Faith CoLab: Tapestry of Faith: Toolbox of Faith: A Program That Helps Children Discover the Uses of Faith

Activity 1: Story - Mullah Nasruddin And His Donkey

Activity time: 5 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Read and prepare to tell the story, "Mullah Nasruddin and His Donkey."
  • This story is quite short. You may like to expand this activity by adding more humorous stories. The Resources section provides sources for more Mullah Nasruddin stories - there are dozens.

Description of Activity

Participants will hear a story that uses humor to teach.

Gather participants in a comfortable configuration for listening to a story. You may say:

Nasruddin was a Muslim mullah, or priest, hundreds of years ago. In Afghanistan, Turkey, and countries in the Middle East, people often tell funny stories about him, and they usually have something to teach us about life.

If you wish, assign three children to pantomime the actions of Mullah Nasruddin, his neighbor, and the donkey as you tell the story.