Children’s program Week 1

Children accept Krishna consciousness very readily and eagerly and enjoy the different aspects of the
program. But for this we have to first develop a warm and loving relationship with them and also
present things in an attractive way so that they remain interested, and continue to attend the
programs.
A right mixture of providing a relaxed atmosphere with some discipline must prevail. Otherwise either
they will not exercise their creativity or they will become too noisy and in disciplined.
These modules will help a devotee even if he is inexperienced in teaching children to make an impact
on the children and carry them forward in his Krishna consciousness with enthusiasm.
Theses modules are for children within the age group of 5 to 9.
It is ideal if we do not exceed the number of 25 children in the class, as otherwise it will be very difficult
to give close attention to every one of them.
Please read the module well before the class, so you can be prepared. Also request children to bring
along with them a notebook, pencil, a file and coloring pencils.
Seat all the children in a circle around you even if you have to form to concentric circles.

Icebreaker : 15 minutes
Ask every child, one by one and introduce himself or herself by their name, their school’s name, which
class they are studying in.
Interact with them by repeating their names, and also acknowledging their efforts by saying “Thank
you”, “Very good”, “Very nice to have you” etc.

Kirtan : 15 minutes
It is important to keep them concentrated in the Kirtana especially in the beginning when they can
easily get distracted. So tell them that all of them have to clap their hands during Kirtana. It is better to
keep them seated during Kirtana till they learn the words of the mantras.
Also explain that this is going to be a prayer to God and so to concentrate on the words of the song
and sing loudly and clearly.
If you have a board, then you can write all the mantras in big lettering and ask them to follow the words
while singing.
For the first week, you can sing the Guru pranama mantra and the Panca tattva mantra your self and
then ask them to repeat the Hare Krishna Maha mantra alone. You can break up the mantra in two
parts, so it is easy for them to follow.
Story : 30 minutes
Story telling has to be interactive for maximum effect. This means that you have to ask them questions
every now and then so that they remain alert and learn all the important facts. With this in mind we
have included questions after every few paragraphs. You can read out the text of every paragraph,
explain it in your own words and then ask the questions. Ask them to raise their hands if they know
their answer. No shouting or screaming out the answers and no speaking out of turn. You have to
emphasize this from the very beginning, so that they learn proper discipline from the very beginning.
Also you can encourage the quiet ones to participate. Speak encouraging and appreciative words
especially to the shy and quiet ones and also to all the others in general. This will make them very
enthusiastic and responsive.
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Children’s program Week 1

Birth of Lord Krishna

Once upon a time the earth goddess, Bhumi, became a cow and went to ask Lord Brahma for help.
Crying, she said, “The whole world is upset because now there are many kings on earth who are really
demons.” So Lord Brahma, who is the father of the universe, Bhumi, and all the demigods went to the
ocean of milk to see Lord Visnu on His planet of Svetadvipa. They all offered their respectful
obeisances to Lord Visnu and chanted the Purusha-sukta prayers.

Questions:
1) What is the name of mother earth? What form did she take?
2) What is the name of Lord Vishnu's planet?
3) What sort of ocean is there?
4) Who went to see Lord Vishnu?
5) What prayers did they recite?

Lord Visnu said, “Soon, I will come down to earth as the son of Vasudeva, along with My brother and
sister, Balarama and Yogamaya. All of you demigods should take birth on earth in the Yadu family.
Then, I will come Myself as the Supreme Lord Krsna to save all the devotees and to kill all the
demons.”

Some time later, Vasudeva, the son of the Yadu King Surasena, married Devaki, the beautiful daughter
of Ugrasena. After the wedding, Devaki’s brother Kamsa drove them home on a wonderful golden
chariot. There were hundreds of other nice chariots, 200 of her young girlfriends, 15,000 horses and
400 elephants nicely decorated with gold and garlands, along with wonderful music from conch shells,
bugles and drums.

Questions:
1) In what form did Lord Vishnu say that He would come to the earth? Whom would He come along
with?
2) In which family were the demigods to take birth from?
3) Who was Devaki? Who was Kamsa?

Suddenly, a great voice was heard from the sky: “Kamsa, you are such a fool. The eighth son of this
sister will kill you. “Kamsa became afraid. Immediately he caught Devaki’s hair and raised his sword to
kill her. Vasudeva, her new husband, stopped him and said, “My dear brother-in-law, please do not kill
your own sister. She will never give you trouble. Right now you are safe. Whenever she has any
children, I promise to give them all to you. “Kamsa knew that Vasudeva would keep his promise, so he
did not kill her.

