Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I am Thankful
Objectives
Thankfulness is the foundation for contentment. Learning to accept the results of your
work is a very important life skill and also the foundation for keeping compassion
alive in the heart. Training children in this value includes explaining how to accept
losing or when you don’t get the toys you want and waiting for your turn.
Contentment is also described as unconditional happiness. It means you have peace,
whatever happens and are thankful all the time.
Habits:
I can be happy for others.
I am lucky.
Everything looks so good.
I feel calm.
I am thankful
2.
Superbunny wanted to help him and got him a job. The Old Lion became a bus driver.
He was happy and the children were happy too. But some parents were not so happy.
They didn’t trust the Old Lion. And said he should stay away from their children. The
Old Lion bowed his head, the teachers felt sorry too, but he said, ‘Don’t worry.
“People may not always like me, but I am always thankful.”
3.
Superbunny asked. ‘Can you cook?’ The Lion nodded and the next day he started to
work in a restaurant. It was not easy for the Old Lion. But he was cheerful and
everybody liked him.
4.
But in the restaurant there were a lot of rats, which stole a lot of food. One day a
wedding cake was half eaten. The owner thought the Old Lion had done it. ‘You are
fired! Get out!’ Again the Old Lion bowed his head. His colleagues cried for him, but
he said ‘Don’t worry, ‘Even they don’t like me, but I am always thankful.”
5.
Superbunny felt sorry for the Old Lion. He always had bad luck it seemed, yet he was
never angry. So he tried again ‘Come with me, maybe you can work as a sailor on a
fishing boat.’
6.
So the next day he put on his sailor’s uniform and started his work. He did very well,
and helped a lot. But the fishermen didn’t like him and sacked him again.
7.
Superbunny felt very sad. He knew it wasn’t the lion’s fault. But the Old Lion didn’t
feel sad at all. “I am always thankful.” he said, “I really am.” and walked away.
Superbunny didn’t give up though.
8.
‘I know where you can live in peace.’ He said. ‘I am going to take you home.’ He got
an old car and said, ‘Get in. I’ll take you back to the jungle! There you can see your
family.’ Not far on the way, they got a puncture. A little later the car broke down. They
called a mechanic, who said, ‘This car can’t be fixed anymore.’ Superbunny couldn’t
take the Old Lion to the jungle either and felt sorry for the Old Lion, but he smiled,
‘Don’t worry, I am always thankful.”
9.
Luckily there passed by a circus, and they needed a lion to travel with them for their
shows. They seemed like a nice family of friends and animals. The Old Lion got on
the truck with them and felt at home at once. They called Superbunny to come with
them. But Superbunny said he had others to take care of. And he didn’t worry about
Lion anymore, because whatever happened to him, he would always be thankful.
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Questions
In this story Lion faces many difficulties. Most of the time, others don’t like him.
Does it happen to you? How do you react if faced with similar problems? Do you
give up easily?
In this story Lion always has bad luck. People say: ‘problems come in threes’ In
this story the Lion has many more problems. How about you. Do you see that if
something bad happens once, it usually connects to more problems?
Do you think he will settle in the circus? Do you think his fate will change?
Do you know any children who always face problems in their life? How do they
overcome these problems?
Do you think there is a purpose in facing problems?
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Show the children the movements for the key aspects of the story.
Start music and have the children move around freely. Then stop the music and call
one of the poses names. Touch the children who are too slow to act out the pose, They
can join you in catching the others.
Thank you song
People have a saying:
Do you know what it means and where the saying comes from?
Do you feel like this too?
Make thank you cards for the people who care about you.
Role play
Arrange role plays on the following topics:
1. Cutting in line.
2. Picky eater.
3. Broken toys. (you share your toys with somebody and he breaks them
by accident)
4. Poor grades (others can do things better than you)
5. Copycats (others have things you don’t have and you become jealous)
Thankfulness
Learn this song about thankfulness.
The next day, he became the sun. He was very happy. He thought he was the
strongest. But then clouds came and covered the sun. So he thought he would like to
be the clouds.
The next day he became a cloud and felt very strong. But as he was floating in the
sky, he came across a mountain, taller and stronger than the cloud. So he wished to be
the mountain.
The next day he had become a mountain. He felt very strong. But every day there
came a stone cutter and chipped away a small piece. The mountain got scared and
said, ‘I am strong, but the stone cutter is stronger.’ I wish to be a stonecutter.
The next day he became a stone cutter again, and was content and thankful and never
thought about changing again.
