Alhamdulillah we have held many activities for children here, especially during half term and full term holidays. These activities include story times, competitions, treasure hunts, garden play and much more. We have had too many Story Times to list, but please find details of the Activity Days below.

For upcoming activities, please check the What’s New section. All members will be informed of such activities via e-mail.

On the 22nd of December, the Childrens Islamic Library held a childrens majlis to commemorate the tragedy of Kerbala. The program began at 1.30pm, the children were welcomed in and invited to choose a book or game to read or play. At 1.45pm the program started with the recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by Marsia and then followd by a short interactive talk on "Love in Kerbala" which was suitable for all ages. After the talk the children sat in a large circle, and the lights were switched off and a candle was lit. The candle was passed to each child and the child said one thing that they had learned from the tragedy of Kerbala. The children then did maatam. The program wrapped up with a craft activity, where the children made a thank you card for someone who helps us in the community - but who we don't usually say thanks to e.g. a policeman, fireman, gardener etc. Some of the children then went outside to play. When leaving the children were handed fatiha.

On the 23rd of February, the Children’s Islamic Library held an Activity Day for 4-7 year olds to celebrate the wiladat of the Prophet. The program began at 2.30pm, when children were welcomed in and invited to choose a book and read. At 2.45pm, the children were given a small talk on the Prophet, and were taught his beautiful characteristics by associating the first letter of his name with them, as below:

• M – most forgiving
• U – understanding
• H – honest
• A – amazing
• M – merry (used to play with Imam Hassan and Hussein on his back)
• M – most fair/just
• E – energetic
• D – determined

They were then split into two groups – one group went to do a craft project, where they made a timeline of the main events of the Prophet’s life. The other group played two games – ‘Pig in the Middle’ where the person who managed to catch the ball had to answer a question from the talk, and one by one they all had a chance to answer a question. They then played ‘Pass the Parcel’ – here, every time somebody was holding the parcel when the nasheed stopped, they had to say what they loved about the Prophet and what they wanted to gift to him. We had a wide range of amazing answers, including the gift of saying 'Salaam' to him and praying namaaz on time to make him happy. The last one remaining got a present to take home. The two groups then swapped. At 4pm, all the children gathered together to cut a cake for the Prophet. There was an award for the two best behaved children, and they were also invited up to blow the candle on the cake! The children had also come dressed in an Arabian theme, and one boy and one girl were given an award for best costume too! The program wrapped up with Story Time, and then the children had some snacks. When leaving, all the children were handed a party bag with some birthday cake in it, to enjoy at home for dessert J. Khushali Mubarak everyone!

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On the 17th of February, 2010, the Children’s Islamic Library held an Imam Redha (as) Activity Day, especially for 7 to 10 year olds. The program began at 2pm; the children were welcomed in and invited to choose a book or game to read or play. Parents were also invited to peruse the wide range items that are available for children this age, from computer games to novels and DVDs. This was then followed by an introduction to the activity of the day – the children were shown how to make a small ‘zarih’ of Imam Redha (as) of their own, to keep in their room to remind them to offer Salaams to him every day. All the children enthusiastically took on this project, decorating and personalising their zarihs. They topped it off by writing a summary of one of the Imam’s hadith on the top of the box.

The classic game ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ then followed, with each of the children taking turns to answer the mix of Islamic and General Knowledge questions – a lot of them did not even need the lifelines! The program wrapped up with Story Time, after which the children chose books and other items to borrow and enjoy at home.

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Date: 10th October, 2009

Venue: Dar-al-Tableegh

Over the summer of 2009, the Children's Islamic Library held a Sponsored Readathon, which encouraged children to read Islamic material, be it stories, novels or non-fiction, and raise money for the library at the same time.

Alhamdulillah, the incredible effort of 22 participants raised a whopping £962. This money has already gone towards stocking up the library with more CDs, DVDs, games and books, including books for parents and books for teenagers, as well as updating the website to include features such as the Gallery of Photos.

On the 10th of October, the library held a Ceremony to honour the participants. As families began arriving at 11am, they were invited to view and play with a selection of the new items that had been purchased with the sponsorship money. A group recitation of a few Suras by the children opened the Ceremony, and then the children were presented with Certificates, a bookmark and a book by Masuma Alloo. As is tradition in the library, this was followed by Story Time, after which refreshments were served and parents and children took the opportunity to use the library.

