In a religious context, Muslims do not draw human figures or animals because the Qur'an teaches that only God should be worshipped.  Secular islamic artwork does include human and animal images -- this is strictly kept to secular (non-religious) decoration, as anything that might be mistaken as idols or idolatry is prohibited.

In religious Islamic art, geometric designs, floral designs and calligraphy are all commonly used.  The beautiful geometric designs create the impression of unending repetition, which is believed by some to encourage the contemplation of the infinite nature of God.

I've made a very simple example of a geometric design for young children to play with.  There are 8 blue diamonds, 8 red diamonds and 8 yellow squares, plus a white base for the kids to glue the pieces onto.  The red and blue diamonds are interchangeable so the children can get creative.

I used primary colors so that younger children can get some colors practice while they do the craft.

You can substitute the paper diamonds and squares with craft foam if you want to use a different craft material with the kids.

Older children (Age 8+) can practice making their own geographic designs instead of using the template I've made.  Just cut out numerous squares, triangles and diamond shapes in different colors and let the children arrange them on a sheet however they see fit.  Here are some examples of geometric art that Tammy (one of our viewers) designed using her own shapes:

 (geo1)   (geo2)   (geo3)
 

Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Base Template   (B&W only) 

Diamonds & Squares     (color)   or   (B&W) 

Print friendly version of these instructions