When baby girl turned 22 months, my husband and I were boxing up our belongings for a cross-state move, packing for a trip across 3 countries, and juggling our full-time jobs while being full-time caregivers to our daughter. It was exhausting, and it was at this point that we realized our screen-free parenting would soon come to an end.
Hence began our search for screen time that would reinforce both the Arabic language that we are attempting to teach her, as well as the Islamic values that we want to instill in her. As you can imagine, options were limited but enough to give us a small break when we needed it. Because none of the SVOD services that we were subscribed to catered to our criteria, we were compelled to sign up for a YouTube Premium account, since we wanted to avoid exposing her to ads (YouTube is where we found the shows listed below).
If there are any that we may have missed, please share them with us in the comments! We’d love more options to explore.
1. Learn with Zakaria
This animated series is packed with educational content related to the alphabet, colors, shapes, animals, and more. I especially love this series because it’s almost like watching someone present a presentation. It’s not as overstimulating as some other shows, like Omar & Hana.
Preview here.
2. Siraj
This animated series follows the adventures of two siblings, Rashid and Noura, as they learn the Arabic alphabets and the pillars of Islam.
Preview here.
3. Omar & Hana (Arabic)
This animated series follows the every day life of two siblings, Omar and Hana, as they learn to incorporate Islamic values into each action.
Preview here.
4. Iftah ya SimSim
This is the Arabic version of Sesame Street. It gives us the opportunity to introduce baby girl to certain topics on a deeper level, like the the four seasons and space.
Preview here.
5. Sister Gigi
This YouTube channel, which launched just a few weeks ago, is the Islamic-centered version of Ms. Rachel. I love how engaging and interactive it is—we’ve already watched each episode a few times, reviewing our little one’s memorization of the final chapters of the Quran and her understanding of the meanings behind them.
Preview here.
6. Makkah Live
My favorite thing to stream with baby girl is Mecca Live. It has gotten her very familiar with the Ka’ba and has planted a desire within her to visit. It has also given us an additional opportunity to have the Quran playing in our home, it teaches us new duaas, and when we tune into the prayers, baby girl loves to pray along with them.
Preview here.
Thanks for sharing! We need to add a few of these to our rotation.