Please can we recite a Sura Fateha for the Marhumeen of the families of the participants and their sponsors, as a small way of saying "Thank You" for allowing the library to benefit so many families inshallah.

Look forward to the Sponsored Readathon of the Summer of 2010, Inshallah!

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In conjunction with Muslim Mums, the Children’s Islamic Library held a Fun Day in the beautiful gardens of Dar al Tableegh on the 31st of July, 2009. Mums and children started arriving at 11am. The garden was setup with football and cricket gear to one side, and a smaller children’s play area to another. This included lots of different activities such as a colouring and play dough table, a ball pool, a trampoline and more! Other activities were bouncy castle and face painting – definitely favourites for all ages!

At 11.30am, the surprise entertainment began – Pinky the entertainer captivated the children with her clown acts, magic tricks and finally, balloon shapes for everyone. After the show, the children all stood up for Imam Mahdi (as)’s birthday cake – special thanks to Fatma Nurmohamed for cutting the cake and leading the children in singing Happy Birthday! This was followed by a loud recitation of the Dua of Imam Mahdi (as) by mothers and children alike.

A delicious lunch of pizza followed, after which the children made final rounds of all the different activities around them. The program ended at 1pm.

Alhamdulillah, the Fun Day was enjoyed thoroughly by all, with over 100 people attending, including 50 adults and 60 children.

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On Friday, 29th of May, the Children's Islamic Library held its first Bibi Fatima (as) Activity Day. As everyone began to arrive, the children watched an Islamic children’s movie. Once there was a full house the children immersed themselves in Arts and Crafts commemorating Bibi Fatima's wafat. The younger ones made a card depicting the garden of Fadak and the older children made Bibi Fatima’s Family Tree.

With the weather finally living up to the Met Office's forecast of a BBQ summer, the children were able to utilize Dar-al-Tableegh's beautiful garden to let off some steam. This was followed by a snack and drink and then story time and circle time.

In addition to these planned activities, the children also had access to all puzzles and games and of course the wide range of books offered by the library. It was a fun-filled day of learning for the children and a welcome break for the mums.

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The Children’s Islamic Library held a Ramadhan Activity Day for an older age group (5-10years). Leading up to the day, the Library held a story writing competition for them, inviting them to write a story about “Ramadhan at School”. The program began with an arts and crafts activity – the children were given little shaped boxes to decorate and were given dates to place inside the box. They then wrote out or decorated a letter explaining the concept of fasting and Ramadhan to a non-Muslim. These boxes and letters were then given to a non-Muslim neighbour by the children.

An exciting game of Islamic Taboo then followed, where the children were split into two groups. A member of each group had to come up and have their team guess the word they were given, without using the word itself or 5 other related words.

The prize winners of the competition (which was judged during the earlier activities) were then awarded their prizes, and the activity day ended with story time. Alhamdulillah, all the children enjoyed the activities geared towards their age group.

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A separate event was also held for mothers with younger children. This started off with Circle time with Islamic rhymes and songs. The mothers were then invited to view the library, and there were various toys and games for the toddlers, both inside and outside Dar al Tableegh, for the children to play with. Refreshments were served outside and the day ended with story time

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The Children’s Islamic Library held three separate open days for mothers and children at Dar al Tableegh, on the 20th, the 27th and the 30th of May, 2006.

The open days started off at 2.30pm with a movie for children about the story of Habil and Qabil. At 3pm, the mothers and children were then invited to go around and participate in different activities taking place around Dar al Tableegh. These activities included arts and crafts, colouring, crosswords, puzzles and garden play. Mothers and children were also invited to view the contents of the Children’s Islamic Library, including novels for older children, board books for little ones, books on parenting, a range of DVDs and CDs, puzzles and board games. Refreshments were served and the day ended with story time at 4pm.

The events were very successful Alhamdulillah, with people from as far as Peterborough and Mill Hill signing up. The library collected feedback from the mothers who indicated that the library was much-needed, and would be thoroughly used and enjoyed by the children.

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