Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Lesson 2: Center

Learning Tree Adventures
Lesson #2
Center
Preparing the Space
We wrote the morning verse on the chalkboard, and had items pertinent to our class on shelves, like our Preset Box, Learning Tree, Earth ball, beeswax, pencils with a compass, Uno cards, Books, (especially about Sunlight and Commons by Molly Bang), a circular Drum, round toys, a golden crown, an ox, our wise old owl, and so on.
Gathering and Welcome Song
We sang a song about gathering together to learn and grow, while joining hands in a circle. At the end, we hugged in close to the center and said, “Thank you!” to acknowledge the gift of being able to meet in that space and enjoy these things together.
Affirmation: “I Listen to My Heart,” and “I Am One With the Universe”
We said “I listen to my heart”, going around in a circle. Towards the end of class, we also talked about the universe, and we sent home the affirmation, “I am one with the universe.”
Nature/Seasonal Verse: Apple Tree
One child was chosen to curl up like a tiny seed in the center of our circle, and grow as the teacher read a verse about a tiny seed being watered by the rain and nourished by the sun. The rest of the children pretended to rain and shine on the seed as it grew into an apple tree.
The Present Box: Seeds
We looked in our special “Present” box and found raisins inside. Each child took a raisin and held it in their hand. They noticed what it looked like, felt like, then how it felt in their mouths as they tasted and began to eat it. This was our meditation/observation moment. Then, we discussed where raisins come from: grapes, which grow on vines, which grow from seeds.
We discussed how all life on earth begins, as a seed or egg, a tiny speck, that grows and grows from that tiny thing, until it becomes like it’s parent. We talked about when we were little tiny babies curled up inside our mother’s round tummy. We were connected in our center to our moms by a special umbilical cord. When we were ready to grow and move more on our own, and didn’t need the chord anymore, it was cut, and turned into our belly buttons. We found our belly buttons and pointed out they are circles. We said we will continue to grow and grow until we grow up to be like our parents.
Next, we pretended to be little babies again, and sang, “Once I was a baby,” to the tune of “Once I Was a Snowman,” and pretended to grow up tall. text
Morning Verse: Circling Around Centers
We pointed out that all living things start as little seeds or eggs, and they are all made out of what we call, the “dust of the earth”. The earth was made for us out of love from our Heavenly Father and Savior. It is a space for us to live and grow in.
We had a globe nearby, and talked about the shape of the earth, that it is round, and that it spins around in a circle (around it’s axis). Because it spins, sometimes, we see the sun, and sometimes we see the moon. We turned on a lamp, and turned in circles, pointing out when we saw the lamp on one side of the room (like a sun), and a round, yellow, colander hanging on the wall on the opposite side of the room (like a moon), and we sat back down. We pointed out that the sun is a great big circle that rises in the sky at the beginning of each day, and the moon is a circle that rises at the beginning of night.
The moon also travels in a circle around the earth, with the earth as the center of it’s circle. The earth also travels in a circle around the sun. Then, we put a little sun in the center of the circle we were sitting in, and passed a little ball that looks like the earth around our circle as we said our morning verse (taken from a Waldorf resource):
One is the sun that shines so bright,
One is the moon so high;
One is the day and one is the night,
One is the sheltering sky.
One is a head so still and tame,
Upon one body whole with health;
And I is the one and the special name
That only I can call myself!
Then we pointed out that God created a lot of wonderful things for us in our beautiful world, and we followed the teacher holding the “earth” as we stood up and traveled in circles around the room while singing “How Beautiful the World Is” and ending up, sitting near the couch for story time. A Wise Old Owl reminded us of the power of listening and learning as we headed into our main lesson through the nursery rhyme:
            A wise old owl lived in an oak
                        The more he saw the less he spoke
                        The less he spoke the more he heard
                        Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?
Main Lesson: Divine Worth and Potential - Beauty and the Beast Fairy Tale Review, and Sunlight book by Molly Bang
We brought out a gold, round, and shiny crown, which reminded us about the story we’d read the last time about a Prince and a Princess, Beauty and the Beast. We reviewed the story, using a picture of a circle-shaped face with a happy face on it that we could turn upside down to show a frown, to point out the change of emotion the story goes through. The Beast was a Prince, who was turned into a Beast that was really grumpy, and didn’t seem like a Prince, but he really was deep down inside. Love helped reveal and return him to his full Princely state.
We pulled out a crown for each child, and pointed out how very special each one of them is. We talked about how each of us is a Prince or a Princess from Heaven. And no matter how beastly or grumpy any of us may seem, love will help us remember how precious and important every one of us is.
