Artsy Ummi blogs

I’ve always LOVED fall and in great anticipation I await the arrival of this gorgeous season each year. Here are some of my weekend projects with my kids.

Gourd Birdhouses! I want to make something out of gourds, and while looking for something online, I found this website. Aren’t they so cute? Granted I have to wait until spring to be able to use these…but I know my family will enjoy this project. My plan is to get the kids to paint them any which way they like. Perhaps they can paint it like a whimsical house with colorful windows and a funky chimney. I plan on making a cozy nest inside with some strings and twigs, after we’ve studied different kinds of nests of course!

We also borrowed this book from the library to inspire us further.  I loved the ideas in there- and you can do them with your children…..no matter how old! Other than the ideas featured in the book, there are other endless possibilities. Imagine creating repeated patterns on table mats and laminating them, or designing a book cover for your teacher or creating your own abstract art and displaying it. Lovely!

We made felt book marks for all the chapter books my busy reader has just started to read.  In this project, we focused on fall colors and discussed the color wheel before we got started.

Once our color wheel lesson was complete, we gathered up our materials. We selected the correct colors of felt balls (you can make your own- and kids have a lot fun doing this….I have included a tutorial to make your own here. For those of you who want to get right into the project, you can purchase ready made felt balls at the craft store in the sewing supplies aisle. I used a cream colored felt cloth and cut it into the correct size for my bookmarks.

I then sewed the colored felt balls on top of my bookmark. Pretty easy huh? And yet so appealing! I love the simplicity of this project.

I might embroider something on the bookmarks, but can’t decide whether I want to stitch the name of my child, or write something related to the project. What do you think? How does FALL INTO READING sound?

My next bookmark was my daughter’s idea to place orange buttons as pumpkins and place stems on the top of them. She even helped me sew the buttons on. It came out quite nice, don’t you think?

My last bookmark. Hope you like them!

Now I have a beautiful book bin to keep all the library books my kids borrow. No more running around the house and searching for “that” book at the last minute. Once we have finished reading the book, putting it away is now as easy as 1,2,3. When it’s time to return them to the library we know exactly where to head and no more overdue fees!

Umm Professional blogs

I had so much fun this week- I got organized! I must say it feels liberating! I got my kids to help me. While the talk of the town may be about Halloween costumes and last minute candy runs, how do you get your children to help you with this boring job? By making it fun of course!

Getting Organized Project #1: Dive into Fall  - Book Bins

So I asked my kids to cover up a snack cardboard box with color construction paper. Then I asked them to cut out various shaped leaves on different color paper with the help of the downloadable template listed below.  They decorated the box with these colorful fall leaves. Easy.

If you want to make your little one cut out the leaves by himself- then a fast and easy way is to lightly paste one leaf printout on color paper and have the kid cut on the lines of the leaf. When the entire leaf is cut- peel off the template and voila you’ll have a beautiful cut out leaf!

Now I have a beautiful book bin to keep all the library books my kids borrow. No more running around the house and searching for “that” book at the last minute. Once we have finished reading the book, putting it away is now as easy as 1,2,3. When it’s time to return them to the library we know exactly where to head and no more overdue fees!

Getting Organized Project #2: Button up for Fall – Folders

So our library books are now organized, but I wanted to help the kids organize their paperwork too. So we made these really cute folders….I cut out the shape of a fall tree that they pasted on the folder cover (I have made a template for you- download it below).

I also gave them felt to cut out leaf shapes and lots of colorful buttons to decorate. Seeing how well they turned out- I’ve requested them to make me some!

PS: Glue the buttons with a glue gun or white glue and allow it to dry completely before you use the folders.

Fall Tree Template and Leaves Download Here

Sr Alif inspired us to think of what fall activities we could do to avoid the temptation of Halloween night. So we asked all the busy ladies what they were up to this week.  Here is what Busy Baby Mama had to share….

Busy Baby Mama blogs

After we return from the apple orchard and have spent a day picking only the best looking apples, the kids can’t wait to get home and make their favorite apple recipe. This year, we have kept apple picking for Halloween day as it falls on the weekend.

Because I wanted to share my family’s favorite apple recipe with you, I bought apples from the store to get started….we’ll end up making more of this recipe when we actually go apple picking this weekend Inshallah. I got this recipe from Iqra, a wonderful friend who is an amazing baker. Mashallah. She has baked for charity and has amazing goodies up for sale on masjid events. She loves turning any recipe into a healthy one…and I love her so much for that!

When I first made this, my daughter (who hates apples -SIGH!) ate so much of it that I leaped right back into the kitchen to make two extra batches right away (hehehe I added extra apples in my second batch- I just chopped them up into extremely tiny pieces so the extra bits went undetected. GRIN*).  Click on the link below to download the recipe. Happy baking!!!

