Diwali Word Search {Printable} Plus {Review}

January 24, 2019November 29, 2019 | acraftyarab

I made this free Celebrate Diwali Word Search to learn new Hindi words with my children.

We learned all about Diwali because we received a beautifully illustrated book called Let’s Celebrate 5 Days of Diwali! from Culture Groove to review for Multicultural Children’s Book Day.

The story starts with meeting Maya and Neel, who live in Chicago, and their squirrel friend Chintu. They all travel to India to learn about Diwali, India’s biggest festival, also called the Festival of Lights.

They meet their mausi (Hindi for aunt), who shares the origins of Diwali. She then shows them the five days of how this special event is celebrated. As each day is shared, Hindi words are italicized. Hindi is a language of Indo-European origin spoken widely in India.

One of the things I appreciated was having a Hindi pronunciation guide right at the front of the book. This allowed us to practice a few of the words before my daughter and I read it together. Usually such information is placed in the back of the book, but it was a great idea to change it up.

The back of the book has a story recap, along with blank pages for kids to fill out. There is a lined sheet for them to write their own Diwali story, as well as a number of pages for drawing some of the new things the kids saw.

I shared the book with our neighbor, who celebrates Diwali, and she was excited to help me put together a special word search. My daughter and I hope to continue to practice these words so we can use them when Diwali occurs at the end of the year.

You can download the Celebrate Diwali Word Search here.

Be sure to check out our other Multicultural Children’s Book Day Reviews

Stop by A Crafty Arab on Pinterest to see more of our free downloads.

Be sure to check out the free Diwali Activity/Classroom Kit with Lesson Plan from Culture Groove!

Type in #ReadYourWorld in your preferred social media outlet to see more diverse books for M ulticultural Children’s Book Day.

Hijri Islamic Calendar 2019/1440-1441 {Printable}

December 27, 2018January 10, 2019 | acraftyarab

Next Tuesday the western world will start a new year: 2019.

However, 1.75 billion Muslims worldwide are still in 1440 AH and the Islamic New Year doesn’t start until September 2019.

The first Islamic year began in 622 AD with the emigration of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra. Thus the Islamic new year is sometimes called Hijri New Year, written in Arabic like this رأس السنة الهجرية‎ and pronounced as Raʼs al-Sanah al-Hijrīyah.

The first day of the year is observed on the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. The other months are:

Muharram
Safar
Rabi’ al-awwal
Rabi’ al-Thani
Jumada al-awwal
Jumada al-Thani
Rajab
Sha’ban
Ramadan
Shawwal
Dhu al-Qidah
Dhu al-Hijjah

A few years ago, I found this wonderful way to explain the two calendars to my children.

I am so pleased that the author, Latifah Ibrahi, has created a new one, free for download here.

Don’t forget to support this wonderful business who is offering this service.

Arabic Coloring Page…Saad is for Saqr {Printable}

August 28, 2018November 29, 2019 | acraftyarab

I am continuing to convert the animals from my Arabic Alphabet Animal Poster into a coloring book.

This post is all about the Saad (ṣād) is represented by Salih the Saqr, which is how you say hawk in Arabic.

Salih tries to tell the truth to everyone he meets.

Other words that use Saad are suffara (whistle), sandooq (box), and salon (living room).

You can also enjoy these past animals that have been done already –

Arnab Coloring Page

Batreek Coloring Page

Timsaah Coloring Page

Thu’ban Coloring Page

Jamal Coloring Page

Herbaa Coloring Page

Khaffash Coloring Page

Dalfeen Coloring Page

Dhi’b Coloring Page

Racoon Coloring Page

Zaraafa Coloring Page

Samakah Coloring Page

Shebl Coloring Page

Defda’a Coloring Page

Tawoos Coloring Page

‘Ankaboot Coloring Page

Ghurab Coloring Page

Faraasha Coloring Page

Please subscribe to our newsletter to get the first three animals from the coloring book for free.

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I do not sell your email or use it for anything other then to let you know when a new blog post has come out. You are welcome to unsubscribe at any time. Of course, this means you will miss other posts on how to learn Arabic, like

Arabic Initial Papier-Mâché {Tutorial}

Arabic Initial Wrapping Paper {Tutorial}

Update: You can buy the Arabic Alphabet Coloring Book here. Proceeds from each sale help refugee programs at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan,via the aids organization Salaam Cultural Museum Medical Missions.