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Fatwa CenterAppropriate activities, materials, or games for small children
Question
I need a little advice - I have now a little son of 16 months. What kind of activities or games except learning the Holy Qur'an might be allowed for the children in the age of 2 years and higher? Is drawing, origami or educational videos alphabet in a playful way Haram? Thank You.
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
First of all we ask Allah the almighty to raise your child in a good way and let him grow well.
Second, we believe that there is no harm in your possessing educational videos like those that teach the alphabet, the pillars of Islam and similar beneficial things provided these videos do not contain forbidden things like music.
Besides, you can bring to your children games even if they contain pictures of living beings or three dimensional pictures. The evidence for this is the Hadith reported by Aisha that she used to have toys shaped like small girls and horses with wings. This type of toys is an exception from the generally forbidden three dimensional pictures and statues.
But one should limit oneself to that which Shariah allows. He/She should not hang pictures of living beings even if they are children's drawings. Moreover, the toys that have music in them are not lawful because they reduce the shyness of the child and make him/her used to listening to something unlawful. Also, any toy that contains dissolute pictures like those of naked or semi-naked women is forbidden.
We draw the attention of the dear questioner to the fact that direct tutoring at this age might give better results than using video films. Thus, the parents should teach the child to take things with the right hand, to fulfill his/her needs in the appropriate way and they can make the child inclined to doing good and avoiding bad by guiding him/her by suitable, step by step teaching.
This is so, because the child in this early age concentrates more on colours and shapes than on the content of video films. He/She might not even understand anything of the message being conveyed in the film.
Finally, know that the child does not tolerate much pressure to learn and too much pressure may later cause him/her to hate learning as he/she grows older.
In brief, one should take in account the age of the child and his/her innate inclinations when preparing any teaching material or technique for him/her.
Allah knows best.
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