After Devaki had her first baby, the great devotee Narada Muni came to Kamsa and said, “Kamsa, be
careful of the friends and demigods born in the families of Nanda Maharaja, the cowherd men, and
Vasudeva. They are all getting ready for Krsna to come. He is sure to kill all the demoniac kings of the
world.” Kamsa and his friends were all demons, so they were always afraid of the demigods. And
Kamsa was especially very, very afraid that he would be killed by Krsna who was taking birth in the
Yadu family. So he locked up Vasudeva and Devaki and his own father Ugrasena inside a prison.
Then Kamsa made himself the king. He began to disturb all the Yadu family and even killed the six
baby boys born to Devaki and Vasudeva, one after another.

Questions:
1) Which family did Vasudeva belong to?
2) What was the name of Kamsa's father?
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Children’s program Week 1

3) Why was Kamsa afraid of Krishna?

Krsna’s sister Yogamaya took Devaki’s seventh baby, Balarama, away and put Him safely in Vrndavan
with Rohini in the house of Nanda and Yasoda. Then Krsna was ready to come as the eight son of
Devaki – the baby Kamsa feared the most. As the days went by, an ocean of hate grew in Kamsa’s
heart. He waited for the child to be born, hoping to kill Him as he had killed Devaki’s other six sons.
He was always thinking of Krsna twenty-four hours a day. While sleeping, eating, working; while
talking, sitting, or walking; all Kamsa could see around him was Krsna.

Devaki became very happy waiting for Krsna’s birth. All the demigods and Narada visited her to tell
her, “Do not be afraid, Devaki. Your son, Krsna, can never be killed by the demon Kamsa. Krsna is
coming just to kill all the demons everywhere in the world so His devotees can live peacefully.”

At the time of Krsna’s birth, there were nice signs everywhere. The planets and stars moved to good
positions in the skies. The rivers were full of clear flowering waters and the lakes were full of lotus
flowers. The forests were full of beautiful singing birds and dancing peacocks. The soft winds smelled
of sweet flowers. The brahmana priests found their homes very nice for offering prasadam to the Lord
and for sacrifices. The Gandharvas and Kinnaras began to sing; the Siddhas and Caranas offered
prayers; the Apsaras began to dance; and the great sages and demigods showered flowers from the
skies.

1) How was Balarama saved from Kamsa?

2) Why did the demigods tell Devaki not be afraid for Krishna's safety?
3) How did birds flowers and lakes show their happiness at Krishna's birth?
4) What did the Gandharvas and Kinnaras do? What did the Kinnaras and Charanas do?
5) What did the Apsaras do?
6) How did the great sages show their happiness at Krishna's birth?

Then in the darkness of night, during a heavy rain storm, Lord Visnu appeared as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead before Devaki, who also looked like a demigoddess. Vasudeva saw his
wonderful baby son with four hands holding a conchshell, club, disc and lotus flower, and flashing His
bright effulgence within the room. He had the special mark of Srivatsa on His chest and the jeweled
necklace with the kaustubha stone around His neck. He was dressed in yellow silk, valuable golden
bracelets, bangles, earrings and other ornaments all over His body. He had a full head of thick hair and
wore a helmet with the vaidurya stone. Vasudeva wanted to celebrate the birth of his wonderful baby
by giving away thousands of decorated cows to be brahmanas, but as he was locked in prison he
simply prayed. He bowed down with folded hands to offer prayers. “My Lord, you are the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and You have so kindly appeared in my home to kill the demonic kings of the
world like Kamsa. Knowing that You are to kill him and his followers, Kamsa has already killed Your
six baby brother before You. As soon as he hears that You have come, he will try to kill You, too.”

Questions:
1) Mention how baby Krishna looked when He was born?

Then, the Lord turned Himself into an ordinary small baby. Vasudeva quietly took his little son out of
the prison. Somehow, everyone in Kamsa’s palace, especially the doorkeepers, slept very nicely and
all the doors opened. The night was very dark and it was thundering and raining. While Vasudeva
carried little Krsna in the heavy rain, Lord Ananta Sesa spread His serpent hood over the head of
Vasudeva like an umbrella. They came to the Yamuna River. It was roaring with big waves and foam.
But they were able to cross. On the other side, he went to the home of Nanda Maharaja in Vrndavana,
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Children’s program Week 1

where everyone was also sleeping. He walked inside quietly and put Krsna down next to Mother
Yasoda. The he picked up Yasoda’s baby girls and went back with her to the prison of Kamsa, where
he put her down next to Devaki. He locked everything very well, so Kamsa could not see that so many
things had happened during the night.

Questions:
1) How did Vasudeva escape the guards and take Krishna outside the prison?
2) Who acted as an umbrella for Them?
3) What did Vasudeva do on reaching Vrindavana as Nanda Maharaja's palace?

After Vasudeva locked the doors and gathers, the gatekeepers woke up and heard the new baby
crying. They went to tell Kamsa. Kamsa was so much afraid that his hair stood up on end. He jumped
out of bed and cried, “Now the cruel death of my life is born!” Then he hurried to the prison and to the
bed of Devaki and the baby.

