• Chalice-lighting words, written on newsprint
• Chalice with tea light flame or other preschool chalice option
• Feelings Chart or Feelings Flashcards by Todd Parr
• A picture of a rainbow

• Post the chalice-lighting words on the wall near the Circle Time area.
• Find one or more pictures of rainbows in books or magazines that you can show the children and perhaps pass around.

Bring the chalice into the circle, either on the floor or on a small table or stand. Say, in these words or your own:

Welcome to Circle Time! First we light our chalice.

Point out where your chalice-lighting words are displayed. Say your chalice-lighting words as you "light" the chalice:

We light this chalice for the warmth of love, the light of truth, and the energy of action.

Say, in these words or your own:

Now we share our names and feelings. How are each of you feeling today? We will go around the circle and each say our name and point to how we're feeling today on the Feelings Chart [Feelings Flashcard]. If you would rather not share today, you may say, "No, thank you."

Once everyone who wishes to has shared, say, in these words or your own:

For all the feelings that we feel today, we know that we have our friends, our families, and our church [congregational] family to share them with.

Introduce today's theme, in these words or your own:

Today we wonder about rainbows. Have you ever seen a rainbow in the sky? Here is a picture of a rainbow. [show the picture]

A rainbow actually contains more than a million colors. But, our eyes can only really see six or seven of them: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (dark blue), and violet. Can you see all those colors?

Rainbows can be hard to find-they only happen every once in a while. We see them on bubbles, near waterfalls, and sometimes after a rainstorm. Rainbows are part of many stories because when people see a rainbow, they remember how beautiful the world is. Here at [name of congregation], we share the beauty of rainbows and our love of nature together. Today we are each going to paint a rainbow, but first let's read a story about rainbows.

You could hold your circle activities in a circle of chairs to make it easier to include a wheelchair or for a child to sit while wearing leg braces.