2. LOVE – What does it mean to be loved?

Ground rules

Share Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘You have the right to give your opinion, and for adults to listen and take it seriously’ and remind the children of the ground rules:

• We have the right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously.
• Thumbs up if you want to speak.
• One person talks at a time.
• Everyone is valued.
• Respect each other’s responses.

 Getting set

Ask the children to make a choice between loving a cat or loving a dog. Give them time to think about their choice, as a reason will be required! Explain that there is no right or wrong answer but what is important is the reason for their choice.

In turn ask the children the question:

• Would you rather love a cat or a dog?

Children respond with such answers as, “I would rather love a dog because he/she would become my best friend.”

INTRODUCTION

Explain to the children that today they are going to be talking about love and what it means to be loved.

Activity

Ask the children to recall a time when they felt loved or a time when they showed love to someone. Invite the children to draw a picture of this experience and include the people/animals it included. Share one or two examples.

Activity

As an initial stimulus, show the children a short animation of the story, ‘Guess how much I love you’. [Search YouTube ‘Guess how much I love you’]

Encourage the children to air their thoughts about the characters, content and what it would feel like if they were Little Nutbrown. Encourage them to give reasons for their ideas.

Invite the children to raise questions about the story and give time for them to think, pair and share those questions. Share examples.

Activity

Ask the children in groups of four or five to reflect on the story and come up with some questions they could raise about how Little and Big Nutbrown Hare say how much they love each other. Share an example, e.g., “What does it mean to be loved?” and compile a list of their questions.

Invite the children to vote for a question that they think the class could discuss. [Encourage the children to close their eyes when voting so they are not influenced by their peers’ votes.]

Once a question has been voted for, invite the children to share some initial answers. Clarify the question where needed and help them to build their understanding – agreeing and disagreeing with the ideas they are airing. Encourage them to listen carefully to each other so that they can appreciate other points of view and learn more about what they need to know to answer the question. After everyone has had an opportunity to participate, thank the children for their contributions. 

Conclusion

Offer some reflections on the session around the idea of the importance of love, whether you are the receiver or giver. Remind the children of some of the points that emerged from the question and answer session and leave them with a thought:

“I wonder what a world without love would mean for us all?”