Ramadan is special to StoryTime.

About a few days before Ramadan last year, we tested our first StoryTime prototype. We haven’t named it StoryTime yet. The feedback is promising. Unfortunately, due to some issues, we put on hold the prototype and began developing other activities for StoryTime.

Now a year after that we are launching our new activity, Hijri. It feels special because we finished what we promised ourselves a year ago. We started StoryTime to provide a better screen time activities for (Muslim) kids that are safe and align with Islamic values.

Hijri is an Islamic calendar based on the lunar year. The word Hijri comes from the Arabic word Hijra which means migration. Hijri year starts on the year Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions migrate to Madinah. It marks one of the most important events in Islamic history.

Hijri in StoryTime

In StoryTime, we want to introduce kids to all the important events and days that occurred in Hijri Calendar. And we choose Ramadan (month 9 in Hijri) to start this activity. At the beginning of each new month, we will publish new animations related to that month.

Here are what the kids will experience in Hijri (for Ramadan):

1. 30+ animations and all are interactive

   Kids love to touch the screens. When kids touch the animations, they’ll learn something new.

2. Listen and repeat.

   Because of the responsive nature of StoryTime, we see kids try to say the word back. This helps them learn to speak new words on their own time

3. Print Awareness

   We included a few words that kids can listen to. As they listen, kids can match the words and the sound. This helps them in early reading.

This is just for Ramadan, we will add more animations at the beginning of each month with events related to that particular month. The next update will be Eid. Which will be very exciting for kids!

Teaching Kindness

Ramadan, it’s a month full of blessings. It’s also the month of kindness. We will see people sharing food, donating more and being kind to each other. Because of that, it’s also the best month to teach our kids about kindness.

There are many types of kindness. Kindness to ourselves, to others, to the environment, to our soul and more. All these can be taught to our kids. And we made it fun for them to learn it through StoryTime.

The activity is designed for kids aged 3-6 years old in mind. But we find that the older kids can enjoy it too. We hope you’ll find Hijri and its Ramadan activity helpful for teaching your kids about Ramadan.