Not long to go until the Bicentenary! What are you planning to do at home, with your children’s class or in your community?
Here are some ideas from Baha’is around the world!
Teach the kids some songs, and perform! Here are some prop ideas from Neda in Perth, Australia. They will perform two songs (“Who is the Prophet of God for Today?” and “We are Drops”) and then hold their props up and announce “Happy 200th Birth of Baha’u’llah!” at the end.
Make a banner! Photo credit to Adina whose children’s class in Michigan, USA created this banner after learning about the birth of Baha’u’llah.
Here’s a printable banner you can use if you like… pictured above is the banner printed on four different colours of paper so that there are 4 pages per piece of paper, meaning the whole banner only took four pieces of paper! You can download the four pages here (if you only have two different colours of paper, use one and three for one colour and then two and four for the other colour so you can alternate colours): one, two, three, four
Do a countdown calendar with quotes or quiz questions about Baha’u’llah’s life! This one was made with envelopes, and filled with questions decorated with gemstones plus a few sweets. Thanks to Lara in Prince George, BC, Canada for sharing!
Decorate your home! Rebekah from Hamilton, New Zealand shares how her family decorated information about Baha’u’llah’s life and used the artwork as a display for their lounge.
Get balloons made to mark the occasion! They can be used as decorations at your event or given as gifts to your guests.
Create a beautiful piece of artwork with children in your family, neighbourhood, or community event. This piece is by the Baha’i children’s classes of Ellerslie and Parnell in Auckland, New Zealand.
This display was made by children in the Townsville community (Queensland, Australia) for the local Baha’i Centre using origami fish which were connected to long strands of yarn to represent the story of Baha’u’llah’s father’s dream of Him swimming in the ocean.
Purchase a piece of artwork for your home or local Baha’i Centre to mark the occasion! This beautiful beadwork was done by a local artist commissioned by a Baha’i family. The local artist is employed by an AIDS Centre which provides employment to people battling the epidemic.
Undertake a community art project! Hailey in South Africa created this mosaic out of an 8 seater table with a team of local youth.
Organise a school art project! This beautiful piece is from Beaconsfield primary school in Western Australia. Two mothers approached the school principal and asked what we could do for the Birth of Baha’u’llah as this is a significant year for all Baha’is around the world. She suggested we do a mural for the school. Then, with collaboration with an artist friend (and parent at the school) they all came up with a design, then the teachers and art teacher coordinated the clay work. At their Baha’i camp at the school during school holidays, the kids got to glue the mosaics on.
Print out this free colouring booklet by Melissa Charepoo of Delighted Hearts, available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic and German.
Make bookmarks! Here are some free templates by Joe Paczkowski (click here to visit his Facebook page which is free of amazing designs for Bicentenary banners, flyers and more).
Share digital copies or print some Baha’i quotations and artwork. Here is a collection of quotations generously supplied by Bre Vader. Some mothers are sharing a quote on social media for every day leading up to the Bicentenary.
Do some Baha’i inspired street art! This photo is from Mark Jolly – see the community in action and the rest of the creative street art in this public album on Facebook.
Share positive messages in honour of the Bicentenary! Firozeh in California, USA shared a photo of a junior youth group’s service project at the beach trail in their town putting rocks with positive and encouraging messages for people to enjoy.
Paint a mural! This photo is of the wall of the local Baha’i Centre in Durban, South Africa.
Listen and watch children share descriptions of Baha’u’llah and brief stories from his life. This is an initiative of Westwind Pictures which you can find on Facebook here and Vimeo here.
Plant a community garden or do a service project to fix up a garden in your community, inspired by one of the many quotes of Baha’u’llah that include plants and flowers.
Make or decorate candles for family and friends with a quotation attached, such as “So powerful is the light of unity…”
Listen to Baha’u’llah’s words put to music! This amazing roundup shares videos of 43 musicians. Check it out on Baha’i Blog by clicking here.
Get “The Ancient Beauty” CD by Elika Mahoney which was created in honour of the Bicentenary. There are 11 songs on the album which feature the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh with piano, cello, santour, guitar and voice.
Order the new Brilliant Star magazine prepared especially for the Bicentenary, called “Life of Baha’u’llah: A Treasury of Stories from Brilliant Star”. Go to this page to find out more.
Get Bre Vader’s new activity book prepared especially for the Bicentenary celebrations! Available in Spanish, French and English.
Purchase Melissa Charepoo’s new book called “Life of Baha’u’llah,” a 72 pages full color storybook with 30 stories, family tree, maps, timeline, and glossary. Get details about how to purchase on this post.
If you are looking for more activities, check out this teacher’s guide with lesson plans for ages 8-12 (214 pages) by Randie Gottlieb.
If you are looking for more inspiration and group support, check out the Wilmette Institute’s course called “Sharing Baha’u’llah’s Birthday with Children” which is accepting registrations until 22 October. Find out more on this page.
Check out the official Bicentenary website which has artistic expressions, public messages and tributes, and stories of celebrations around the world.
To have your idea included, send your photo and description to: thetwomoms@enablemetogrow.com
You may also enjoy checking out our list of ideas for sharing Baha’u’llah’s birthday with children published back in 2012! More song and activity suggestions can be found there.
