Learning Outcomes

• to identify different naming ceremonies around the world
• to establish that not all races / religions celebrate rites of passage in the same way.

Introduction

Ask the children do they know what ceremony or ritual means.

Inquire if they know any ceremonies or rituals. Can they name the religion or culture they belong to?

Do they think it is just religious ceremonies that are Rites of Passage? Can there be other types?

Development

Explain that a lot of the rites are religious but that they can be spiritual or part of human development  too (like puberty). They mark a time when an individual leaves one group to enter another and that is separated into three stages: separation, transition and incorporation.

Explain that they can also be called “initiation” rites.

Show them examples of:

puberty, bar and bat Mitzvah, Quinceanera, sweet sixteen, Masai – Emorata, vision quest (Native American), Amrit Sanchar, Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, the Hajj, Samskaras,.

After learning about these, ask the children, in groups, to come up with their own idea for a rite of passage. When would it happen? Who would it happen to? how old do you need to be?

Plenary

Let the children act out their “rites” and the other groups can ask questions about it.