Madressa At Home: Arabic Alphabet

Learning the Arabic Alphabet is the starting point in teaching your children how to read the Qur'an. Gone are the days where you'd sit memorising the alphabet from a worksheet or book - now there are so many hands-on, interactive ways to teach your mini Muslims the Arabic Alphabet... We're sharing some below!

When teaching the alphabet, opinions vary regarding whether to start with the name of the letter ("Alif, Baa, Taa") or the sounds the letters make (phonetically). For an easy transition to reading Arabic, however, phonetical learning is recommended. 

Arabic Alphabet Flashcards

The starting point would be using flashcards. Flashcards, as is, may be a little boring for kids - but you can make it more exciting by incorporating it with games. For example, a scavenger hunt (finding items starting with that letter around the house), incorporating movement (toss the bean bag on the flashcard that has the letter "baa" on it, for example), unscramble (a race against time to put the flashcards in the correct order, alphabetically).

Free downloads:

Colourful option via Qamar Designs (pictured above) - includes small size for use as flashcards or large size for wall display, plus a colourful poster.

Black & White Option via Arabic Playground

To purchase:

Match with Me: Jumbo flashcards 

Forming Letters

Give your child various opportunities to practise tracing and writing the Arabic letters - e.g. in sand, with chalk (on a chalkboard or the floor outside even), in a tray of salt or a bag of gel. 

 

Image credit: @teach.quran.play

More resources for letter formation practise:

Iqra Games has free Arabic alphabet dot-to-dot worksheets to teach Arabic letter formation. Join the dots and continue by yourself.

Scribe by Learning Roots is also a great resource for improving Arabic handwriting. 

Playdough 

Excellent for fine motor development, shaping the Arabic letters using playdough is also really fun for children- providing a hands-on learning experience. You could use any playdough you have at home or The Arabic Alphabet Fun Dough is extremely popular for this, as it comes with the letter shape cutters for all 28 Arabic letters and a variety of playdough tools for creative fun. 

Muslimah Motherhood also has wonderful Arabic alphabet playmats to print, laminate and use with playdough or wipeable markers (free download).

Games

Alphabet Bingo

Once your child is familiar with most or all of the letters, Alphabet Bingo is a fun way to practise the alphabet. Download the 4-person game from Qamar Designs.

Arabic Alphabet Puzzles

Use the wooden Arabic Alphabet puzzle (with sound or without sound) as an additional resource making learning fun and interactive. You don't have to restrict using this as a puzzle solely, you could also play games such as hiding the letters in sand or rice for children to find.

Lego / Blocks

Another hands-on learning tool is Lego, which can be used to build Arabic letters. Be inspired by this amazing project by Wali's Studio.

Other Games (FREE)

This free matching activity by Quotelovin is an option for your child to do on their own.

The Miraj App, which we post about regularly, includes 4 Arabic letter games plus a memory game to consolidate learning. You may download it from the App Store or Google Play (monthly fee is only about R13 - well worth it). 

Islamic Playground also has a few free games incorporating the Arabic alphabet.

Songs

For phonetical pronounciation, this song by Osratouna.Tv is excellent (it includes Arabic vocabulary too). Zaky has a fun Arabic alphabet song including commonly understood vocabularly. The super popular Omar and Hana also have a song. 

DVD

In the "Let's Learn Arabic" DVD, Zaky teaches the Arabic alphabet, numbers, colors & lots of Arabic words in a fun & entertaining way.

Books

The Arabic Alphabet colouring book by local artist Shameema Dharsey is an inexpensive activity for your children to practise the letters, while expressing their creativity.  

For babies, our soft cloth book is a wonderful introduction to the Arabic letters, as is this ingenious boardbook: My Touch and Feel Alif Baa Taa.

Decor

As a reminder for your mini Muslims in their playroom or bedroom, decorate with an adorable print of the Arabic Alphabet letters by Poppetry.

 

Our Arabic Alphabet crockery and cutlery by Lila and Tiny is another (stylish) way for your mini Muslims to learn the letters during mealtimes (currently sold out - will be restocked later this year inshaAllah)!

Have you tried any of the above or any other creative ways to teach the Arabic alphabet? Please do share your ideas by commenting below!