intelligence

Activity 1

Activity 2

Activity 3

Activity 4

spiritual

find a special place

spirit of harmony-

mandalas

guided

meditations

conversations with Mama Earth and Daddy Sky

Activity 1

In the story How Paper and Ink Came Together and Survived to Sing About It the land of Ink is described as being: a beautiful land full of deep, thick, rich, luxurious colours. Our beautiful Earth can be described similarly. Children can be shown pictures of the Earth, pictures not of cities and man-made developments but of the natural world. They may even choose to photograph or collect their own pictures to share. Their discoveries may take them to a magical place that could become their special place to be alone. They may even be able to physically go to this place not just travel there in their imaginations. But either possibility will provide the right healing space for them. Children could be encouraged to keep a journal and record the thoughts and feelings experienced during these moments of quiet contemplation when they are at their special place. These quiet places can be inspirational and healing.

Activity 2

The mandala is a very powerful concept that originally came from the religious teachings of Hinduism, and Indian, Chinese and Japanese and especially Tibetan Buddhism. The word comes from Sanskrit (an ancient language) and manda means "essence," and the ending la means "container" or "possessor." Therefore, mandala means "A Container of Essence" or "Sphere of the Essence." Another Sanskrit meaning for the word is "circle." It has a centre or axis around which important and meaningful symbols are placed. For Buddhists, in particular, a mandala depicts the perfect environment of the Buddha so a mandala must reflect order and harmony and perfect wisdom, because this is what the word Buddha implies. Children can imagine how the Earth may have looked before we began polluting it and destroying so many of our natural environments. Using the mandala template they could either draw/paint their impressions or use magazine or computer images to construct them. The mandalas can be hung, secured to windows or pinned on walls. In order to heal the world we need to visualise how it might need to look.

Activity 3

Guided meditations are designed to assist in quieting the mind and freeing oneself from any emotional pain or blocks that prevent any movement forward. Children can be taken on such journeys away from their minds to reconnect to their spirit. CDs, tapes or thoughtfully chosen written guided meditations can be read to children. Such processes promote peacefulness, healing and natural health. Children may also want to write down guided meditations to share with others especially with younger children or family members.

Activity 4

The story of How Paper and Ink Came Together and Survived to Sing About It highlights two very important characters, Mama Earth and Daddy Sky. Children could be asked to imagine having a conversation with either one of them. What questions would they ask and what might the answers be? Children could share their product with others either recording and replaying character voices or performing plays or puppet shows.