baha’i children’s class ideas.

learning concepts
Baha’u'llah teaches us that when we are sick, we must seek the advice of competent physicians. Prayers are important for healing, but are not sufficient.

activities
story: the children write their own story! ask the children about a time when they paid a visit to a doctor, either because they were sick, or simply for a check-up. help them to describe their visit by asking questions: what season was it? was the doctor in an office building or a house? was the doctor a man or a woman? Did he or she give you medication? A shot? Did you lie on a table, or sit on a chair? then, ask the children to draw a picture of their visit, and to write a few lines below it to tell the story.
game: help the sick, aka learning rescue carries.
drama: Ruhi Book 3A (the old book 5) often has the children performing skits, and this would be a perfect opportunity for one—one child plays the doctor, one plays a parent and another plays the child. they can act out a story told by one of the children during the lesson, or make up a scenario about a visit to the doctor.

reference
Resort ye, in times of sickness, to competent physicians; We have not set aside the use of material means, rather have We confirmed it through this Pen, which God hath made to be the Dawning-place of His shining and glorious Cause. (Baha’u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 113)

experience
Nov. 10, 2007: 1.5 hours, 7 children, average age 7-8. Great class! There is a lot to be said for team efforts. The class started with beautiful prayers—which the children love and vie with each other to say (!)—and continued with songs in which everyone joined in. We had four Haitian children (all related), so one of the songs we sang was “O God, Guide Me” in Haitian Creole, which is fun to sing and has a catchy rhythm. All the kids like singing it. Then we continued on with the lesson, which I had read a few times the night before—I still found I needed the sheet in front of me, though, and I still started to waffle on at some points (caught myself before losing the kids’ attention, though). The children had so much to say about visiting the doctor that we had to moderate the conversation a lot. It was really a topic they got into. So much so, in fact, that while we were working on the activity later on, they were so focused that you could hear a pin drop. Part of that, of course, should fall onto the skill of the teacher who animated that part of the class.

The activity itself worked out quite well; since they seemed to have a natural interest in the topic, it was perfectly natural for them to express their own experiences visiting the doctor’s office. We put together a sheet similar to the one provided in the Alaskan Materials for the Furutan lessons, with a quote at the top, an empty space to draw, and a few lines at the bottom to tell the story. We noticed a few things during the activity: the children shared limited materials together (pencils, markers, etc), which is important for them to develop collaboration skills, and, thanks to having three teachers on hand, we were able to give at least a little time to help each of them bring out their ideas and nurture their own creativity. We focused on getting some of the younger children to practice their handwriting skills, and allowed them to finish by colouring their drawings.

learning concepts
The best way to attain nearness to God is to serve Him; we can do this by serving humanity. We should serve everyone, without considering their race, nationality, religion, status, or sex.

activities
projects: The children can be encouraged to take on a service project to learn about the importance of serving humanity. Examples could include putting together care packages for disadvantaged families, weeding and/or planting a garden, cleaning the local Baha’i centre or other gathering place, and so on.
story of Lua Getsinger: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asks Lua to take care of a sick man. Ruhi Book 3, Lesson 5.
song: “Look At Me, Follow Me”.
drama/skits: The children can act out different scenarios of service, including the story of Lua Getsinger (without attempting to portray ‘Abdu’l-Baha, of course).
game: “Help the Sick”. one child pretends to be sick, while two others clasp their hands to form a chair and carry the “sick” child over to the “health center”. children can be taught various rescue carries in this way. Ruhi Book 3, Lesson 5.
drawing: “Tending the Garden”. Children can either colour a black-and-white drawing of someone tending a garden, or draw themselves tending a garden. The teachers may accompany this drawing with the quote of ‘Abdu’l-Baha given below.

reading/prayer for study
“That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.”

reference
That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. (Baha’u'llah, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p.250)