We mentioned that the bright, round, golden crowns on their heads, reminded us of another bright, round, golden circle we see in the sky every day.
We then read a story about Sunlight, by Molly Bang, which describes the role of the sun as the source of life on earth, and the provider of life and energy to everything our world. The book showed the process of the plants on earth absorbing light from the sun, and using it to break apart water to collect and store energy, and release Oxygen into the air. We breathe the oxygen, and get energy for our bodies by eating the plants. The book goes on to show the cycles of the flow of energy that comes to the earth from the sun, and emphasizes that the sun is central to our existence, as a source to all life on the earth.
Language and Math: Letter A, Number 1, Latin “un”
We talked, again, about the crowns on our heads, that are gold and shiny like the sun. We asked why we wear them on our heads, and what our heads do. We pointed out that our heads take care of and unite the actions of our whole body, just like a good king takes care of and unites His whole Kingdom. Our crowns remind us we are children of a Heavenly King. Even though we don’t have always wear a shiny golden crown every day, we pointed out that the round part of our head is called our crown, and is always with us, no matter what we are wearing. We also asked them how many heads they had, and pointed out that there is only one head on their shoulders.
Next, we asked if the children could remember the letter that the ancient Hebrews drew in the shape of a head, and drew an Ox-head on the board. We asked them to make an ox-head with their fingers, by making a V shape with two fingers, and crossing those fingers with one from the other hand. Then, we had them turn the ox-head upside down and tell us which English letter they saw (A). We wrote an A on the board, and explained that the ox-head turned into our letter A in English. Then, we drew a 1, and told them that the ancient Hebrews used the ox-head for the number 1 as well.
Christ-like Attribute: Unity & Obedience
We told them that before people spoke English, as well as a bunch of other languages we have on earth today, a lot of those, who lived in Europe, spoke a language called, Latin. In the Latin language, they used the word, “un”, for the number one (we wrote these on the board). The French still use “un” for the number one, but the Spanish changed it to, “uno”. The kids were excited to recognize that word from a card game many of them had played called,”Uno”. We pointed out that in the game, they say, “uno”, when they have only one card left.
We asked if it was fun to play “Uno”, when everyone follows the instructions of the game and keeps the rules, versus if someone cheats and doesn’t follow the rules. We talked about how the instructions help everyone know how to play the same game. Without certain ways to do it, there would be no game at all. Following the instructions and the rules makes the game fun and nice for everyone. We mentioned some of the instructions, commandments, and rules we also have in life, which help make things nice and fun for everyone. They keep us safe and happy when we follow them. We explained that when everyone is following the same instructions and rules, and trying to do the same thing, we say they are united, and pointed out the “un” in the word, by writing it beneath the other “un”, and “uno”, we had written on the board, and underlining “un”, in all of them.
Next, we talked about how good rules, bless everyone, not just a few people. Good rules always show and come from love. We discussed how love is like a great seed, from which every good thing grows. We are like special seeds, made in love, by God, who flows His love and power to us, because we are His children. He wants us to grow and become like Him, just like a little seed, which leaves the tree it grew on, and grows up to become a tree as well. We practiced acting out being little seeds of love that grow up tall.
Music: I Have a Seed of Greatness song
We passed out a bowl of seeds of various shapes, sizes, and colors, and invited them to pass it around, and even pick up a seed and look at or hold it during the following song.
We then sang them the song, “I Have a Seed of Greatness”. Next, we talked about the seeds and asked whether each seed grew itself, all by itself. We talked about how the seed was connected to a plant that flowed energy and nutrients to it so that it could grow. We asked if we grew ourselves, all alone, by ourselves. Our lives are gifts that we’ve received from our parents and our Father in Heaven. We talked about how Heavenly Father helped us grow in heaven, until we were ready to leave His presence, and grow on earth, just like a seed that falls from a tree so that it can become a tree like it’s parent. Then, we had them pretend to be a seed once more, and grow up tall, turning to face a nearby lamp as they sat back down.
Note: We meant to also learn about leadership, another principle of the number one, and Hebrew letter, Aleph. We planned to have people practice being our music leader, to coordinate the efforts of the whole group to make music. We also planned to hit the center of a round drum to make our rhythms. We forgot to include this in class, but will probably pull it into our next one.
Science: Electricity, and the flow of Power
We turned a lamp on and asked what had made the lamp start glowing. We asked whether the lamp could glow all by itself, and pointed out that in order to give light, the lamp had to be plugged in, and connected, to a power source. We pointed out the blender and the toaster, and asked if they could make toast by themselves or blend something without being connected to a source of power.
