• Several small stones for each participant
• Optional: Cloth on which to place the stones
• Participant lists of their own convictions
• Permanent markers and/or paints and paintbrushes
• Newspaper
• Optional: Chalice candle and lighter and extinguisher

• Obtain stones that are large and smooth enough to draw or paint on, yet small enough to keep in a pocket.
• Cover worktables with newspaper, and set out markers and/or paints. Prepare a safe place for painted stones to dry.
• Set out the stones on a cloth if you have brought one.

Participants will create a tangible reminder of the support their Unitarian Universalist religious community provides for their actions of conviction and courage.

Invite the children to look at their list of convictions and choose one or two which are most important to them. Tell them they will then create an object they can use to focus their courage in a time of need.

If it is appropriate for the group, create a brief space of meditation or prayer. Lead participants to:

• Ask (or look within themselves) for guidance concerning what convictions are worthy of their actions and their courage.
• Imagine themselves in a situation where that conviction is being challenged, and what they would hope to do-what kind of people they would hope to be.

Invite participants to choose one or two stones that they can keep with them to remind them of their convictions and of the support of their religious community in helping them act with courage. Settle the group at the worktable and invite them to decorate the stone(s) in any way they choose. You might suggest they use a chalice or another symbol that will remind them of the conviction the stone represents.

If time is a constraint, participants can choose a stone to keep as a symbol of their convictions without decorating it. They could choose a stone now or at the Council Circle.

If appropriate for the group, when children finish decorating their stones, hold a brief ceremony. Here are some suggestions:

• With everyone sitting in a circle, pass each stone one at a time around the entire circle. Ask each participant to briefly hold each stone and offer a silent prayer or blessing over it. Suggest these words: "May this stone remind [name of owner] of the support of their faith community and our Toolbox of Faith group."
• Place each stone in the center of the group, one at a time. Have each participant reach a hand toward each stone, and repeat a group blessing, or a moment of silence over each stone.
• Place the stones in a pile, close together, and offer a blessing to all the stones together. This alternative is a good choice if the painted stones are too wet to pass around.