Sharing is Good IV


         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.

         Second: Prayer Activity - The volunteer will discuss with the children about the prayer “Prayer for the Sunny and Rainy Days” from the book LEARNING HOW TO PRAY - A BOOK OF PRAYERS FOR CHILDREN by Elsa Rossi. Each one will also receive a copy of the prayer.

Prayer for the Sunny and Rainy Days
Dear God,

My Mum always tells me that we have to thank you for the beautiful sunny days and also for the rainy days. This beautiful sunny day reminded me I should thank you for the sun. We wake up early and with the energy to go to school feeling happy under the warm sun. I am thankful my God for the nice sunny and rainy days.

         Third: Invite the children to sing some songs together.

         Fourth: Recycling activity – Giving a toy to a friend

         The children will create a toy/doll with recycled yogurt pots and other materials to decorate it. The volunteer will ask them to put the toys inside a big box when they finish, where all toys are going to be mixed up. Then, the volunteer will ask one child at a time to pick up one toy from the box. But at this point, the volunteer will ask the child to stand up, wear a “magic glove” and close his/her eyes.

         So, the child will pick up a random toy. Then, the volunteer will ask the child to choose one friend to give the toy to. And this goes on until every child had the chance to pick up a toy and give it to a friend. During the activity the volunteer should briefly discuss how good it is to share our things with our friends, and that the game becomes much better when everyone plays together, sharing their toys.

         Fifth: Story - The children tell the story.

         The children will be invited to tell the volunteer the story of THE MATURE ORANGE, which was told in the previous week. The volunteer will give them an orange and the picture of other characters from the story. This will help them remember more details from the story, and this will also help the volunteer to access whether they understood the message.

         After that, the volunteer will make few questions to the children in order to link the story THE MATURE ORANGE with the “Parable of the Good Samaritan”.

         The volunteer can ask:

         * Now I heard that we should share things that we have. Do you remember any story told by Jesus when he taught us about sharing what we have and help others?
         (At this time the volunteer can show one of the parables and ask for each child to read one part of it.)

         * So, what can we share with others? (ask them for examples)

         * Explain that we live in a society with many other people, so we are asked to learn how to share all the time.
         For example, we share the planet we live, we share the space on the streets with others, we share our school with other kids, we share our home with whom we live with,... (ask them for more examples)

         * So, the volunteer will finish asking how we can learn to share.
         More ideas: The volunteer can also bring pictures of kids sharing and not sharing with others and ask if it was them in the pictures, what would they do and why?

         Sixth: Activity – Game: guess what?

         The volunteer will introduce the “Guess what game”, by telling the children that they are going to play a game, where each one of them will have their turn to pick up a phrase and draw on the board a representation of that phrase. They will have a very short amount of time to do each drawing to make the activity funnier. Each phrase will aim at exemplifying good examples of sharing things with each other. For example: sharing their toys at home or at school with their friends or with their bothers and sisters; sharing food with a friend, sharing materials with classmates, etc… At the beginning of the activity, the volunteer will establish the rules of how they should play the game, for example, each child should raise his/her sign written “My turn” in order to learn patience to wait and respect for others time.

         During the activity, the volunteer can explore with them the meaning of each “sharing phrase” and ask them to give more examples of sharing that they do on their daily lives.

         Seventh: Activity – Make a musical instrument.

         The volunteer will bring recycled materials for the children to make musical instruments. To continue to explore the theme “Sharing is good”, the volunteer will bring only 1 item of each craft equipment, such as 1 scissor, 1 glue stick, 1 seller tape,…,so the children will learn how to share their materials. At the end of the activity, the volunteer will ask them how many craft equipment was there to be used, how was the activity performed, if it was done by each one of them individually or in a group sharing the materials, etc… always highlighting the importance of sharing things with each other.

         Extra activity: Where is my other half?
         The volunteer will bring pictures and phrases that are cut in half and will ask the children to find the matching pair. The pictures and phrases will exemplify children sharing their things with each other at home, at school, with friends, brothers and sisters. The volunteer can also use pictures of Jesus. All the phrases should be taken from Jesus’ teachings.

         Eighth: Healing Theatre - Prepare the kids for the healing time.

         Put one chair at the centre of the room and ask for two children to step forward at each time to take part of the activity. The volunteer will ask one of the children to seat in the chair and do a good or bad example of behaviour during the healing time. Then, the other children will have to choose between 2 balloons that will be held by the volunteer. One balloon will have a happy face drawn on it and the other one a sad face. Each pair at a time will have the chance to participate.

         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.

         Homework

         Closing prayer

         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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