We passed out a small piece of hard beeswax to each child, and told them to hold and play with the wax, and let some of the warmth and energy from their body, connect with the wax and warm it up so they could sculpt and shape it a little. As they played with the beeswax, we read the following verse:
                        A toaster can’t make toast alone, a blender cannot blend,
                        A T.V., to have something on, needs wires end to end.
                        There’s a source of all their power, and a flow of energy.
                        And there’s a flow of life, that comes from God to me.
Next, we showed them a toy hammer, and asked if a hammer could build a house by itself. We set it on the floor, and asked it to build us a house and waited, but nothing happened. We explained that we could use the hammer as a tool to build a house, but we’d have to connect with it, and put energy into it for it to work for us. Then we read the next part of the verse:
                        A hammer doesn’t wield itself, or build a house alone.
                        And all that’s good in my own life, flows from my Heavenly home.
                        In truth, the power, strength and gifts that come to me each day,
                        Flow down to me as I connect to God in loving ways.
                        There’s a source of all my power, and a flow of energy.
                        And there’s a flow of life, that comes from God to me.
We talked about how God flows power to us, and we can choose to put some of it into a hammer, to build something like a house.
Character Trait & Habit: Orderliness
Next, we talked about how special our houses are, as a center for our lives and our families. We wake up there each morning, and go to bed there at night. In our houses, it’s nice to have some rules and instructions that keep things in order and make things nice for everyone, like not hurting each other, and cleaning up our toys.
We asked if they had ever had so many toys out in a kind of a mess, that it was hard to find what they wanted, and mentioned how frustrating that can be, compared to when everything is kept in order and we know right where things are. Everything wants to have a home, and needs a space to be. Our shoes need a home. Our books and toys, and all we have, love to have a home to go to when they are ready to rest. It’s okay for them to leave their home, and it’s okay for us to get things out and create things that may make a bit of a mess, but when we’re done, everything wants to go back home where it can rest.
In order for everything to have a home, we need to make sure we have a space for all of it to be. If we have too many things, it’s hard to find a home for all of it. We also need to make sure that we especially have space for the most important things. We asked what it would be like if they had so many toys, there was no room in their house for food, or so many clothes everywhere, there was nowhere to put a bed. We pointed out that it’s important to create and keep space for the most important things first. We can do that with our time, our thoughts, and our energy too. We want to make time and space for the things that matter most, and take care of things that are central to our happiness and growth. We want to focus on things that will grow the kind of love that all good things come from, and make sure the point of what we do and build, is always centered in love.
Finding Examples: Discovering Our Centers
Next, we did the following finger-play, while finding different centers on our bodies.
                        Where is the center of my face, and what do I find there?
                        A nose that helps me smell and breathe the precious gift of air.
                        Where is the center of my ears that hang out by my hair?
                        They help me hear and stay upright as I move from here to there.
                        (We then talked a little bit about how our inner ears help us keep our balance).
                        Where is the center of my mouth, and center of my eye,
                        That help me take in yummy food, and gaze up at the sky.
                        What is the center of my arm and center of my leg?
                        My joints help me to move and play, jump and run and bend
                        Where is the center of my life? What’s the point of all I do?
                        Well, of course, it’s love for God above, and love for me and you!

Movement: Using our core and the centers of our body
We found the center of our body again, and practiced filling our bellies with air. Then we collapsed and bent over, and filled up our bellies again. We talked about dance and emphasized that the movement of our body when we dance, comes from our core. We also learned to pivot in a circle, by pretending one foot was stuck in glue, while we turned in a circle. We also pretended to draw circles by holding an arm out and using our body as the center of our circle as we spun around.
Next, we had the children find a partner, and choose which one of them would be the center first. We had them hold hands, and one of them stood in one place, while the other one walked in a circle around them, creating a circle with a sort of human compass.
Then we turned on the song, “I Feel Happy”, from the movie, Despicable Me, and danced, using different centers of our bodies to create circles. We made circles with our elbows, our knees, our heads, our bellies, and so on. We also passed out scarves and had them spin in a circle, holding the scarf out, to create circles with them at the center.
Food: Carrots, Apples, and Oranges
We had the children prepare the snacks themselves, washing, slicing, and serving carrots, apples, and oranges. They put them in round bowls and placed them in the center of the table. We pointed out the core of the carrots, the seeds in the center of the apple, the orange segments surrounding the center, and so on. We also pointed out how tiny the apple seeds are, compared to the big trees they grow into.
