First: Opening prayer; get the children to repeat after the Spiritist volunteer. As weeks go by the Spiritist volunteers should encourage the children to volunteer for this task. If they don’t want to collaborate we could say we will follow the letters of the alphabet. The child’s name that starts with the letter A will do the opening prayer this time. Everybody will have the chance to collaborate as the weeks unfold. The child’s name that starts with the letter B will do the closing prayer at the end of the session.
Second: Welcome the children into the session. Say how happy we are to see them there and how important they are for the class. Sing songs together; get the children to remain standing but in a circle.
Hello my friend,
Let’s learn and play,
We will learn about Jesus all night long!
Good morning
Good morning, good morning, good morning (say the name of one of the children)
I am so happy today. Hooray!
Good morning, good morning, good morning (say the name of one of the children)
My heart wants to say
Good morning, good morning, good morning (say the name of one of the children)
Let's all sing and play
For Nature is so beautiful and wise
Teaches us to love every day
+++ repeat this song if necessary, as every child should hear their name being sang; this will help the children to feel integrated into the group)
+++ sing other songs from the songs’ list as per attached here.
+++ please find an additional list of songs attached here.
Third: Get the children to sit down into a circle. Tell them they will today learn about food and healthy eating! Tell them there’s a magic box here in the room with fun things inside!
Note: make sure you get the magic box set up before the children arrive at the Spiritist centre. This will lead the children to become curious on finding out what’s inside the box. Place vegetables in it such as beetroot, onions, carrots, potatoes, celery, cucumber, apples, bananas, oranges, etc.
Fourth: Tell them the story called Fruits by Claudia Schmidt. Get the characters from the ‘magic box’. Pull them from the box every time a character is called to act on the story. Make sure you draw eyes and mouth on the characters to get the children to engage with the story.
Fifth: Ask the children.
* Where do the fruits come from? Do you enjoy eating fruits?
* Why is it important to fruits? What else do we need to eat to be healthy? Listen to their answers.
* We have others things in our magic box that are so important for our health! – The Spiritist volunteer should pull one vegetable at a time from the box and ask if they know the name. Pass them around for the children to feel it.
* What else do we need for our health? Pull a tiny box filled with rice and ask each child to place one of their hands inside to fill it. What is it? These are grains! Rice, bread, quinoa, corn are all different types of grains!
* What else do we need for our health? Pull another tiny box filled with beans and ask each child to place one of their hands inside to fill it. What is it? These are beans! They are a rich source of protein together with lentils, cheese, tofu, nuts and seeds!
* What do you normally eat at home? Get each child to tell more about their nutrition habits.
* Remind them it’s also very important for them to wash their hands as well as vegetables and fruits before they eat them. This will also impact positively on their health.
Sixth: Create a healthy eating panel. Give each child A4 sheet of paper and ask them to draw their favourite fruits and vegetables. Bring pictures of vegetables and fruits so they can also add them to their work
Seventh: Get each child to create their own special fruit and vegetable bookmark. Please also bring strips of coloured cardboard/paperboard on the size of a bookmark. Get them to glue the fruit and vegetable bookmark they chose to the colourful paper and decorate it as they with. Encourage them to make another marker and give it to someone as a present, if the time of the class permits.
Click here to find a picture of a framework for the fruit bookmark, taken from the internet.
Click here to find a picture of a framework for the vegetable bookmark, taken from the internet.
Eighth: Follow the leader game – The Spiritist volunteer will be the leader; the children all line up behind the leader. The leader then moves around and all the children have to mimic the leader's actions. Tell them that any players who fail to follow or do what the leader does are out of the game.
The Spiritist volunteer will say: What do rice and cereals make you do? They make you GO. The Spiritist volunteer will run slowly through the room and the children will follow him/her. Ask the children to repeat after the Spiritist volunteer: Rice and cereals make me GO. Rice and cereals make me GO. Rice and cereals make me GO. Rice and cereals make me GO.
The Spiritist volunteer will get down on his/her knees and say: What do proteins make you do? They make you GROW. The Spiritist volunteer will jump across the room and the children will follow him/her. Ask the children to repeat after the Spiritist volunteer: Proteins make me GROW. Proteins make me GROW. Proteins make me GROW. Proteins make me GROW.
The Spiritist volunteer will stop and then say: What do fruits and vegetables make you do? They make you GLOW. The Spiritist volunteer will place his/her hands in his/her face and ask the children to repeat after him/her: Fruits and vegetables make me GLOW. Fruits and vegetables make me GLOW. Fruits and vegetables make me GLOW.
Fruits and vegetables make me GLOW.
Repeat this exercise 3 times in order to help the children memorise these sentences.
Ninth: Get the children to help cleaning the room.
Closing prayer - one of the children will do a closing prayer; encourage the children to volunteer for this task. If they don’t want to collaborate we could say we will follow the letters of the alphabet. The child’s name that starts with the letter A will do the opening prayer this time. Everybody will have the chance to collaborate.
Please find an activity that can be given to the children as homework here, taken from the internet.
Class suggested being suitable for: Nursery (3 to 4 years old) and Kindergarten (5 to 6 years old).
Spiritist volunteer: Carolina von Scharten, London, linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
