Sharing Baha'i Stories with Children

Telling stories to children is an art I have not myself learned, and I am eager for you to share your ideas. Please place them in the comments section below, or send me an email at the address on the right, and I will incorporate them into these postings. Please also share websites having such information, so I can add them to the "Links" section on the right.

There are suggestions for telling stories in Baha'i Children's Classes here and here and in a number of other stories on that wonderful website. Here is another. Ah, wonderful, there are lots of resources for telling stories in Baha'i Children's Classes. An idea presented in the story above about the Universal House of Justice, is to use a picture book to show photographs of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. (This also enhances stories told to adults.)

Marguerite Sears told me that when she and her husband, the Hand of the Cause William Sears, pioneered to Africa, at first they had difficulty sharing the Baha'i message with the people, as the people were wary. Bill was experienced with using puppets, having once hosted a television show. The Sears then drove into villages, and stopped their car. Mr. Sears would raise a puppet above the door, leaning out the window, and the children would approach. They would not talk with him, but they would talk to the puppet. Gradually, the adults came over to see what was so interesting to their children, and in this way, Mr. and Mrs. Sears were able to share the Baha'i message with more people.

The same approach is used worldwide:

Students display puppets made at the 2004 UK Baha'i Academy for the Arts for use in story-telling in Baha'i children's classes. Copyright © 2006, Baha'i International Community. Used with Permission.

Please share your ideas and please send me links to additional resources