Start with bismillah.

Press a pencil into a ball of play dough to make marks. Ask: "Could someone read your message in a thousand years?"

Watch the short University of Oxford video about decoding some of the earliest writing.

Now listen to the ayah together in the app, with the translation. Ask: "Where else was this message found?"

Each child keeps one wonder question, for example: "What did the earlier scrolls say?" Younger children can draw theirs.

Find it in the mushaf: Surah Al-A'la is surah 87. Find ayah 18. The key words as-suhuf al-ula mean the earliest scrolls. Allah sent the same core message to prophets long before the Quran: purify yourself, remember Allah, and choose the Hereafter.

Fact: How did people write on clay thousands of years ago?

Ages 5–8: Clay message. Write your name in "wedge" marks on play dough with a lolly stick. Let it dry.

Ages 9–12: Message across time. Find out about three ancient ways of writing (clay tablets, papyrus, parchment). Which lasted best?

Finish with: "I found that people wrote on clay by ___."

Talk together:

• What does it show us that the same message came to many prophets?
• Which name of Allah does this remind you of?
• Why does Allah keep sending the same reminder?
• How is the Quran protected in a way earlier scrolls were not?
• What would you like to ask an ustaz or ustazah about earlier scriptures?

Make a small plan: "This week, I will learn the names of five prophets mentioned in the Quran."

• Learn the names of five prophets.
• Show someone your clay message.
• Say "peace be upon him" when you hear a prophet's name.
• Next time: the next ayah (87:19) names whose scrolls these were. Explore it together!

Action: Learn the names of five prophets mentioned in the Quran.