 Salamu alaikum everybody. I'm sister Amira. It's so nice to see you. How are you guys doing today? You're doing good, alhamdulillah. Today we have quite a few things planned. We have three books. We have Mr. Gamal's Gratitude Glasses. We have Allah's Gifts. And we have Let's Think About Allah's Daily Blessings. From hearing those books, can you guys think what the topic today is? That's a good guess. Grateful, that is correct. Today's topic is all about gratitude. So we're gonna be making some cool gratitude glasses. And we're gonna be making an alhamdulillah poster board, inshallah. And we might have another game that's kind of a surprise for you guys. So when we get to it, I'll tell you all about it, inshallah. Are you ready to begin? Yes. Yes, alhamdulillah. Yeah, that's what I wanna hear. So today we're going to start with Mr. Gamal's Gratitude Glasses. So don't worry, I'm going to give everyone a chance to see the pictures, because when I'm done reading, I'll show everyone what's on the page. Bismillah, rahmanir raheem. This book was written by Ismaa Hussain and illustrated by Nuria Thomas Mayoles. How do I begin? Bismillah. Bismillahir rahmanir raheem. Mr. Gamal's Gratitude Glasses. Should I say Gamal or Jamal? What do you guys like? If I do both, will you know what I'm talking about? Should I do both? Yeah. Okay, Bismillah. Mr. Gamal stood at the front of his classroom. His students were getting restless. Farah had lost her bouncy ball at recess. It was so bouncy she whispered to herself, I'll never find one as bouncy again. Adam's mom gave him green grapes instead of red grapes for lunch. Green grapes are too sour, he grumbled. Munna huffed because someone else was playing with the squishy yellow Play-Doh and she needed to make a duck. Sounds like everyone's in a pretty grumpy mood. What do you guys think? Do you ever feel kind of grumpy sometimes? Ring went the bell. Mr. Gamal sighed, I wish I could find a way to help my students be more positive, he thought. It takes so much energy to be angry all the time. Mr. Gamal stopped at the dollar store on his way home from school. That always cheered him up. He went straight to his favorite aisle, shelves stacked, top to bottom with party supplies. They were tiny whistles, bottles of sticky slime and piles of plastic jewelry. He paused by a bin of oversized glasses and picked up the yellow pair. The lenses were tinted pink. He put them on and everything in the store turned a magnificent magenta. A lightning bolt of an idea hit Mr. Gamal. The kind of idea that made his beard hair stand on end. He picked out 15 of the biggest, most colorful frames he could find and added them to his shopping basket. When you get really, really excited, does your beard stick out? Do you have beards? No. So what do you guys do when you're really, really excited? What happens with you? You get really excited, so you feel like you have to jump up and down and cartwheels? Very nice. What do you do when you're really excited? Just silly stuff. Silly stuff? I get a funny feeling inside and it makes me feel really good all over. And that's what it sounds like happened to Mr. Gamal. He got really excited and he got a tingly feeling in his beard. The next morning, Mr. Gamal stood at the front of the classroom and carefully slipped on a pair of big, bright glasses. What are those, the children asked? Mr. Gamal said, my new glasses. When I put them on, everything changes color. I see things differently. He walked along the rows of desks, handing each student a pair of glasses. Mr. Gamal explained, every time you feel upset or angry, instead of yelling or complaining, I want you to put these glasses on. They might help you see things you couldn't see before. Like what? Yousef asked, like something different, something positive, Mr. Gamal said. How, Yousef asked, are they x-ray glasses? They're even better than x-ray glasses, Mr. Gamal replied. I call them gratitude glasses. His students snickered. When this week is over, you'll each write one paragraph explaining what happened when you look through your gratitude glasses and then present it to the class, Mr. Gamal said. That week, all the students got a chance to use their new glasses. Farah forgot her lunchbox at home and started whining, I'm going to starve. Mr. Gamal tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her to put on her glasses. Adam spilled a whole jar of blue paint on his new white shirt during art class. Ah, he groaned, slapping his forehead. He remembered the glasses at his desk and he went and put them on. Munna and her friends were playing dodgeball and she was the first to be knocked out of the game. She reached into her pocket for the glasses. I guess I'll try these. I have nothing else to do anyway. Yousef jumped off the swing in the