MORAL TALES
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION Courage: COURAGE
BY ALICE ANACHECKA-NASEMAN AND ELISA PEARMAIN
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 5:21:01 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. — Maya Angelou
This session introduces and encourages the virtue of courage, and defines it as the ability to stand up for what we believe is right despite our fears. It also relates to the sixth Unitarian Universalist Principle — the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all — as it calls the children to find the courage to work toward this goal. An African folk tale introduces the children to a young woman who finds the courage to stand up to a hungry lion to save her cousin. The children will then be guided to remember times when they have found the courage to do something risky. Through a kinesthetic game the children will be introduced to assertiveness techniques to feel more empowered to express themselves when conscience calls. They will end by expressing, by drawing, a situation in which they would like to see themselves being more courageous. "Courage" will be added to the Moral Compass.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming & Entering | 0 |
Opening | 2 |
Activity 1: Gems of Goodness | 5 |
Activity 2: Story Basket and Centering | 5 |
Activity 3: story — The Lion on the Path | 10 |
Activity 4: The Courage Workout | 15 |
Activity 5: Courage Pictures Art Activity | 18 |
Activity 6: Clean-up | 2 |
Faith in Action: Courage Stickers — Long-term | 15 |
Closing | 3 |
Alternate Activity 1: Candles of Joys and Sorrows | 10 |
Alternate Activity 2: Courage Tag | 10 |
Alternate Activity 3: The Bully on the Path — Assertiveness Skills Practice | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
To prepare for this session, read the story, "The Lion on the Path," and run it through your imagination so that the setting and characters are vivid. Then take some time with a trusted friend or family member, to recall times when you took a risk to act in the face of injustice, or when conscience called.
Maybe you stood up to a bully, or someone making racist or sexist remarks. Perhaps you participated in a protest or a civil disobedience. Maybe you made a speech about something that was important to you, despite stage fright. Maybe you spoke honestly to a friend about something he/she was doing that was hurting you. Your experiences of courage may be about times when you did something new for the first time, such as traveling alone, applying for a job, becoming a parent or reaching out to make a new friend.
Talk and think about these experiences. Try to identify the qualities you found in yourself that allowed you to carry these experiences through. Using your own experiences, come up with your own definition of courage.
Give some thought to the kind of courage you need to lead Moral Tales, and give yourself credit for finding it when you need it. You may even wish to set some goals for new ways you could act with courage in situations in your life that you care about.
SESSION PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As children enter, greet them and direct them to the table with the gemstones.
Ask the children to choose one, two, or three gemstones to represent acts of goodness that they did or witnessed since the last time they came to Moral Tales. If you wish, help focus the children on generosity. Ask if any participants were generous or experienced generosity.
If any children are participating for the first time in the Gems of Goodness project, invite them to choose a notebook, write their name on it, and decorate it as they wish. Tell them they may also pick three gemstones to bring into the circle.
OPENING (2 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle. Light the chalice.
If some or all of the children are unfamiliar with the reading, teach it line by line. Then recite together:
Come into the circle of love and friendship.
Come into the community of justice and goodness.
Come and you shall know peace and joy.
Extinguish the chalice.
Related content:
ACTIVITY 1: GEMS OF GOODNESS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children around the table where you have placed the cloth, the jar or vase, and the gemstones. Ask who remembered to keep track of acts of goodness in their notebooks.
Invite volunteers to stand up, and tell the group about an act of goodness they engaged in (or witnessed, if you have offered this option), and place the gem in the glass jar or vase.
Indicate the Moral Compass poster. Mention the virtues that the group has explored in previous sessions. Suggest that the children try to think of some acts of goodness related to these virtues, as they share their gems of goodness. You may wish to tell the children that today's topic is courage, and ask them if they may have done anything related to goodness this week that took courage.
Encourage newcomers to join the sharing once they've had a chance to see what the other children are doing.
