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

Faith In Action: Short-term - Enacting Prayer In The World

Part of Moral Tales

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Bowl
  • Beads, stones or marbles

Preparation for Activity

  • Place beads, stones or marbles in the bowl

Description of Activity

If you have time, add this activity just before your Closing. Gather the children in your Closing circle. Place the bowl or tray filled with beads, stones or marbles in the center. Say, in your own words:

When you pray, the things you pray for don't always happen. No one really knows for sure about how prayer works or if prayer works to change things. But we can work to make our prayers happen, just like the man in the story used quick thinking to save himself when the shah ordered him to use his sword to kill the criminal.

A few minutes ago we named some loving wishes for the world. Now we're going to think about what we can do to help the Earth, the animals, other living beings, and the people we love.

When you have an idea of something you can do, come take one of these beads (or stones, or marbles), sit back down in the circle, and tell us your idea. For example, if your grandmother is sick and you are wishing for her to feel better, you can make her a card or bring her some soup. If you are wishing for the Earth to be clean and unpolluted, you can pick up litter and clean a park.

If your congregation is theistic, you can adapt the message to reflect the role of God, as appropriate. You might say, "We help God make our prayers come true when we do things to help other people, to help animals, or to help the Earth."

As with the prayer beads, adults should participate in this activity, modeling brief, appropriate answers.

When everyone who wishes to share has done so, say in your own words:

You can keep the bead (or stone, or marble). When you go home, it can remind you of your idea so you can do something to help make a prayer come true.