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

• Post the chalice-lighting words on the wall near the Circle Time area.

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 are thinking about our imaginations-the part of our brain that lets us think of things in unusual, silly, or different ways than usual. In our church [congregation], we want people to discover and think for themselves. Does your imagination let you think of things in a silly or different way? Can you use your imagination to make a sound of a purple elephant? Let's hear it! Can you use your imagination to show us how a three-legged boboclown animal would look when it is very happy? Can you use your imagination to eat a bananopopitupanddown fruit? Today we are going to use our imaginations to make some unusual and interesting art, but first let's read a story about imagination.

Consider holding 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.