Use these guidelines to organize the sharing:
It is very important to avoid judging participants, either with criticism or praise. Avoid phrases like, "Great job!" or "You're fantastic!" which might encourage the children to compete to share the "best" act of goodness or to perceive that different acts of goodness have greater or lesser value.
Instead, listen carefully to what the children tell you. Help them identify the virtues their acts of goodness represent. When appropriate, indicate a word or phrase on the Moral Compass poster that fits the act of goodness. This will help the children learn to recognize a variety of virtues in a variety of forms.
After each sharing, you may say something like, "Thank you for sharing," followed by a summarizing sentence such as:
Your specific responses to the acts of goodness children share will help them feel pride, a sense of accomplishment, and their own empowerment as agents of justice and goodness.
If children are not volunteering, call out various types of acts of goodness, and invite children to come up if they experienced that particular kind of goodness. You may call out:
When the sharing is finished, remind the children to take home their notebooks and continue to keep track of their acts of goodness.
If you are planning to do so, remind the children that they may mark their achievement with a special celebration when the group has filled the glass jar or otherwise reached an established goal. If the group is approaching the goal, you may wish to brainstorm with them about the celebration. Suggestions might include having a special treat for a snack, or ending early to do physical games outside.
Whatever way you choose to mark the jar being filled, once it has been filled you may empty it and start over again.
Including All Participants
If any participants are not mobile, you or another child can accommodate by passing the jar. If a child is not verbal, you may wish to invite a participant to choose another child, or a co-leader, to read his/her acts of goodness from his/her notebook and place a gemstone in the jar.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY BASKET AND CENTERING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle in your storytelling area. Show them the story basket. Say something like, "Let's see what's in our story basket today."
If you are using an altar as a focal point, take the cloth cover from the story basket and drape it over the box or small table. If the cloth cover has a special story, such as who made it, where it comes from, or the meaning of any symbols on it, briefly share the story with the children. Tell the group that the items will be placed on this altar or table after the children have passed them around the circle.
Take the story-related items from the basket, one at a time, and pass them around. Briefly name the various objects. Children may ask questions about some of the items, begin to tell stories about similar things they have seen, or wonder aloud why an object is included. Tell them the group can talk more about the items after the story. Make sure you invite them to do so once you have finished the story and follow-up discussion.
If you have a globe or a world map, indicate West Africa and South Africa . Elements of this folk tale come from traditions in both of these regions of Africa.
If you have included a mbira (or another small instrument that can make a rhythmic sound) in the story basket, then the children will want to pass it around and playing it. Once the children have had a turn touching the object from the basket, you will want to teach them the song that goes with the story, and any movements that you want them to do. Teaching the participation in advance can help you build children's anticipation and improve their attention.
As the items come back to you, place them on the altar. Objects that are fragile, or which should not be passed around for any reason, can be held up for all to see and then placed directly on the altar. Display the items for children to look at as they listen to the story.
Now remove the sound instrument from the story basket. Tell the children that every time you tell a story in Moral Tales, you will first use the instrument to help them get their ears, their minds, and their bodies ready to listen.
Invite them to sit comfortably and close their eyes (if they are comfortable doing so). You may tell them that closing their eyes can help them focus just on listening.
In a calm voice, say, in your own words:
As you breathe in, feel your body opening up with air. As you breathe out, feel yourself relaxing.
Repeat this once or twice and then say:
Now you are ready to listen. When I hit the chime (turn the rain stick over), listen as carefully as you can. See how long you can hear its sound. When you can no longer hear it, open your eyes and you will know it is time for the story to begin.
Sound the chime, the mbira or other instrument. When the sound has gone, begin telling the story.
Including All Participants
If anyone in the group is unable to hold or pass items, or cannot see the items, make sure you or a child in the group offers the person a chance to see and touch each object, as needed.
Some people do not feel safe closing their eyes when they are in a group. If any children resist, respect their resistance and suggest that they find a single point of focus to look at instead.
If you have a basket of fidget objects for children who will listen and learn more effectively with something in their hands, make the fidget object basket available during this activity. For a full description of fidget objects and guidance on using them, see Leader Resources.
