Ramadan Lapbook

This year, I wanted to utilize Ramadan to teach my boys (9 yrs & 6 yrs old) more about the rituals and teachings of Ramadan, our religion and prophet Muhammad (pbuh).   So, as always, the internet provided a perfect place for inspiration!  I searched "Ramadan crafts" and came across the lapbook.  What a fantastic FANTASTIC creation!  Lapbooks can be created with any subject matter.....the possibilities are endless and I am sure that we'll make many more of them!  I found one particular example to be perfect, and 90% of our lapbooks are based off of this one:  

http://imanbendjedidi.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/ramadhan-lapbook-14312010/

Thank you for the inspiration!

***lapbooks are made from traditional file folders.... for a tutorial on how to make them, check out this you tube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1inXbba3cg 

So, we started our Ramadan projects with the creation of our very own lapbook.  This took a lot of prep time on my part, for which I did most of it after Sahoor every morning for 3 mornings.  My boys chose their color scheme and I set the book up for them to complete (i.e. did all of the cutting, pasting and creating of the foldouts, mini-books etc...)  We worked on a page a day. 

Below is our lapbook-still a work in progress.  

This is the cover of my 9 year old's lap book.  He still wants to add the crescent and star (symbol of Islam).  

 First view....when you open the flaps of the cover, this is the beginning of the lapbook fun.  I am an American Muslim Convert, my husband is 1st generation Egyptian...and I am teaching my boys and him some Arabic!!!!  My husband can speak a little but understand a lot in Arabic, however, he doesn't know how to write it and doesn't know much of it-like the Islamic Months, alphabet etc... the little blue square flaps have the Arabic numbers 1-12  (representing the 12 months of the Islamic Calendar) written on the outside.  When you flip them open, the English equivalent is written as well as the name of the # in Arabic).  My boys can now count 1-12 in Arabic.  :)

The white book opens to reveal the names of the Islamic months and their meanings on one side and special facts about the month of Ramadan on the other side.

The left flap:  Top square pic labeled with the letter "R" is a pull out that spells "RAMADAN" which my boys colored as shown below.  The "why do we fast" and "what is the proof" tabs lift up.  My sons wrote in their answers.  And the "Perform Good Deeds" is a 4 page booklet that my boys wrote about examples of good deeds they can do during Ramadan and every day, such as "help each other" "clean up with mommy" "help our neighbor with her garbage cans bc she's very old!" :)

The RIGHT FLAP (see below for close up) shows the Command to Fast, Surah 2:184-185.  Also, shows the phases of the moon, which is a pocket with cards inserted.  The Islamic Calendar is based on the lunar cycle and therefore knowing the phases of the moon is how one determines when each month begins.

 


Next, lifting up the middle flap, and we learned about the "Pillars of Islam" (top) and "Fasting Basics" (middle).  Pillars of Islam page is still a work in progress.

Fasting Basics Page:

1. Sahoor & Iftar tabs open to reveal a picture of us at Sahoor and in my son's own handwriting the definition of Sahoor.
2. The circle is a "Fasting Cycle" for which I modified from the following template (using only the idea, my son hand drew and wrote all the phases):  http://raisingmuslims.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/fasting-cycle-activity.pdf
3. Final Tab asks "who doesn't fast" and "what breaks a fast".  Lift the arrow to find the answers.

 Unfolding the Fasting Basics tab reveals the final 2 sections of the lapbook, which are both still works in progress.  The middle tab contains and envelope titled "Fun Stuff" which is a standard envelope, taped on the Left side (with the opening facing down toward the page) as to create a hinge.  flip it up, and inside the envelope I have a Word Search, a prayer coloring page and a little fill in the blank "I love Ramadan because" page.  Above this is a Ramadan Quiz, which I modified from the following link:  http://raisingmuslims.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/ramadhan-quiz.pdf

The lined paper is where my sons are writing a story about Ramadan, drawing pictures and writing their own personal journal about Ramadan this year:  what they learned, what the love about the month etc....

 

Below is the lapbook completely unfolded.... EID page is still a work in progress... but will include a definition of EID, the special food that is prepared and of course, their gift wish list!  :)

 

For anyone looking for a FUN & EDUCATION project to do with your children (of any age) I suggest creating a lap book of  your own!  They can be simple or more elaborate like this one, are easy to do and the kids LOVE IT.  They learn so much more by creating and writing their own books than from any book they sit and read (or are read to).

Enjoy and Happy Ramadan!
**as the book is updated, I'll re-post new pics**