Opening Prayer

         First: please talk to the children about the concept of Prayer, in accordance with the Spiritist Doctrine.

         • What is a prayer?

         • How can we pray?

         • Who can we pray for?

         Obs.: please note this class was planned so that the spiritist teacher spends around 10 minutes in each activity, maximum. If the spiritist teacher feels he needs to spend more time in one or another, please adapt it according to your feeling and the need of the group.

         Second: get the children to make some soap bubbles. The spiritist teacher could take the children to a park or to a garden and then get them to pray with it. The teacher can now explain that the prayer doesn’t need to be repetitious or complex to be effective. Only heartfelt and true. In fact, you can explain they don't even need to open their mouth. All they need is to open your heart to God. If the prayer is done with love, it goes high in the sky until it reaches God. The prayer directed to God could be compared with the soap bubble.

         The teacher can mention to the children the following: ‘Let’s imagine everything we need to tell God we can put inside the soap bubble... When we blow it, we are including our prayers in it. It goes higher, higher, higher… ’ Please ask each child to blow a bubble and note that each bubble is different from one another because everyone is unique. Since each person is unique, their prayers are also unique in God’s eyes. The spiritist teacher can mention the prayer doesn't need to be loud; it doesn't need to be long; it just needs to be said.

         Third: please give each child a A4 paper and get them to draw something they would like to thank God for having here in Earth (parents, a home, pets, food, being able to come to the spiritist school, etc). Please ask the children to build a paper plane from this A4 sheet.

         Origami is a fascinating and creative craft for kids, especially if you can find origami models appropriate to their age. Not only will children get a real sense of satisfaction out of making these fun origami models, but they will be getting practice at following instructions, increasing their manual dexterity, and producing a fun and decorative end-product. Here you will find instructions on how to build an origami airplane:

         http://www.origami-instructions.com/paper-airplanes-simplest.html.

         Paper

         As soon as the children finish their origami airplane, the spiritist teacher can ask them to throw it up in the air. This will enable the teacher to compare the plane with the prayer. It flies with all the beautiful things they drew, taking the message to God through our protector-spirit. We should always thank God for the beautiful things we have access to in our lives.

         Fourth: Paper-folding is a wonderful hobby, and a wonderful group activity... and for kids it has so many benefits socially and for the developing mind. The spiritist teacher can now work with a different origami, but we would recommend it might be best to train it home before trying to do it with the children.

         http://www.origami-fun.com/support-files/origami-heart-print.pdf

         As soon as the children finish their origami heart, the spiritist teacher can ask them to draw inside their origame a message or an image. The teacher can state that they will be writing what their hearts are saying when they pray to God.

         Fifth: The spiritist teacher can now ask the children to make an origami envelope and write a message addresses to Jesus to place inside their envelope. The teacher can explain that Jesus, who is our Teacher and brother, would love to receive our prayers. We would recommend it might be best to train it home before trying to do it with the children.

         Envelope.

         Envelopes are pretty simple to make with origami – they can even be made from newspaper. You will need a small sticker or dab of glue to seal the envelope. You can find instructions on how to make this origimi here: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/Origami%20Envelope.pdf.

         Resources for the Spiritist Teacher: The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter 27 - ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN - THE ACT OF PRAYER. TRANSMISSION OF THOUGHT; items 9 and 15; and The Spirits' Book, Chapter II - 4. PRAYER.

         Site: http://www.comofazerorigami.com.br

         Closing Prayer (please ask one of the students to do it)

         Class being suitable for:Kindergarten (5 to 6 years old) and 1st cycle (7 to 8 years old), depending on the classes’ maturity and/or conditions.

         Spiritist teacher: Carolina von Scharten, London, Sir William Crookes Spiritist Society linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.