Greetings and Opening Prayer
First:
the spiritist teacher should start this class representing positive and negative situations that happen within the family. It is recommended to do a puppet show or to create a theatre play for this activity. Please ask the children what they think of each situation, after each scene is shown; whether they believe this is right or wrong.
Suggestions:
Mom calls her son several times to go take a shower;
Fight between brothers/sisters;
Child studying, doing her/his homework;
Child replying to her/his parents with respect;
Respect towards grandparents;
Child putting her/his toys at the right place, tiding up the room;
Parents asking child several times to go study or do homework;
The joy of a child whose little brother will be born soon.
Second:
cut/assemble through pictures/newspaper clippings different types of families; from different races. The spiritist teacher should show these pictures to the children and mention who is in each picture. This material can them be attached to a panel/paperboard. We used pictures which reflect the situations lived by each child. We approached this topic in a very ‘soft’ way, so the children would realize how important is their families, even if they are not traditional; the conventional way (father, mother and children).
Suggested examples of different types of family for this activity:
Father, mother and children;
Father, mother and children, different races;
Parents with adopted children;
Mother and children;
Father and children;
Couple (with no children; parents have already disincarnate);
Grandparents with grandchildren;
Families with big and small children;
Families with many or few children;
Children only (fatherless/motherless; or parents have already disincarnate).
Comments for the Spiritist Teacher:
our relatives succeed and make mistakes; they deserve our love and forgiveness. Our parents or caretakers love us and want what is best for us. They are the ones who are responsible for our education, which is why they teach us what is right or wrong. Family is a group of people who get together to progress and learn together. It is not important the number of members in a family but the love and respect that exists amongst its members.
Third:
draw the family in "pieces of clothes". This will enable the children to form a colourful and long clothes-line, which could use clothes-pegs. The spiritist teacher should take drawings of socks, shorts skirts and t-shirts cut out from A4 sheets of paper.
Suggested examples for this activity:
Socks
Shorts
Skirt 1
Skirt 2
Shirt
T-Shirt
Click here to get to know some clothes from our clothes-line
Suggestion received from the Spiritist Teacher Carolina von Scharten from Sir William Crookes Spiritist Society linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies:
Click here to find pictures referring to the work done by the children in regards to different types of families. We chose pictures of families from different races and cultures, as well as pictures o of families with special needs’ members: blind, mental illnesses, Down syndrome, wheel chair, etc. We also included pictures of families of animals, such as pigs and butterflies, in this work.
Closing Prayer
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, Sir William Crookes Spiritist Society linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