We also talked about how our thoughts, and what we plant in our minds by what we look at, focus on, notice and pay attention to, are like seeds that grow bigger and bigger, the more we pay attention to them. Our thoughts grow into the things we say, do and become. We want to make sure the seeds we plant are seeds of love, so we will grow good things that will make it nice for us and everyone. The thought seeds that will bring us the very best fruit, are the kinds that build our love and relationships. When we flow life and energy to others, we are being like God, and expanding where our life is flowing, and the good it can do.
Observations From Nature:
We went outside, and encouraged the children to find seeds and centers in nature. They found centers in flowers and tree trunks, and seeds they collected and played with.
Art: Compass Drawing – making circles from a point/center




We gave the children sidewalk chalk, with a short string of yarn attached to it, and showed them how to put their finger on the string, and hold the string straight while drawing a circle with sidewalk chalk. We showed them how to make various sized circles, by changing the length of the string. The children drew many circles, and we pointed out that the driveway now looked like it was filled with galaxies, and looked like a universe. We then pointed out that “universe”, starts with un, just like the other words we’d written on the board. We went inside, and wrote “universe” on the board beneath the words we’d already discussed.
Next, we showed them a pencil, and emphasized that we draw with the point in the center of the pencil. We used a pencil within a compass, to draw a perfect circle, by putting the point in the center of where we wanted our circle to be, and then spinning the compass around. The children wondered why it was called a compass, and one of them found a toy compass that he had, that showed the four cardinal points. We pointed out the similarities. His compass was a circle, with a center, and something that spun around on a central pivot. We could have also pointed out similar features on the face of a clock, which give something fun to think about. The lines, spinning around on a central pivot, create circles that help us measure both see and choose direction, as well as “Father Time”. We then gave each child a pencil, and had the draw some circles in a notebook.  
We told a story of a famous artist, Giotto? Who was chosen to be commissioned by the Pope for His art, for simply drawing such a perfect circle freehand, without the use of a compass, which can be very challenging.
Gathering and Closing Song:
We gathered in a circle again, and held hands while we sang our closing song about how much we’d gathered and learned, that we can love and share and know. We came into a close hug in the center of our circle at the end, and said “Thank you!” again and closed our class.
We invited those who wanted to stay a little longer to listen to a story called, “The Dot”, about a girl who discovered her love for art through a dot.

Some additional activities:
·         Practice “hitting the nail on the head” with a hammer, and talk about why you need to hit the nail in the center. Point out the flow of energy going from them, through the hammer, to the nail and wood.
·         Build a little birdhouse with Dad, using hammer and nails, and put birdseed inside.
·         Find a merry-go-round on a playground somewhere, if possible, or other spinning toys. Have them feel, if possible, the difference of force, pressure, stability, and so on, from sitting in the center vs. the outer edge.
·         Hold their hands, have them run, and spin them around you. Point out you are the center of the circle they are making around your body.
·         Make a spinning top with cardboard and pencils, or fold a cube of paper, and write goals that are central to our happiness on each side. You could also use this to play the game of dreidel, enjoyed during Hanukah by many Jewish children.
·         Observe the water flowing and draining through circles in the center of your sink.
·         Have a campfire, and point out that you are gathered in a circle around a fire.
·         Give each other hugs, and talk about the circles we make when we hug and connect with one another with our arms.
·         If you’re able to witness a baby blessing or baptism, point out that baby blessings and confirmations are done with the child in the center of a circle of Priesthood holders.
·         During a family dinner, point out how to pass food from the center of the table, around to each person in the circle, so that everyone can have a turn to get what they need.
·         Point out circles all around you in your daily life: plates, cups & bowls, sewer covers, bottles and jars, rings, hats, etc… just notice where they are around you. If you want, look up why the circle is so often chosen for things like pizzas and man-hole covers in the book, The Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe.
·         Observe in nature: throw rocks in a pond and observe the ripples flowing out from a central source. 

Scriptures and Talks to Ponder:
Discovering the Divinity Within, Oct. 2015 Gen. Conference Talk
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/discovering-the-divinity-within?lang=eng
The Joy of Living a Christ-Centered Life, Oct. 2015 Gen. Conference Talk
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/the-joy-of-living-a-christ-centered-life?lang=eng
D&C 88:13
The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.
