Shlokas:
1. "Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
2. "Vakrathunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
3. "Saraswathi Namasthubhyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
4. "Karagre Vasate" (page 11 in My Prayers book) - New
Activities:
Please have the kids make it a habit to chant the above shlokas every morning, after their bath/shower. This will help them learn, memorize as well as develop a lifelong habit of morning prayer and daily prayer.
We rolled right in to some Yoga stretches. We began with the Tree pose with some swaying, then went into a Tiger pose and had everyone roar like a Tiger or a Lion (we had to prompt them to be louder!). Then we sat on the floor and turned into little butterflies, fluttering in the breeze.
Story time.
We had an overwhelming request for a puzzle during last class, so we decided to share a link in our chat window for a puzzle. The kids were so excited to work on it and they were thrilled to complete it to see Goddess Lakshmi on their screens.
Craft time! The Houses Team requested that the kids make personalized flags that the kids can create and bring along with them to the Houses Inaugural Assembly. We are part of the Bajrangi's Bolts House. The kids enthusiastically participated in the craft project and were thrilled to show us and wave their creative and colorful flags.
After we completed our craft, we left our zoom classroom and joined all the bhaiyas, dhidihs, annas and akkas for the Houses Inaugural Assembly. It was great to see all the other kids and teachers! Unfortunately, it may not have been quite age appropriate for our little Shishu kids and probably too long for them to handle, but it's never too early to be exposed to the realities of the world. The Houses Team put together an awesome event and they have many more scheduled. Details will follow.
Story Time: When the kids were asked what do you think is next, they enthusiastically said, "story time"! We did have to cut back on our lesson plan for the day, to be able to get to the assembly on time. But, we knew that the kids look forward to story time, so had to include one for sure! They were wide eyed and eager to hear what we had in store.
The Lion and the Mouse:
Character intros:
The Lion: The Lion is majestic, proud, the king of the jungle and he thinks that he is always right!
The Mouse: The Mouse is tiny, curious, keeps her word and is always ready to lend a helping hand.
After character intros, a puppet of a sleeping lion was shown on the screen. The kids were asked what a lion's house is called. One answered "cave"! That was an acceptable answer, but then told them that it can be referred to as a "den". Then a small mouse puppet was shown on the screen. The curious mouse came across the sleeping lion in his den. She was mesmerized by what was in front of her. After confirming that the lion was sound asleep, the mouse decided to creep up to him and admired the lion's ears, his long whiskers and his great mane. The mouse thought that since the lion was sleeping, he would never suspect that the mouse was in his den.
With that, the little mouse climbed up onto the lion's tail, ran across the lion's back, slid down his leg and jumped off his paw. Just then, the lion woke up, caught the mouse's tail with his claws and roared loudly! A puppet of the roaring lion was shown on the screen. The kids were asked how the lion was feeling, they said angry/mad, then I asked the kids to roar like an angry lion. The scared mouse pleaded with the lion, by saying that if he let the mouse go, she would come back and help the lion someday.
The lion found the mouse's comment hilarious! He could not comprehend how a tiny mouse could ever be of any help to a majestic lion! The lion laughed so hard that he had to hold his belly! The mouse jumped to freedom and ran until she was far, far away.
The next day, it so happened that two hunters came to the jungle. The went to the lion's lair. They set up a rope snare. When the lion came home that evening, he stepped into his den and got caught in the trap! A puppet of the trapped lion was shown on the screen. The lion roared, he wept, but couldn't pull himself free. We analyzed the image of the trapped lion, of how he was not able to access the top part of the rope as he was stuck inside.
The mouse heard the lion's pitiful roar and immediately ran in the direction of the lion's den to see what was going on and hoping to help the lion. The mouse eyed the trap and noticed the one thick rope that held the trap together. She scurried up to the top and began nibbling and nibbling until the rope broke. the lion was then able to pull off the other rope that held him tight. The lion flexed his muscles, stretched and roared as he shook himself free.
The lion turned to the mouse and said that it was foolish of him to ridicule her for being small and was grateful to her for coming at his time of need and for saving his life after all! A puppet of a mouse sitting on a lion was shown on the screen. I made a momentary reference to Lion King and "Hakuna Matata" - means "No Worry" in Swahili :)
We then joined the assembly and concluded with closing prayers and pledge there.
Pranaam,
Keerthi and Pramila
