We began another delightful Sunday morning of Shishu Vihar, with our cute kids' faces popping up on our screens. It was so nice to see our little kiddos after Spring break. We welcomed Mayukh to our class. 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)
6. "Shubam Karoti" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
7. "Krishnayan Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
8. "Karacharana Krtam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
9. "Sri Rama Rama Ramethi" (page 129 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. We then went into the Flower Pose. We added the snake pose by popular demand! The kids are becoming experts!
Bhajan time - we introduced the class to a new Lord Rama bhajan
Khate bhi Ram Kaho
Pite bhi Ram Kaho
Ram Ram Ram, bolo
Raam Ram Ram, Raam Ram Ram,
RAM RAM RAM
Padhate bhi Ram Kaho
Likhte bhi Ram Kaho
Ram Ram Ram, bolo
Raam Ram Ram, Raam Ram Ram,
RAM RAM RAM
Uthate bhi Ram Kaho
Bethte bhi Ram Kaho
Ram Ram Ram, bolo
Raam Ram Ram, Raam Ram Ram,
RAM RAM RAM
Hasate bhi Ram Kaho
Rote bhi Ram Kaho
Ram Ram Ram, bolo
Raam Ram Ram, Raam Ram Ram,
RAM RAM RAM
4. 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 had everyone on mute so that the kids wouldn't have any potential distractions from each other. A few of our students got the count correct! Most of them were really close. Impressive how most of the kids are able to keep their eyes closed and concentrate. 5. After some meditation and calming down, we repeated numbers 1-10 in Sanskrit. We had the kids put up their fingers as we counted together. 6.Geetha Chanting, we practiced shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 from chapter 2 of the Geetha. We chanted them together. We introduced the 6th shloka. It was such a wonderful feeling to see and hear several kids chanting shlokas 1, 2 and 3:)yay!! 7. Story Time. 8. Craft Time, the list of items required for our craft projects are sent prior to class. After the story, the kids are usually asked if they can guess what we are going to make. It is quite impressive when they figure it out! Like Rohini did during this class!! The twigs apparently gave it away for this week's craft:) The kids were asked to string a bow using the larger twig. They were then told to use the other (more straight twig/skewer) stick to make an arrow. The kids had really creative ways of decorating making their arrow heads and feathers, some used color paper, others used multi colored yarn. They all enjoyed making their craft. It was super impressive to see Ronit's bow and arrow being perfectly functional!! Arya and her brother spent the day playing with the craft:)!! Thank you again to the adults for your enthusiastic participation. Below are a few of our class bows and arrows. 
9. After the craft project, a few of our older kids finished early. We introduced the class to "Rama" likitha japa.
Story of Lord Rama's Birth:
Background
Prior to getting into the story, the kids were asked if they remember who a Rakshasa/Demon/Asura was. It took some time but eventually they said, "a mean person". The kids were asked to show us a mean face. Then the name "Ravana" was introduced to the class. He was creating havoc everywhere and the Devas rushed to (a puppet of Lord Vishnu was shown on the screen and the kids immediately said,) "Lord Vishnu". We all chanted, "Om Namo Narayana", three times. Lord Vishnu listened to their pleas for help and He agreed to do something about the situation.
Character intros
Dasharatha - A puppet of king Dasharatha was shown on the screen. He was introduced as an old king who was very good and wise. Everyone was very happy with him.
The three Queens - Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumithra
All the people loved King Dadharatha very much. But the king himself was very sad. The kids were asked to show us a sad face. He was very sad because he didn't have any children. He wanted to have kids running around his palace. His friends had children, but he didn't have any. He really wanted a child so badly and dreamt that that child would become the prince and when the prince grew up, he could be the king.
One day King Dasharatha went to his Guru, Sage Vashishta and he asked his Guruji, "Please tell me how I can have children of my own." A puppet of Sage Vashishta was shown on the screen. The Guruji said that he can pray to God and ask God to give him children. The king was happy to hear this. "Please teach me how to pray, I really want children", the King said to his Guruji. The Guruji said, "We will have a yagna (the kids were asked if they knew what a yagna was, a few responded saying, "havan") first we have to make a special fire and do the havan."A puppet of the king, Sage Vasishta, Kaushalya and Kaikeyi (Sumithra was away on some important duty and was unable to attend the havan) performing the havan was shown on the screen. They called the priest. They built the havan. They prepared all the offerings. They started their pooja and they all prayed with sincere devotion.
