First: Opening prayer The Spiritist Volunteer will bring the book LEARNING HOW TO PRAY - A BOOK OF PRAYERS FOR CHILDREN by Elsa Rossi. The following story will be told:

         ‘Prayer for the Love in the World

         Dear Jesus,
         My Dad always starts to pray by asking for protection for the world.
         I want to do just like him and ask you to protect the world and to make love grow in people’s hearts.
         May love be the smile in everybody, the joy of life and this way we all can be good neighbours and live in harmony?
         Please Jesus, help the world to progress towards love!’

         The Spiritist worker will introduce a box of prayer after the prayer and will ask for one child to volunteer himself/herself to read the prayer for the class. Please ask the child to say his/her words as well, as to complement the opening prayer.

         Second: Welcome the children into the session. Say how happy we are to see them there and how important they are for the class. Play hot potato game with the children. When the music stops the child who is holding the hot potato ball will be asked to answer what they can do with their hands; ask for examples.

         Third: Sing songs together; get the children to remain standing but in a circle.

         http://www.sermons4kids.com/jesus_is_my_best_friend_1x.pdf

         http://www.sermons4kids.com/jesus_is_my_best_friend_1x.mp3

         http://www.sermons4kids.com/jesus_loves_the_little_children.pdf

         http://www.sermons4kids.com/jesus_loves_the_little_children.mp3

         Fourth: Tell the children the following story, which is based on the book called ‘A borboleta Azul (o besouro casca dura e outros contos)’.

         Once upon a time there was a pretty butterfly. She was full of pride of herself due to her beauty. She felt she was better than the other animals from the forest.

         One day she fell on a lake and ended up passing away. She said bye bye to Earth. She went to the spiritual world! One year later she came back! She came back in a new body as a disabled ant. One of her legs was shorter than the other. She could only walk with the help of crutches.


         Fifth: Get the children to retell the story. Get copies of the pages from the story and hand them over to them. Get the children to colour, cut and glue them in order, a small story book. Get them to retell the story according to their understanding.

         Sixth: The Spiritist volunteer will bring 5 big balls made out of newspaper with a small box inside each ball. The children will need to open the ball in order to find the box, which will be wrapped right in the middle of the newspaper ball. Please place a word individually inside each ball, inside each box.

         - BABY
         - CHILD
         - ADULT
         - ELDERLY
         - PERSON IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
         Ask: Do we have any babies in this room? How old is this baby? Were you a baby one day? Any children in this room? Any adults? Any elderly? Anyone in the spiritual world? In the sky?

         Seventh: Place each of the 5 pieces of paper in different parts of the room. Split the children into small groups. Each group will need to pretend to be roll-playing the word that is representing the area of the room they are standing at. Once the bell rings, they will need to roleplay a baby for example. When the bell rings once more, the entire group will need to swap places, but make sure it’s done in the right order (from baby to child, from child to adult, from adult to elderly, from elderly to spiritual world, from spiritual world to baby)

         Eighth: Please bring several pieces of clothing and/or objects for the children to pretend to be that character. The Spiritist volunteer will start saying:

         ‘Today you will come back in time and let us know how your life was in a previous life. I will conduct an interview with you once you are in character. Please keep an eye on the bell. Grab an object/piece of clothing and get into character. You should start playing the character, when I ring the bell. When I ring the bell once more you will need to swap your outfit for another character. You will then need to show us how you acted in that life.

         So let’s start with your first life.’

         The Spiritist volunteer will bring the following:
         - Crown, made out of recycled paper, for a king or a queen
         - Oven, made out of recycled paper, for either a cook or a housewife
         - Truck, made out of recycled paper, for a driver
         - Plastic Tools for a builder
         - Mop for a cleaner
         - Wig for either a dancer or an actor
         - Shoe for a shoemaker

         Note for the Spiritist volunteer: This lesson will enable the children to play different characters as the time unfolds. A bell will be brought to the class – every time the children hear the bell, they will need to swap outfits. Every time the children wear a different outfit the Spiritist volunteer will interview the new character. Please note the word reincarnation isn’t being used as the aim of the game is to ensure the children get the idea of reincarnation; not the Spiritist term.

         Additional books which can be used:
         * The Invisible String by Patricia Karst (Author), Geoff Stevenson (Illustrator): The Invisible String is a children’s story that talks about an invisible string which connects people to their loved ones. When someone thinks of another person, there is a tug on the string that is felt. This book is not just for those who have lost others to death. In fact, a lot of families use it when someone has been deployed overseas. It just goes to show that the people that we are missing aren’t really gone as long as we remember them and talk about them. This story is a great read for anyone that is missing someone, either from death or from them being away, and realizing that they are not really gone.

         * Waterbugs and Dragonflies by Doris Stickney (Author), Robyn Henderson Nordstrom (Illustrator): This child’s book uses metamorphosis to explain death to children. It talks about how people who have died can’t come back to talk to us but that they are waiting for us in a better place. It is designed to provide adults with the opportunity to talk about death as being part of the life cycle, which can be a reassuring way of explaining death to children.

         * The Mountains of Tibet by Mordi Gerstein (Author): This tale about the death as well as reincarnation of a Tibetan woodcutter is truly a amazingly gentle view of a single individual coping with life’s options and opportunities. When he was a boy, he contemplated the various other worlds he would one day explore; in the form of man, he considered various other nations and individuals, but he was constanytly too busy. Following his passing away, he’s provided with the choice of going to ‘Heaven’ or having yet another life. He selects an additional life. The options that follow all take him throughout every one of the universes, stars, creatures, planets, peoples, parents, and countries, before coming to the last twist within this trip. This is a different story than other children’s books about death and explores other dimensions of death.

         Ninth: 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.

         Suggested activity to be given as Homework

         Closing prayer

         Class suggested being suitable for: Kindergarten (5 to 6 years old).

         Spiritist volunteer: Carolina von Scharten, London, linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.

                  

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