Malud un nabwi ( SAW)

There are so many shades of motherhood but the best one is learning small little things from your kids. When it comes to Islamic traditions, my girls would always ask me to come up with innovative decor and party ideas specially my middle one; as she is highly inquisitive in nature and simply cannot fathom how Eid lacks the glamorous grandeur of festive celebrations like Christmas. Why aren't the streets lit up with fairy lights. Why dosen’t Ramadan make us nostalgic and yearn for spiritual romance. So poor mom has to find ways to decorate the house with whatever she finds around ( which means getting help from Christmas decor too ). We have been arranging Ramadan, Hajj and Eid E Milad parties in our Cairo, Abu Dhabi and now OC home. Recently we had Malud un nabwi arts and crafts party for the girls. We started prep as soon as it was Rabi ul awwal and changed the decor to match with the spirit of this holy month.

This party was the brainchild of my daughter Taabeer who created all the arts and came up with different games all on her own, there is not much help on Pinterest and other sites when it comes to this particular occasion. I just hope all the little girls and their moms would find this blog inspiring and they would share these ideas with others too. I will start with my favorite part of the party - food table :) then move on to the games and activities.

Getting ready for the party.

All set :)

Adding different heights of platters on to a table really gives it a unique dimension.This little lantern came to my rescue when i was cruising through the sea of Christmas decor at dollar shop lols. yes, I am a proud customer of all the dollar shops of Oc. And of course my favorite Home goods and Tjmax. You need to live in middle east for a decade to understand why I love shopping in US.

We always add deserts into little cups to make it classier and also more convenient.

Most of us have read enough lifestyle magazines and visited Pottery Barn one too many times to have yet another glance at their table decor with their grand displays which has to include candles. Candles are always a must especially at an evening party where the effect just layers on. To not break the bank and still stick to our theme we used champagne glasses (from the Dollar store) and put green Christmas ornaments on the inside. Flipping the champagne cup also serves as a candle holder.

These homemade dark chocolate raspberry cheese cakes were a hit. I ate half of them, and you cant blame me, they were really a perfect combo.

My love for shrimps in glass dates back to Cairo when it took us really long to fill the glasses with the sauces and shrimps but as the time passed, i learned the art well.

Tip: if you are a busy mom, just got frozen shrimps ( mine are from Costco) bake, fill the glass with sweet chili sauce and you are done.

No table is complete without the center piece, this time we decided to opt for something different. My eldest one collected some pine cones from back yard and spray painted them white and gold to add to the festivity. We also added potpourri that was lying around the house for a better touch.

We gave our dinner table the nickname "the Instagram aesthetically appealing" table. Unfortunately it is too small to cater this Pakistani chef's delicacies :) so we had to accommodate other dishes on kitchen counter.

Menue :

chunky beef salad

pull apart garlic bread

Broccoli Cheddar soup

Smoked turkey cold cut with pecan bread Shrimp with sweet chili sauce

Haleem

Tortilla pockets

Chicken Tikka ( baked)

Mutton Pilaf

Spicy Wings

Alfredo spinach pasta

Desserts

Strawberry cheese

dark chocolate raspberry cheese cups

Pecan pie

And now let's move on to the activities :)

These jars had the packets in them. Packets included one word search, one maze and one word scramble. It was a small activity for the kids to do as they waited for everyone to arrive but it ended up being an enjoyable activity. There are many software online to make word searches, mazes and other puzzles for free so you can easily make these. This was the first activity.

Bingo was also super fun! It is a game that both adults and the kids can play. The prize was just a little candy. These cards were also very easy to make using the website myfreebingocards.com. If you are the caller, the game can be more interesting if you give a bit of a description of the word when you call it out. Customizing bingo is very easy and can easily be used for any party! This game was played after everyone was done eating and was a game enjoyable for people of all ages.

Alongside the older kids, we also had a few younger guests at our party. These guests may not be interested in word searches and bingos so printing out a stack of Islamic colouring sheets is always a good idea just in case!

This is how the table looked. Its a good idea to have one table that has all the activities on it so it is more organized and efficient.

Another fun game to play was the treasure hunt! There were a bunch of clues that had information related to our beloved prophet peace be upon him.. The treasure was a box of candy everyone got to share. Make sure you let different kids read the clue each time. After this picture there are a few other pictures from the treasure hunt.

Treasure hunt pic 2

Treasure hunt pic 3

Each child received one packet as they entered

Another big activity was the mosque craft. This template has all the instructions on it but you will need to print it out on large papers well as hard paper so that the mosque doesn’t fall apart. Before the kids cut out the mosque they had to color it. Everyone can share some interesting facts about the prophet (pbuh) as they do this activity. Foam boards are also needed to serve as a base for the mosque and glue sticks and tape should be provided.

This was a small game but was really one of the kids favorites! Basically there are nine pieces and they have to join them together to make a complete picture.The kids can be divided up into teams and each team should receive a ziplock bag with the pieces inside it. They have one minute to complete it so playing some dramatic music sets the mood.

There were two pictures. This is the first picture they had to complete. Simply print this photo out and cut it up and place it inside a ziplock. You will need to print it out twice as there will be two teams.

There were two pictures. This is the second picture they had to complete. Simply print this photo out and cut it up and place it inside a zip lock. You will need to print it out twice as there will be two teams.

If you want to take a look at all the activities, be sure to check out the link to the following google docs:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qL6E74QrpMHDNanA6MJhEIv7r48-iQ4zmjZRlvK8yy8/edit?usp=sharing