Tapestry of Faith: Creating Home: A Program on Developing a Sense of Home Grounded in Faith for Grades K-1

Faith In Action: Founders Plaque Rubbing - Short-term

Part of Creating Home

Activity time: 30 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Newsprint
  • Masking tape
  • Soft, thick sticks of chalk or pastels, in a variety of colors

Preparation for Activity

  • Locate on your congregational grounds a plaque that displays the names of congregation's founders, former ministers, lay leaders, or other past members who were recognized for a contribution to the life of the congregation.
  • Optional: If the plaque you intend to take rubbings of is too high for children to reach, plan to bring a stable chair that a child can safely stand upon.

Description of Activity

Children will discover something about the congregation's founders or other important people in the history of their faith home.

If your congregation has a plaque with the names of the original founding members, take the group on a walk to view it. Or, find another plaque that displays the names of people who played a role in the congregation's history. Read the names aloud and discuss with the group any other information you find on the plaque, such as date the congregation was founded.

Explain that sometimes people take rubbings of tombstones. You may not have tombstones here at your faith home of the ancestors who started your congregation, but you have the plaque. You can take rubbings of that.

Help children, one at a time, place their sheets of paper across the plaque. Tape each sheet down. Help children rub across the plaque with the chalk or pastels, varying the colors you give each child.

After each child has completed a rubbing, return to your meeting space. Ask children to begin cutting out their rubbings. Help children as needed. Assemble the rubbings into a group collage for a bulletin board or wall.

If you can obtain photocopies of photographs of the founding members or other past congregants whose names you have captured in the rubbings, include these in the collage. You can also include pictures or photographs of the building and other relevant decorations. Write a label for the collage, such as "The Founding of our Faith Home," and hang the collage in your meeting space or elsewhere in the congregational facilities.