flap details the verses from the Qur’an with questions for the kids to answer and understand how Allah creates life in the womb.

Here are some adorable letters that each of the kids wrote to the baby, telling the baby how much they love the baby and what they are going to do for the baby when she is born insha’Allah. There are a few lines that they will be able to complete after the baby’s born.

Here are 4 cards containing details of the kids measurements as a little momento to show the baby when she’s grown up and so that the kids can see how they have grown compared to the baby.

This is a book to complete details on who the baby looks like but we can’t complete this until after she is born insha’Allah.

This cute little flap resembles a photo album and inside the kids have drawn the members of our family now and what we will look like after the baby is born.

My young girls had fun making this cycle wheel that shows the baby’s development from crawling through to walking.

This pocket contains a couple of activities.

First up is a set of family cards that help them to learn the Arabic names for various family members. Yusef practised his Arabic writing skills by filling out the cards.

And next is a nice jigsaw puzzle that depicts a Muslim Family sat around a table for dinner.

This pocket contains a set of cards which represent what the baby will need.

Basma stuck down red jewel hearts to represent love. Amina stuck down silver jewel hearts to represent hugs. And Samira drew X’s on this card to represent kisses.

The younger girls helped to match up and glue down the pictures of the items that we will need to prepare for the baby.

Here are a set of cute counting cards with a baby theme.

And finally a set of card that Yusef completed showing members of of family and how they are related to the baby. They will be completed after she is born insha’Allah.

ADORABLE, MASHA’ALLAH! 

Continents & Oceans Lapbook

This is a mini lapbook that my daughter, Samira made to help her learn all about the continents and oceans of the world.

When the lapbook opens out it reveals various worksheets and map activities and games.

In the centre of the lapbook is a blank map, nicely coloured by Samira, showing the continents of the world and next to the map is a pocket containing small labels.

The idea is for Samira to practise correctly labelling the continents and the oceans.

Here is a little word-find about the continents and a pocket containing cut-outs of the continents.

This is a worksheet which requires colouring to help remember where the continents are.

This is the black and white map with the continents already named and the idea is for Samira to fit the continent cutouts over the map in the correct places so that she becomes familiar with them.

And finally on the reverse of the lapbook is a quiz to test general knowledge of the continents and oceans.

If you would like to make a similar lapbook you will find the files available to download for free from my File Share Widget as you scroll down on the right of the screen.

COMING SOON: Solar System Lapbook (2)

This is my daughter, Samira’s lapbook all about The Solar System. It’s almost complete and we shall share it with you soon insha’Allah. My son, Yusef also made his own mini lapbook about The Solar System about two years ago now. You can view it here.

The templates for Samira’s lapbook I found on the homeschool share website.

I am also making a Solar System Totbook with my younger two daughters Amina and Basma, aged 4 and 3 as well as some space arts and crafts.

Check back soon insha’Allah.

COMING SOON: Dinosaur Lapbook

This is my son, Yusef’s Lapbook all about dinosaurs. Recently, he reached a chapter in his science textbook that covers fossilisation and dinosaurs so I thought we would make that a rest point for him where he could do some lapbook work.

He recently made a flap book all about Fossilisation  which you can see here. And my younger two girls have also been working together on a Dinosaur Totbook which is now complete and available to view.

We are also doing a few other dinosaur activities which everyone has been taking part in, including art and crafts, file folder games, fossil-making and even a mini project to hatch and grow our own Triops.

 Exciting stuff … more details soon insha’Allah!

Origins of Christmas Symbols & Traditions Lapbook

This is a lapbook I researched and put together for my 8 year old son, Yusef during the end of December and early January. He is old enough to fully understand now that living in the UK, people have different religious and cultural backgrounds and celebrate different festivals. 

Having come from a non-Muslim background, my parents are not religious but they do celebrate Christmas and this is something that my children are aware of. Year upon year they come to recognise the signs that Christmas is coming … decorations in the street, images of Christmas Trees and Santa Claus in the shops etc and even though we don’t celebrate Christmas ourselves, they are very aware that this celebration takes place annually and I felt it was time they got a better understanding of this celebration and its relevance to those who celebrate it.

The idea of this lapbook is to teach the basic beliefs of Christians and the significance of Christmas to them as well as to explain the meaning and origins of various traditions and symbols that also represent Christmas and how most, if not all of these traditions reach as far back as Ancient Rome and Pagan Europe.

We also did comparisons between our Islamic beliefs and the beliefs of others and refered to quotes and references from Islamic, Christian and Pagan sources.

 I printed off the various templates to make the minibooks from the Homeschool Helper Website.

When the lapbook opens out you can see the many different minibooks included.

This is a shutterbook about the story of the Nativity. Inside Yusef wrote about the Christian beliefs and the story of the birth of Jesus as the Son of God. We then discussed the differences in the Islamic story of his birth and looked at quotes from the Quran that teach that Jesus was a prophet and not the Son of God.

Next is a small cross book which explains the Nativity in more detail with Christians beliefs explained on one side of the page and Islamic beliefes explained on the opposite side.

This is a small flap about the Star of Bethlehem. Yusef realised that stars are often used to top the Christmas tree and we learned that the traditions represents this star which is significant to the story of the Nativity.

Here is a book about Angels, also significant to Christian beliefs, they hailed the birth of the Son of God according to the Nativity.