John 1: 1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Mosiah 5: 8
And under this head ye are made a
free, and there is bno other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other cname given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
Moroni 7: 13
But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
D&C 88: 119? Establish a House of Order scripture
D&C88: 67
D&C 50: Therefore if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light – layers line upon line #3


                       
 

We wrote the morning verse on the chalkboard, and had items pertinent to our class on shelves, like our Preset Box, Learning Tree, Earth ball, beeswax, pencils with a compass, Uno cards, Books, (especially about Sunlight and Commons by Molly Bang), a circular Drum, round toys, a golden crown, an ox, our wise old owl, and so on.
Gathering and Welcome Song
We sang a song about gathering together to learn and grow, while joining hands in a circle. At the end, we hugged in close to the center and said, “Thank you!” to acknowledge the gift of being able to meet in that space and enjoy these things together.
Affirmation: “I Listen to My Heart,” and “I Am One With the Universe”
We said “I listen to my heart”, going around in a circle. Towards the end of class, we also talked about the universe, and we sent home the affirmation, “I am one with the universe.”
Nature/Seasonal Verse: Apple Tree
One child was chosen to curl up like a tiny seed in the center of our circle, and grow as the teacher read a verse about a tiny seed being watered by the rain and nourished by the sun. The rest of the children pretended to rain and shine on the seed as it grew into an apple tree.
The Present Box: Seeds
We looked in our special “Present” box and found raisins inside. Each child took a raisin and held it in their hand. They noticed what it looked like, felt like, then how it felt in their mouths as they tasted and began to eat it. This was our meditation/observation moment. Then, we discussed where raisins come from: grapes, which grow on vines, which grow from seeds.
We discussed how all life on earth begins, as a seed or egg, a tiny speck, that grows and grows from that tiny thing, until it becomes like it’s parent. We talked about when we were little tiny babies curled up inside our mother’s round tummy. We were connected in our center to our moms by a special umbilical cord. When we were ready to grow and move more on our own, and didn’t need the chord anymore, it was cut, and turned into our belly buttons. We found our belly buttons and pointed out they are circles. We said we will continue to grow and grow until we grow up to be like our parents.
Next, we pretended to be little babies again, and sang, “Once I was a baby,” to the tune of “Once I Was a Snowman,” and pretended to grow up tall. text
Morning Verse: Circling Around Centers
We pointed out that all living things start as little seeds or eggs, and they are all made out of what we call, the “dust of the earth”. The earth was made for us out of love from our Heavenly Father and Savior. It is a space for us to live and grow in.
We had a globe nearby, and talked about the shape of the earth, that it is round, and that it spins around in a circle (around it’s axis). Because it spins, sometimes, we see the sun, and sometimes we see the moon. We turned on a lamp, and turned in circles, pointing out when we saw the lamp on one side of the room (like a sun), and a round, yellow, colander hanging on the wall on the opposite side of the room (like a moon), and we sat back down. We pointed out that the sun is a great big circle that rises in the sky at the beginning of each day, and the moon is a circle that rises at the beginning of night.
The moon also travels in a circle around the earth, with the earth as the center of it’s circle. The earth also travels in a circle around the sun. Then, we put a little sun in the center of the circle we were sitting in, and passed a little ball that looks like the earth around our circle as we said our morning verse (taken from a Waldorf resource):
One is the sun that shines so bright,
One is the moon so high;
One is the day and one is the night,
One is the sheltering sky.
One is a head so still and tame,
Upon one body whole with health;
And I is the one and the special name
That only I can call myself!
Then we pointed out that God created a lot of wonderful things for us in our beautiful world, and we followed the teacher holding the “earth” as we stood up and traveled in circles around the room while singing “How Beautiful the World Is” and ending up, sitting near the couch for story time. A Wise Old Owl reminded us of the power of listening and learning as we headed into our main lesson through the nursery rhyme:
            A wise old owl lived in an oak
                        The more he saw the less he spoke
                        The less he spoke the more he heard
                        Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?
Main Lesson: Divine Worth and Potential - Beauty and the Beast Fairy Tale Review, and Sunlight book by Molly Bang
We brought out a gold, round, and shiny crown, which reminded us about the story we’d read the last time about a Prince and a Princess, Beauty and the Beast. We reviewed the story, using a picture of a circle-shaped face with a happy face on it that we could turn upside down to show a frown, to point out the change of emotion the story goes through. The Beast was a Prince, who was turned into a Beast that was really grumpy, and didn’t seem like a Prince, but he really was deep down inside. Love helped reveal and return him to his full Princely state.
We pulled out a crown for each child, and pointed out how very special each one of them is. We talked about how each of us is a Prince or a Princess from Heaven. And no matter how beastly or grumpy any of us may seem, love will help us remember how precious and important every one of us is.
