Friendship for First Cycle
First: Welcome the children into the session. Say how happy we are to see them and how important they are for the class. Explain we will follow the letters of the alphabet in order to choose the volunteer for the opening prayer. So, 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 passed by.
After that, the Spiritist worker will introduce the “Raffle Box of Prayers”. In your turn, each child will open the box, choose one prayer and read it loudly for whole class. We will do it until all the kids have their chance to choose and read a prayer.
When the activity with the “Raffle box of Prayers” finishes the volunteer will collect the booklet “The Lord’s Prayer” with the children who was responsible in the previous week.
The volunteer can make up a few questions, such as:
* What did you most like in this prayer;
* What could you learn during the week with the prayer and others
The child can also read the prayer for his/hers colleagues. Another child will be able to choose himself/herself to take the booklet home and bring next week, at the end of this activity.
The Lord’s Prayer booklet
P.S. At the end of the class the parents will be informed and also asked about their availability to bring the booklet next week.
Second: The meaning of friendship
The volunteer will bring some pictures which show people with disabilities being helped by others.
Few questions can be asked while showing the pictures:
* What can you see in this picture?
* If you were the disabled person would you like to have someone to help you on this task?
* If you see someone in need would you help this person out?
* What would you do?
* How could you help?
* Do you remember anything similar that happened with you?
The volunteer will introduce the word Friendship soon after and ask the kids if the pictures were showing examples of it.
Extra activity: Being helped or a helper
The kids will be asked to act pretending to be the people in the picture used in the previous activity.
So, one child should be the person with disability that needs a hand. And in the other hand side, the other kid would be the helper who will help the person in need.
The volunteer will ask them to say what or how they felt afterwards.
Third: Cooking a friendship
The volunteer will bring a real pan, pieces of paper and recycled materials to the class. In addition, a recipe and instructions will be given to the children, which will explain how to “cook” a nice relationship.
Recipe:
Friendship Soup
Ingredients:
1 kg of Jesus’ teachings
2 sticks of kindness
1 teaspoon of patience
2 bottles of silence
3 tablespoons of respect
3 pints of honesty
1 cup of trust
1 ½ cup of safety
1 gallon of goofiness
3 cups of having fun
Humbleness as you like
Instructions:
Put the all the Jesus’ teachings inside of the pan. Leave for a while in order to think and understand all of it.
Add kindness, patience and silence all together. Mix everything out very well in order to know how you should behave with your friends: such as, listening, being kind and helpful as much as you can.
After, you should add respect and honesty in the pan and then bring everything to boil inside of your heart. So, we will be able to act kindly and respectful with everyone all the time.
Now, you just need to sprinkle trust and safety all around the mix. Being honest with us is the secret of a good relationship because we will know the truth of our inner intentions.
Put in low fire, add goofiness and fun on top of everything. The happy moments are great and should be enjoyed with care!
At the end, you will need all the humbleness you have inside of your heart, so therefore you will be able to apologize yourself when you need and also put your friend under your shoes.
Now your soup it is ready, please enjoy your relationship!
Fourth: Kids’ turn
Time for them to prepare their own recipe and objects what go to their soup.
The volunteer will bring: recycled materials and pieces of paper
Each child in his/her turn will have a chance to prepare their recipe.
Fifth: Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7w7yXkJTu0.
Sixth: Reading Time - The volunteer will read one question from the book: “The Spiritist for young adults and beginners” by Laura Bergallo and talk to the kids about it.
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp3Kz7aq6Gw Is There A God? - An interesting yet logical argument about God's existence!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N7AlgAuHZA Cool Things You Won't Believe Exist in Nature
Seventh: Prayer Activity
Five Fingers Steps: Each child would be asked to draw their own hands and glue on top of a hand shape cardboard.
Children under 6 will receive pictures showing/describing how they should behave during the prayer such as: closing your eyes, put hands together, keep your body quiet, think in Jesus and thanksgiving to God and to Jesus.
The children over 6 would be asked to write or draw the following 5 steps.
1. Praise
Thank God for Who He is, for something about Him, for something He has made.
2. Thanksgiving
Thank God for something He has done for you today. Encourage the children to make this as specific as possible. Such as, “Thank you for giving me a Mommy who comes to my hockey game,” or “Thank you for my beautiful family who hugs me.”
3. Request for Someone Else
Ask God’s blessings for known or unknown people. Such as, help your sponsored child and his or her family; to help someone you know who is sick; people in hospital; my friend who is ill,…
If there’s an ongoing need, we learn we can pray for that every night in order to encourage and bless all the people.
4. Forgiveness
What did you do wrong today?
How could you do better for the next time?
Learn to apologise when we make mistakes
Learn to forgive friend’s mistakes
Learn how we can do better for the next time and what we should bear in mind in order to avoid the same mistakes.
Example: Always encourage them to use “when” statements: “Forgive me for being selfish when I wouldn’t share my lego.” And what I will do to be better for the next time.
5. Request for You
What you can ask God in order to help yourself being a good person.
Ask them what their biggest struggle is. Maybe it’s getting along with a sibling, or a teacher they don’t like, or figuring out math. Pray about that.
Eighth: Healing Theatre - The volunteer will bring the poster made by the children in the previous class and ask what they remember.
Ask 2 kids to come at a time; one of them should seat down on a chair placed in the middle of the room. Meanwhile the other children should read the instructions on the poster in order to teach how we should behave during the healing time. At the end each child would receive one necklace which says: “Very well done”.
Ninth: Closing prayer - One of the children will do a closing prayer. Explain we will follow the letters of the alphabet in order to choose the volunteer for the closing prayer. So, the child’s name that starts with the letter B will do the opening prayer this time. Everybody will have the chance to collaborate as the weeks passed by.
Suggested activity to be given as Homework:
Class suggested being suitable for: 1st Cycle (7 to 8 years old).
Spiritist volunteer: Juana Castro, London, linked to The Spiritist Psychological Society.
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