Year 2 Hindus: what do Hindu stories teach about life and the world? worksheet

“Touching Parts of the Elephant” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 2 religious education unit “Hindus: what do Hindu stories teach about life and the world?”, for children aged 6 to 7, and takes about 22 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 13 to 18 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Touching Parts of the Elephant

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 2 · Religious education · about 22 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain why each blind man was telling the truth about the part he touched.

A Look back3 min

1.
Look at the chart. Which of these is a place where Hindus worship?
2.
Look at the chart. Which of these is the holy book Muslims read?
3.
This chart shows visits to a made-up mandir. Which faith worships in a mandir?

B Watch me, then you4 min

Mia cannot see. She puts her hand into a bag and feels one part of an object.

Watch me

A soft toy poking out of an open cloth bag, seen from the side

Mia cannot see the object.

She feels one long, thin part.

She says: it is like a rope.

Now you

1.
Sam cannot see. He feels one smooth, round part of an object in a bag. What might he say it is like?

C Your turn6 min

In a Hindu story, six blind men each touch one part of an elephant. Circle what each man said it was like.

A grey elephant standing side on in a green field

1.
A blind man touched the elephant's trunk. What did he say it was like? Circle one.
a snakea walla fan
2.
A blind man touched the elephant's tail. What did he say it was like? Circle one.
a ropea speara tree
3.
A blind man touched the elephant's tusk. What did he say it was like? Circle one.
a speara fana wall
4.
A blind man said the elephant was like a tree. Which part did he touch? Circle one.
its legits earits tail

Say it out loud: Why did each man say something different? Was each one telling the truth about his part?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Close view of an elephant's large ear and one curved tusk

Kit says: “Only the blind man who touched the trunk told the truth. The other five were wrong.”

1.
Was Kit right? Write why in your own words.

E Think deeper4 min

A half-finished jigsaw puzzle on a wooden table, seen from above

1.
Why do you think the wise Rajah said, “You are all right, but only partly”? Explain in your own words.

How did it feel?

Think about a time someone helped you see something you had missed. Tell a grown-up how it felt.

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Touching Parts of the Elephant · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. Look for: Writes mandir.

2. Look for: Writes Qur'an, in any spelling.

3. Look for: Says Hindus or the Hindu faith.

B

1. Look for: Sam describes something smooth and round that he could feel, such as a ball or an apple, based on touch alone.

C

1. a snake If your child circles the wall, they may be thinking of the elephant's side. Ask: which part is long and bendy?

2. a rope If your child circles a spear, they may be thinking of the tusk. Ask: which part is thin and hangs down?

3. a spear If your child circles the fan, they may have touched the ear. Ask: which part is hard and pointed?

4. its leg If your child circles the tail, they may be matching the rope. Ask: which part is thick and stands on the ground?

D

1. Look for: Kit is wrong because each blind man was telling the truth about the part he touched, so none was simply wrong. If your child says Kit is right, ask: did the man who touched the leg really feel something like a tree?

E

1. Look for: Each man knew only one part, so joining all the parts together gives a fuller picture of the whole elephant.

Words to use

Say“If you felt one part of an elephant, what might it feel like? Why did each man say something different?”

Instead of“Tell them the elephant is really a wall, so the other men were just wrong.”

After the sheet

Put a spoon or a sock into a bag. Take turns feeling one part without looking. Each say what you think it is, then look together.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Many views, one truth(with a plan)
Krishna's blue skin(with a plan)
Looking for deeper meanings(with a plan)
Waiting for God(with a plan)
Namaste: more than hello(with a plan)

Every Year 2 religious education worksheet

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