C Is For Cleanliness 5

Lesson Message
♦ What is cleanliness?
Cleanliness is being free from dirt.
♦ What is cleanliness of the mind?
A clean mind is a mind that is full of good thoughts.

Opening Prayer 3 Minutes


May He protect us both.

May He nourish us.

May we acquire the capacity

(to study and understand the

scriptures).
om saha nëvavatu, May our study be brilliant.
saha nau bhunaktu, May we not cavil at each other.
saha víryañ karavëvahai,
tejasvinëvadhítam-astu më vidviçëvahai. Om Peace Peace Peace.
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om õëntiß õëntiß õëntiß.

Attendance 5 Minutes

Take attendance, and let each child respond Hariß Om, when his or her name is
called.

Memory Time 10 Minutes

Children will learn to chant the verse on örí Gaãeõa, given in the Introduction
section.

Topic of the Day 35 Minutes

Cleanliness: Cleanliness is being free from dirt.

The Alphabet Safari

5 The topic of the day consists of:

♦ Brainstorming: Explore Cleanliness

♦ Tale: The Royal Horse
♦ Exploration: Clean Or Dirty
♦ Coloring: C Is For Cleanliness

Brainstorming: Explore Cleanliness

Show children pictures of tidy and untidy places. These pictures can be items that
you may cut from different magazines. Ask them which ones they prefer—tidy or
untidy? Discuss with them and come to the conclusion that we all like clean things.
Make three columns on the chalkboard as shown in the sample below. Label
the first column: Surrounding; the second, Body; and the third with a question mark.
Children may not be able to read. Yet, it is a good idea to write their
answers on the board for reference.

Surrounding Body ?
Clean your room Bathe daily
Make your bed Brush your teeth

Ask children what it means to be clean. Most children will talk about
34 physical cleanliness, that is, cleanliness of the body or the surroundings.
Ask them: “How do we keep our surroundings clean?” Make the bed, put
away toys, clean up the room, etc. Write down all their responses in the first
column.
“How do we clean our body?” We can clean our body by taking a shower,
wearing clean clothes, brushing our teeth, etc. Write in the second column examples
of bodily cleanliness.
Once the children have exhausted all the possibilities, tell them that there is
something more that we need to keep clean.

Give them clues:

♦ Say, in school, someone pushes you and you spill all your lunch. How do
you feel?
♦ When your pet dies, how do you feel?
♦ You have to go to the birthday party of your friend. How do you feel?

Angry, sad, happy are the emotions. Where do you feel them? The place
where you feel these emotions and feelings is your mind. Just as we must keep

The Alphabet Safari

our surrounding and body clean, we must also keep our mind clean.
We can keep our mind clean by: 5
♦ Saying no bad words
♦ Seeing no violent TV shows
♦ Hearing no bad words
♦ Not gossiping
♦ Being nice to others
♦ Avoiding fights
♦ Doing the right actions
♦ Loving everybody

Add to the last column of the table the ways we can keep our mind clean.

Tale: The Royal Horse

Once upon a time, a king had a very fine horse that he loved dearly. The royal
horse always took a bath in a particular pond.
One morning, a very dirty horse was given a bath in that pond. Shortly
thereafter, when soldiers brought the royal horse for a bath
to the same pond, the horse refused to enter the pond.
The soldiers tried to push the horse into the water, but
he pushed and kicked the soldiers instead. Frustrated, the
soldiers returned to the castle and reported to the king that
the horse had become mad. Upon hearing this, the king
sent his wise minister to the pond to determine why the 35
horse was acting so strangely. When the minister reached
the pond, he observed that the horse was trying to shut its
nostrils.
The minister immediately knew that the horse was
behaving in such a manner because it could sense the pond was dirty---the bathing
of the dirty horse had left the pond smelly and filthy. The minister ordered the
soldiers to take the horse to a clean pond elsewhere. At the clean pond, the royal
horse took his bath without any problems.

Moral: Even the royal horse likes to bathe in only clean water. We, the royal
children of the Lord, should always keep our surroundings, body, and mind clean.

Exploration: Clean Or Dirty

Through this exploration activity, children will learn that we all like only clean
things.

Materials Required

The Alphabet Safari

5 ♦ Three clear glasses filled with water
♦ Sugar
♦ Dirt/mud

Directions

Apply dirt/mud on the outside of one glass. Ask the children if they would drink
from this glass. They may respond by saying, “no.” Put this dirty glass aside.
Explain to the children that this dirty glass symbolizes a person who is dirty on the
outside.
Next, pour some dirt/mud into the second glass. Now ask the children
if they would drink from this glass. One more time they will respond with a
resounding “no!” This glass symbolizes a person who is dirty inside, filled with
impure thoughts such as the desire to say and hear bad things.
In the third glass, put sugar in the water. Again, ask the children if they
would drink from this glass. This time the children will respond, “yes!” Explain
to them that the sugar symbolizes pure and nice thoughts.

Inference: Explain that we can be dirty outside, dirty inside, or clean throughout.
Naturally, just as we would choose to drink only from the clean glass and shun the
dirty ones, people would choose to be only friends with those who are clean both
inside and outside. By being clean within, we come close to God. We become
darling of God.
How do we stay clean from within? Living by Gandhijí’s favorite three
mythical monkeys, we stay clean from within.
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They represent:

♦ Hear no evil
♦ See no evil
♦ Speak no evil

The Alphabet Safari

Coloring: C Is For Cleanliness
Give children a line drawing of the letter “C” from the Appendix to color. After
5
coloring, they will file it in their own folder.

Quiet Time 3 Minutes

Follow Likhita Japa to make children’s mind quiet. For details refer to the Quiet
Time in the Introduction section.

Closing Prayer 2 Minutes

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 May all be happy.
 May all be healthy.
 May all enjoy prosperity.
May none suffer.
om sarve bhavantu sukhinaß sarve santu nirëmayëß,
sarve bhadrëãi paõyantu më kaõcid dußkhabhëgbhavet. Om Peace Peace Peace.
om õëntiß õëntiß õëntiß.

Exit Ticket 2 Minutes

Ask children: “C is for?” They repeat together: “C is for Cleanliness; cleanliness is

Godliness,” and leave the classroom.

The Alphabet Safari