Tapestry of Faith: Moral Tales: A Program on Making Choices for Grades 2-3

Alternate Activity 3: Help Or Harm The Earth? Game

Part of Moral Tales

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Post two blank sheets of newsprint on opposite walls. Write "Help the Earth" on the top of one and "Harm the Earth" on the top of the other.
  • Download Leader Resource, Help or Harm the Earth? Add items if you wish, then print out a copy,

Description of Activity

Tell the children:

Just like the scientists who accidentally created a problem in Borneo, there are lots of things people do that can harm the Earth or mess up nature's balance. There are also things we can do to help the Earth.

Explain that you will read off some actions that people do. Invite the children to move to the "Help the Earth" sign if they think the action you name is helpful or the "Harm the Earth" side if they think it harms the Earth.

Once you exhaust this list, add your own items or ask the children to come up with suggestions. To add action to the activity, you can give the children different ways to move around the room. These might be movements such as crawling, hopping, or tip-toeing, or you can strengthen the lesson by asking them to pretend they are various living creatures such as a frog (hop), a horse (gallop) or a honeybee (fly and buzz).

To end the game, invite two volunteers to remove and throw away or recycle the two newsprint signs and help the Earth.

Including All Participants

Include a child with limited mobility by engaging the group to find a way they will indicate the "Help the Earth" or "Harm the Earth" sign, such as by pointing to one sign or the other.