ACTIVITY 3: STORY — THE LION ON THE PATH (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
In this activity you will tell the story, "The Lion on the Path." Suggestions are embedded in the text of story for leading active participation, including some dance. The goal of this activity is to give the children an example of a character (two, actually) who act with courage, moved by compassion, and are rewarded with justice. By having the children participate in the story actively you are engaging them kinesthetically which will help some make a stronger connection to the story and the concepts and feelings it embodies. By using this story you are helping the children to have a vicarious experience of the emotions associated with fear, caring and courage.
Before you begin, look around the room and make eye contact with each person. Read or tell the story.
Ring the chime (or pluck the mbira) to indicate that the story is over.
When you have finished the story, take some time to help the children shape a definition of courage by examining the feelings and actions of the characters in the story. In this discussion, you can also guide them to think of and tell about times when they, themselves, took a risk even though it was scary, because it was the right thing to do.
Begin with questions about the story:
Then switch gears. Ask the children: Have you ever done something that was scary, but you did it anyway because you knew it was the right thing to do? If the children don't respond right away, tell them a personal story about a time when you took a risk because it was the right thing to do. Let the children each share a story if they have one. Make sure that you put a time limit on each child and give each child a chance to speak.
Including All Participants
Participation in this story can be adapted to fit the abilities of any child. For instance, dancing can be done in the chair with simple movements, or gentle swaying from side to side.
If you have children in the group who may find it difficult to sit still while listening to even a participatory story, you may wish to make fidget objects available to them. Fidget objects are fully described in the Leader Resources section; they can provide a non-disruptive outlet for a child who needs to move.
ACTIVITY 4: THE COURAGE WORKOUT (15 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
In this activity you are pretending to be in an exercise class. You might like to tell the group:
In the story Nosa used her mbira to distract the lion. We don't carry around mbiras but we can use our voices, our eyes, our breath and our bodies to help us to feel braver. The more we practice feeling courageous, the more ready we will be to act when we see someone who needs us to stick up for them.
Today class we are going to exercise our courage muscles. I am your exercise or gym class teacher. We will start with the strong body posture or stance. Show me what you think it would look like to stand strongly.
Encourage them to stand strong by standing tall, with chest out and perhaps hands on hips. Gently adjust their postures as needed.
Now take a deep breath. Pretend you are breathing in confidence, along with air. It fills you up like a balloon. As you breathe in say, "I can do this." As you breathe out say, "I feel good".
Lead the children to repeating this a few times. Then say:
Now we will use our eyes to tell people that we are serious. Which way of looking feels stronger to you?
Demonstrate looking at the ground and saying, "stop," and then look each one in the eye and say, "stop." Say:
Now I am going to look right at each one of you. When I look at you, you look me in the eye and silently tell me to stop. Say "stop" with your eyes.
As you look at each child, respond to what they are doing. You might say, "Good eye contact, Ian. Good eye contact, Sarah," etc. Then say:
Now we will exercise our voice muscles. Which feels stronger?
Say, "Stop it" in a mousey high voice. Then say it again in a deep strong voice. Tell the children that they can get a bigger, deeper voice by taking their "confidence breath" deep into their bellies and letting it out while they send their words out like a powerful jet of water.
Have them practice taking a deep breath into their stomachs first just to center and relax themselves, and then while saying, "Stop it." Or "That is mean." Or "Quit it", in loud and strong voices. Let them know that not all children can get a loud deep voice, especially if they are small. This is why many opera singers are large people. Compliment each child for practicing being louder than usual, this is what counts.
For a final time, have them put all three together and say "Stop it," with a strong body stance, good eye contact and a strong deep voice. If you want to give the children more opportunities to practice these skills in a role play scenario, use Alternate Activity 3: The Bully on the Path — Assertiveness Skills Practice, in which the children pretend to confront a bully and use their assertiveness skills to stand up to him/her.)
