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 the story called: To thank God.

         Fourth: Ask the children questions about the story

         * What happened to Ronan?

         * Why did he complain so much?

         * What are the things he could be thankful for?

         * Are you thankful for the things you have?

         * What are the things you have that you value most?

         * Do you pray?

         * What is a prayer?

         * Have you every prayed with your parents?

         * In which occasions can we pray?

         Fifth: Talk to the children about prayer

         When you talk to God, this is called prayer. Prayer is something that you should do when you are by yourself and with your family. When you talk to God, even though you can’t see Him, He can hear you every time you pray. God can even hear what you think and feel. When should you talk to God? (The Spiritist worker should make a sad face, angry face, scared faced and a happy faced – get the children to copy your faces)

         Sixth: The Spiritist volunteer will need to bring an empty tissue box which will be the ‘prayer box’, during this activity. Tell the kids that each of them can use the box to "send letters" or "send prayers" to God. Get the children to create individual drawings of the things they are grateful for. Ask the children to place their ‘prayer’ into the box. Suggest to the children to get a ‘family prayer box’ for their homes in which their whole family can add a prayer into it.

         Seventh: Ask the children to say out loud - What can you pray for? When should you pray? Do you pray when you wake up? Before you eat? Before you go to bed?

         Eighth: Tower of Prayers exercise - It uses building blocks to provide a basis for teaching turn-taking and coming up with unique and special prayers. The children are told to build a tower together, adding one block at a time. Each time a child adds a block, she/he should express what or who she would like to pray for. The Spiritist volunteer should help the child to come up with a prayer. This goes on until all the blocks have been used and a tall "tower of prayer" has been created.

         Ninth: Prayer Bubbles exercise - For this exercise, children are taught that all prayers are important and no prayer is too small or too big. Use two different-sized bubble wands, one small and one large. Blow a bubble using the small wand and then come up with a "small" prayer. Do the same with the larger wand, and have the children recite a longer or more all-encompassing prayer. Remind your child that no matter the size, all prayers are important to God. Tell 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. It can be mentioned that the prayer doesn't need to be loud; it doesn't need to be long; it just needs to be said.

         Tenth: Get the children to help cleaning the room; 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.

         Note: Please find an activity which can be used during this class or given to the children as homework here.

         Closing prayer

         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.