Is Fear a Factor for you? Episode 1

If there is a theme that the kids will never forget, it’s definitely this one – the FEAR FACTOR week! We had this theme about two months ago and we still have kids saying it was the best activity ever. Alhamdulillah.

We created some kids-friendly “fear factor” games and activities, focusing on some common fears kids have, like spiders, darkness, creepy crawlies, etc.  Well, actually, more like sensory stimuli put to a test – giving the kids a chance to face their fears and phobias and have a ton of fun while doing it.

Mind you, it was messy, mysterious but awesomely fright-filled fun!

Here are twelve kid-friendly Fear Factor challenges that we did:

Frozen Toes.
That’s a bucket filled with ice! So cold!

Spooky Sensory Experience.
What’s in this box? Is it slimy? Is it spiky? Is it soft or hard?
It’s squishy and ewwww, I don’t like this teacher!!

Slimy spaghetti
Would you eat a plate of colourful worms?

What is blood made of?
It seems that red blood is not much fear to freak-out about, but when we add some ice in the bucket… here comes the oohhh, ahhhh, ewwww, nooooo!

Sticky fingers.
Different type of flour mixed with some water to make different textures. Some kids just don’t like their fingers to get sticky.

Bowl of fear.
Not everybody favours the smell of durian, right?

Drawing using foot.
Controlling your foot to create some masterpiece is definitely a challenge.

Don’t jiggle that spider!
Or that cockroach. or even that tiny Ratatouille. They are not my friend!

I am not afraid of the dark!
In fact, I love to play in the dark! I just don’t like to be blindfolded. Is it not the same?

Monster egg smash.
Smash them all before the monsters hatch! Ha ha ha!
Fact: Walking barefooted on the grass is a big NO for some kids, especially girls. Geli katanya 😉

Creepy box.
That creepy crawlies look so real! I don’t want to get my fingers in there!

Worm Pie Challenge.
They already know that there are a lot of yummy gummy worms in that cream. Hence the smiling cheeky happy faces 😉 Oh well, kasi chance lah!

We did more than 12 challenges actually (will continue this in Episode 2). Did it really help the kids to face their fears? Yes to all these:

  • Exposing kids to use their five senses to explore new information about many things
  • Encouraging kids to openly talk about things that they dislike and why
  • To help them to understand that different people may have different fears
  • To instill the believe that in any difficult situation, although being brave is not easy, they have to keep trying and do not easily give up.

And at anytime when we feel fear or scared, as long as we turn to Allah Al-Qadir, the Most Powerful, we will be all right.

Super Fun Day at the Beach

We took the kids for a short trip to the beach at the Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside recently.

Oh yes, it was super fun! From scooping sand to splashing water, the beach offers endless sensory stimulation and a wide variety of learning opportunities.

First, let’s start with helping to ensure the beach is clear from any rubbish or other possibly dangerous or sharp objects.

Done cleaning. What’s next? PLAYtime!

Wonder what is there to strategise. Girls. Hmm.

Ohh.. nak main masak-masak rupanya 😉

Drawing on the sand can be pretty relaxing and stress-free. No need pencils!

Ever so willing to be buried. Awesome girl!

Wow. The sand flows out easily.

Looking for tiny crabs maybe?

How about some limbo? You guys rock!

Picnic time

Blessed to have this nice beach so close to our school. Alhamdulillah.

One for the album. So glad we came here.

Good bye beach, will visit you again, InshaaAllah.

Post-trip conversation on the way back:

But teacher, why can’t we jump in the water? 😉

Ahem.

Ok kids, do bring your swimming suit for our next water activity ok? Beach party next!

Rain Rain Please Don’t Go Away

Rain is a blessing,

From Allah Ar- Rahim,

To all of us living things,

So, we can live and keep growing.

 

Rain is a blessing,

Make dua’ when it’s raining,

Allahuma Soyyiban Nafi’an

Amin

Islamic Children Song

 

We wished for a rainy day so that we could play outside in the rain, but Allah gave us sunny day instead. 😉

All set and ready with raincoats and umbrellas, we went ahead with the plan.

Water hose to the rescue! Bring on the rain, teacher!

Get ready kids… here comes the rain!

It’s raining now!

All wet!

The ground gets wet too

Happily standing in the rain

I see a little bit of puddle there

Let’s jump!

Ok kids, let’s go inside and dry up ourselves. No teacher… more rain pleaseeeee!

So we dried up ourselves and started counting raindrops

and we made rain in a jar

and spattered some colours on an umbrella!

Oh what fun we had! Alhamdulillah!

Plastic Bag Kite – Finding Joy in the Simple Things

“The most simple things can bring the most happiness.”

Izabella Scorupco

True indeed. A plastic bag and a string are all you need to make the kids happily run around. On top of that, they learnt about the two important things when it comes to flying a kite, which are gravity and lift (the wind blows).

On your mark, get set, GO!

If I don’t run, will it fly?

Trying to solve a problem of a tangled string

That is really a nice balloony kite you got there!

J.O.Y

Plastic bag kite – tried and tested! How about you?