Below is a recap of what we did during Sunday's class.
We began another delightful Sunday morning of Shishu Vihar, with our cute kids' faces popping up on our screens (Oh wow, our last class of 2020)! Once we had most of our friends join our session, we began our class with 3 OMs.
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)
5. "Samudhra Vasane" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
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. We then went into the Flower Pose, the kids are slowly getting a hang of this relatively new pose.
Bhajan time - we introduced the class to a new Vishnu bhajan
Hari Hari Hari Hari Narayana
Hari Hari Hari Hari Narayana
Om Narayana
Om Narayana
Hari Hari Hari Hari Narayana
Hari Hari Hari Hari Narayana
Om Narayana
Govinda Narayana Gopala Narayana
Govinda Narayana Gopala Narayana
Hari Hari
Hari Hari Hari Hari Narayana
Om Narayana
Sri Rama Narayana Sri Krishna Narayana
Sri Rama Narayana Sri Krishna Narayana
Hari Hari
Hari Hari Hari Hari Narayana
Om Narayana
Om Narayana
Om Na - Ra - Yana
We played the Concentration Game. After the chanting of 3 Om's kids tried to keep their eyes closed. They counted the number of stones being dropped into a box during the quiet time. Later they give the count of the stones dropped. The game quiets the mind and improves concentration. We muted everyone so that the kids wouldn't have any potential distractions from each other. Several students got the count correct! Impressive how most of the kids are able to keep their eyes closed and concentrate. (We did have some technical difficulties with the audio, but were able to restart and got through our meditation part if our class).
After some meditation and calming down, we repeated numbers 1-10 in Sanskrit. We showed images of the numbers in Sanskrit and in English on the screen as well as a a visual of circles with the corresponding number. We had the kids put up their fingers as we counted together.
Geetha Chanting, we practiced shlokas 1 and 2 from chapter 2 of the Geetha. We repeated the shlokas twice. It was such a wonderful feeling to see few of the kids chanting the 1st shloka:)yay!!
Story Time.
Craft Time, we made our own turtles out of a half paper plate, cut outs of 2 legs, a head and a tail. The kids were given the choice of decorating their turtle with pieces of colored paper, pom poms, crayons and/or markers. The kids were happy to share their completed art work. Below are few of our class turtles.
Character intros:
Lord Indra - A puppet of Lord Indra was shown on the screen. The class was asked if they can identify who was on the screen. Rivan actually answered correctly!:)! (Totally wasn't expecting any of the kids to answer that!). We went on to discuss that Lord Indra is the king of the Devas and he has the power of rain, river flows, thunder, lightning and war. He is usually seen holding the vajra in one hand and a bow in the other.
Sage Durvasa - A puppet of a sage/rishi was shown on the screen. The class was asked if they can identify the character. One said guru, another said rishi :)! Yes, both answers were accepted.
The setting of our story began up in Heaven, where Lord Indra, the king of Devas resides. One day Sage Durvasa decided to visit Heaven. We discussed that it's a big deal when great sages make their presence felt. It is actually a celebration and honor to have them in our presence or more like we are privileged to be in their presence! We then discussed that anything that the sages give us is considered as prasad from the Lord and should be accepted gracefully and should be treated with respect. That being said, Sage Durvasa gave Lord Indra a garland. A puppet of a garland was shown on the screen. The class was asked if they knew what a garland/mala was. One answered saying, "necklace", that was partially correct and was accepted as it does go around the neck. Another answered 'japa mala"! The too was partially correct as it also goes around the neck! Then we took a closer look at the garland puppet to be able to see the flowers. We discussed that a garland is usually made of flowers and can be made of tulsi as well. Instead of treating the garland prasad with respect, Lord Indra gave the garland to His elephant. A puppet of Lord Indra giving the garland to His elephant was shown on the screen. The kids were asked what elephants generally do...a few said they wave their trunks. Then they were asked how Gajendra behaved in the jungle. Then they said that he thumped around. The kids were asked to thump around on all fours. They did so. Then the kids were asked what would happen if the elephant thumped around with a garland and what would happen to the delicate flowers that made the garland. They realized that the prasad was destroyed by the elephant! This was an insult to the sage.