“To one who visited in Haifa, ‘Abdu’l-Baha said substantially, in likening the Cause of God to a Garden: ‘At the gate of the garden some stand and look within, but do not care to enter. Others step inside, behold its beauty, but do not penetrate far. Still others encircle this garden inhaling the fragrance of the flowers, having enjoyed its full beauty, pass out again by the same gate. But there are always some who enter and, becoming intoxicated with the splendor of what they behold, remain for life to tend the garden’.” (“The Garden of the Heart”, a compilation by Frances Esty)

experience
August 4, 2007: ~2 hours, 2 children, average age 8.
With a little maternal help (thanks mom!) we weeded the garden inside the patio at the Baha’i Centre and planted a beautiful row of geraniums there. To give a little bit of context, we looked at a photo of the terraces at the Baha’i World Centre beforehand and explained how the Baha’is had created the beautiful gardens there for the entire world to enjoy.

our garden supplies.

weeding the garden.

mom gives the kids a botany lesson.

our kids with a stubborn root they helped dig up.

after weeding and planting.

August 16, 2007: ~1 hour, 4 children, average age 6-7. Outreach class. Our last outdoor outreach class during the two-week pilot phase. With a week and a half’s worth of experience with these children under our belt, we were able to manage the class better than before. We used lots of movement-based activities to accommodate the uppity ones; they all enjoyed learning the “rescue carry” maneuver during the game. The entire class was basically taken straight from Lesson 5 of Ruhi Book 3, including the song (“Look At Me, Follow Me”), the quote, and the story. I think the children liked it, although there was an incident where I had to physically restrain one of the children while telling the story to avoid allowing him to fight with others. I took him aside afterwards, before we played the games, and told him firmly that he was welcome to stay in the class as long as he cooperated in the activities and respected the other children in the class—meaning no more fighting. It seems to have helped, even though we still had to monitor him very closely to curb any further outbursts.

August 18, 2007: 1.5 hours, 8 children, average age 8. Our last regular children’s class before school starts again! We had five of our usual kids and three cousins, and the group dynamic was great—although there was a little too much between-cousins tousling for the spiritual atmosphere of the children’s class. After two weeks of daily outreach classes, though, I had gotten used to playing kindergarten cop, so it was manageable. Most of the children said prayers, after which we memorized “O God, guide me” for the sake of our new students (and to refresh the memory of the kids who hadn’t been around during the summer) and then sang the same prayer in Haitian Creole (since several of our children come from Haitian families). We used the “step game” to help memorize the quote, but we noticed a couple of problems with it: 1) the game doesn’t work so well when there are lots of children (say, eight or more) in a line; 2) the game doesn’t work so well when the children can’t read well. We may adapt it for use with this class, which typically takes place indoors rather than outdoors and has fewer high-energy children than the outreach class. One nice thing is that we involved the children in snack time more than usual; for example, one set out a plate of cookies and poured juice for the others, while another helped wash dishes afterwards, and others helped to put away the colouring materials before we went outside for the end of class. The child who washed dishes—usually a rather distracted child—even thanked us for letting him serve in that way. nice :)

learning concepts
Our love should be like the rays of the sun: we should love everyone, even those who mistreat us.

activities
story: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the unkind man, Ruhi Book 3, pp.45-46. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá shows love to a man who reviles and curses him for twenty-four years.
handprint flowers: trace your hand and turn it into a flower! a lily, to be precise.
rose tag: played much like freeze tag, except that when a player is tagged, he/she must sit down; a player must untag them by kneeling, touching the ground and saying (planting) “the rose of love”. helps the related quote (see below) to sink in.

reading/prayer for study
In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love.

reference
O FRIEND! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold. Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship with the ungodly.
(Hidden Words of Bahá’u'lláh, Arabic, No.3)

experience
May 13, 2006: ~1.5 hours, 2 children, average age 6. Mother’s day. The class started late, but we managed to hit on most of the main activities. We practiced and sang prayers with our two participants: “Blessed is the Spot” and “Say God Sufficeth”. We read the story of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the unkind man and had a good conversation about love and gratitude, which segued very well into the handprint flowers – the children’s Mother’s Day gift. Gotta go – more soon.

