As in the preceding lessons, it is suggested that you start the class with one of the prayers that you know from memory. You can then ask some of the children to say a prayer each. Afterwards, they all continue memorizing the prayer you introduced in Lesson 4.
The children can learn the following song for today’s lesson and sing a few of the previous ones as well.
Prefer Your Brother
I am thirsty, I am thirsty
But my brother, he comes first
So I offer him the water
That will quench his thirst
CHORUS:
It is a blessing to prefer your brother
This is a way to show you care
It is a blessing to prefer your sister
You are richer, the more you share
I am hungry, I am hungry
And my sister, she is too
So I give her some of my food
That’s what’s best to do
CHORUS
Today the children will learn a quotation from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, which you
can present in the following way:
God loves each and every one of us, and He has created the human heart to know Him and to love Him. With pure hearts, we are able to see the signs of God reflected in His creation, most of all in the faces of our fellow human beings. In our love for God, we want to bring joy and happiness to all those we see around us. So great is our love for them that what gladdens us most is to see them enjoying the good things in life that we desire for ourselves. So it is that we think first of our fellow human beings before we think of ourselves. Let us memorize the following quotation of Bahá’u’lláh:
“Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.”
Blessed
1. There is a well and a bucket, but no way to use the bucket to get water. Amelia, using her intelligence, finds a rope to tie to the bucket, lowers the bucket, and gets water. Amelia’s intelligence is a gift of God. God has blessed Amelia with intelligence.
2. Victor’s family says prayers every morning in the living room of their home. The home of Victor’s family is blessed.
Prefers
1. John likes to eat chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but when he has to choose, he chooses vanilla. He prefers vanilla.
2. Anindo can go out and play, or go help her father in the garden. She decides to help her father in the garden. Anindo prefers to help her father.
The story below illustrates how, through both His words and deeds, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá shows us the ways of selflessness.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá preferred inexpensive clothes for Himself. When He had extra clothes He always gave them away to others. One day He was going to entertain the Governor of ‘Akká. His wife felt that His coat was not good enough for the occasion. Well ahead of time she went to the tailor and ordered a fine coat for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. She thought He surely would not notice that His old coat had been replaced; He desired, after all, only to be scrupulously clean. When the day of the Governor’s visit arrived, the new coat was laid out for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but He went searching for His old one. He asked for His old coat, saying that the one laid out could not be His. His wife attempted to explain that because of the occasion she had bought Him a new coat, but He would not accept it. He told her that for the price of this one coat they could buy five simple ones like He normally wore. He told her that there was no reason to spend so much money on a coat just for Him. If He needed a new one, they could send the expensive coat back to the tailor and order five ordinary coats for the same amount of money. “Then, you see, I shall not only have a new one, but I shall also have four to give to others!”
Ask the children to line up and hold hands, and then have the children at one end of the line stand in place, while the others begin to walk around them. Little by little they wind themselves into a spiral to form a snail.
Variations:
a. Tell the children to stand in line again and hold hands. Then ask those at one end to begin to turn in a circle, slowing winding the others up around them. Make sure they are careful not to step on one another’s feet when doing so.
b. Once the children have formed a snail, tell those in the middle to squat down and the one at the center to go under the legs of a child next to him or her, continuing through the legs of others until he or she has emerged out of the snail. The other children, while continuing to hold hands, follow him or her through one another’s legs until they all have emerged and form a line once again. To do this some children will be going under one another’s legs, while others are stepping over them.
Alternative colouring picture re: helpfulness here: http://www.plantlovegrow.com/my-virtues.html
Face Photo Cut Out Boards to celebrate any of the quotes in the lesson.
Help the kids make face photo cut out boards. (I used a tri-fold display board) Encourage them to be creative coming up with a variety of scenes. Once the boards are done it's fun for the kids to pose in front of a large mirror so they can see themselves in the scene. Take photos of the kids posing with each other. A fun idea is to save the photos and at the end of the year give each child a small collection of pictures of themselves posing with all their friends.
* Remember to ask for parental consent before posting any pictures of minors on the Internet.*