Quietly, Devaki said, “My dear brother, Kamsa, please do not kill this baby girl. You won’t be killed by
a girl, but by my eighth son.” Cruel Kamsa grabbed the newborn child to throw her down hard on the
stone. But that baby slipped right out of his hands and went straight up into the sky! Actually she was
the wonderful goddess Durga. She wore a beautiful dress, flower garlands and shining jewels and
ornaments. In her eight hands she held a bow, spear, arrows, bell, conchshell, disc, club and shield.
From above, in the sky, the goddess Durga shouted at Kamsa, “You rascal, you cannot kill me! The
child who will kill you is already born before me somewhere within this world. Don’t be so cruel to your
poor sister.” Then she left.

Questions:
1) Who was the new baby whom Kamsa tried to kill?
2) How did she look when she went up to the sky?

Kamsa became even more afraid. He said to Vasudeva and Devaki, “I have been just like a demon to
kill your six little babies. Please excuse me for my terrible behavior.” He unlocked them personally
and let them go out of the prison.

But the next day, he had a change of heart. Kamsa, who was the greatest rascal, ordered his demon
friends to disturb all kinds of saintly persons and to kill all children born in the last ten days.

In Vrndavana it was declared that a boy was born to Yasoda. Nanda Maharaja gave away 200,000
well-decorated cows, mountains of grains, golden-bordered cloth and ornaments to the brahmanas,
musicians and singers. The brahmanas chanted different Sanskrit hymns for the good fortune of the
child. All the cowherd men and their wives, the gopis, dressed up very nicely and brought gifts for the
new baby. When they got to Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda’s house, the gopis gave their blessings to
Krsna by mixing turmeric powder, oil, yogurt, milk and water and sprinkling it on baby Krsna and on
everyone there. The cowherd men saw the fun and they, in turn, joyfully threw yogurt, milk, ghee and
water on the gopis! Then everyone began to throw butter on each other! Nada Maharaja was very
happy to see everyone enjoying Krsna’s birth ceremony and prayed to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead to protect his child.

Questions:
1) How did the Gopis bless baby Krishna?
2) How did the Gopas and Gopis celebrate and enjoy Krishna's birth ceremony?

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Children’s program Week 1

Slokas: 20 minutes

Children have good memory power and learn the slokas easily too. But you must make it interesting
for them to learn and most important they should have some understanding of the meaning. It is good
to have a drawing describing the sloka. We have attached these drawings in the CD enclosed. Keep
the drawing ready for this sloka. Put it up on the board.

First read out the sloka and the translation to them and then read out the explanation. Then with the
help of the drawing , explain it once again in your own words what you just read out. You can ask them
if they have understood it and if they have any doubts or questions about it.

Only after this you teach them to repeat the words and then whole sentences of the sloka. Make them
repeat it many times. If they are old enough to copy it on their own, they can copy it in their note-
books. Otherwise, you can ask the older children to write in one smaller kid's note-book. If they are all
young and unable to write, you can make photo copies of the slokas and file it for them. So that their
parents can help them to memorize them at home. Every week, if you recite the previous week's
slokas as well, they will learn to by heart it very quickly.

Bhagavad-gita 2.13

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraḿ yauvanaḿ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

SYNONYMS

dehinah--of the embodied; asmin--in this; yatha--as; dehe--in the body; kaumaram--boyhood;
yauvanam--youth; jara--old age; tatha--similarly; deha-antara--transference of the body; praptih--
achievement; dhirah-- the sober; tatra--thereupon; na--never; muhyati--deluded.

TRANSLATION

As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul
similarly passes into another body at death. A self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.

Explanation :
We keep growing from being a baby, to being a bigger child, then going to primary school, middle
school, then high school, then college and then we go to work, get married like your father and mother
and then one day we will also be old like Grandma and grandpa. So at every stage we have a different
body, but we remain the same person. For example your grand mother can remember what she did as
a small child! Can you imagine her as a child? No! Because now she has a totally different body. But
she is the same person. So this person who always remains in all our changing bodies is called the
soul. This soul never dies. So one who knows about this soul is never afraid of death, because the
soul or the person simply gets another new body.

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Children’s program Week 1

Activity:15 minutes

Keep some drawings of Krishna's pastimes ready. You can choose the same drawing for all and photo
copy them. Since they learnt about the birth of Krishna, you can have some drawing of baby Krishna
and ask them to color it.

Ask them to finish coloring at home if they have not completed it in class. You can sign and write some
comments like “good” or some suggestion on how they can make it even better.

Prasadam: 15 minutes
Some prasadam favorites of children are popcorn / fruit / biscuits / buns / sandwiches / samosas /
noodles / juice / sweet. Choose whatever is convenient for you to provide them. Tell them that this food
is special and offered to God and so they must not waste it or throw it away.

If possible you can make them watch a video of some Krisna's pastimes while eating. This will also
make them eat properly and not be noisy too!

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