Aya & Yusuf: Nature's Inventions
Baba shows Aya and Yusuf how birds, burrs and beavers inspired planes, Velcro and dams. An animated episode about learning from nature, for ages 4 to 9.
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What is Aya & Yusuf: Nature's Inventions about?
Aya & Yusuf: Nature's Inventions is an Islamic animated video for children aged 4 to 9 in which Baba takes the twins Aya and Yusuf around the farm to find things in nature that inspired people's inventions.
It starts with one of Baba's old engineering books. Its diagrams show how aeroplanes are built, and Baba explains that the aeroplane was inspired by birds: people watched them fly and wanted to join them in the sky. The plane's nose is shaped like a bird's beak so it can cut through the air, and it has wings just like a bird.
Outside, the family finds more. The little thorny burrs of the burdock plant stick to fingers and shirts because they have tiny hooks, and someone who noticed that came up with Velcro. The duck has webbed feet. A beaver's dam slows the river down, and people build dams too, to stop floods, store water and fish and sail on the lakes they make. Soon the twins have ideas of their own: perhaps a grapevine in the rain inspired the umbrella, and fireflies the torch. Then they make their own inventions, raising the water in a vase with pebbles and building a tiny dam.
Baba's lesson is that one way to gain knowledge, scientific or spiritual, is to watch nature carefully, because there is inspiration in every creation. The episode ends with the twins' bedtime prayer and a verse of the Qur'an on screen: Allah taught man what he did not know.
What your child will learn
- Allah's creation is full of ideas for those who look carefully.
- The aeroplane, Velcro and the dam were all inspired by things in nature.
- Watching nature closely is one way to gain knowledge.
- Allah taught people what they did not know.
Where this video comes from
- Surah Al-Alaq 96:5: He taught man that which he did not know. The episode ends with this verse on screen.
Talk about it afterwards
- What did the aeroplane copy from the birds?
- How did the burdock burrs give someone the idea for Velcro?
- Why do people build dams, like the beavers?
- What could you invent after watching an animal or a plant?
Words to know
- Baba
- Dad.
Frequently asked questions
What age is Aya & Yusuf: Nature's Inventions suitable for?
Children aged 4 to 9. It is a gentle family cartoon, set on the twins' farm, with a bedtime prayer at the end.
What does Aya & Yusuf: Nature's Inventions teach children?
That many inventions, like aeroplanes, Velcro and dams, came from people watching Allah's creation carefully, and that children can learn and invent in the same way.
How long is Aya & Yusuf: Nature's Inventions?
About 8 minutes.