park and felt a sharp pain in his ankle when he landed, ouch. As he iced his ankle in the school's front office, he reluctantly pulled the glasses out of his bag. When presentation day arrived, Yousef hobbled to the front of the class, balancing on one crutch. Spraying my ankle hurt a lot, he said, frowning at the memory. The glasses made everything look pink, but my light still hurts. They didn't work at all. Hmm, Mr. Gamal said. Does anyone have a different story? Next up was Adam. I was so mad in art class, but when I put on the funny glasses and looked at my shirt in the washroom mirror, I noticed the blue stain kind of looked like a whale. So instead of washing my shirt, I used my fabric paints at home to transform it into an actual whale. He puffed out his shirt. I think it looks pretty cool. Last time, didn't we? Was that last time or the time before it? Time before it. We made whales. What does the whale remind you of? What is it? The story of Prophet Yunus, alaihi salam. When Prophet Yunus alaihi salam got swallowed by the whale. And what did he have to do when he was in the belly of the whale? He had to pray. And what else? He had to be very, he said to an island, good. But he was very patient, right? And he looked at, he realized that he was there for a reason. So he saw things differently and he appreciated it. Kind of like that way that the boy who made the whale on the shirt spilled paint and he turned it into a cool art piece. When it was Munna's turn, she showed the class her big jar with holes poked in the lid. I'm always the first one to lose at dodgeball. And I get so bored sitting on the grass alone, she said. But when I put on the glasses, I found three caterpillars munching away at a leaf. I took them home in my lunchbox and now I have them in a special jar. I'm going to watch them as they get bigger, make their cocoons and then become butterflies. She turned sitting on the sidelines after getting out of the game to be time to see nature and find caterpillars. When all of them had finished presenting, Mr. Gemal clapped and said, wonderful job, everyone. Mr. Gemal, you have interrupted. Do you think I could have another chance to present? Of course, we still have a few minutes. You should have shuffled to the front of the class again. I thought the glasses would make my ankle feel better, but they didn't. But something else happened. I visited my mom's clinic and ate three lollipops from the receptionist's special jar. I got an x-ray, which is pretty cool, and I've decided I wanted to be a doctor, just like my mom. That's a good way to look at it. He got three lollipops. Is that a lot? The class was quiet as Yusuf headed back to his desk. Thanks for sharing, Yusuf, Mr. Gemal said. Class, do you think it's really the glasses that made these really cool things happen? Bilal raised his hand. The glasses just made everything look pink. Then, Sada added, but they made our brains discover new ways to think about stuff. Do you think you could look a life more positively, even without wearing the glasses? Mr. Gemal asked. His students nodded. Gratitude means being thankful for everything you have and everything you experience. Do you know what the hardest kind of gratitude is? Finding good things, even in tough situations. And that's what you all did. Mr. Gemal was proud of his students when he left them for art class. They really get it now, he thought. After a hot cup of coffee in the staff room, Mr. Gemal stepped back into his class. His mouth fell open in shock. There was paint on the window, glue smeared on the desks, paper snippets in everyone's hair, piles of glitter on the floor. What have you done, he asked his students. This is the biggest mess I've ever seen. Mr. Gemal plopped down in his chair. He rest his forehead in the palm of his hand and he sighed loudly. After a few seconds, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. Use of held out his plastic glasses. We can share mine, he said. Mr. Gemal took the glasses, slowly put them on and turned to look at his glass. Surprise, yelled the students. They held up a huge colorful banner. Mr. Gemal blushed. Okay, maybe I need to use the gratitude glasses too. Do you guys see what it says? It says, we are grateful for Mr. Gemal, the best teacher on planet earth. Together, they all swept the floors, wiped down the desks and windows and shook the paper tidbits out of their hair. Their class was cleaner than ever. Ring went the bell. The students jumped from their chairs and raced out the door. But Mr. Gemal noticed something was different now. The kids were smiling and they had an extra bounce in their step. And so did he, alhamdulillah. Did you guys like that book? Do you guys think that we could all use some gratitude glasses? Yeah? I think so. Have you guys