•Ask children to describe the feelings they have for those they love most in the world (“I love you more than the whole word, more than the sky, more than the stars”) and how they feel when they hear the song of a morning sparrow, see a sunbright daffodil or a listening deer, feel the rush of a glistening stream, or inhale the scent of a woodland, a desert after rainfall, or the sea.

 

•Think about "all" as a word to describe that feeling -- the endless love that seems too huge to fit inside of us, the joy and wonder we feel when are connected with the natural world.

 

•Talk about what scientists know – that there is a solar system and a universe; and what scientists think and wonder about – that there may be an endless “whole” or all beyond the known universe.

 

•Discuss the idea of the all being part of us, and of each of us having our place in the all – the idea that we are not alone in a random universe.  Ask children what they think of Einstein’s idea -- that the more we can feel connected with all other living creatures and the whole of the natural word, the more we will feel both free and secure.  

•Use a Matreshka doll to talk about the concept of worlds within worlds – and how safe and cozy the tiniest doll is, nestled inside all the larger worlds.

 

•Describe the Milky Way, and our solar system; where our earth fits in the solar system, and where different children’s countries and villages fit on the earth.

 

•Ask children why they think our planet would be described as “blue and hopeful.” 

 

•Look at pictures of homes and bedtime in other cultures – how do children live and sleep differently around the world?

 

•Take children outside and invite them to draw a picture or write a poem about how they feel when they see something beautiful in nature.

 

•Talk about what sights, sounds, and scents of the natural world children in other cultures experience that would fill their hearts with joy and wonder.