August 15, 2007: ~1 hour, 3 children, average age 8. Outreach class. We began with a new format for this class, to accommodate our group’s high energy level: colouring first to calm the kids down. So far, it seems to work like a charm – it may take a few minutes to convince some of them to colour instead of playing games, but once they’re convinced, they’ll be able to concentrate enough to say prayers together. We also created a new movement-based game for this lesson, called “rose tag”; it’s explained above.

learning concepts

God loves justice. Justice means that we must respect the rights of every human being and make sure we do not take away from anyone what they deserve.

activities

story: pp. 43-44, Ruhi Book 3: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the stagecoach.
games: we often play games as examples of justice… is it just to break the rules? how can we ensure that we can be just while we play games?

reference

Tread ye the path of justice, for this, verily, is the straight path. (Gleanings, p.250)  

The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes. (Hidden Words, No.2, Arabic)  

“The light of men is Justice,” He moreover states, “Quench it not with the contrary winds of oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men.” “No radiance,” He declares, “can compare with that of justice. The organization of the world and the tranquillity of mankind depend upon it.” (quoted in Advent of Divine Justice, p.28)

experience

May 6, 2006: ~2 hours, 6 children, average age 6-7. The class went well. I was able to consult with the children to see what sort of games we could play, and we ended up playing a game called "tic-tac-toe" which is basically a variant of "hot potato" – we passed a ball around in a circle while one child repeated "tic, tac, tic, tac…" and whoever was holding the ball when he/she said "toe" would have to leave the circle and replace him/her counting. The kids loved it.

August 9, 2007: ~1 hours, 4 children, average age 8. Outreach class. We basically took this class straight out of Ruhi Book 3 with very few modifications, and it went alright. The boys in our class, including one who seems to have something similar to ADHD, had some trouble staying still—and hence participating—so it wasn’t perfect. To accomodate, we introduced a new type of movement-based activity to help them have the patience to memorize quotes and prayers: the "step game", in which children stand in a line and slowly advance one step at a time, each saying one word of a quote in sequence when they step ahead, continuing until they cross a finish line. We used bristol board to write out quotes and prayers in large print so that they can easily be seen from a distance; the kids love this game, and always want to take turns holding the bristol board for the others. We’ll be using this game a lot in future.

starting the step game.

let’s go!

sharing towel space (from Ruhi Bk 3).

learning concepts
Just as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá protected the Bahá’ís after Bahá’u'lláh’s Ascension, and as Shoghi Effendi did the same after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away, The Universal House of Justice was formed after the passing of Shoghi Effendi to protect and to serve as the head of the Bahá’í Faith. The Universal House of Justice, consists of nine people who look after the affairs of the Bahá’í Faith. They do this important work from their Seat on Mount Carmel, in Haifa, Israel. Bahá’u'lláh told us that the Universal House of Justice would be infallibly guided by God; we can say that obedience to the Universal House of Justice is like obedience to God and to Bahá’u'lláh.

activities
drawing: Colouring page—The Seat of the Universal House of Justice on Mount Carmel.
covenant maze: Treading the Path of the Covenant. Create a maze (e.g.: covenant maze / labyrinthe de l’alliance) with four “rooms”: one for each of the Universal House of Justice, Shoghi Effendi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Bahá’u'lláh. Children begin the maze at one end and follow it to the other end, going through each “room” in order according to the successive Heads of the Baha’i Faith. This illustrates the Covenant of Bahá’u'lláh.

reading/prayer for study

reference
The institution of the House of Justice consists of elected councils which operate at the local, national and international levels of society. Bahá’u’lláh ordains both the Universal House of Justice and the Local Houses of Justice in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His Will and Testament, provides for the Secondary (National or Regional) Houses of Justice and outlines the method to be pursued for the election of the Universal House of Justice.
(Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Note 49)

