Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatu!
If you’re a parent with little children, you would know what little busybodies they can be. Two and three year olds spend the majority of their time learning about themselves and the world around them. They are also little copycats and will mimic anything they see. Sometimes it can be funny and other times parents spend months trying to undo the damage. Just ask any parent whose child has learnt to swear.
It can be quite tiring to run after them all day and keep them engaged. It’s quite a common solution these days to let them just play with an iPad or watch television. Unfortunately, because they are so impressionable, they can end up with behaviours that they should be avoiding.
Scrap Book Island
I recently came across Scrap Book Island, an interesting show for 4 to 8 year olds. The show is a very upbeat, engaging and interesting series that helps little kids learn about themselves and the world around them, from an Islamic perspective.
One of the nice things about it is that it has a couple of different segments that keep children engaged for short periods of time, because we all know how short their attention spans can be. Little kids need to run and play, they need to learn and they need to explore. If your child is sitting in front of a cartoon, drugged and mesmerised by what they are seeing, without speaking or making a sound, you should be very worried.
Scrap Book Island has a few gems that will keep your children glued, but in an engaging and interactive way. I suggest you keep your art supplies or at least crayons and a piece of paper handy so your child can meaningfully engage with the content and activities on the show instead of just watching the screen.
Characters
Uncle Jawad is the host of the show. He is very animated and speaks to children in a way that they can understand. He is very engaging for little kids to watch
Croco is a smart-mouthed crocodile who is constantly asking questions like any curious child would. He is also quite naughty so watch out for his quick quips.
Bobo and Fofo are birds on the island that you will see from time to time. They are fun and entertain us with their song and rhyme.
Features
Alphabet Isle – at an age where language acquisition is happening, take the opportunity to help your child get familiar with numbers, letters and phonics in English as well as Arabic. Smoothie bird and uncle Jawad encourage kids to say the words out loud, draw and recognise them.
Art time at Aunty’s cave is the part of the show that let’s your kids explore their creativity. Random object art, fingerprint chicks and rabbits are just the kind of interesting things that are easy enough to do with little kids and even less resources. You can complete many of these activities with things you find lying around the house. With easy to follow instructions accompanying the video, your child will definitely want to try these activities out for themselves.
Quran Tree is a great way to teach your kids little surahs by watching other children recite them. You can practice with them and help them to feel confident enough to stand up and recite a few words themselves. These days, it’s very hard to find good role models for children to emulate on tv, and it is a refreshing change to see little Muslims clad in hijabs and burkas that your little ones can identify with.
Scrap Book Island has many other interesting snippets, clips of useful information and colourful characters in each episode, to help your child’s development. Waterfall Sunnah is a very peaceful setting where you can learn a new duaa or sunnah each day and Storytime Lagoon is a great way to end off before an afternoon nap.
Recommendations
Technology itself is just a tool that is neither good or bad. It’s how we use it that makes a difference. There are very positive ways that you can use videos to enhance your child’s learning. As a parent, I also know how difficult it is to find something that is useful in that respect, while at the same time being halaal and educational, and Scrap Book Island is one of those series that you can rest assured will have a positive effect on your little one.
Scrap Book Island is both entertaining and educational so it is a handy tool for keeping little busybodies occupied with something useful and fun. Check it out here https://alihuda.vhx.tv/scrap-book-island. If you haven’t signed up, don’t worry, our blog readers qualify for a 50% discount using this link http://tv.alihuda.com/?code=blog.
Here are a few tips to get the most out of watching it with your child:
- Make it interactive. Encourage them to answer questions, make the sounds and repeat the duas
- Keep art and craft tools and material at hand and show them how to do the activities in the show
- Make a chart with new alphabets and words that they learn in each episode
- Have discussions with them about the concept that they learnt in the video
- Make copies of the duas that they learnt and remind them when it should be recited
- Repeat the story that they heard for the day and help them use their imagination by asking them questions and drawing pictures together
- You can always pause the video while you prepare for the next activity or review the last one with your child
Remember, you are in control of how you use technology to enhance your child’s learning and development. It’s also a great opportunity to do more things together with your child and create a bonding experience. Let’s make the best of it.
