All Mankind...

“Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind… It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth.” –Bahá’u’lláh

After focusing on the concepts of being a light and being a guide, we studied the concept of "mankind". I was actually going to keep this lesson very short and sweet because I assumed the children knew what mankind meant, but we ended up looking at the concept over two class sessions.

For the first lesson, we read


This is a children's book looking at the diversity among people, cultures and ways of living and being around the world. Looking back, I wish I had encouraged more discussion by the children about the different illustrations. It's interesting to hear their perceptions and perspectives, and I think they would have absorbed the content better, too. So as I write this, I'm making a mental note to be sure I bring the book out again at a future story time and take our time with it!

Our second activity was putting together a collage with images of different kinds of people. My magazine selection is somewhat limited, but I encouraged the kids to try to find images of as many different kinds of people with different kinds of features as they could -- different skin colors, hair types, ages, genders, clothing.


We also discussed how mankind doesn't only refer to people "out there" in other countries and far away places, but to our own communities and people we know and love. Being guides and lights to our families, friends and teachers is serving mankind, too. We didn't have pictures of our relatives or friends, (although that could be a nice addition), so we simply wrote down the different people we see in our lives everyday and added them.

Other reads...

There are a couple of other young children's books that come to mind on the subject of mankind. (Sorry, you can't actually "click to look inside", but you can find them at Amazon.com along with "People".)



And this is a GREAT read for grown-ups:


A fantastic resource to have for your personal library -- well-written and chock full of ideas and activities on raising world citizens. It's baby-shower, first-birthday-gift good.

And one more little craft idea...

Another I thought of on this theme was creating a string of paper dolls.


The children can be encouraged to color them different skin colors and create faces with different types of eyes, ears and noses. They can color or cut and paste different hair styles and also different types of clothing and costumes.

If you want to take the craft a little further, (and you'd need to do this over several days or weekly lessons because of all the drying time required), the children could collectively or individually make a paper mache globe of the earth and glue the chain of multicultural paper dolls around it.

Being a guide...

So remember we're studying the same quotation over the course of several weeks, but focusing on a different concept or vocabulary word from the quotation each time.

“Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind… It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth.” –Bahá’u’lláh

After our lesson on being a light, we looked at the concept of a guide. What is a guide? What does a guide do? We did a little role playing where each child pretended to be something or someone guiding the other children. Then I asked the children to draw a picture of the concept, and helped write a sentence or two telling what their picture was about.

At first, I was going to make a book by stapling the children's drawings together -- a perfectly lovely idea. (Especially because we can pick it up at story time and read it at every class.) But somehow I learned about this great site called FlipSnack, and decided I would try creating an ebook -- my first!



The nice thing about an ebook is that it can be shared with anyone who has access to a computer. So, all the parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles, and sisters and brothers scattered all over the globe have a chance to experience it. Of course, if you have access to a printer or photocopier, hard copies of the book can be shared as well.

I didn't have a lot of time to get fancy, but I'm fine with its quaint simplicity and enjoyed learning how to do something new.

Here's how I did the ebook...

If you have basic familiarity of Microsoft Word this will not be an intimidating process.

I took pictures of the children's drawings with a digital camera. I inserted each photo into its own page of a blank document in Microsoft Word, and then wrote the surrounding text. (I used the children's own words from their drawings, and then added a little more at the beginning and end for context.) I then saved the file as a PDF, (which I learned how to do watching a short YouTube tutorial), and followed the FlipSnack steps to turn it into an ebook.

I will add that I don't have much of a budget for this class, so I've simply been using FlipSnack's free options. There are limitations, but so far I'm blissfully ignorant and don't feel I'm missing out. Your ebook creations can be shared via links for free, and you can embed a few books into things at no cost.

Either way...

But whether you create an ebook or a paper book, children love to see their published work. Aside from being a great way to review concepts, reading student-authored books in class every so often, (just as you would a store bought book written by a grown-up), gives them a sense of pride and conveys that you value their thoughts and ideas and are serious about their work.

Ayyam-i-Ha Service Project

Our shining stars shed a lot of light this past Sunday! As an Ayyam-i-Ha service project, the children assisted at a local preschool for a couple of hours.

The week before our visit, they prepared some goodie bags for the school children.


As soon as they arrived at the preschool, our shining stars were put to work. First task: clean the windows!


And they weren't alone... They had some eager little helpers wanting to shed their light, too!


Next, they got to scrubbing the indoor tables.


Then they got to work on the outdoor tables.


They scrubbed down a playhouse, too!


They picked up a broom...


They helped the preschoolers wash their hands in preparation for lunch, and then assisted the teachers in serving the meal.


After lunch, they wiped down the tables...


Swept the floor...


And put away the tables and chairs.


And they didn't stop there! Our shining stars had more to give! With lunch clean-up all done, they moved on to the outdoor play area and helped pick up fallen leaves.


Of course, all that hard work deserves a little play.


But before we left, the preschoolers had a little gift of their own to give...


Each child was presented a gift box of cookies and a picture collage of the lovely school children.


It was an absolutely joyful way to spend the morning! High-five to our shining stars for their tireless, enthusiastic service. And a big thank-you to the teachers and children at Gan Shiluvim for allowing us the bounty of serving at their wonderful school.