This passage, now written by the Pen of Glory, is accounted as part of the Most Holy Book: The men of God’s House of Justice have been charged with the affairs of the people. They, in truth, are the Trustees of God among His servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries.
O people of God! That which traineth the world is Justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment. These two pillars are the sources of life to the world. Inasmuch as for each day there is a new problem and for every problem an expedient solution, such affairs should be referred to the House of Justice that the members thereof may act according to the needs and requirements of the time. They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all to be obedient unto them. All matters of State should be referred to the House of Justice, but acts of worship must be observed according to that which God hath revealed in His Book.
(Bahá’u'lláh, Ishráqát — 8th Ishráq)

experience
June 23, 2007: 1.5 hours, 4 children, average age 7. Not bad for a class held right after coming back from a week-long road trip across the United States. All told, the lesson itself was what took the most time; one of the difficulties we ran into was getting the kids to be able to pronounce “Universal House of Justice”. We spent the past few lessons going over some of the Central Figures of the Baha’i Faith (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi) so this class was part review: what were the four main things we learned about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá? what were the two main things we learned about Shoghi Effendi? Then we asked: what did they both have in common? Answer: they protected the Baha’i Faith after the passing of the One whom they succeeded. That’s how the Universal House of Justice fits in. We brought a picture book with photos of the Arc on Mount Carmel, and explained the basics of what the Universal House of Justice is and what it does. As many times before, we also shared pilgrimage stories with the children—they always seem to have lots of questions when we do that, and since we know our own pilgrimage stories very well (we were there!) it’s not too difficult to tell.

learning concepts
Shoghi Effendi was the grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, who appointed him as the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith in His Will and Testament. Shoghi Effendi worked very hard throughout his life, translating many of the Baha’i Writings into English, designing and building the gardens around the Baha’i Holy Places in Haifa and Akka, and administering the affairs of the Faith until his death in 1957. We owe Shoghi Effendi a great debt of gratitude for the many great things he did.

activities
story: Explain the story of Shoghi Effendi’s life: his childhood and youth, his appointment as the Guardian, his life and achievements during the Guardianship. It might help to have a few pictures of Shoghi Effendi, along with photos of the Gardens at Bahji and surrounding the Shrine of the Bab.
games: Directions or Blind man. ‘Directions’ is similar to Blind Man but without the blindfold. One (or more) children stand at a point in the room (say, the middle) and the rest stand at the wall. The children along the wall take turns calling out directions such as “two paces north” or “three steps west”, etc., guiding the children in the middle to an objective (such as a piece of furniture).
drawing: Maps. Shoghi Effendi surrounded himself with maps; they helped him understand people, where they were and what they did. Ask the children to draw a map of their surroundings, including where they are right now (i.e. location of the neighbourhood children’s class), along with other important landmarks such as their house, the post office, their school, etc.

reading/prayer for study
Review from previous classes.

reference

experience
June 9, 2007: 1.5 hours, 8 children, average age 7-8. A simple, effective class; could have been better, but we did well with what we had. I wasn’t too worried about this class because the lesson was very straightforward: share the story of Shoghi Effendi. We reviewed the lesson on ‘Abdu’l-Baha before starting and launched straight into Shoghi Effendi’s story afterwards. We had examples of books he had translated (The Dawn-Breakers) or written (God Passes By) and showed the children; I had also prepared photos of the Shrines and the gardens surrounding them, but I forgot them at home (doh). We had the usual issues with discipline but were able to handle them satisfactorily and had more than enough material to last for the entire class. Shortening the class to one and a half hours has certainly given us a lot of breathing room; it’s not a lot of time to get concepts across, but we avoid a lot of breakdowns since the children’s patience and concentration naturally seems to dissipate after an hour and a half. Oh well.

learning concepts
‘Abdu’l-Bahá is a very special person: He is the Centre of Bahá’u'lláh’s Covenant, the unerring Interpreter of His Writings, and the Perfect Exemplar of His Teachings. He was given many titles during His lifetime, including “The Master”; the one He preferred and took for Himself, however, was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which means “Servant of Bahá”—Servant of Bahá’u'lláh.

activities
story: pick some of the children’s favourite stories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Good examples: crystal water, the expensive coat, the unkind man, etc.
song: Look At Me, Follow Me.
written: What Would ‘Abdu’l-Baha Do? (Version française: Que ferait ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?) A simple exercise that helps children reflect on some of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s character qualities.

