The book In My Mosque by M. O. Yuksel is a great conversation starter in the home or classroom to discover all the rituals and wonders of a mosque. This is a great book to read throughout the year to tell the stories of how mosques are centers for friendship, community, and love. It can also be great to explore during Ramadan as it celebrates mosques around the world while providing information about many historical and significant mosques.
After reading this story you can set an invitation to build a Mosque that is inspired by the images of the book. You can provide blocks (window blocks, kaleidoscope, rock blocks), wood bits, and mosaic tiles loose parts in order to ignite their inspiration to create.
STEM activities are designed to engage and stretch a child's thinking. Introducing the engineering and design process is a natural fit due to the fact that children already like to build and problem solve. This invitation is a perfect opportunity to change a simple building activity to challenge them to think and create in new ways and enhancing their awareness of the different types of ways structures are built. Through all these trials, the child is able to analyze the situation more critically and come up with solutions in their own way. STEM subliminally provides awesome real life lessons that are so valuable and enriching to a child.
