Tapestry of Faith: Faithful Journeys: A Program about Pilgrimages of Faith in Action for Grades 2-3

Activity 5: Guided Meditation and Shared Reflection

Activity time: 6 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Print out and familiarize yourself with the guided meditation so you can read it smoothly, with appropriate pauses for children to reflect.

Description of Activity

If there is room, you may wish to invite children to lie on the floor in a comfortable position where none are touching another. Or, they can sit at work tables and rest their heads on their arms. Ask them to close their eyes and let the sound of the chime, bell, or rain stick lead them into relaxing. Read aloud the meditation, with appropriate pauses.

When you are done, say:

Gently wiggle your fingers and toes, bringing yourself back into your body as it is today. You may open your eyes and sit up.

Lead children to share their responses to the meditation. What did they think of that they could still do, with some of their abilities gone? If necessary, suggest: You could stick out your tongue; imagine; roll your eyes; do math problems. Affirm responses.

Including All Participants

If you have a child in your group who is, in fact, a quadriplegic, you might want to omit this meditation; it may make that child feel on the spot and uncomfortable. Children with most physical limitations, however, can imagine lesser physical capability than they have.

Children who have great difficulty remaining still may benefit from access to fidget objects (Session 2, Leader Resource 2).