ever had a time where you felt really sad about something and you needed to wear the gratitude glasses so that you can see things in a new way? Does anybody wanna share a story? Anybody wanna share a story of one time that it happened? You wanna think of something? I can think of something. Today, it was very rainy outside, right? And I wanted to come here and bring all this stuff so that you guys can have the arts and crafts. But it was so cold and so rainy and I was grabbing things and running and I was like, oh my goodness, how am I gonna get this? And then I stopped and I put on my glasses and I thought about how California needs rain, right? You were telling us earlier, California's in a drought and I was thinking, you know what, alhamdulillah, I'm so happy to see the rain and it woke me up because I was kind of sleepy and it made me a little bit more active so I got it done faster than I normally do it. So alhamdulillah, I got to use my glasses this morning. Do you guys wanna make some, oh, you wanna share a story? But then instead you got to come here and you get to make gratitude glasses. That's a beautiful one. That's a very good way to look at things. Very nice, I like that, masha'Allah. It's okay. We can all think about it in our heads. In our heads, and the next time you're feeling something that's making you sad or frustrated or angry, maybe we can put on our glasses and then we can think about a better way how it's helping us feel appreciated for it. So inshallah, this will be our first project. We'll do it after we're done all the story time. We have all the decorations, we have markers, we have feathers, we have glit, not glitter, sorry, you guys. We have gems and lots of things that you can use to decorate, okay? Yes, we have glue, definitely have glue inshallah. And we have different frames too. They come in different styles. So we've got stars, we've got these like feathery ones and then we got the round ones inshallah. So hopefully inshallah we can use that. So when I think about what I'm grateful for, I really think about the one who gave us everything that we have to be grateful for, right? And that's Allah, asma'ata'ala. So when I think of what I'm grateful for, I think about all of Allah's gifts. And that's our next book, Allah's Gifts. So let's begin, bismillah, bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Allah is my Lord, the creator of everything. Allah has given me so many gifts. Thank you Allah for giving me two ears so I can hear the adhan, the call of prayer and the beauty of the Quran. Thank you Allah for giving me one nose so that I can breathe the clean air and smell your beautiful flowers. Thank you Allah for giving me two lips so that I can talk and make zikr, which means remembering you. Do you guys remember some different ways that we did zikr? We do zikr? Can anybody think of, can anybody say a way that we do zikr? Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar, excellent. Who knows another one? So we have Allah Akbar, another one we say all the time. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, that's good. We start everything with that. Alhamdulillah, which is a good one for today because we're learning all about gratitude, right? Subhanallah, good. All of you, masha'Allah. Can you think of any more? Allah Akbar, excellent, masha'Allah. So thank you Allah for giving me two hands so that I can open up the holy Quran. What else can we use our hands for? To pick up things, yeah? To play, good. To eat, excellent. To make da'a, we use our hands. Okay, good. To eat snacks, those are great ones you guys. And today we're gonna use our hands to see if we can figure out what is hidden in those bags. Do you guys think that you can do that without using your eyes? No, yes? We're gonna find out, insha'Allah. Thank you Allah for giving me two feet so that I can walk to the school and to the mosque every day. Where's some places that you guys walk to on your feet? To the park, good. To the pool, I like that one. To your friends' houses, those are great. To school, excellent. We use our feet to walk a lot of places. To the mosque, masha'Allah. Excellent, kinda like when you walk to the mosque to come here. Home, good, masha'Allah. So we use our feet a lot. I'm using my feet now to stand up here so I can read to you guys. Thank you Allah for giving me my brain so I can think, so I can learn and so I can choose right and wrong. Thank you Allah for giving me a heart so that I can love you, so I can love the prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And so I can love my parents. Alhamdulillah. So we have so many things that we have to be grateful for. So from that book, what can you guys think of? So we went over our hands, our feet, what else? Your nose, why do you think