Including All Participants
This activity can be modified to accommodate children with limitations. It can be done sitting down.
ACTIVITY 5: COURAGE PICTURES (18 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Have each child take a place at a work table. Put the crayons and/or markers on work tables. Distribute the paper with, "I See Myself as Courageous," to all participants.
In this hands-on art activity you are inviting the children to envision themselves using their assertiveness skills to act with courage in a situation that they care about. This could be standing up to someone who is treating others unjustly. It could be trying something new that is frightening such as traveling to a country where you don't speak the language well. The goal of this activity is for the children to think about situations in which they would like to have more courage to do what is right, and then to picture themselves doing it. It does not matter whether they produce beautiful works of art. You can emphasize this in words and by the examples of your pictures that you show the group.
As the children work on their pictures, go around and ask them individually what their picture is about one at a time, or can. If you wish you can write what they tell you the picture is about. One reason to write what the picture is about for them is that they may not finish the picture during this session and this may help their parents to talk with them about it at home.
If you have time, invite volunteers to share about the picture they have drawn.
Including All Participants
If there are children in the group who lack confidence about art activities, encourage them to use stick figure drawings. If there are children who have challenges that prevent them from being able to draw, either write down the child's ideas for them or stick figure draw their ideas for them to see and take home. There is also a great variation in writing ability at this age and some of the children will be more comfortable dictating any words they want included in their picture to you. Make it clear that children can simply draw and not worry about writing any words at all.
CLOSING (3 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity helps the children get used to practicing a closing ritual as a way of affirming their part in the faith community.
Gather the group in a circle. Thank the children for participating and sharing their stories and ideas in this session. Tell them something you liked about the way they worked together as a community.
Point out the Moral Compass poster. Say, in your own words:
Our Moral Compass shows us ways to do good things and make good decisions. If we are going to do what our inner voices and our hearts tell us is right, then we must learn to have courage.
Write or post the word "Courage" on the Moral Compass poster.
Remind the children that the next time they meet they will have a chance to add more gems to the Gems of Goodness jar. If appropriate, remind them that when the jar is full of gemstones, you will have a special celebration. You may wish to encourage them to try using courage and the other virtues you have posted on the Moral Compass poster as they look for ways to act for goodness or justice.
Lead the children in singing Hymn 414 in Singing the Living Tradition, "As We Leave This Friendly Place." If the hymn is unfamiliar to some of the children, teach it line by line and then sing it once through together.
The song's lyrics are:
As we leave this friendly place,
Love give light to every face;
May the kindness which we learn
Light our hearts till we return.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout you have prepared. If new participants need to take home a Gems of Goodness notebook and parent handout, make sure they have these. Thank the children, tell them you look forward to seeing them next time, and dismiss the group.
Related content:
FAITH IN ACTION: LONG-TERM — COURAGE STICKERS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
In the first part of this two-part Faith in Action activity the children prepare heart-shaped "courage stickers" to give to others and to themselves. Use store-bought stickers to save time or have the children make the stickers themselves. If they are making the stickers themselves, they will have time to talk about who they might give them to and how they might earn some themselves.
Invite the children to take some courage stickers with them when they leave today to give to people in their family, friends at school, and others they know who have done an act of courage. Encourage them to ask people to tell about a time that they did something that took courage, and especially a time when they used courage to stand up for something that they believed in. Once the person has told the story, the child may give them a courage sticker to put on their chest. The children can also put stickers on themselves if they feel that they have done something that took courage.
To complete this project, the next time you meet have the children share the stories others have told them, as well as their own courage experiences.
You may wish to invite parents or others to join the group to share their own stories about courage in the face of injustice. If you wish to invite parents, extend the invitation in your letter describing this Faith in Action activity or in the Taking It Home section for this session.
Including All Participants
If some children may need parents to help them report on their courage stickers, make sure you invite the parents to join the group to complete this activity. You may also invite parents to write what the child wishes to share, as they may be doing in the Gems of Goodness project.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few minutes to evaluate the session with your co-leader immediately afterward, while it is fresh. Share your thoughts with any other team teachers and your director of religious education.