Apple Walnut Bread Recipe Download Here. Hope you enjoy it!

Sr Alif blogs

Let’s admit it,  the candies, costumes, parties, all equate to fun in the minds of our innocent kids. Even the best behaved children can be tempted by the lure of piles of candies all in one night.  Older kids delight in nothing more than fake hands, and  bloody eyeballs,  scary tales of mummies, monsters and ghosts.  It isn’t easy to compete for their attention during this time. How do sunnah savvy mothers combat this tricky holiday situation looming over us?  Here are some ways to enjoy the autmn activities without joining the “Trick Or Treat” bandwagon.  Share the activities  as a family, school, or masjid…. your imagination is the limit!

• Fall Carnival or Festival – Organize Fall Fun Fair or Fall Fun Party where you can have carnival like atmosphere with fall themes (gourd tossing, hay rides, animal petting, pumpkin painting, candy apple making)
• Pumpkin or Apple Picking – Go for a fall field trip and explore Allah’s natural phenomoms
• Pumpkin Fundraiser- Have children grow a pumpkin patch or other fall vegetables and muslim youth can sell the fall vegetables and the profit can go to charity organization of their choice. It’s a lot better than wasting your pumpkin on a Jack-O-Lantern.
• Have an Apple or Pumpkin Bake off Contest with the older girls.
• Leaf Hunting and Collage Art – Have children reflect on Allah’s infinite beauty by collecting different leaves and making collage.
• Write a book report on the origin of Halloween-Older Students will be surprised with some of the information!
• Islamic History Plays- Have kids dress up and act out scenes from Islamic History. It could be another Fundraiser as well, as they can sell tickets too!

We’d love to hear what your creative ideas are for this time of the year!   Let us know your favorite activities this season!

Sister Reminder blogs

“Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!” It’s that time of year again when many parents are deciding whether or not to have some “harmless” fun with their child by celebrating Halloween. Before we jump on the bandwagon, a quick history lesson is in order to rethink our actions.

Halloween is celebrated each year on October 31, and it originates from the Celtic Festival of honoring Samhain, the so called “lord of death”.  The ancient Celts believed that the border allowed spirits to pass into our world on this night. Ancestors were welcomed, whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off ghouls led them to wear costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as one of them and thus avoid harm. On All Hallows’ eve, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the departed.

A pagan festival of the dead huh…to ward off evil spirits? Sounds really harmless and fun. So we convince ourselves that it’s ok…the kids just dress up and ask for candy…it’s just risk-free enjoyment! As Muslims we need to think about what kind of mixed messages we are giving our kids. Sure, little kids dressed up in costumes are cute to look at, but Santa and his elves look cute too… it doesn’t mean that we’re going to start celebrating Christmas! Not to mention capitalism working at its best. According to data by the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $5.8 billion in 2008 on Halloween items! I’m sure we can think of better things to do with our halal money!

Many of us will be surprised to learn that these beliefs and practices still take place today, and it is an active night for modern day witches and devil worshippers to offer their sacrifices and invoke their deities. In fact Halloween night is regarded as the high “Sabbath” for practicing witches.

From Islam, we know that in matters of deen, intention and action always go hand in hand. Similarly, if you look at any of your endeavors in life, logic and experience tells us that the formula for success is always correct intention followed by correct action. By celebrating non-Islamic holidays, we reinforce quite the opposite message. We essentially say to our kids that it’s ok to do what is incorrect, or what is ‘borderline’ behavior, as long as our intentions are ok. Our children look to us for values, it’s not ok to dress up on Halloween unless you want to set an example that may lead your child out of the fold of Islam.

“Has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed to them? That they should not become like those to whom was given the Book aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors.”  (Qur’an 57:16)

“When it is said unto them, ‘Come to what Allah has revealed, come to the Messenger,’ they say, ‘Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.’ What! Even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?”  (Qur’an 5:104)

I think that as a Muslim mom living in the West, I’m always trying to give my kids balance. I love enjoying time with my kids and having fun, but I try to put it in a framework that is Islamically acceptable. It can still be exciting and fun…the question just becomes… am I willing to be a little creative in finding alternatives for my kids that can be just as wonderful and fun? And we should make a conscious effort to educate our children early on, as to why we choose not to observe these and other traditions which are not based in Islam. By explaining things to children and not brushing it under the rug, it helps quell many of their questions and gives them a sense of identity. And you may be surprised to find that your kids will agree with you and will want to follow the path of Allah all on their own! Last year my son was six years old and he said to me, “So and so person celebrates Halloween, and you know what mom, it’s because he doesn’t understand Islam. We don’t have Halloween in Islam.” And I was just floored! Masha’Allah, like I said, you may just be surprised! All it takes is a little creativity, and the willingness to go that extra mile for our kids. Besides, who wants to celebrate the festival of the dead anyway?