your nose is important? What's important about smelling things? Is that a good thing? That's good. So if you can't see something good, you can smell it and you can know what it is better. Yeah? Oh, so you can breathe. Yes. Oh, your brain? Okay, yes. What's important about our brain? It helps you think and all of you guys are giving me great things. So that tells me you're thinking, right? Masha'Allah. Our hearts so we can what? So we can live. Oh, you mean the literal heart that beats? Yes, that's good. Masha'Allah. Your ears so you can hear. What did we hear? What do you hear when you come to the masjid? We hear talking, we hear the prayer, we hear people making da'a, excellent you guys. So do you think, there's one that we are close, yes. So what about our eyes? Do you guys think our eyes are important? Yeah. They're pretty important? Yeah, what would happen if we don't have our eyesight? It would be harder to see. So Alhamdulillah, Allah is so great that even if we can't see, what else do we have? We have our hands, what else? Our ears, we have all this other stuff that helps us figure things out, right? All right, so I'm gonna see if you guys can figure out what we have in these bags, but without using your eyes. Do you think you can do that? Yeah. You think so? Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna, I'm gonna let each of you guys come up in a line and you're gonna go in and you're gonna feel it. But you're not gonna say what it is until everyone has a turn, hey, hey, hey, so you try and feel it, okay? At the end, we'll take guesses on what you guys think is in the bag. All right, so I'm gonna start with, we're gonna start with this one. Gonna hide these back here till we're done. So remember, close your eyes so you don't see, okay? Put your hand in. Keep it in your head, keep it in your head though. Okay, keep it in your head. Keep it in your head, okay? Yeah, yeah, keep it in your head. Keep it in your head. You wanna try? Keep your eyes close. Get a chance, chance, okay? I'm gonna bend down. It'll be easier, I think. All right, let's see. Okay. There's two things in the bag, so feel both. In your head, think what you think it might be, okay? He thinks he figured it out. There's two things in the bag, okay? There's two things, okay? And the other side too, yeah. Okay? There's two things, the other one too. Yeah, see? Right there, okay? He's like, I'm not sure what we're doing. Feel it? There's two. Think about it. You ready? You can close your eyes. Close your eyes. Lift your hand. There's two things in the bag. Keep it in there. This feel, and see if you can figure it out in your head. Yeah, go tell Mom. Whoops. Yeah, keep your eyes closed so that you don't see it. But we're not gonna say, you're not gonna say what it is. Out loud, you're gonna put it in your head. And there's two things, yeah. Okay? They're all thinking. Oh, don't say it, don't say it. Think about it in your head. It doesn't feel like anything. There's another one here. See if you guys can figure it out. There's two. Did you feel the other one too? Behind it. So keep it in your head. It might be right, it might be wrong, we'll see. Shallah. There's a lot of kids. There's the other one. Keep it in your head for now. Gonna make guesses in a second. Ready? Let me try. There's another one next to it. All right, did everyone get a chance? Did you get a chance? Okay, God, alhamdulillah. Do you guys wanna make some guesses on what you think that was? Masha'Allah. It felt so weird. Okay, it did? It felt like bread. It felt like bread? A pumpkin and something squishy? Okay, a pumpkin or a pumpkin squishy? And a pumpkin squishy tour? Bread and mushrooms? And a mesjith, okay. What did you say? Pumpkin and soup, that's silly. Squishy flowers? You wanna guess? A pumpkin and cardboard, okay. I remember baw on a pumpkin, a hard pumpkin and a toy pumpkin. Did you wanna do your guesses? Go ahead. A pumpkin and an orange, interesting. A multi-pumpkin and a regular pumpkin? And bread, okay. All right, I'm gonna tell you guys now. I'm impressed with that answer, masha'Allah. First I'm gonna say alhamdulillah because you all definitely have your brains on today. Because you all got the pumpkin right. It's a little baby pumpkin. You guys were right, it's a baby pumpkin. The little stem on the top. Well, still, apples have a stem on the top. You were able to figure out that it wasn't a thin stem. It was thicker and the grooves. So somehow you guys were using your brains to figure out, even without eyesight, that it was a pumpkin. That's impressive, you guys. Think about that. That was very good observational skills. Now are you guys ready for the second one? This one had a lot of people stumped. It is a toy pumpkin. Kind of like a squishy one. I actually made this. So