baha’i children’s class ideas.

learning concepts
All the major religions come from the same divine source.
Bahá’u'lláh urges us to consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.

activities
song: “The Song of the Prophets” by Jack Lenz, on the album We Are Baha’is.
drama/skits: A play about the Oneness of Religion, from Baha’i Education for Children, Book 2, Chapter 9 (pp. 19-24)
stencil craft: print out stencils for the symbols of major religions (e.g.: hinduism, judaism, islam, sikh, christian), cut them out onto heavy paper; also print out a nine-pointed star that can encompass each of the other symbols. Cut out stars of many different colours; the children can use the stencils to paint or draw the different symbols onto the stars. these can be used as decorations on walls or windows, or as part of mobiles.

reading/prayer for study
Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. (Bahá’u'lláh)

reference
Ye are all the rays of one sun; the fruits of one tree; and the leaves of one branch. (Bahá’u'lláh, quoted by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 80)

O people! Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. Thus hath the day-star of His sanction and authority shone forth above the horizon of the decree of God, the Lord of the worlds. (Bahá’u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u'lláh, p. 22)

experience
January 20, 2007: 2 hours, 9 children, average 7 years old. We scheduled this lesson for World Religion Day and had a lot of fun with the stencils mentioned above. We wanted to get the children’s hands in gear in creative ways; amazingly, no one was spotted running with scissors. My only beef with this class was that the lesson content wasn’t strong enough—for example, as we introduced each stencil, we could have had the children guess which religion the symbol represented, and which Manifestation founded that religion… I haven’t been able to find my binder full of lesson plans from the Canadian national curriculum (which have made things so much easier since we started using them—no more last minute brainstorms) and the lesson from Baha’i Education for Children only presents the play, which I didn’t think we could do at the time with the resources we had. So we made up this lesson with the stencils. It went over all right—most of the children seemed to enjoy the artistic activity. One of our Baha’i friends, a regional coordinator for children’s classes, was there and snapped some pictures:

the whole group of us!

one of our shy participants.

hard at work.

Our upcoming class will again touch on the oneness of religion, so there’ll doubtless be more to tell soon. By the way, I’m sorry this post came late—I noticed there was a spike in traffic to this blog just before World Religion Day but I couldn’t get my act together to post our lesson in time :P There’s always next year right?

January 27, 2007: 2 hours, 7 children, average 7 years old. Well this was an interesting class. We wanted to try out the play contained in Baha’i Education for Children. I don’t know about you, but I’m no drama teacher. I suppose it would have been useful to read through Book 3A (aka the old Book 5, “Baha’i Children’s Classes, Grade 2″) before attempting this activity. Where Book 3 relies mainly on games for physical activity, Book 3A includes a lot more drama, acting and role-playing. If I was more of a manual-reading person (rather than the jumping-in type I am) we would have saved a lot of bother this time around. The play is meant to be learned and memorized over a longer period of time (to its credit, there are warnings to this effect at the top of the script); still, we figured we’d start reading and see how things would go. Most of the kids found the text difficult to read, let alone to memorize. For some—especially the younger ones who were only just learning to read—nothing sank in at all. Oops. So after a short period of confusion, we quickly changed tactics and began simplifying the script; a teacher would call out the main points of each child’s speech and have them repeat them out loud. Once the emphasis was off reading, things went a lot smoother.

The result? Well, we haven’t given up on the play yet. We’ll continue working with a simplified script (one of the teachers will be revising it so that it can be more easily understood by the children), and continue rehearsing until we get it. It’s funny—I don’t know who’s doing more learning, the children or the teachers. I certainly feel like I’m getting a crash course in children’s education every time I come to the class.

learning concepts
“Allah’u'abhá” means “God is most glorious”. Bahá’ís use it as a way of greeting each other.
Greeting each other helps each of us feel welcome.