You might find it helpful to consider these questions:
TAKING IT HOME
One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. — Maya Angelou
DURING TODAY'S SESSION ...
We focused on the virtue of courage, and how it is connected to love, caring and conscience. We heard a folk tale from South Africa about a young woman who found the courage to stand up to a hungry lion to save her cousin. We shared our own stories of courage and participated in an assertiveness training exercise. The children drew pictures of themselves acting with courage in a situation where they felt concerned or compassionate and felt the need to act, although that felt scary or risky.
As part of our Faith in Action project, Courage Stickers, children will be looking this week for opportunities to be courageous in performing an act of goodness or justice. They will also be looking for opportunities to reward others with a heart sticker who show the courage of their convictions. Next time we meet, the children will share about how they used their "courage stickers."
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER: TALK ABOUT...
You can explore this topic together by reading stories of other people young and old who have acted with courage to do what they felt was right. You can also talk about your favorite examples of "heroes" and "heroines" who have acted with courage in the face of danger.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER: TRY...
Extend the children's experience in this session where they pictured themselves acting with courage in a situation that concerned them. Make a list of situations in which each family member would like to act more courageously. Report to one another on how you are doing, and give one another credit for small steps.
A FAMILY RITUAL
Once a week at meal time share stories of things you have each done during the week that were new for you and that took courage. This helps to put value on (appropriate) risk-taking, and to encourage awareness of it in our everyday lives. These acts of courage and risk taking can be small things such as learning something new that you thought you couldn't do, asking for help, reaching out to a new friend, sharing something that you really wanted for yourself.
A FAMILY GAME
Play a cooperative game together called, "Monster Freeze Tag." In this game there is one monster, and everyone else is a "runner". Everyone wears a bean bag on their head and moves about a large open space. There is a designated "safe space" for the runners and a "home base" for the monster on opposite ends of the open space. If the monster grabs your bean bag or if it falls off, you are frozen. The risk taking comes in when teammates risk losing their own bean bags and being tagged as they run to the frozen people and put their bean bags back on their heads to unfreeze them. The monster can also lose its bean bag but just has to stop and put it back on. People can also try to steal the monster's golden egg (any object you designate, set near its home space.) Adding this element makes it easier for people to move about and free frozen teammates when the monster is guarding its egg. The more people the merrier. Also — when the monster is in its "home" the people must be out of their safe space. Adapt as necessary for the size of the group.
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Try something new as a family that feels like a challenge at least to the children. This could be anything from trying a new sport, to volunteering in a soup kitchen. Talk together about how to prepare in a way that addresses fears and encourages courage.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: CANDLES OF JOYS AND SORROWS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Determine if your room and building policies allow for open flames. If not, consider doing this activity with a felt board and felt candles or with beads in a jar.
Begin by lighting a "starter" candle. Invite the children to come forward one at a time and light a candle of joy and sorrow from the starter candle and push it into the sand. The child should then face the group and tell them what the candle is for. Translate the language so they understand that we are talking about things that have made them very happy or sad.
Candles of joy and sorrow offer the opportunity for children to experience what is a weekly ritual in many Unitarian Universalist congregations. This activity can deepen sense of community in the Moral Tales group. It gives participants a chance to name those things which they carry in their hearts, encourages listening to others, and, in many cases, makes a link with the adult worship experience.
IMPORTANT: Do not leave burning candles unattended. When all who wish to participate have done so, blow the candles out and put the matches away in a safe place.
Including All Participants
If a child is physically unable to light a candle and stand to address the group, ask the child to invite another child to light a candle for him/her or offer to do it yourself. Allow the child to speak joys and sorrows from where he/she is sitting.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: COURAGE TAG (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This is a cooperative game that promotes risk-taking to help others, and allows the children to feel a small, safe amount of fear which they then try to overcome. The game is played by having all but one child begin as a runner. Invite one child to be the first chaser.