reading/prayer for study
My name is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. My qualification is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. My reality is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. My praise is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Thraldom to the Blessed Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the human race my perpetual religion . . . No name, no title, no mention, no commendation have I, nor will ever have, except ‘Abdu’l-Baha. This is my longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory. (quoted in World Order of Baha’u'llah, p. 139)

reference
Bahá’u'lláh describes His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“O Thou Who art the apple of Mine eye!”
Bahá’u'lláh, in His own handwriting, thus addresses ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
“My glory, the ocean of My loving-kindness, the sun of My bounty, the heaven of My mercy rest upon Thee. We pray God to illumine the world through Thy knowledge and wisdom, to ordain for Thee that which will gladden Thine heart and impart consolation to Thine eyes.”
“The glory of God rest upon Thee,” He writes in another Tablet, “and upon whosoever serveth Thee and circleth around Thee. Woe, great woe, betide him that opposeth and injureth Thee. Well is it with him that sweareth fealty to Thee; the fire of hell torment him who is Thine enemy.”
“We have made Thee a shelter for all mankind,” He, in yet another Tablet, affirms, “a shield unto all who are in heaven and on earth, a stronghold for whosoever hath believed in God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing. God grant that through Thee He may protect them, may enrich and sustain them, that He may inspire Thee with that which shall be a wellspring of wealth unto all created things, an ocean of bounty unto all men, and the dayspring of mercy unto all peoples.”

experience
May 26, 2006: 1.5 hours, 5 children, average age 6-7. Despite procrastinating (!!!) on this lesson up til pretty much the last moment and a rather hasty blitz of last-minute preparation, the content of this lesson turned out rather well. We had a whole set of materials available about ‘Abdu’l-Baha, created by someone (locally?) a few years back for the commemoration of His visit to Montreal in 1912. Very nice materials, including stories and an fill-in-the-blanks exercise sheet—I’ll post it here if I can get permission. We also supplemented these materials with a picture sheet called “What Would ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Do?”, so the kids had plenty to do. (N.B. La version francophone de cet exercise est disponible, titrée Que ferait ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?)

The lesson revolved around four important points about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—points that everybody has to know about Him:

1. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Centre of the Covenant of Bahá’u'lláh.
2. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Servant of Bahá.
3. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Perfect Exemplar of Bahá’u'lláh’s Teachings. (The “What Would ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Do?” sheet tied in with this.)
4. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the unerring Interpreter of Baha’u'lláh’s Words.

We discussed these until everyone got it; afterwards, these same points were repeated and illustrated in the materials used—the children cut out the illustrations (very nicely, too) and pasted them onto colouring paper for effect.

No big complaints about this class. The only place where we had a bit of a hiccup was that the fill-in-the-blanks exercise we used asked questions that we hadn’t covered in class, so we had to do tell some extra stories during that portion of the class so everyone could get it.

Also, it was impressive listening to the questions asked by the kids during the lesson. Some of them, rightly so, had (and still have) quite a difficult time understanding why someone would ever have wanted to put Baha’u'llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha—who were such loving and kind and gentle people—in prison and treat them so badly. We told them what we knew: that certain people in power saw that everyone loved and followed Baha’u'llah, and feared that they would lose their own influence over those people. So, thinking to get rid of that threat to their continued influence, they persecuted and imprisoned Baha’u'llah and His family. These aren’t easy questions to answer, but the fact that the children are asking them shows that there is a real love for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Bahá’u'lláh growing in their hearts, and that’s so good to see.

learning concepts
God wants each and every one of us to be happy. We must always look for ways to serve others and to bring them happiness and joy. To make this happen, we should not only wish for others what we wish for ourselves, we should wish even better things for them.

activities
story: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the expensive coat. Ruhi Book 3, p.57. Illustrates how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was always thinking of others, and how he preferred to help his fellows rather than indulge himself.
song: “Prefer Your Brother”, Ruhi Book 3, p.56.
craft: Greeting card w/ pressed flowers. Read up on quick flower pressing [more ideas]; a microwave will speed up drying time and, if the craft is well prepared, should allow the children to add the flowers to a greeting card to be given to someone special.

