Why are my fingertips special?
Investigator ★★: six A4 pages in black and white. Page 1 is for you; you can skip printing it. Page 2 is your child's cover, to colour in. In the print window, choose A4 and turn off “headers and footers”.
Signs Lab · Case 06 · My body
For grown-ups · read this first
Why are my fingertips special?
Children take their own fingerprints with pencil and tape, compare them with their family's, and solve a mystery print. Then they read the ayat that mention our fingertips.
- Time
- About 30 minutes
- Sign in creation
- Fingerprints: a pattern on every fingertip, different for every person
- Read together
- Al-Qiyamah 75:3–4
You will need (things at home)
- A soft pencil and some paper
- Clear sticky tape
- A magnifying glass, if you have one
- A shiny spoon or plastic cup, and a little cocoa powder or flour
Two levels
Explorer ★ draws, circles, counts and says (often ages 4–7). Investigator ★★ predicts, tests, records and explains (often ages 7–11). Choose by your child, not by age. Siblings can do the same case at different levels.
The science in plain words
The skin on our fingertips has raised ridges that make patterns, usually grouped into loops, whorls and arches. The patterns form before we are born and stay the same as we grow. No two people have been found with the same fingerprints, not even identical twins, which is why fingerprints are used to identify people.
- • Fingerprint ridge patterns form before birth and stay the same throughout life. Source: Britannica, “fingerprint”.
- • Identical twins have different fingerprints. Source: Britannica, “fingerprint”. [still being checked]
We share creation as signs to ponder, not as proof. If your child asks something about the religion that you are unsure of, ask a recognised asatizah together.
Listen for
- Loops look like a lasso, whorls like a target, arches like a little hill.
- Surprise that brothers and sisters have different prints.
- Questions about twins: their prints are different too.
- Thankfulness for hands: let your child list what their hands can do.
Another day
- Make a family fingerprint tree with everyone's thumbprints as leaves.
- Look for other patterns Allah made: the veins of a leaf, the spiral of a shell.
- Same verse, new me: come back to this case in a year and see if your prints have changed.
Keep going in the IqraSaurus tools
Tadabbur
Go deeper into 75:3 as a family
Quran Investigators
Classes and booklets for your child
Signs Lab · Case 06 · My body
Quran Investigators · Signs Lab
Case 06
Why are my fingertips special?
Colour me in
Clues to look out for
Hands making dua
Pen
Investigator ★★: ____________________
Case opened on: ________________
Signs Lab · Case 06 · My body · Investigator ★★
- 1 Inspire
- 2 Investigate
- 3 Integrate
- 4 Impart
Name: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Why are my fingertips special?
Try this first
Wow, why?
Look very closely at the tip of your finger, with a magnifying glass if you have one. Can you see tiny lines going round and round? Now look at a grown-up's finger. Is the pattern the same?
☐ We tried it!
Read it together · Surah Al-Qiyamah 75:3–4
أَيَحْسَبُ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ أَلَّن نَّجْمَعَ عِظَامَهُۥ
Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones? (75:3)
بَلَىٰ قَٰدِرِينَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّسَوِّىَ بَنَانَهُۥ
Nay, We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers. (75:4)
English: Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Read the ayat together. Listen for which tiny part of us is mentioned.
My wonder question
Draw it
Signs Lab · Case 06 · My body · Investigator ★★
- 1 Inspire
- 2 Investigate
- 3 Integrate
- 4 Impart
Name: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Investigate
What do I notice? How do I know?
ObservePrint detectives
- Rub a soft pencil on paper to make a dark patch.
- Press a fingertip onto it, then onto a piece of sticky tape.
- Stick the tape onto this page.
⚠ Grown-up help: Wash hands afterwards.
Print all five fingers of one hand. Is each one a loop, a whorl or an arch?
| Finger | My print | Loop, whorl or arch? |
|---|---|---|
| Thumb | ||
| Pointing | ||
| Middle | ||
| Ring | ||
| Little |
CompareA stamp or a fingerprint?
A rubber stamp makes the same picture every time. Compare your prints with two people in your family.
| Person | Pattern | Same as mine? |
|---|---|---|
Sketch what you noticed
Signs Lab · Case 06 · My body · Investigator ★★
- 1 Inspire
- 2 Investigate
- 3 Integrate
- 4 Impart
Name: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Investigate
What do I notice? How do I know?
TestThe mystery print
- A grown-up secretly presses one family member's finger on a shiny spoon or cup.
- Sprinkle a little cocoa or flour on it and gently blow the extra away.
- Compare it with your family's prints. Whose is it?
⚠ Grown-up help: Use a metal spoon or a plastic cup, not glass, with young children.
Predict whose print it is. Then use the clues to check.
| Clue | What I saw |
|---|---|
| Pattern: loop, whorl or arch? | |
| Where lines split or stop | |
| My answer: whose print? |
Draw your test
What I found
Signs Lab · Case 06 · My body · Investigator ★★
- 1 Inspire
- 2 Investigate
- 3 Integrate
- 4 Impart
Name: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Integrate
What does this show me about Allah? What should I do?
Which name of Allah does this remind you of? Circle one.
These ayat mention even our fingertips. Why might Allah point to such a tiny part of us?
Draw it too, if you like
My plan
When? ____________________ Where? ____________________
Impart
Who can I tell or show?
Teach someone to find loops, whorls and arches in their own prints.
I told:
They signed:
Case closed! Same verse, new me: come back to this case one day and see what you notice now.