An ant runs screaming as the ground around her shakes with a boom, boom, BOOM. Suddenly her cries are overheard and a great king yells, “stooOOOOoop” to his advancing army. Then, with a wry look on his face and a goofy edge to his voice, he points wildly to the ground saying, “There’s an anthill! We have to go around.”
The army changes pace and chants “oh wee oh” like the witch’s guards in the Wizard of Oz — much to the delighted giggles and coos of Eryn and Ivy.
At certain times throughout the day, we have Blue Meanies, grandiose Kings and Queens, Jinn, and honoured Qur’anic historical figures marching, singing, running and dancing under the “story tent” (made from a decorative scarf hanging over the bed).
I’ve been wanting to write them down, not only to keep them for the girls’ memory books — but also because they’re really fun to tell. But they’re never told the same way twice, and you can’t quite capture spontaneous goofy voices or the girls’ reactions to my antics in a random blog post.
So I recorded one for kicks.
It’s a little reserved because we were conscious of the voice recorder, and Eryn politely sat through the story just to hear herself say, “BLAH BLAH BLAH” at the end. So I’d say this is only a small example of our story time. A story time that is often chaotic and funny and that doesn’t always have all the historical facts correct — but at least is making the Qur’an and seerah accessible and entertaining for my kids.
Here’s a quick story about the first revelation to the Prophet Muhammad. And if you have any, I’d love to hear about other techniques, songs or stories making the Qur’an fun.
(Also, OMG, it’s my voice!)
December 10, 2012 at 12:26 pm
My little ones and I just listened to this. My kids busted out in uncontrollably, hearty bly laughs when Ivy chimed in. LOL I wish you could have heard it. And then it happened again at the end when Eryn contributed. Thanks for sharing this !!!! Love the accent!
Salaams.
December 11, 2012 at 1:27 am
Oh that’s so sweet!! And I guess I do have an accent. Ugh. I’ll go die of embarrassment now 😉
December 10, 2012 at 10:39 pm
“I say blah blah. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!”
“Brilliant.”
December 11, 2012 at 1:26 am
haha you liked it then?
December 21, 2012 at 5:13 pm
That was my favorite part. =D
December 11, 2012 at 2:31 am
From a lump of flesh? That doesn’t sound pleasant at all.
December 11, 2012 at 8:15 am
Hey Aaron! It’s usually translated as “blood clot”. I prefer lump of flesh since its more tactile and less… Bloody. I guess I could just say “lump” — but I like a touch of the Grimm.
December 11, 2012 at 11:04 am
‘Like Winnie the Pooh.’ ❤
December 11, 2012 at 9:19 pm
That was my favourite part too 🙂
December 12, 2012 at 3:59 am
Masha’Allah! Sounds like a great time. I love telling Hazel stories with extra drama–yesterday I scooped her up and we acted out a spontaneous mystery-adventure-badass princess story all around our kitchen and living room. Princess Hazel climbs a tree? We sat on the table. Etc. But I never thought to do it with Qur’anic stories!
Other ways to make Qur’an fun… I mean… I’m no expert, but wouldn’t it work with how folks make anything else fun? Arts and crafts? Surely a construction-paper Ka’aba could handle some gold glitter. You’ve posted about this before, I think. And Dawud Warnsby Ali has some English-language, Islam-themed children’s songs, right? I guess some folks are leery of acting, or giving voices/faces to certain characters, but I imagine that little skits would be a fun rainy-day activity for older kids. When your kids are bigger, I can see them acting out stories as you narrate them!
For now, though, I will content myself with the reality of their peanut-gallery cuteness m’A, as will Hazel, who cheered at the blah-blah-blahs. 🙂