Tell the children:
All you runners are living in a dangerous place where there is a monster that can capture you and freeze you. The object of the game for the monster is to try to freeze all the other children by either making their bean bags fall, or grabbing the bean bags off of their heads. If the monster loses its bean bag, it just has to stop to put it back on again.
The only way to get unfrozen is for another child, who is not frozen, to put your bean bag back on your head for you. You may stay in the safety zone and be safe from the monster, but you must also try to rescue the people who have been frozen.
Here's another rule. If the monster goes to home base, everyone in the safety zone must leave the safety zone immediately.
The monster (chaser) wears a large bean bag on his/her head which stays on more easily than the runners' bean bags, which are small. The goal for the runners is to free each other from being frozen by coming out of the safety zone and putting the bean bags back on the frozen kids' heads at the risk of being frozen themselves.
As the children play, you will probably need to remind them of the rules.
Hopefully during this game all of the participants will have a chance to rescue others. If there do not seem to be enough children getting frozen, add more "monsters" to the mix — as many as you have large bean bags. If all of the runners become frozen, take away a monster and that person becomes a runner who can save people. You can also limit the time that each child can spend in the safety zone.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: THE BULLY ON THE PATH — ASSERTIVENESS SKILLS PRACTICE (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity gives the children a chance to practice the assertiveness skills they used in Activity 4: The Courage Workout in a context that requires courage to act from conscience or knowing what is the right thing to do — even when they may feel scared. Instead of a lion, you will pretend to be a bully bothering someone on a path. The stuffed animal or doll, or another adult, should role play the target.
The bully can have a standard line to say such as, "Give me your lunch money or else," or "Your hair cut makes you look like a Martian." (Take care to pick something that will not personally offend anyone).
Invite the children to line up one behind the other at the other end of the path from where you will meet them each as the "bully" who is bothering a target (the stuffed animal, doll, or co-leader). Tell them, when it is their turn, they will step up and use the assertiveness skills they practiced in Activity 4: The Courage Workout. They may say "Quit it," "Stop it" or "That's not nice" to the bully. As the bully, allow their actions to stop your bullying.
If time allows you may wish to ask them to create another role play scenario. Here are two options you can introduce. For each, take the time to clarify as needed the complicated nature of courage.
You may wish to let the children come up with their own scenarios of social situations that they find frightening.
MORAL TALES: SESSION COURAGE:
STORY 1: THE LION ON THE PATH
Compiled from a variety of West African and South African folk tales.
Once upon a time two cousins lived side by side in a village. They worked together in the fields each day and returned home each night to share a meal and some fun in the evening. The young woman cousin's name was Nosa. She loved to play the mbira and to sing. The young man cousin's name was Tobi. He loved to dance and tell great stories. One day Tobi said to Nosa, "I have to go on a journey to the village of my future wife. I must go and meet her parents."
"Oh, I will worry about you," said Nosa. "You know that you must take the long path that leads over the hills and through the swamp lands. It is not as easy as the meadow path which is shorter, but that is the way people go, because a lion has often been seen on the meadow path."
"Of course my cousin, I will take the long path." He said. "I do not wish to meet any lions. I will be back before you know it."
Nosa said "goodbye" to her cousin, and as she was waving she called out, "Remember, when you get to the fork in the road, go left to the long path." He waved back and headed down the path.
All morning the Nosa worried. She loved her cousin, but he could be a bit dreamy. Sometimes he would be thinking of a story or making up a new dance step, and would forget where he was going or what time it was. The more she thought about him alone on the path, the more she worried. Finally she started to get a baaaaaad feeling. She felt right down to her bones that something was not right. She could almost picture her cousin taking the wrong path. So, she grabbed her mbira, and ran off down the trail as fast as she could. Soon she came to the fork in the trail. Sure enough, when she got down close to the ground she could see Tobi's footprints heading down the wrong trail, right straight into the meadow.