This small accordion book is all about Candy Canes which are traditionally eaten and used as decorations at Christmas time. Some people believe that the upside down cane looks like the letter ‘J’ representing the name of Jesus. Yusef wrote on the reverse of the accordion book about the history of the first candy canes, made in 1600 and handed out to children in church. The idea is that the cane represents the crook of the shepherds mentioned in the Nativity.

This is a circle book that talks about mince pies and how they were originally linked to Christian celebrations.

Here is a shutterbook about Christmas Crackers. Yusef wrote about the invention of the Christmas Cracker and gave details of what is included in a cracker. Even I was surprised to discover that the significance of the paper crown traditions stems back to the times of the festival of Saturnalia celebrated by the Ancient Romans.

This is a mini tag book shaped like a Christmas stocking. Inside Yusef wrote about how Christmas stockings first came to be used.

Similarly, this flapbook explains the origin of some European practises of leaving out shoes instead of stockings. These traditions date back to the Norse practises of the Gemanic and Scandinavian Pagans of ancient Europe.

This is a small stack book about Santa Claus. We read a great deal of information on Wikipedia and it seems that there are a number of origins for the man known as Santa Claus. Some stem from Norse Mythology, but most commonly known is the story of the Christian man who later became known as Saint Nicholas because his kindness towards the poor people in his town.

Next is a gift-shaped tag book explaining the origin behind giving gifts at Christmas. This tradition dates as far back as the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, which was celebrated by giving gifts to one another as well as to the gods between 23rd and 27th December. More commonly known is the tradition of giving gifts that represent the giving of gifts to Jesus by the Magian kings.

This sheet with pull out gingerbread men looks at the origins of gingerbread and how it became linked to Christian celebrations after the ginger spice was brought back to Europe and the UK by the Crusaders returning from the Middle East.

This is a flip tag all about wreaths and how they are rooted in the ancient beliefs and practises of the European pagans who would gather evergreens and light fires during the winter solstice in the hope of welcoming the arrival of the new Spring.

This is a pizza fold book that explains in further detail the meaning of the candles and how the wreath became intertwined with Christian beliefs. The lighting of the candles represents the expected arrival of the Son of God and the centre candle represents the night of his birth, i.e. Christmas Eve.

This little flap talks about ornaments and decorations such as baubles which are used to decorate Christmas trees. This practise came originally from the Christian tradition of bringing a tree into the church and decorating it with apples to represent the Tree of Paradise. Later baubles took the place of the apples.

This little flap book discusses Christmas trees. The practise of bringing ever greens into the home dates back as far as Ancient Egypt! The Christmas tree is a feature in many homes at Christmas time in both religious and non-religious households, but we were surprised to learn that the Christian Bible actually condemns the practise of bringing trees into the home and decorating them, likening this tradition to the way of the pagans.

This flap book talks about the Yule Log which is a tradition more common in Europe than in the UK now. The Yule Log dates back to the time of the European pagans who would select and burn a particulary hard log that would burn continously believed to ward of evil spirits and represent the hope that the dark days of winter would pass and the new spring would arrive.

This flap is all about Wassailing. This is a practise that I had never heard of until I read about it whilst researching for this lapbook. It is actually a tradition that dates backs to the time of the Saxons and was then intertwined with Christmas. Wassail is an alcohol drink that is consumed and shared at Christmas with the greeting of “Waes Hael!” which is Old English meaning “Be Well!”
We took the time to discuss what alcohol was, the effects if can have on the body and why it is forbidden in Islam.

Next is a shutterbook about holly, a commonly used decoration at Christmas time. We learned that this plant was revered by the Ancient Romans and was specifically linked to their god, Saturn. We also learned how holly was important to European Pagans and later became significant to Christians who believed the green leaves represent the eternal life of Jesus as the Son of God and the red berries represent the blood spilled when he was crucified, according to Christian beliefs.

Finally is a flap about Christmas Cards. Yusef wrote about who invented Christmas cards and why they were invented as well as the many different scenes that are depicted on Christmas Cards.

Below are some of the links we used for the references to make this lapbook:

• Origins of Christmas
• Origins of Christmas Trees
• Origins of Gingerbread
• Origins of the Candy Cane
• Origins of Santa Claus
• Origins of Christmas Foods
• Origins of Holly
• Origins of Christmas Stars
• Origins of the Yule Log
• Origins of Christmas Stockings/Shoes
• Origins of Christmas Decorations
• More of the Origins of Christmas (Full History)

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.

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.

Subtraction 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 subtraction one that I finally found after sorting out our resources cupboard, and it’s great for looking back and reviewing and also for introducing arithmatic to the younger kids.

When the lapbook is opened out it reveals lots of mini-books showing the number families 1-9.

First is the One Family which opens up as an accordian style book.

Second is the Two Family which is a tri-fold book that opens out to reveal the sums and answers.

The Three Family is displayed on a pin wheel.

The Four Family is shown on a set of stacked cards.

The Five Family is a mini-book that folds out to reveal the sums and answers.

The Six Family is a series of small cards that are held together with string.

The Seven Family is displayed on matchbook style flaps with the sum on the outside flap and the answer written inside.

The Eight Family is a set of pull out cards held together by tabs.

And finally, the Nine Family is shown on a sliding scale. The child can slide the bar up or down the scale and complete the sums aloud.

I found the templates for this lapbook on the Homeschool Share website and I have also made them available to download from my File Share Widget that you will find as you scroll down the right of the screen.