Opening prayer
First: begin the lesson by telling them a story related to friendship, such as ‘Frog and Toad Are Friends’, ‘Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship’, ‘Just My Friend & Me’, ‘The Best Friends Book’, ‘Hunter’s Best Friend at School’, Etc.
Please make sure the story talks about the value of friendship between its characters, showing the importance of valuing friends. There are many resources on the web about this topic (videos, short movies, You Tube clips, etc.).
Second: talk to the children about friendship between the characters and mention that our attitudes should also be friendly.
* Invite others to work/play with you.
* Never make anyone feel isolated. We always have something good to offer; no one likes to feel others are distant from him/her.
We need to make it clear that we don’t have to have one and only best friend, but be friends with everyone. This way we should aim to be nice and cooperate with the ones who are by our side.
Third: choose one of the following activities to be done with the children.
Activity 1: divide the children into smaller groups and ask them to invent a new animal. They should name it; imagine where it would live and how it would live. This will encourage cooperation among the children for group work. Each group will have 10 minutes to create this new character. Soon after please ask the groups to present their animal to the rest of the class.
Activity 2: divide the children into smaller groups and ask them to invent a new song.
A group should make their sounds sound clapping, the other whistling, the other tapping hands on their hips and the other group making sounds with their mouths. Each group should make its corresponding sound when the Spiritist teacher points out to them. The groups should pay attention to what their colleagues are doing in order to get a good sound. The Spiritist teacher must point to a group at a time, so that all other groups wait for their turn. Over time, the Spiritist teacher will realise that the children will work in an organized manner and that the sound will be coordinated nicely amongst them.
Once the concert is over, ask them if they liked the activity. Ask then if this activity required cooperation to be successful. Why is that? Cooperation is very important in our world; without cooperation we can’t progress spiritually and materially. It is an excellent tool that can be developed. The Spiritist teacher must congratulate the group for being able to work together on this activity. This will stimulate the children to work more together as a group.
Obs.: some activities have been adapted from the website: Good Character - Resources for Character Education, Guidance, Life skills. These are part of the lesson called Cooperation, received from Carolina von Scharten, London, Sir William Crookes Spiritist Society linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
Closing prayer
Class suggested being suitable for: 3rd cycle (11 to 12 years old).
Spiritist Teachers: Camila, Emanuelle and Juliana – Spiritist Centre Caminho da Prece.
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, Sir William Crookes Spiritist Society linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
