Buddhism in Bay Tree Class

This week in Bay Tree class, we have started our new R.E. topic where we have been learning all about Buddhism. We started the week by learning about the special Buddhist celebration called Puja and we learnt a range of new vocabulary and Makaton signs relating to Buddhism, such as Buddha, Puja, Buddhism, presents and flowers.

We spoke about the different events that we each like to celebrate, like our Birthday and Christmas and we shared our experiences and ideas. We talked about what we like to do during these celebrations, like have a party, dance and give presents, and also what we eat during the celebrations, such as Birthday cake, roast dinner and chocolate!

Next, we turned our lights off and explored our Power Point about how Buddhists celebrate Puja. We looked at photographs and learnt about the different offerings and presents they leave for Buddha on his Altar/Shrine. We then took turns to use our senses to explore a range of these offerings ourselves; such as by smelling flowers, tasting fruit and feeling the water with our hands and on our skin.

We even collected a range of our own offerings and presents and placed them on our own Altar that we created in our classroom. We spoke about why we give presents and who we would like to give a present to and why, such as one friends who said “I want to give a present for Daddy because he looks after me.”

To finish our week, we did what we do best in Bay Tree – we got messy and creative!! We used a range of artistic resources to paint, colour, cut, glue and create our very own Altar/Shrine. We’re very proud of our art work and we really enjoyed learning about Buddhism and sharing our experiences with our friends and teachers. We then finished our sessions by practicing Meditating, which we found very relaxing! We hope you have a lovely weekend and that you get the chance to relax too.