reading/prayer for study
Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself. (Bahá’u'lláh)

reference

experience

learning concepts
A person who is humble before God realizes the greatness of God and his own smallness. He gives himself up entirely to God’s Will. When we give our will over to His, God fills our hearts with joy.
One way we can show humility is to serve others. When we do things for others in a spirit of service, this is like worshipping God.

activities
story: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the “crystal water”: Ruhi Book 3, p.55
song: Be Like the Earth, Ruhi Book 3, p.54
drama/skits: Act out situations that show humility / lack of humility. Discuss the difference with the children. (need more details here… need to flesh this out. we may not actually do this this time.)
drawing: Picture 8 from Ruhi Book 3. Also: have the children draw a situation that demonstrates them performing an act in a spirit of service (ie. doing a chore, helping a parent/sibling…) Have the children talk about their drawing.

reading/prayer for study
O Son of Man! Humble thyself before Me, that I may graciously visit thee. (Bahá’u'lláh)

reference
“Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew upon the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility.” (Bahá’u'lláh)

Question. — “Should Prayer take the form of action?”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá. — “Yes: In the Bahá’í Cause arts, sciences and all crafts are (counted as) worship. The man who makes a piece of notepaper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the needs of the people. Service is prayer. A physician ministering to the sick, gently, tenderly, free from prejudice and believing in the solidarity of the human race, he is giving praise.”
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 176-7)

It is enjoined upon every one of you to engage in some form of occupation, such as crafts, trades and the like. We have graciously exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship unto God, the True One. Ponder ye in your hearts the grace and the blessings of God and render thanks unto Him at eventide and at dawn. Waste not your time in idleness and sloth. Occupy yourselves with that which profiteth yourselves and others. Thus hath it been decreed in this Tablet from whose horizon the day-star of wisdom and utterance shineth resplendent.

The most despised of men in the sight of God are those who sit idly and beg. Hold ye fast unto the cord of material means, placing your whole trust in God, the Provider of all means. When anyone occupieth himself in a craft or trade, such occupation itself is regarded in the estimation of God as an act of worship; and this is naught but a token of His infinite and all-pervasive bounty.
(Bahá’u'lláh, “Bishárát” ["Glad-Tidings"], Tablets of Bahá’u'lláh, p. 26)

experience

learning concepts
Naw-rúz is a celebration of the Bahá’í New Year.
Naw-rúz is the end of the month of fasting and the first day of the month of Bahá (Splendour). Note: Bahá’í children and junior youth (i.e. below the age of 15) do not fast.
Naw-rúz happens on the day of the spring equinox, which is usually March 21.

activities
naw-rúz cookie workshop: everybody loves cookies!
naw-rúz bags: to hold naw-ruz gifts, etc. take regular brown paper bags and have the children decorate them with paint, glitter glue, stickers, or whatever else.
naw-rúz tags: cut out paper tags and punch holes in them, thread string through the hole. tie knot to secure string, and then attach to naw-rúz cards or gifts.
springtime: make the connection to the first day of spring, renewal…

reference
Naw-rúz Flash presentation

“Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast ordained Naw-Rúz as a festival unto those who have observed the fast for love of Thee and abstained from all that is abhorrent unto Thee. Grant, O my Lord, that the fire of Thy love and the heat produced by the fast enjoined by Thee may inflame them in Thy Cause, and make them to be occupied with Thy praise and with remembrance of Thee.”
(Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, p.339)

“O Pen of the Most High! Say: O people of the world! We have enjoined upon you fasting during a brief period, and at its close have designated for you Naw-Rúz as a feast.”
(Bahá’u’lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para.16)

An equinox in astronomy is the moment when the Sun passes over the equator. The event occurs twice a year, around March 21 and September 23. The word equinox derives from the Latin word for equal night. The equinoxes are the two days each year when the middle of the Sun is an equal amount of time above and below the horizon for every location on Earth.
(Wikipedia: Equinox)

experience
March 18, 2006: 2 hours, 6 children, average age 6-7. Given the extra preparation due to preparing this lesson in advance, the class went extraordinarily well and was much more organized. There was no sense of last-minute panic and we (the teachers) were far more relaxed and confident – even though we were both tired from fasting for the past 17 days. I think we are both showing signs of wear though – it was harder than usual to put up with difficult behaviour from the children. They were merciful and good though, and spared us any major tantrums.