We mentioned that the bright, round, golden crowns on their heads, reminded us of another bright, round, golden circle we see in the sky every day.
We then read a story about Sunlight, by Molly Bang, which describes the role of the sun as the source of life on earth, and the provider of life and energy to everything our world. The book showed the process of the plants on earth absorbing light from the sun, and using it to break apart water to collect and store energy, and release Oxygen into the air. We breathe the oxygen, and get energy for our bodies by eating the plants. The book goes on to show the cycles of the flow of energy that comes to the earth from the sun, and emphasizes that the sun is central to our existence, as a source to all life on the earth.
Language and Math: Letter A, Number 1, Latin “un”
We talked, again, about the crowns on our heads, that are gold and shiny like the sun. We asked why we wear them on our heads, and what our heads do. We pointed out that our heads take care of and unite the actions of our whole body, just like a good king takes care of and unites His whole Kingdom. Our crowns remind us we are children of a Heavenly King. Even though we don’t have always wear a shiny golden crown every day, we pointed out that the round part of our head is called our crown, and is always with us, no matter what we are wearing. We also asked them how many heads they had, and pointed out that there is only one head on their shoulders.
Next, we asked if the children could remember the letter that the ancient Hebrews drew in the shape of a head, and drew an Ox-head on the board. We asked them to make an ox-head with their fingers, by making a V shape with two fingers, and crossing those fingers with one from the other hand. Then, we had them turn the ox-head upside down and tell us which English letter they saw (A). We wrote an A on the board, and explained that the ox-head turned into our letter A in English. Then, we drew a 1, and told them that the ancient Hebrews used the ox-head for the number 1 as well.
Christ-like Attribute: Unity & Obedience
We told them that before people spoke English, as well as a bunch of other languages we have on earth today, a lot of those, who lived in Europe, spoke a language called, Latin. In the Latin language, they used the word, “un”, for the number one (we wrote these on the board). The French still use “un” for the number one, but the Spanish changed it to, “uno”. The kids were excited to recognize that word from a card game many of them had played called,”Uno”. We pointed out that in the game, they say, “uno”, when they have only one card left.
We asked if it was fun to play “Uno”, when everyone follows the instructions of the game and keeps the rules, versus if someone cheats and doesn’t follow the rules. We talked about how the instructions help everyone know how to play the same game. Without certain ways to do it, there would be no game at all. Following the instructions and the rules makes the game fun and nice for everyone. We mentioned some of the instructions, commandments, and rules we also have in life, which help make things nice and fun for everyone. They keep us safe and happy when we follow them. We explained that when everyone is following the same instructions and rules, and trying to do the same thing, we say they are united, and pointed out the “un” in the word, by writing it beneath the other “un”, and “uno”, we had written on the board, and underlining “un”, in all of them.
Next, we talked about how good rules, bless everyone, not just a few people. Good rules always show and come from love. We discussed how love is like a great seed, from which every good thing grows. We are like special seeds, made in love, by God, who flows His love and power to us, because we are His children. He wants us to grow and become like Him, just like a little seed, which leaves the tree it grew on, and grows up to become a tree as well. We practiced acting out being little seeds of love that grow up tall.
Music: I Have a Seed of Greatness song
We passed out a bowl of seeds of various shapes, sizes, and colors, and invited them to pass it around, and even pick up a seed and look at or hold it during the following song.
We then sang them the song, “I Have a Seed of Greatness”. Next, we talked about the seeds and asked whether each seed grew itself, all by itself. We talked about how the seed was connected to a plant that flowed energy and nutrients to it so that it could grow. We asked if we grew ourselves, all alone, by ourselves. Our lives are gifts that we’ve received from our parents and our Father in Heaven. We talked about how Heavenly Father helped us grow in heaven, until we were ready to leave His presence, and grow on earth, just like a seed that falls from a tree so that it can become a tree like it’s parent. Then, we had them pretend to be a seed once more, and grow up tall, turning to face a nearby lamp as they sat back down.
Note: We meant to also learn about leadership, another principle of the number one, and Hebrew letter, Aleph. We planned to have people practice being our music leader, to coordinate the efforts of the whole group to make music. We also planned to hit the center of a round drum to make our rhythms. We forgot to include this in class, but will probably pull it into our next one.
Science: Electricity, and the flow of Power
We turned a lamp on and asked what had made the lamp start glowing. We asked whether the lamp could glow all by itself, and pointed out that in order to give light, the lamp had to be plugged in, and connected, to a power source. We pointed out the blender and the toaster, and asked if they could make toast by themselves or blend something without being connected to a source of power.