that's why I thought it would get you guys all stumped. Yeah, it's a squishy, yes. It's actually a sock stuffed full of fluff. You guys wanna pass it around? Yeah, and painted. Yeah, but it's also a pumpkin, so it's very close. That's why it was impressed. You did, you did. You said a toy pumpkin, it was excellent. You were right, masha'Allah. So it's good, you guys, it was great. We're gonna do it in just a minute. We have one more book and one more bag. You guys wanna do one more bag? Yeah. Do you guys think we can try this again? See if we get those brain functioning? Let's do one more. All right, let's do this one. This is the last one. The black one, it's a simple one, but masha'Allah, you guys, that one's too easy for you guys. I wanna give you one that's gonna stump you. Do you wanna feel? Do you wanna feel? Okay, let's have your hand. But no looking, you guys. Keep our eyes closed. Let's see if you can figure out what's in there. That's a harder one, right? There's only one thing. Okay? All right, next. Yeah? Okay, let's go. I'm gonna come down again. Sorry. All right, you ready? But eyes closed. Not looking. You remember in our heads, you're gonna guess as if it's... Exactly, it's tough. It's gonna... We said we're not saying it out loud in your head. Stick to you, you're guessing stick. Okay? Inasha'Allah, okay? I will do one more book after this, inasha'Allah. We're just doing this activity first. And then we'll do one more book, inasha'Allah. Got you stumped? That's why, Alhamdulillah, for our minds, because even when we can't figure something out, Alhamdulillah, we get to, you know, learn so that every time we learn something new. Alhamdulillah, for learning. I'm gonna say still. Oh, that was fast. Ready? No, look in, don't close your eyes. No? Do you want your mom to hold the bag? Let's see what mom does. Yeah. Alhamdulillah, for mom and I. That's a good guess. One thing. Ready? I know, look, it looks like ginger. Feels? It feels like ginger. Feels like ginger. That's a cool, interesting guess. I like these guesses, though. Then you should be very impressed. And you should say, Alhamdulillah, for my brain, because I was so smart, I figured it out. Right? Hey, hey, hey. Hey. Huh? No, it's 12.30. Hikes at the time? I can't. Because it's a lot of change to time. We'll talk about it. Ready? I can't. It's okay if you can't figure it out inside sometimes. This one's a tough one. See, it's a tough one. You can guess, but keep it in your head for now. Guess it when we ask everybody. Okay? You think so? You wanna try again? One thing. Okay. Hey, do you guys think that one was a little bit harder than the last one? Alhamdulillah, for sure, for those minds of yours, if you could figure this out. All right, and what do you guys wanna start guessing? A horse. A horse, I got a horse. A camel. An elephant. An elephant. A stick. A stick with decoration on it. That stripe thing, okay. Like they do at weddings. A giraffe. Okay, these are some nice guesses. Garlic? No, ginger. Ginger, ginger, okay, ginger. A stick. A stick with decoration on it. Okay, so the one that I'm hearing the most is a stick with decoration. Was there anything else that I hear more than once? A slingshot, that's an interesting one. A stick. Ginger, okay, so I heard ginger. I heard a stick with decoration and something with decoration. And then I heard, I think, a camel and a horse, right? Those were the choices. All right, and a camel. And a horse. Are you guys ready to see what it was? Yeah? All right. I mean, they have stick-like legs and it has the decoration. You didn't feel the hump? It's a small hump, I think. It's squishy, it's not too squishy, yeah, it's hard. It's a little bit, but you guys did really great. That was a good one. Yeah, you guys can feel it. They wanna see the camel and what it feels like outside of the bag. So after we're done reading this next book, you guys can come feel it some more, okay? We're gonna do the last book and then I'm gonna tell you about our last activity, okay? So let's go sit down. We're gonna do our last book and then we'll do our, and I'll tell you about our last activity, okay? Then we can go and do the activities. Are you guys excited about them? Yeah! Get all your art energy out, inshallah. So this book says let's think about Allah's daily blessings. So we've learned about gratitude and we're so grateful, alhamdulillah, for all the parts of our body, right? You're grateful for your ears, your mom, all of these nice things in our life, right? And so that's why this book is called Let's Think About Allah's Daily Blessings, bismillah. Can you see the sun rising so bright in the morning sky? The sun helps the grass to grow and the flowers to blossom. A new day has begun. Alhamdulillah. So at the end of every page, you