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she was dirty and fed her with fruits. Though he himself was often tired he played
with her, taught her how to live in the forest and make a home. He comforted her
when she would be sad, and when she was big enough, he started to look for a
husband for her.
For an ape to get close to the people was not easy, but as fate would have it, one of the
workmen he had been calling on felt inclined to follow him to his jungle house.
The girl was scared of him and refused to see him. But Grandfather Ape convinced
her that he was a good man.
They fed him, and he stayed with them. He helped them in whatever way he could
and she came to love him as he had already come to love her too.
They were happy, but the young boy then longed for his family. Grandfather Ape
whistled and a rainbow appeared in the sky. The young man then realized that
Grandfather Ape was a wizard, and they climbed on the rainbow straight to his home!
His family could not believe their eyes when they recognized heir son.
After a few days they returned to Grandfather Ape. But when they came home they
found that he was lying on the floor. When the girl touched his body, crying for the
one she had love so much, she found his legs had turned into gold, his body into
cooking pots and his head into a helmet and weapons. Then she realized that these
were all the things they would ever need in life.
The wife and young men remained ever thankful to their Grandpa Ape as he had given
them all they need to live a fulfilled life.
From the Story: Grandpa Ape
Accepting yourself
For all the things you can be thankful, you yourself are the most wonderful one! Some
of us come in to the world smarter than others. Others are less powerful. But we, of all
have to be thankful for whatever we have or are.
Every time the three of them went out, the elder two were ashamed to be seen with
their younger sibling. And that would have been bearable as long as they family was
together, but all of a sudden father fell sick and died. Mother, however much she tried
could not feed the three children and asked them to find jobs in the city.
The three of them set out together. But the elder two tried many different ways to get
rid of their small ugly sister. But whether they tied her, threw her off the bridge into
the river and ran away, she kept coming back, undefeatable and always full of good
spirits.
That night they had been walking for long, when they came to a large house and asked
for a place to sleep. They found out that they were in a giant’s house. The giant had
three daughters too and they could sleep in their bedroom. The two pretty sisters fell
asleep as soon as they laid down. Maureen kept her eyes and ears open. She didn’t
trust the place. And without her sisters knowing it, she changed the beds, pulled off
the giant’s daughters knightcaps just in time to misguide the giant in killing his own
three children.
She awoke her sisters and ran away to the city where they met the king. He had three
sons. They came to love the pretty sisters, but the third brother couldn’t really come to
love Maureen, who looked ugly and different.
They told the king about the giant, who had been stealing the king’s money. The king
said, ‘If you can steal that giant’s invisibility coat, your first sister can marry my first
son.’
From the Story: Maureen The Red
While the two pretty ones were a bit scared, Maureen set off for the giant’s house. She
slipped into the bedroom, stole the coat and gave it to the king. He was very pleased.
‘Now, if you can get the giant’s lightning sword, the second one can marry second
son.’
This time Maureen again set out, climbed on the roof and when the wife cooked the
giant’s dinner added one whole bag of salt to the soup. When the ginat had drunk his
soup, he felt so thirsty that he drank two barrels of beer, and still could not quench his
thirst. He told his wife to get more water from the well and gave her the lightning
sword to show the way. This is when Maureen stole the sword and ran away!
The king was pleased. Even the third son had come to like the courage and spirit of
Maureen. But the King had one more request:
She had to get the giant’s giant boots.
This time, Maureen again entered the bedroom, took the boots and wanted to run off.
But this time the giant woke up, ran after her and caught Maureen. He put her in a
sack and hang it from the ceiling.
While he went outside to get a piece of wood to beat her up, the giant’s wife woke up
and heard Maureen singing in the bag.
What happened to the giant’s wife, I don’t know, but Maureen got a grand reception at
the palace. Without his coat, sword and boots, the giant could not scare the city
anymore. And everybody had come to love the brave little Maureen, even her proud
pretty sisters!
A few days later there was a triple wedding. Maureen did many more wonderful
things after that. Not only that, her name is still honored as she inspires all children
who look different all over the world to be thankful for themselves!
The Musk deer - Meditation
The male musk deer has a kind of perfume coming from its body
that is extremely attractive. It usually puts a little of the perfume at
the borders of its territory so that other deer know that it is his
domain, while also attracting female deer to come and mate with
him. The smell of the musk deer is so attractive that it even can
intoxicate the deer itself, urging it to run around like a mad animal,
searching for the source of its own perfume!
This story about the musk deer’s foolishness is sometimes used to illustrate the
foolishness of people who want more and more and always think that if they have
more they will have peace, while the real source of peace and happiness is within
themselves.