Tapestry of Faith: Wonderful Welcome: A Program for Children Grades K-1

Closing

Activity time: 5 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Wonder Box poster
  • Picture of the earth with people around it (Leader Resource 1, from Wonder Box)
  • Tape or glue stick
  • Copies of Taking It Home for all participants
  • Newsprint, markers and tape

Preparation for Activity

  • Display the Wonder Box poster (See Session 1.)
  • Write the closing words on newsprint and post.
  • Customize, print out, and photocopy the Taking It Home section for all participants.
  • Print out Leader Resource 1, Helping around the World. Cut out the picture.

Description of Activity

Gather the children in a circle. Show the Wonder Box poster and explain that it looks like the Wonder Box to remind us about our intangible gifts. Invite a child to attach the picture of the earth to the poster. You may say, in your own words:

Today we learned that the gift of helping is one of the most important gifts we give. Whether we are helping someone right next to us, or helping someone we do not even know, we can make a difference in other people's lives when we give the gift of helping.

Tell the children you are happy and thankful you all could be together this morning. You may say:

Giving thanks for being together helps us remember that all kinds of friends are important, and we appreciate every one - including the friends we will never meet, but whom we were able to give the gift of helping. Let's say our closing words of gratitude together.

Invite the children to hold hands. Show them where you have posted the closing words. Ask them to say each line with you, and say the lines slowly:

We are thankful.

We are thankful to be here.

We are thankful to be here, together.

We are thankful to be here, together, now.

Then ask one child to very gently squeeze the hand of the person to their left, and have that person continue to pass the squeeze until the squeeze has returned to the person who started it. Tell the person who started the squeeze to signal that it has returned to them by raising their arms, still holding hands with the people on either side. When this happens, instruct everyone to raise their clasped hands, together. If you like, suggest a word for them to say at this moment, like "Good-bye!" or "Shalom!" or the name of this session's intangible gift - "Helping!"

Extinguish the chalice. Distribute Taking It Home handouts. Thank and dismiss participants.