It was late the night before for our first children’s Virtues Class. In grand last-minute fashion, I was finalizing which activities to do with the kids to introduce the Pure Heart virtue. I bounced them off my dear husband, as I weeded out the lame ideas and tweaked the winners.
That’s when he shared a winner. It was an analogy he’d been given in life that had helped him tremendously with forgiveness work. As he described it, a simple science demo came to mind that would illustrate how negativity doesn’t have to stay with us forever. It can be released or cleansed from our hearts to restore their Pure Heart state.
I call it a science demo because it uses a physical reaction based on a force – a cause and effect relationship if you will – that shows what we’re talking about. It makes concrete an idea that can’t be seen with the physical eye. It’s perfect for the budding scientist. And it embraces the Baha’i teaching that science and religion agree.
While I could see each family doing this demo at home, I wanted to do it all together the next day. That way my husband could help with it. My kids would be more focused (not running off to play Legos). And the families would get in one more activity during our launch lesson.
It was awesome! It was simple, and effective. Thanks, honey!
Here it is:
Pure Heart Science Demo
Goal: Provide kids with a hands-on experiment to explore the Pure Heart concept with a demonstration of how one’s heart gets “dirt” in or on it and how to let that dirt flow out of your heart to maintain its purity.
Materials:
- Tall drinking glass
- 1/2 c. dirt in a bowl
- Spoon
- Source of running water (kitchen sink or a hose if outdoors)
- Flashlight
Process:
- Hold up an empty glass and explain that in many ways our heart or soul is like a glass. It’s a clear and beautiful vessel. When it’s filled with pure and kindly thoughts, feelings, and actions it can easily let light shine through.
- Invite your child to shine the flashlight through from one side.
- Then brainstorm yucky thoughts, feelings, and emotions that might feel like dirt filling up your glass during the day. With each negative thing mentioned, have him dump a spoonful of dirt into the glass. If doing this with multiple children, have them take turns each brainstorming an idea and dumping dirt in the glass.
- After several spoonfuls have been added, stop and fill up the glass with water to see how murky it gets.
- Now try shining flashlight through. Hard to see the light this time, right?
- Talk about special tools that we all have to purify our hearts from the daily “dirt” that gets caught in our hearts/souls. Tools such as meditation, prayer, and expressing ourselves through writing, art, role playing, or talking, as well as active problem solving. Every day, if we give ourselves a few moments to reflect on what went well and what could be improved, we can also focus our attention on letting go of the bad to make more room for the good – cleansing our souls.
- Now demonstrate how these special cleansing tools help to wash away the dirt from the day by placing the glass under a faucet or other source of water and then turn it on. As the water runs into the glass, it gradually overflows the water with dirt in it.
- Chat about what they’re seeing. Finish with how over time, we have the ability to intentionally keep our glass clear of dirt – first, by trying to not let it get there to begin with and, second, by keeping the faucet of spiritual prayer and reflection flowing so it can wash away the dirt that does naturally land in the glass over the course of a day.
- Feel free to tie in Prayer, Inspiration, and the idea of the Pure Heart Start as you like, either now or later when you chat again about this simple demo:
“Bestow upon me a pure heart…”
“Create in me a pure heart, O my God…”
“Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart…”
You can also read How Full is Your Bucket as a companion story to this demo and enjoy songs from Red Grammer’s cd Circle of Light: Songs for Bucket Fillers.
And if your child leaves this activity with the idea that bad thoughts, feelings and actions are not really a concern because they’re super-easy to wash away, then the Purity Papaya Mirror Activity is for you!
If you tried this out, how’d it go? What improvements do you have?
mama elefant 