Earth Friends Encore
Council of All Beings
Encore Lesson
Objective: to share in an imaginative and creative activity that showcase the interconnectedness of all life on Earth and the positive impact that human being can have
The Council of All Beings is an activity (or ritual) that has been practiced among indigenous communities across the world for millennia. This encore lesson has been adapted from The Work That Reconnects Network and the work of Joanna Macy and Molly Brown.
Council of All Beings
We Are Earth Friends Encore Lesson
note: this lesson is longer than 20 minutes and may be divided into Part I and Part II as needed.
Begin Lesson
move & discover: 5-10 minutes
Part I
Choose Your Earth Friend on a Quiet Walk
This activity can be done inside or outside. What is most important is that the children are given time and space to reflect and choose.
Materials Needed: space to walk around quietly
Outside: You can either lead the children on a walk through nature or give them a safe space outside to explore.
Inside: You can allow the children to walk around a large space, such as a gym or library area, or they can quietly walk around their classroom.
Once you have chosen a space or a walking path, encourage the children to be very quiet. You can say, “We are using quiet voices and soft walking feet.” Explain to them that they are going to choose an Earth Friend that they want to pretend to be after (not during!) our quiet walk.
This Earth Friend can be any being that is not a human being—any plant, animal, or part of nature that is not human like we are.
Let them know that they can choose an animal, insect, or other living and moving being. Or a flower or tree or plant. Mountains and rivers are also our Earth Friends.
In choosing an Earth Friend, children may likely get excited or loudly act out their Earth Friend. You can remind them that the walk is for being quiet and letting everyone choose who they will pretend to be, and that they will have time to talk and play later. The quiet may be hard for some children, and that is okay. Other children will not be able to choose, so encourage them to think about what they like out in nature (even if you are inside). Lead by example, and choose a non-human Earth Friend yourself.
When the Quiet Walk is over, you are ready for the next activity.
Curious Question
What Earth Friend are you going to pretend to be?
This is a chance for the children to voice their decision of what non-human being they will embody. Many may be eager to share what non-human being Earth Friend they chose. Others may need some help choosing.
Magical Masks
Now that we have chosen our Earth Friends we are going to make masks to help us pretend to be our being.
Materials Needed: paper plates or cardboard (for the mask); paper; string or twine; crayons; scissors; whole punch; glue or tape
Preparation: Arrange the creative materials on a table so that each child has their own paper plate (or cut-out cardboard circle) and easy and safe access to paper, crayons, and scissors.
Explain to the children that we are going to make a mask that looks like your Earth Friend. Show them how they can use the paper, crayons, and scissors to turn their paper plate into a mask and add ears or eyes or any other physical attributes. Many masks will have a circle face with eyes and ears for an animal. However, other children may make a tree or leaf or flower. Or those who choose a mountain or river or ocean, may want to cut their plate into a shape.
Bonus: You can make a mask to embody your chosen Earth Friend too! This will help the children use modeling behaviors to create their own.
As each child completes their mask, help them put it on and fit it to their head with the string and hole punch. For those children who do not want to put something on their face, they can wear their mask like a necklace to show off their Earth Friend.
sit & create: 10-20 minutes
Part II
Council of All Beings*
This activity is one part movement and one part sitting in circle. Each child transitions from individual play and pretending to gathering together to share.
The Great Pretending
Have the children wear their Earth Friends masks and pretend to be their non-human being. You too, put on your mask and pretend. Once again, this can be an inside or outside activity. Encourage everyone to walk or move like (embody) their non-human being, to make sounds that their being might make or make motions. Use your body to be your Earth Friend. Do you fly or swim or run or hop? Are you big or small? Do you move or stay still? What do you like to do?
This may cause an uproar of imagination and pretending. Let the children express as much as they want as long as it is safe and abiding by the rules.
After a good time pretending, you are ready to move on to gathering.
Gathering in Council
Invite each child to find a seat in the circle, all the while pretending to be their non-human being. It might help to address them as such. “Wolf, come sit with us. River won’t you join us? Sunflower, take a seat next to tiny seed, please. Butterfly, can you make room for Shark?”
Once all the Earth Friends are seated, you can call in the Council of All Beings, by saying something like, “Welcome to all beings. We have so many different Earth Friends here today.”
To begin, ask each child to introduce themselves (as their non-human being) and share why they are important on Earth. You can use yourself as an example, “Hello, I am Bat, and I fly through the night and eat mosquitos so they don’t bite others.” Or, “I am Ocean Wave, and I give the dolphins a place to play and keep the ships afloat.” Once each child introduces and shares, you can have everyone in the group say “Thank you, Bat… Ocean Wave…” and so forth.
Continuing, ask each child to share what they (as they continue to embody their non-human being) need to live happily and be safe on Earth. Again, you can set the example. “I am Ocean Wave, and I need clean water.” Or “I am tiny seed and I need good soil.”
To conclude, after every child and non-human being has been heard, it is time to dance and sing. You can play anything from drum beats to The Earth Friends Song and invite everyone to stand up and dance and celebrate sharing our home on Earth with each other.
move & gather & dance: 10 minutes
End Lesson
What to Know about The Council of All Beings
This lesson was adapted from The Work That Reconnects, specifically chapter 8 of Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown; second edition, published 2014. Joanna Macy and John Seed developed the Council of All Beings ritual for rainforest activists. It is a powerful embodiment of the principles of Deep Ecology.
This is a great lesson to invite in an indigenous member of your community to lead The Council of All Beings or to share a similar practice in their culture with the children.
While this We Are Earth Friends Lesson is designed for children ages 3-8, anyone can practice a Quiet Walk, Magical Masks, and A Council of All Beings. In fact, indigenous cultures around the world choose non-human beings to embody and hold council on a regular basis and have been doing so for centuries. You might consider this lesson as bonding experience for adults, such as a team of teachers or adults in community.