Suddenly, out of the fire came a person holding a pot of special payasam/kheer (the kids were asked if they are familiar with that, a few said sweet/dessert:). The person told the King, "Whoever drinks this magical dessert will have a beautiful baby who will become a very strong and kind prince!" A puppet of this scene was shown on the screen. The king was very happy and very excited about the magical dessert. He thanked the person and Sage Vasishta and he went home ecstatic, as he carefully held on to the special milk.
When King Dasharatha reached home he divided the milk into 2 glasses and he called both his queens, Queen Kaushalya and Queen Kaikeyi. The king told both of them to drink the milk. The queens remembered that there was another queen in the palace also and they didn't want to leave her out. So they saved half of each of their shares for Queen Sumithra, and both Queen Kaushalya and Queen Kaikeyi shared their milk with her. All three of them drank up all the milk and waited. A puppet of the queens sharing the special milk dessert was shown on the screen.
One night when Queen Kaushalya was sleeping, the whole room suddenly filled with light. The queen woke up and in front of her she saw Lord Vishnu. A puppet of Lord Vishnu and a puppet of Queen Kaushalya was shown on the screen. She was so happy to see Him as she always prayed to Him and she loved Lord Vishnu. She bowed to Him. Lord Vishnu said, "Queen Kaushalya, you have a very pure heart and you have been a very kind person. You have done all your duties and have never been lazy. You have spoken nicely to people and you have helped them. You have prayed that I be your son, and I answer prayers when the person's heart is pure. Therefore, I will be born as your son." Queen Kaushalya was so happy and she was so excited that Lord Vishnu was going to come as her child. She was so happy.
Lord Vishnu didn't want to confuse the queen from being a mom to a baby so, He made her forget that He was Lord Vishnu and He changed himself into a very cute little baby on her lap and the baby looked up at Queen Kaushalya and giggled. A baby was born! The whole palace was very happy. The King was very happy. The kids were asked to show us a happy face:) He had one baby. Then Queen Kaikeyi also had a baby. Everyone was very happy. The King was very happy. He now had two babies. Then Queen Sumitra also had a baby. Everyone was very, very, very happy. The King was very, very, very happy. He now had three babies. Then Queen Sumitra had another baby---woo hoo twins!! Everyone in the entire palace was overjoyed. The King was overjoyed. He now had four babies. a puppet of this scene was shown on the screen.
King Dasharatha now had 4 baby boys. He named them Prince Rama, Prince Bharata, and the twins, Prince Lakshmana and Prince Shatrughana. Everyone in the palace celebrated. Everyone in the kingdom celebrated. A puppet of the happy Royal family and the kingdom celebrating was shown on the screen. The king loved all four of his boys, but he definitely had a soft corner for Prince Rama. The boys grew up fast and they loved to climb onto their dad's lap and play at the same time. A puppet of all four boys on their dad's lap was shown on the screen. Daiyan has 2 brothers and Rohini has 2 sisters, they were asked how their parents feel when they decide to climb on top of them at the same time...they all smiled. Lots of love to go around!
The brothers grew up fast! Soon they were ready to go to school. The class was asked if they remember what a school was called then the kids had to go and live with their teacher to learn. There was hesitation. Then they were asked if they knew what it was called when the kids went to live with their "Guru". Then a few said, "Gurukulam":) Sage Vishwamithra was their guru. A puppet of sage Vishwamithra was shown on the screen. The boys were taught everything and all four of them were very smart. But Prince Rama excelled in the art of archery. A puppet of the princes learning archery was shown on the screen. Eventually the boys grew up and their time at the gurukulam came to an end. They returned home and prince Rama was showing off His archery skills to His dad, mom and step-moms. A puppet of this scene with the proud King Dasharatha looking on, was shown on the screen. We paused our story here. The kids were wide eyed and focused the whole time!!! Super impressive:)
We concluded class with Om Purnamadham.