We passed out a small piece of hard beeswax to each child, and told them to hold and play with the wax, and let some of the warmth and energy from their body, connect with the wax and warm it up so they could sculpt and shape it a little. As they played with the beeswax, we read the following verse:
                        A toaster can’t make toast alone, a blender cannot blend,
                        A T.V., to have something on, needs wires end to end.
                        There’s a source of all their power, and a flow of energy.
                        And there’s a flow of life, that comes from God to me.
Next, we showed them a toy hammer, and asked if a hammer could build a house by itself. We set it on the floor, and asked it to build us a house and waited, but nothing happened. We explained that we could use the hammer as a tool to build a house, but we’d have to connect with it, and put energy into it for it to work for us. Then we read the next part of the verse:
                        A hammer doesn’t wield itself, or build a house alone.
                        And all that’s good in my own life, flows from my Heavenly home.
                        In truth, the power, strength and gifts that come to me each day,
                        Flow down to me as I connect to God in loving ways.
                        There’s a source of all my power, and a flow of energy.
                        And there’s a flow of life, that comes from God to me.
We talked about how God flows power to us, and we can choose to put some of it into a hammer, to build something like a house.
Character Trait & Habit: Orderliness
Next, we talked about how special our houses are, as a center for our lives and our families. We wake up there each morning, and go to bed there at night. In our houses, it’s nice to have some rules and instructions that keep things in order and make things nice for everyone, like not hurting each other, and cleaning up our toys.
We asked if they had ever had so many toys out in a kind of a mess, that it was hard to find what they wanted, and mentioned how frustrating that can be, compared to when everything is kept in order and we know right where things are. Everything wants to have a home, and needs a space to be. Our shoes need a home. Our books and toys, and all we have, love to have a home to go to when they are ready to rest. It’s okay for them to leave their home, and it’s okay for us to get things out and create things that may make a bit of a mess, but when we’re done, everything wants to go back home where it can rest.
In order for everything to have a home, we need to make sure we have a space for all of it to be. If we have too many things, it’s hard to find a home for all of it. We also need to make sure that we especially have space for the most important things. We asked what it would be like if they had so many toys, there was no room in their house for food, or so many clothes everywhere, there was nowhere to put a bed. We pointed out that it’s important to create and keep space for the most important things first. We can do that with our time, our thoughts, and our energy too. We want to make time and space for the things that matter most, and take care of things that are central to our happiness and growth. We want to focus on things that will grow the kind of love that all good things come from, and make sure the point of what we do and build, is always centered in love.
Finding Examples: Discovering Our Centers
Next, we did the following finger-play, while finding different centers on our bodies.
                        Where is the center of my face, and what do I find there?
                        A nose that helps me smell and breathe the precious gift of air.
                        Where is the center of my ears that hang out by my hair?
                        They help me hear and stay upright as I move from here to there.
                        (We then talked a little bit about how our inner ears help us keep our balance).
                        Where is the center of my mouth, and center of my eye,
                        That help me take in yummy food, and gaze up at the sky.
                        What is the center of my arm and center of my leg?
                        My joints help me to move and play, jump and run and bend
                        Where is the center of my life? What’s the point of all I do?
                        Well, of course, it’s love for God above, and love for me and you!

Movement: Using our core and the centers of our body
We found the center of our body again, and practiced filling our bellies with air. Then we collapsed and bent over, and filled up our bellies again. We talked about dance and emphasized that the movement of our body when we dance, comes from our core. We also learned to pivot in a circle, by pretending one foot was stuck in glue, while we turned in a circle. We also pretended to draw circles by holding an arm out and using our body as the center of our circle as we spun around.
Next, we had the children find a partner, and choose which one of them would be the center first. We had them hold hands, and one of them stood in one place, while the other one walked in a circle around them, creating a circle with a sort of human compass.
Then we turned on the song, “I Feel Happy”, from the movie, Despicable Me, and danced, using different centers of our bodies to create circles. We made circles with our elbows, our knees, our heads, our bellies, and so on. We also passed out scarves and had them spin in a circle, holding the scarf out, to create circles with them at the center.
Food: Carrots, Apples, and Oranges
We had the children prepare the snacks themselves, washing, slicing, and serving carrots, apples, and oranges. They put them in round bowls and placed them in the center of the table. We pointed out the core of the carrots, the seeds in the center of the apple, the orange segments surrounding the center, and so on. We also pointed out how tiny the apple seeds are, compared to the big trees they grow into.