The activity was quite well-liked. After last week’s class, we decided to work on a few things: preparing the materials in advance, making an example prior to the class so the children know what the craft will look like, and explaining the purpose of the craft. We got together a half-hour before the children arrived and put together a couple of pretty Naw-rúz tags out of construction paper, string and ribbons, using scissors and heart- and butterfly-shaped hole punchers from the dollar store. Photos to come soon. The children found the craft easy to do and seemed to enjoy it. At least, it went a lot better than last week’s craft (preparation is the key). Making the tags took up a good half-hour, and some of kids chose to make and decorate more than one.

We started with prayers, and we read and sung “Blessed is the spot”. We had a bit of talking to lead up to the activity regarding Naw-rúz, spring, the month of Fasting, and the Bahá’í calendar. We mentioned that Bahá’ís often give each other gifts at Naw-rúz, much like Ayyám-i-Há. They related to the idea of gift-giving and were quite quick to come up with ways to make a gift special (and, of course, one of those ways was to add a nice tag with the recipient’s name on it – hence the craft!) We ended the day with drawing springtime scenes in their scrapbooks – as well as pasting the text of “Blessed is the spot” into the books.

March 24, 2007: 2 hours, 7 children, average age 7. We had a blast with this class—and it was mainly thanks to the help of certain blessed souls who were ready and willing to give up a day or more’s worth of time and effort in preparation to help make it a reality. The day started with prayers; like last year, we sang “Blessed is the Spot”. The kids’ conduct during prayers has greatly improved since we started focusing our efforts on that part of the class. Our main activity for the day was baking cookies—what better way to make Naw-ruz a special event? The children could scarcely believe their ears when we told them; they thought we were joking. But it was not so!

I asked my mom (of course) to come help us bake cookies. She prepared individual bags of three kinds of dough for each of the children, brought cookie cutters, rollers, trays, flour, decorations (i.e. sprinkles, different colours of icing, etc.) and so on. The children spent over an hour rolling the dough, cutting out different shapes (sometimes making up their own), and, once they were fully baked and cooled, decorating their munchable masterpieces. They took home bags of cookies to share with their parents, cousins and siblings. No joke—they were genuinely proud to have made their own cookies and were looking forward to sharing with their families. Some of the children had been so industrious in making the cookies, and had amassed such a stack of them, that they started sharing their cookies with anybody they could find. Here are some photos of the whole process:

Room for improvement? Well, we were actually expecting some parents to show up and share the afternoon with the children; lack of logistical coordination meant that didn’t happen. We didn’t spend nearly enough time reminding the parents that they were invited to stay; written invitations (instead of the verbal invites) would have helped tremendously. I had expected to give a more adult-centred presentation of Naw-Ruz, which subsequently bombed—meaning we didn’t have much of a “lesson” per se; once I noticed that the kids were getting bored of my waffling, we jumped right into washing our hands and getting ready for the cookies (which was the right thing to do, I suppose).

Kudos? Obviously, to Mom for basically planning the entire thing in about a day; she had even planned more (including making decorative bags) but we ran out of time! Many thanks go to Dad for taking photos. Also, big ups are owed to those who helped keep the class under control during transition time. One thing that was pulled off remarkably well this time was discipline. We’ve had some discipline problems with one child in particular, and it’s really taken all of us to handle him and run the rest of the class smoothly… This time around, it really seemed to work well. Not only did we avoid a tantrum (which had happened the previous week, when there were only two teachers available), we actually applied some of the lessons of Ruhi Book 3 and gave preference to the children who were showing patience and politeness. We had to do it several times, but it worked! I’m sure we’ll have to repeat the exercise in coming weeks, but it was a genuine thrill to know that yes, when you put your heads together, the lessons we’ve learned in our training actually do bear fruit!