Class Objectives:
Make the children aware that the body is a very special present God gave us. It functions as our home; the house for our Spirit.
Highlight the need to look after and respect our material body; watch after it with care so that there are conditions for it to be used for a long time by our Spirit.
Obs.: the content could be split into more than one class depending on the time available for this class to be developed.
Greetings and Opening Prayer
First – find out their level of knowledge: question the children and wait for their answers. The spiritist teacher should complement their answers, if necessary.
What is an instrument? A mechanical tool or implement; object or device used for a job or task.
Mention some instruments and their utility. Ex: hoe, guitar.
What shall we do to maintain an instrument in its perfect state? We need to look after it and use it with moderation.
What is the instrument that the Spirit receives from God to work in Earth? The physical body.
How should we look after our physical body? Why?
Second: comment briefly about the human body, highlighting the perfection of the organs that are part of the physical body and the harmony of its functioning.
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Third: comment on each of the following topics below, together with the children (this could be displayed at a banner):
Take a shower every day. Our body has small pores through which it breathes. If we stop breathing through our mouth and nose, we die due to lack of air. If our body doesn’t get cleaned regularly, the pores will close which will make difficult for the body to breathe.
Wash your hands before any meals, when you go to the toilet, as you arrive from the street or when they are dirty.
Brush your teeth when you wake up, before going to bed and after meals.
Wash and comb your hair; cut and clean your nails.
Wear shoes: avoid germs which cause illnesses; it also avoids hurting your feet.
Keep the house clean at all times. The place we live must be clean. It can be a simple or luxurious place, a big or small house, but it needs to be always clean.
Eat only what’s necessary; without exaggerations. Make sure you eat healthy food, as well as vegetables and fruits. Remember that eating well doesn’t mean eating a lot.
Go for walks, play, play sports, exercise your physical body to help it grow healthy and strong.
Read good books and magazines. The mental hygiene is very important for our health.
Fourth: Conclude this class saying the body is a present of God. We are Spirits and receive from God a physical body as instrument of progress whilst we are in Earth. We should look after our physical body through good hygiene and food habits.
Examples: eat fruit and vegetables, brush the teeth, comb your hair, and take shower and exercise. These are activities that guarantee health and disposition, since the lack of care provokes diseases.
Fifth: ask about people with special needs. Why do they have physical limitations? This could have been a test chosen by the Spirit to progress quicker or it could be an expiation from previous mistakes.
Sixth: ask what the consequences are for the use of drugs and alcohol.
Seventh: Conclude that we should look after our body so our Spirit can be successful in his earthly tasks. The conservation of the body is done through good hygiene, food and healthy behaviour habits. Each Spirit received the body needed in Earth. The way we use our body in this incarnation will reflect in a future existence.
Eighth –individual activity: The children can comment on the phrases and explain the right attitude when the activity is corrected, if necessary.
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Ninth – group activity: create a panel with the children about "Caring for our physical body", attach pictures taken from magazines into the panel and write phrases which were suggested by the children.
Closing Prayer
Suggested Class suitable for: 1st cycle (7 to 8 years old) and 2nd cycles (9 to 10 years old).
Suggested class sent by the spiritist teacher Sandra Ramos Medeiros, Spiritist Centre Fé, Amor e Caridade – Campo Grande/MS.
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, Sir William Crookes Spiritist Society linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