She ran as quickly as she could and it wasn't long before she came to a bend in the path. She hid behind a tree and peered out. There she saw her cousin standing right in the middle of the path. There, facing him was a full grown lion swishing its tail and getting ready to pounce.
"What can I do?" she cried to herself. "I don't have any weapons. I would throw a rock, but there are no big rocks to be seen. I could throw my mbira, but it is hollow and would not hurt the lion at all."
Then she thought. "Maybe I can play my mbira and distract the lion so that Tobi can get away." Just then, Lion growled. She was so afraid that he was going to pounce on Tobi that she jumped out in front of the tree and began to sing and play a song. (Sung to the tune of "My Bonny Lies over the Ocean." Leader — You may wish to stop here and teach the children to sing this song with you, repeating it together until they know it.)
My mbira plays music so pretty
My mbira plays music so sweet
My mbira plays music so pretty
Oh dance to my music with me.
Lion was distracted. He turned to see who was singing and when he did, Tobi ran off through the woods and all the way back home. Nosa played and sang and danced again. (Leader — Sing the refrain, or lead the children in singing it with you.)
My mbira plays music so pretty
My mbira plays music so sweet
My mbira plays music so pretty
Oh dance to my music with me.
To Nosa's surprise and delight, Lion began to dance just as she was dancing. He seemed to have forgotten completely about his prey and was dancing and singing as if under a magic spell. (Leader — You can invite the children to sing again, and dance as if they were the lion under a spell.)
Nosa wanted to get away too, so she tried to back up as she swayed and danced, but when she backed up the lion couldn't hear the music anymore and he stopped dancing and looked around and said. "Where is that man I was going
to eat? That was my dinner." So poor Nosa stepped bravely forward again, and
began to play and sing. (Leader — Sing the refrain again, or lead the children in
singing it with you.)
My mbira plays music so pretty
My mbira plays music so sweet
My mbira plays music so pretty
Oh dance to my music with me.
That lion began to dance again, and to sing as if under an enchantment. (Leader — Invite the children to sing and dance again.) Again Nosa tried to move away toward home, but each time she did, Lion would stop and look around for Tobi.
This went on for a very long time until finally she was getting so tired, she could barely play any longer. Her fingers ached and her arms and hands were so tired, her throat was so sore. (Leader — Let the listeners see and hear how tired she was.) But she knew that if she stopped, Lion would eat her! So she kept on playing, playing until she thought she was going to die. (Leader: Sing again, as if very tired. Invite the children to dance and sing along with you.)
My mbira plays music so pretty
My mbira plays music so sweet
My mbira plays music so pretty
Oh dance to my music with me.
Finally, just as Nosa was about to collapse a little rabbit popped its head out from behind a rock. "Hey, you look like you need help!"
"Boy, do I ever," said she. "If I stop playing Lion will eat me, but I am so tired I think I am about to drop dead anyway."
"Let me play," said Rabbit. "He hopped over to Nosa and began tapping his foot, just so that he wouldn't miss a beat. And just like that she tossed him the mbira and he started playing, and singing and dancing in his little rabbit voice. (Leader — Sing in a high, squeaky voice and invite the children to join you.)
My mbira plays music so pretty
My mbira plays music so sweet
My mbira plays music so pretty
Oh dance to my music with me.
Rabbit kept on playing and Lion kept on dancing and singing while Nosa ran safely home. Meanwhile Rabbit began to get tired. But he had a secret. Just behind the tree a few feet down the path was his home. So carefully, inch by inch by inch, he danced closer to the hole. Lion followed him, still dancing as if under a spell. Finally Rabbit dropped the mbira and dove into his hole safe and sound.
There was Lion left on the path with no people to eat and a confused expression on his face. "Gee," he said. "I could have sworn there was a young man on the path, then a young woman playing the mbira, but now there's just a mbira on the path and I think I just saw a rabbit jump down that hole. What a strange day."