activities
Fruit Salad: Each child picks the name of a fruit, for example apple, orange, banana, etc. Call out two fruits; the children who picked those two fruits switch places. When you call “fruit salad”, everybody switches places.
All My Friends/The West Wind Blows: Similar to the Fruit Salad game, except callouts begin with “All my friends who are…” and then continue with some characteristic that several people share, for example, colour of clothes, first letter of name, eye or hair colour, birthplace, etc. Everyone who shares that characteristic then switches place with the others. Callouts may also begin with “The west wind blows on everyone who…” ALSO: Game-caller is in the middle of the circle and tries to find his place along with everyone else. The person who is left out of the circle then becomes the new game-caller. This variant works best with chairs, and is probably best played with older groups.
Jump-Up: Each child, in turn, jumps up, introduces themselves, and says something about themselves such as a favourite activity, etc. OR: instead of saying something about themselves, they could strike a pose and freeze; they could mime their favourite activity, etc.
Greet & Switch: A chosen child moves across the circle to face another child (preferably someone she doesn’t know very well) and says, “Hello (or Alláh-u-abhá), I’m (…), how are you? It’s good to meet you!” (S)he then takes the place of whoever (s)he was facing, who then takes his or her own turn.

reference
(none this time around – we need these!)

experience
October 14, 2006: ~2.5 hours, 7 children, ages ~6-10. A good class to start off our new year of classes. We had encouraging turnout: 5 of last year’s core group of children attended, plus two more. The class started out slowly as we waited for some of the children to arrive, so we played a number guessing game in the meantime. Maybe not the most original game, but the kids got into it. We started (late) with prayers; they were quite beautiful. About half the children were shy and didn’t want to say prayers; the others did. I noticed it was the usual ones who didn’t want to say prayers. Still struggling to find ways to open up the desire to pray in these kids. Afterwards, we started with one prayer (O God! Guide me…), discussed it and asked what the words meant. We worked on memorizing it, with several children leading in a repeat-after-me style. Once the memorization was done, we opened up with some get-to-know you games; we played a couple of versions of Jump-Up and Greet & Switch. One of the kids, as was his habit last year, became distracted during the games and began to disrupt the class. I think all of us lost some patience with him, which I personally regret. After the games, we took some time to work on our new prayer books – after that was all done, we had snacks and went outside to play more active games. All in all? As I said, not too bad, but we could have done better. We didn’t mention “Allah’u'abha” as a particular Baha’i greeting, which is an important oversight. I think we probably all got panicked because it had been a while since we had done the class, and we weren’t as prepared (spiritually? materially?) as we could have been. It was a nice little jolt starting the class again – stressful, but doable. I still feel very confident about this year’s class and know that, once we get back into the rhythm of the class, things should go just fine.

learning concepts
Baha’u'lláh teaches us to honour our parents and show forth kindliness and charity towards them.
Families are stronger when they are united.

activities

reference
The fruits that best befit the tree of human life are trustworthiness and godliness, truthfulness and sincerity; but greater than all, after recognition of the unity of God, praised and glorified be He, is regard for the rights that are due to one’s parents. This teaching hath been mentioned in all the Books of God, and reaffirmed by the Most Exalted Pen. Consider that which the Merciful Lord hath revealed in the Qur’án, exalted are His words: “Worship ye God, join with Him no peer or likeness; and show forth kindliness and charity towards your parents…” Observe how loving-kindness to one’s parents hath been linked to recognition of the one true God!
(Bahá’u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, Q.106, p.139)

If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual; but if enmity and hatred exist within it, destruction and dispersion are inevitable. How easily, where unity existeth in a given family, the affairs of that family are conducted; what progress the members of that family make, how they prosper in the world. Their concerns are in order, they enjoy comfort and tranquillity, they are secure, their position is assured, they come to be envied by all. Such a family but addeth to its stature and its lasting honor, as day succeedeth day. It is one of the essential teachings of the [Baha’i] Faith that unity should be maintained in the home.
(Quoted in The Family – A Baha’i Perspective, a Statement to The Family As The First Community, a consultation sponsored by the New York NGO Working Group on the Family, p.1)

Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.
(The Báb)

experience

learning concepts
The Festival of Ridván is one of the most important festivals for Bahá’ís; it celebrates Bahá’u'lláh’s declaration to be the Manifestation of God for this age.

activities
drawings to colour: check out this beautiful rose. a map of Bahá’u'lláh’s exiles can also help to explain the significance of Ridván. As well, the presentation on Bahá’u'lláh in Book 4 contains a slide that explains Ridván (see page 9 of the presentation).
stories: Nabil’s story quoted in God Passes By can be used to explain the events in the garden of Ridván; it ties in with the roses.
ridván garden art project: A group of participants in a Norwegian Book 4 study circle put together a miniature ridván garden – complete with an island surrounded by water. children can blow boats made of walnut shells across the water, and learn about the story of Bahá’u'lláh’s declaration.

reference
God Passes By, as mentioned above.