guys think you could say alhamdulillah with me? Can you say that? I didn't hear everybody say it. Okay, let's try all together. Alhamdulillah. One more time, I think we can do it better together. Alhamdulillah. Masha'Allah. And alhamdulillah means praise and gratefulness to Allah. The sun is like a bright light for us to see all of Allah's creations. The different shades of green of the tree, the grass and the mountain so high. What a beautiful world Allah has made. Allah has made the clouds to give us shade during sunny days. I love to look up at the sky and see the clouds that Allah has made. Sometimes they look like animals. That one looks like a turtle and that one looks like a sheep. Alhamdulillah. Allah has made the clouds to send down the rain. The plants get water and we have fresh water to drink. Clouds are amazing as are all of the creations of Allah. Again, we're seeing the benefit of rain. After the rain, Allah sends a special gift for us to see. A beautiful rainbow. Rainbows look like a bridge with all different colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Can you see the beauty of Allah's creation? Alhamdulillah. When it's time for the sun to set, Allah changes the color of the sky. From blue to orange, this special time of day is called dusk. The sun seems to disappear. It's a dazzling sight to see. Alhamdulillah. When night falls, the sky becomes dark but Allah sends us the stars in the moon to light up the night sky. Wow, how peaceful and lovely the night sky is. Alhamdulillah for you guys. Really helping me out. Like that. Allah created the night as the time to rest. I read my da'ats and I go to sleep and think about all the wonders of Allah I saw today. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Insha'Allah, Alhamdulillah. In the Quran, Allah tells us to think about the differences between night and day. That's in Surah Al Imran. Behold, in the creations of the heaven and earth, the alteration of the night and day. There are indeed signs for people of understanding. In the Quran, Allah guides us that the night is for sleep. We should not be staying up too late, otherwise we will be too tired for school and to wake up for Fajr prayer. That's in Surah An-Nabba. We created sleeping so you can rest. Wait, so does that mean I have to even say Alhamdulillah when I get to sleep at night? Why should I say Alhamdulillah when I sleep at night? That's good, yes, Alhamdulillah so that we can show gratitude to Allah. But why else are we grateful for sleep at night? Because then we get our body rest, good. So we don't have to be tired when we wake up, good. I'm too exactly, so we don't go, oh, I'm too tired. So Alhamdulillah for sleep. So is everyone tonight gonna be going to bed and saying, yay, I'm gonna go to sleep tonight? Be good for mom and dad? I see a lot of people thinking about that one. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, encourages us to go to the mosque. Abu Harira, radilay'annu, said the Prophet, he reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said he who goes to the mosque at dawn or dusk for Salah, Allah prepares a house for him in Jannah for every time they walk to and from the mosque. So remember we guys were talking about the benefit of our feet and Alhamdulillah we need to walk to the masjid. Alhamdulillah, did you know that if you walk to the masjid, that Allah prepares a house for you? Well, during Salah for dawn or dusk. Alhamdulillah. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, understood the beauty and blessing of rain, especially in the dry land of Arabia. The Prophet, peace be upon him, would use this dua when it rains. Allahumma saibun nafya'a. Oh Allah, make it a beneficial rain. Alhamdulillah. So Alhamdulillah, you guys were so great during this program. And Alhamdulillah, I like to always stop and think about everything that I'm grateful for. So today you guys get to make an Alhamdulillah board. Do you guys want to make an Alhamdulillah board? Yeah, so you get to decorate it. Like I said, we have all the stuff. You can write Alhamdulillah and then everything you can think of. Can you guys tell me something you're grateful for? Alhamdulillah for? Your body, I'm going to write body. Alhamdulillah for our body. Alhamdulillah for Allah. Alhamdulillah for the rain. Alhamdulillah for the hospitals and doctors at the hospitals. Alhamdulillah for school, I put school and I'll put fun at school. Guys, masha'Allah. Alhamdulillah for our house. I wrote that. Alhamdulillah for our teachers. Good. All right, I have five more. I need five more. Masha'Allah, I put mom. Good job. Alhamdulillah for our toys. Good. Okay, see someone back there? For food, Alhamdulillah for food. These are great, Masha'Allah. I have one for three more. Alhamdulillah for the earth.