So the two cousins got home safely. They celebrated together and Tobi thanked his cousin for saving his life. He even made her a new mbira from a gourd he had grown. A few days later when Tobi ventured out again to that other village he took the left fork, as Nosa had told him to do, and carried Nosa’s new mbira with him, just in case!
MORAL TALES: SESSION COURAGE:
HANDOUT 1: I SEE MYSELF AS COURAGEOUS
MORAL TALES: SESSION COURAGE:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: COURAGE STICKERS LETTER TO PARENTS
Dear Parents,
As part of our exploration of the virtue of courage your children have begun a two-part Faith in Action project, "Courage" stickers. Today they made heart-shaped stickers. (Courage comes from the French word, "coeur," which means heart.)
The goal of this project is for the children to ask other people to tell them about times when they have found the courage to do difficult things that they felt were right to do. The children will reward them with a sticker. The children will also reward themselves with stickers when they think they have done something that took courage.
When the children next return to Moral Tales, on (day, date), they will have a chance to share their stories about what they have done with their courage stickers. If they like, they can invite one person to come and tell a story of courage to the Moral Tales group.
We thank you for supporting your child in this project. We would also love to have you visit the group next time, if you would like to share a story of a time when you did something that felt risky, but that you felt was the right thing to do. Please let us know if you will be coming, so we can plan accordingly.
Thanks again. It is a pleasure to have your child in our Moral Tales group.
In faith,
(Co-leaders / contact information)
FIND OUT MORE
Courage
A book for older children, in which the phrase "exercise your courage muscles" is found, is the Kid's Guide to Working Out Conflicts by Naomi Drew (Free Spirit Publishing, 2004).
Picture books for children about courage include Rainbow Crow, by Nancy Van Lann (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989). In this Lenape Indian legend a beautiful colorful crow finds the sun and brings it back to warm the dying earth that has a never-ending winter. It loses its colors in the process, but is never hunted by man again.
The Monster That Grew Small by Joan Grant Marshall (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1987). This Egyptian folk tale tells the story of a boy who is afraid of everything. With the help of a rabbit he goes on a journey to meet the "fear monster" and learns to face his fears directly, and to find courage.
The story, "Androcles and the Lion," found in most Aesop's collections, involves a runaway slave who helps a lion with a thorn in its paw, and makes a friend for life.
How Guinea Fowl Got Her Spots by Barbara Knutson (Cambridge: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1990) is an African folk tale, retold, about a small guinea hen that leads her flock in taking on a lion that is threatening her friend, the cow.
The Banza by Diana Wolkstein (New York: Dial Press, 1981) tells a Haitian folk tale about a small goat that plays his guitar and sings a song to keep up his courage and outsmart a hungry tiger.
In non-fiction books, Say Something by Peggy Moss (Gardener, ME: Tisbury House, 2004) addresses the importance of bystanders sticking up for those who are the targets of bullying.
Teammates by Peter Golenbock (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, l990). The story of Jackie Robinson and the racial prejudice he received when he was the first African-American player in Major League baseball, and how his teammate Pee-Wee Reese stood up for him during a game despite the prejudice of many of the fans and players.
The story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (Scholastic, 1995) is the true story of Ruby Bridges the first African-American girl to integrate an all white school in New Orleans in the early l960s, and how she found the strength to walk to school each day past groups of angry white adults.
Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen (Bantam Books, 1983.) This is the true story of the author's grandmother when she first came from Russia to North America and was teased at school for her appearance and her accent. At Thanksgiving time Molly's mother helps to teach the class that modern-day immigrants are pilgrims too, and should be treated with the respect.
Biographies for children that touch upon courage include:
The Barefoot Book of Heroic Children by Rebecca Hazel (Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books, 2000) offers short, biographical stories told in first person by young people who achieved greatness against tremendous odds.
I Can Make a Difference: A Treasury to Inspire Our Children edited by Marion Wright Edelman (New York: HarperCollins, 2005) is a collection of world folk tales, stories, poems and songs to inspire young people to see that even seemingly small acts of courage make a big difference to others and the world.
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