The BBC has a good fact file on Ridván.

This newspaper article on Ridván gives a good introduction, too.

experience
April 22, 2006: ~2 hours, 6 children, average age 6-7. The material we put together was great — but it didn’t last long enough. We started with prayers like usual, then talked briefly about Easter (since last weekend was Easter and many of the children in our class go to Sunday school) — most of the comments were about chocolate instead of Jesus, of course. We explained that Baha’is also have a very important holiday that started on Friday: the festival of Ridván. We explained briefly the meaning of Ridván, and how Bahá’u'lláh sacrificed forty years of His life in prison and exile to bring His message to the world. One of the children made the most amazing and unexpected comment — in trying to make the comparison between Jesus and Bahá’u'lláh, she said “So, they’re like brothers, right?” I live for moments like this.

We read a story about Ridván from God Passes By and then prepared pictures for painting (the rose above, as well as the map and the slide from book 4). The painting was a special treat for the kids, since we usually colour and draw with felt pens, crayons, and coloured pencils. The two main problems we had were a lack of coordination with the parents (i.e. some of the kids were picked up about 15 minutes after the time the class usually ends), and a lack of contingency planning (i.e. having more material ready to go to cover the ‘dead spots’ in between activities). I definitely could have been more on the ball during the week to remedy the first problem — for instance, calling the parents a couple of days in advance to remind them about the class. Also, it’s clear that we could have used more activities as backups in case we went over time. One note – usually we have lots of musical instruments for the kids to play while we sing, and today we didn’t have enough to go around. I think several of the kids lost enthusiasm and got distracted because of that.

learning concepts
respect for the earth, God’s creation.

activities
scavenger hunt: themes of spring, nature, the natural world…

• round, interestingly-shaped, or brightly-coloured rock
• a flower, or a flower-petal
• a bird’s feather (not currently on a bird!)
• a maple leaf (or some other kind of leaf)

three-legged race: children pair up, left leg of one is strapped to the right leg of another
ruhi book 3: the song “God’s Creatures” from Ruhi Book 3 would be perfect for this lesson… (see lyrics)

reference
Conservation of the Earth’s Resources – compilation.

“Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness and of mercy, for Our loving providence hath pervaded all created things, and Our grace encompassed the earth and the heavens.”

“NATURE IN ITS essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God’s Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise.” Bahá’í Writings

“Briefly, it is not only their fellow human beings that the beloved of God must treat with mercy and compassion, rather must they show forth the utmost loving-kindness to every living creature. For in all physical respects, and where the animal spirit is concerned, the selfsame feelings are shared by animal and man. Man hath not grasped this truth, however, and he believeth that physical sensations are confined to human beings, wherefore is he unjust to the animals, and cruel.”

experience
April 1, 2006: 2 hours, 6 children, average age 6-7. The class went fairly well, but I could tell that there was a lack of preparation – I spent most of the time focusing on the “walk in nature” part – finding outdoor activities to do with the kids – but didn’t focus as much on what to do before then, and how the walk would fit into the schedule of the class. we usually conduct the class entirely indoors, and it flows a lot better. when you add the element of going outside, you have to take into account the time spent putting on boots and coats, keeping everyone in the same group, making sure the children are always holding someone’s hand before crossing the street, and so on…

the weather played against us somewhat; it was windy and cold, with threatening rain clouds lurking overhead. it had rained the night before so there were puddles around, and one child got soaking wet (his mother didn’t mind, thankfully). the three-legged race didn’t go over too well, but I suspect that may have been because the rules weren’t properly established before starting up. there may have been confusion. the result was that few of the kids wanted to play. most of the boys loved it, of course. the scavenger hunt was given a lukewarm reception, but I think the children enjoyed it once we got going. we had to cut it short because it was becoming cold and windy.

this lesson needs to be reworked and re-tried. Earth day is coming up in three weeks, so that might be a good opportunity to revisit the topic. Perhaps we could put more emphasis on the Baha’i take on the subject, and perhaps we could tie in kindness to animals (which is another topic entirely, one we’ve already done, but which is sort of related)…