The kids were asked how they thought the sage was feeling when he saw what happened to the garland. Some said sad, others said mad! The kids were asked to show us some sad/mad faces. Those adorable expressions showed up on our screens:) The sage felt insulted by Lord Indra's disrespect of the prasad. He thought that Lord Indra had become arrogant and doesn't realize that His power comes from the Lord. To teach Him a lesson, the sage decided to curse Him and the Devas to loose all of their powers. A puppet of an angered Sage Durvasa cursing a kneeling Lord Indra was shown on the screen.
The Asuras became very strong and powerful and took over Heaven. The Demons, were creating a lot of havoc and making life very difficult for the Devas. A puppet of the demons tormenting the Devas was shown on the screen. So they went to Lord Vishnu for help. We all chanted, "Om Namo Narayana" together three times. They begged the Lord for forgiveness. Lord Vishnu said that the best way out of this mess is for the Devas to get the "nectar of immortality" for this would give them back all their powers. But, this was not going to be an easy task. They would have to work really hard to achieve it. They had to churn the whole ocean. The kids were asked if they knew what the word "churn" means. Then we discussed how to churn milk into butter and we all did that action of churning. But the Devas would not be able to churn the ocean themselves, it was a daunting task and they would need help! The Devas had no choice but to ask the Asuras for their help. They knew that the Asuras would not help just to be kind, so they told them that the Asuras can have a share of the nectar. The Asuras agreed to help and agreed to all share the nectar. But behind the Devas backs, they planned to steal all of the nectar away from Devas and just have it for themselves. A devious plan indeed!
Next, Lord Vishnu suggested that they could use Mount Mandara as a churning stick. That was a wonderful idea but, there was a problem. Mount Mandara was so big and heavy that they could not lift it. The kids were asked to show us what a big mountain looked like. They all stretched their arms wide and then tall like a mountain. So before they could even start, they already needed Lord Vishnu's help! We all chanted, 'Om Namo Narayana" together three times. Then Lord Vishnu sent (the kids were asked if they remember who Lord Vishnu's car is, a few said a bird) Garuda to lift the mountain and take it to the ocean. One problem is resolved, we have the mountain, and now we need a rope to churn with. The kids were asked where we could find a rope that is strong and long? Before we could continue, Rohini said, 'we can use the snake"!!! The kids were then asked if they remember the name of the snake that was used in the Matsya avatar to tie the boat to Matsya, the fish. A few kids then said Vasuki! Yes, Vasuki would make a very strong rope, and had magical powers to stretch and become as long as needed!
Lord Vishnu then told the Devas that whatever the outcome of the churning results in, they should just stay calm and think of Lord Vishnu. No matter what happens, they should not get angry, even if the Asuras steal all of the nectar away from them. Lord Indra then told all the other Devas to churn their minds first! He told them to throw out all the unwanted thoughts, throw out all of the greedy thoughts and think only of Lord Vishnu. With Lord Vishnu on their minds, they were ready to begin. A puppet of the Mandara mountain in the ocean with Vasuki tied around it, the Devas on one side and the Asuras on the other holding Vasuki was shown on the screen.
The intense task of churning the ocean begins. The Devas and Asuras are both hard at work. The kids were asked to pretend that we were all playing tug-of-war. We all pretended to pull and get pulled back and forth. Then, suddenly as they were churning, Mount Mandara started losing its balance and started slipping into the ocean. Without the mountain, they couldn't finish the churning and they wouldn't be able to get the nectar. So again they prayed to Lord Vishnu and ask Him to help them out. We all chanted, "Om Namo Narayana" together three times. Then, Lord Vishnu thought, "how can I hold up the mountain?" So then he disguised himself as a turtle. A puppet of the Kurma Avatar was shown on the screen. Lord Vishnu as Kurma Avatar, went deep into the ocean of and supported the mountain on His back. A puppet of the Kurma Avatar supporting Mount Mandara on His back was shown on the screen. The Devas and Asuras continued to churn, and, finally a bowl of nectar came out of the milky ocean. The Asuras rushed in and grabbed that bowl. The Devas, though disappointed, controlled their anger and did not start fighting the Asuras. They just accepted the situation as is and walked away. Lord Vishnu was very happy with how the Devas reacted or we should probably say not react to the situation and listened to Him! "Remember His promise? He always helps good people to keep being good." So he went to the Asuras and with his magic, got the bowl of nectar from them. That is a story for another class:) We ended the story by chanting, 'Om Namo Narayana" together three times.
We concluded class with Om Purnamadha (page 15 in My Prayers book)
Pranaam,
Keerthi and Pramila
