My Tasbeeh Pouch - 30 Day Craft Challenge

My Tasbeeh Pouch - 30 Day Craft Challenge

Salam and welcome to Day 10 of the 30 day craft challenge during this blessed month of Ramadan. If you've just recently joined me, I'll briefly go over what its all about. This year during Ramadan, I have challenged myself to do one Ramadan/Islam related craft with my children each day. So far, it's been an amazing experience where I've had to stretch my imagination far and wide. The kids and I have been enjoying these crafts very much and that's why I wanted to share them with you. 

Today, Hadi and I made a Tasbeeh Pouch together. This craft was a combination of mommy and child participation. I will outline in my steps which parts require some of your help as a parent. The best part of this craft is that there are no needles required - it's safe for our little ones to do. After completing this craft, Hadi felt so proud that he grabbed my cell phone and started taking pictures of it himself!

Materials:

• Felt - we purchased ours from the Dollar Store where they came in 9inx12in rectangles
• Scissors
• Sharpie/Permanent marker
• Ruler
• Masking Tape
• Yarn or sturdy string approximately 60 cm
• Optional: beads to decorate pouch - we used lettered beads to customize our pouch

Watch this YouTube video to see how we made the pouch: Here

Steps:

1. Fold your felt rectangle in half - our rectangle was 9inx12in so we folded the 12in side in half (I'm switching to cm measurements now because that's what we used from now on)
2. We measured the length while it was folded and it was approximately 22cm 
3. I made a dot where the rectangle is folded right at 11cm to represent the centre of our circle
4. From this circle, I measured out 11cm and made 8 dots all around to guide me while I cut my circle
5. I cut around these dots (while my rectangle was still folded) and when I opened it up, it was a beautiful circle!
6. Now turn your circle over and make the marks where you will be cutting small slits for your child to sew in their string/yarn
7. Leave about 2-3cm of space from the outer part of your circle and start making marks with your sharpie about 2cm apart all around your circle
8. Now use your scissors to cut small slits where you've made those marks
9. In order to "thread" the string/yarn, wrap a piece of masking tape around the edge of the string/yarn and you may want to snip the top part of it to make it a bit sharp (see picture below)
10. Tie a knot at the other end to make sure the string/yarn doesn't pass through completely
11. Allow your child to sew in and out of the slits that you made
12. They will continue this until they've gone all the way around
13. Once its completely threaded they can pull their string/yarn to make sure its equal on both sides
14. You can snip off the masking tape and allow your child to put their beads through
15. Ours was customized to read, "Hadi's Pouch"
16. Tie knots on the end of each string/yarn.
17. Now allow your child to figure out how the pouch will look if they pull the string/yarn all the way, or let loose. 
18. They can choose what items to place inside the pouch - we chose to keep our Tasbeeh and a small copy of Ayatul Kursi. 
19. You may keep this pouch in your prayer area. Enjoy!

Here's a picture of what you'll need - I've pictured two pieces of felt you'll need one per child

From the centre of the circle, make several dots representing the radius

This will guide you along to cut your circle

Cut your circle while its still folded - this is what it'll look like when you open it up

Turn it over and make your marks for the slits - be sure to leave 2-3cm of space from the outside

Here's how we cut the small slits for sewing

They will look tiny like this

This is how I taped some masking tape at the end of the string to help Hadi sew

Sewing away

He enjoyed this part very much!

He's reached the end

He's adjusting the pouch so that the string is equal on both sides

Snip off the masking tape with scissors before you start beading

Tie a knot at the end when your child is done beading

Here's what Hadi's looked like

Fill your pouch with your favourite Tasbeeh!

Pull the string and watch it collapse!

He did this several times for fun

Tie a bow to keep it closed

It can also be stored in your prayer mat

Here's what it looks like when we emptied it

Happy Tasbeeh-ing!

I hope you enjoyed following us along with this activity. Hadi was happy to do something a little different today. A lot of these pictures were taken by him because he was so proud of himself! May we have the opportunity to use this pouch for many prayer sessions to come, inshaAllah! Try it out with your children and please tag me on Instagram if you do @WishfulWaufa. Leave a comment below and subscribe by leaving me your e-mail!