The 30 days of Ramadan Crafty challenge

I have been having a very hard time finding Arab or Islamic crafts for my daughters (ages 9, 8 and 4) to do. So I asked them if they would like to invent our own crafts for the month of Ramadan. The days are long in the summer and it’s good to keep busy doing something other then thinking about food. They were very excited by the idea and we headed for the library to do some research. Of course there were no Arab, Islamic or Ramadan craft books, except for the occasional book on how to make an Egyptian mummy. But instead of being sour lemons, we decided to make lemonade!

We took a stack of books home (21 in all) that looked like they have the most potential. I’m also a big fan of FamilyFun magazine and we did some reading from my collection of the past three years. I gave them post it notes, which they tore in stripes and used them as place marks for the crafts they wanted to do. There were more crafts then days, so they had to decide together which ones to eliminate and which ones to keep. It was so great to see them spend some family time together, talking it all out.

The first step was for them to create a calendar for the whole month, which I did very easily using Excel. Once I gave them the calendar, they wrote down the craft, the book it was in and the page number where they found it. They picked some silly things to do that were not very Arab, Islamic or Ramadany, but I let them pass, since it might be fun to take a break every once in awhile. And really, isn't it important to also create some games to pass the time? They also decided to take Fridays off from crafting and have a Free Day. I was very proud of their selections and decisions for the 30 crafts.

For each craft, we will have a supply list, take photos of the supplies and show the process step by step. This will make it very easy for you and your children to follow along with us. It will look very similar to the Crescent Moon & Star Yarn Window Art Ornaments we made last April.

So get your glue guns and googly eyes ready and let’s have some fun crafting, inshall’Allah!

'Grandpa's Farm' Translated into Arabic

Grandpa has a farm with animals
On his farm he has a duck
Look kids!
Duck here duck there
Quack quack here quack quack there

Grandpa has a farm with animals
On his farm he has a roaster
Look kids!
Roaster here roaster there
Kookoo reko here kookoo reko there

Grandpa has a farm with animals
On his farm he has a dog
Look kids!
Dog here dog there
Woof woof here woof woof there

Grandpa has a farm with animals
On his farm he has a cat
Look kids!
Cat here cat there
Meow here meow there

Grandpa has a farm with animals
On his farm he has a chick
Look kids!
Chick here chick there
Too too here too too there

Grandpa has a farm with animals
On his farm he has a lamb
Look kids!
Lamb here lamb there
Maa here Maa there

جدي عنده مزرعة فيها حيوانات
في مزرعتة عنده بط
شوفوا يا صغار
بطة هون بطة هوناك
كواك كواك هون كواك كواك هوناك

جدي عنده مزرعة فيها حيوانات
في مزرعتة عنده ديك
شوفوا يا صغار
ديك هون ديك هوناك
كوكو ريكو هون كوكو ريكو هوناك

جدي عنده مزرعة فيها حيوانات
في مزرعتة عنده كلب
شوفوا يا صغار
كلب هون كلب هوناك
عوعو هون عوعو هوناك

جدي عنده مزرعة فيها حيوانات
في مزرعتة عنده قطة
شوفوا يا صغار
قطة هون قطة هوناك
مياو هون مياو هوناك

جدي عنده مزرعة فيها حيوانات
في مزرعتة عنده صوص
شوفوا يا صغار
صوص هون صوص هوناك
توتو توتو هون توتو توتوهوناك

جدي عنده مزرعة فيها حيوانات
في مزرعتة عنده خروف
شوفوا يا صغار
خروف هون خروف هوناك
ماء هون ماء هوناك

Jaddy 3enda mazra3a feeha 7ayawanat
Fi mazre3ta 3enda batt
Shoofo ya seqhar
Batta hoon batta honak
Quaq quaq hoon quaq quaq honak

Jaddy 3enda mazra3a feeha 7ayawanat
Fi mazre3ta 3enda deek
Shoofo ya seqhar
Deek hoon deek honak
Kooko reeko hoon kooko reeko honak

Jaddy 3enda mazra3a feeha 7ayawanat
Fi mazre3ta 3enda kalb
Shoofo ya seqhar
Kalb hoon kalb honak
3o3o hoon 3o3o honak

Jaddy 3enda mazra3a feeha 7ayawanat
Fi mazre3ta 3enda ketta
Shoofo ya seqhar
Ketta hoon ketta honak
Mew hoon mew honak

Jaddy 3enda mazra3a feeha 7ayawanat
Fi mazre3ta 3enda soos
Shoofo ya seqhar
Soos hoon soos honak
Tooto tooto hoon tooto tooto honak

Jaddy 3enda mazra3a feeha 7ayawanat
Fi mazre3ta 3enda 5aroof
Shoofo ya seqhar
5aroof hoon 5aroof honak
Maa hoon maa honak

Arabic Alphabet coloring pages...Fa is for Faraasha

I'm started to take the animals from my Arabic Alphabet Animal poster and turn them into colouring sheets! I'm still trying to figure out if others can download them and use them. Anyone want to be my first tester?!?

Here is the newest page to print:
Faraasha Colouring Page

To Mankind with Love from the Middle East

I recently came across this list that was put together by the National Association of Arab Americans.

A* accounting, algebra, alkali, agriculture, alphabet, arabesque, Arabian horse, architecture, astrology, astronomy, Atlantic Ocean (discovery), axe, azure
B* Bible, Baha’i, Bathtub, basilica, bazaar, beer, belly dancing, book, botany, bracelet, bread
C* caftan, carpet, calendar, caravan, cartography, ceramics, chair, charge account, cheese, chemistry, Christianity, church, clock, credit, coffee, cosmetics
D* damascene, damask, date, day (24 hours), dentistry, dish, domesticated animals, drums
E* earrings, elixir, enameling, embalming, engineering, eye liner, eye shadow
F* faience, flag, flute, fork, free enterprise, funeral
G* gauze, geography, geometry, glass, government
H* harp, history, horticulture
I* illumination, irrigation, Islam
J* Judaism, jurisprudence
K* knife, Koran
L* law, library, linen, lipstick, literature, lyre
M* magnetic compass, mathematics, mattress, medicine, missionary, monastery, monotheism, mosaic, mosque, music
N* nail polish, navigation, necklace, needle, numbers
O* oboe, olive, optics, optometry, orange
P* paper, pen, perfume, pharmacy, philosophy, phonetics, plow, plumbing, poetry, pottery, prophets, psalms
Q* quarrying
R* razor, reed instruments, rice, ring, rosary
S* satin, skyscraper, sofa, spoon, stairs, stoicism, sugar, surgery
T* table, tambourine, temple, theology
U* university, urn
V* vineyard
W* week (7 days), weights, wheel, wig, wine, writing
XYZ* year (365 days), yoghurt, zero, zither, zodiac

I found it in a book that was printed in 1978 called The Arab World: A Handbook for Teachers. My copy is starting to fall apart, so I wanted to share this on my blog. I think it's really neat to see the contributions made from a part of the world that is currently known for conflict and political unrest. Think what mankind would be today if some of the items on the list didn’t exist!