We also talked about how our thoughts, and what we plant in our minds by what we look at, focus on, notice and pay attention to, are like seeds that grow bigger and bigger, the more we pay attention to them. Our thoughts grow into the things we say, do and become. We want to make sure the seeds we plant are seeds of love, so we will grow good things that will make it nice for us and everyone. The thought seeds that will bring us the very best fruit, are the kinds that build our love and relationships. When we flow life and energy to others, we are being like God, and expanding where our life is flowing, and the good it can do.
Observations From Nature:
We went outside, and encouraged the children to find seeds and centers in nature. They found centers in flowers and tree trunks, and seeds they collected and played with.
Art: Compass Drawing – making circles from a point/center




We gave the children sidewalk chalk, with a short string of yarn attached to it, and showed them how to put their finger on the string, and hold the string straight while drawing a circle with sidewalk chalk. We showed them how to make various sized circles, by changing the length of the string. The children drew many circles, and we pointed out that the driveway now looked like it was filled with galaxies, and looked like a universe. We then pointed out that “universe”, starts with un, just like the other words we’d written on the board. We went inside, and wrote “universe” on the board beneath the words we’d already discussed.
Next, we showed them a pencil, and emphasized that we draw with the point in the center of the pencil. We used a pencil within a compass, to draw a perfect circle, by putting the point in the center of where we wanted our circle to be, and then spinning the compass around. The children wondered why it was called a compass, and one of them found a toy compass that he had, that showed the four cardinal points. We pointed out the similarities. His compass was a circle, with a center, and something that spun around on a central pivot. We could have also pointed out similar features on the face of a clock, which give something fun to think about. The lines, spinning around on a central pivot, create circles that help us measure both see and choose direction, as well as “Father Time”. We then gave each child a pencil, and had the draw some circles in a notebook.  
We told a story of a famous artist, Giotto? Who was chosen to be commissioned by the Pope for His art, for simply drawing such a perfect circle freehand, without the use of a compass, which can be very challenging.
Gathering and Closing Song:
We gathered in a circle again, and held hands while we sang our closing song about how much we’d gathered and learned, that we can love and share and know. We came into a close hug in the center of our circle at the end, and said “Thank you!” again and closed our class.
We invited those who wanted to stay a little longer to listen to a story called, “The Dot”, about a girl who discovered her love for art through a dot.

Some additional activities:
·         Practice “hitting the nail on the head” with a hammer, and talk about why you need to hit the nail in the center. Point out the flow of energy going from them, through the hammer, to the nail and wood.
·         Build a little birdhouse with Dad, using hammer and nails, and put birdseed inside.
·         Find a merry-go-round on a playground somewhere, if possible, or other spinning toys. Have them feel, if possible, the difference of force, pressure, stability, and so on, from sitting in the center vs. the outer edge.
·         Hold their hands, have them run, and spin them around you. Point out you are the center of the circle they are making around your body.
·         Make a spinning top with cardboard and pencils, or fold a cube of paper, and write goals that are central to our happiness on each side. You could also use this to play the game of dreidel, enjoyed during Hanukah by many Jewish children.
·         Observe the water flowing and draining through circles in the center of your sink.
·         Have a campfire, and point out that you are gathered in a circle around a fire.
·         Give each other hugs, and talk about the circles we make when we hug and connect with one another with our arms.
·         If you’re able to witness a baby blessing or baptism, point out that baby blessings and confirmations are done with the child in the center of a circle of Priesthood holders.
·         During a family dinner, point out how to pass food from the center of the table, around to each person in the circle, so that everyone can have a turn to get what they need.
·         Point out circles all around you in your daily life: plates, cups & bowls, sewer covers, bottles and jars, rings, hats, etc… just notice where they are around you. If you want, look up why the circle is so often chosen for things like pizzas and man-hole covers in the book, The Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe.
·         Observe in nature: throw rocks in a pond and observe the ripples flowing out from a central source. 

Scriptures and Talks to Ponder:
Discovering the Divinity Within, Oct. 2015 Gen. Conference Talk
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/discovering-the-divinity-within?lang=eng
The Joy of Living a Christ-Centered Life, Oct. 2015 Gen. Conference Talk
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/the-joy-of-living-a-christ-centered-life?lang=eng
D&C 88:13
The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.
John 1: 1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Mosiah 5: 8
And under this head ye are made a
free, and there is bno other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other cname given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
Moroni 7: 13
But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
D&C 88: 119? Establish a House of Order scripture
D&C88: 67
D&C 50: Therefore if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light – layers line upon line #3


                       

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