Start with bismillah.

Ask: "What is the oldest thing in your home? How long do you think it will last?"

Watch the PBS NewsHour video about the Greenland shark, which can live for hundreds of years.

Now listen to the ayah together in the app, with the translation. Ask: "What two things does Allah say about the Hereafter?"

Each child keeps one wonder question, for example: "What does 'lasting forever' mean?" Younger children can draw theirs.

Find it in the mushaf: Surah Al-A'la is surah 87. Find ayah 17. The key words khayrun wa abqa mean better and more lasting. Even the longest life in this world has an end; the Hereafter does not.

Fact: How do scientists work out the age of a Greenland shark?

Ages 5–8: Long and short. Sort pictures of things by how long they last: a bubble, a flower, a tree, a mountain. What lasts longest of all?

Ages 9–12: Long lives. Find the ages of five long-living creatures (shark, tortoise, tree, clam). Make a timeline. Then write: "The Hereafter lasts longer than all of them."

Finish with: "I found that a Greenland shark can live for about ___ years."

Talk together:

• Why is something that lasts better than something that ends quickly?
• Which name of Allah does this remind you of?
• What good deeds keep giving reward even after we've done them?
• How can thinking about the Hereafter help us make good choices?
• What do you look forward to in Jannah, in sha Allah?

Make a small plan: "This week, I will do one good deed that keeps helping others."

• Do a deed that keeps helping (teach someone, plant a tree, share a book).
• Show someone your long-life timeline.
• Talk about the Hereafter at dinner.
• Next time: the next ayah (87:18) says this message is in the earliest scrolls. Explore it together!

Action: Do one good deed that keeps helping others.