Cleanliness is an important part of Baha’i life. Apart from keeping our bodies and clothes clean, we must also keep our homes clean as well.
Prayers/readings for study
Be ye the very essence of cleanliness amongst mankind. (Baha’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas)
…[I]n all conditions, cleanliness and sanctity, purity and delicacy exalt humanity… (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas)
Activities
GAMES
Reverse scavenger hunt. The children are given a collection of 15-20 sticky notes representing different things that might be found around the home. One by one, the children pick one note and stick it on the door of the room where the thing it represents should be put away: for example, a note reading “sock” might go on the door to the bedroom; “broom” would go on the door to the broom closet; a TV remote control would go in the living room; and so on. If the class is not being held in a home, different “stations” can be set up around the classroom to represent the different rooms of a home.
DRAWING
Children divide a sheet of paper into two halves. On one half, they draw a room that exemplifies the Bahá’í standard of cleanliness (clean floor and walls, no trash or other things lying around, bed made, etc); on the other, they draw the same room, but lacking cleanliness (messy, dirty, etc.)
Print out an image of a messy room, such as this one, making enough copies for all the children. Give the children a list of objects to find in the room (i.e. wallet, pencil case, piggy bank, etc.), and let them each search for them individually.