• Blank cards and envelopes
• Pencils and markers
• Optional: Window/Mirror Panel baskets of arts and crafts materials
• List of staff and volunteers who keep the facility clean, comfortable and secure

• Obtain the names of your congregation's building and maintenance staff, contractors and volunteers. Find out specifically what jobs they do.
• Write names and roles on newsprint, and post.

A very simple way to show respect and appreciation for work done by unseen hands is to thank people who help make our communities run more smoothly. In this activity, the children write thank-you notes to congregational staff and volunteers.

Form small groups of children to write and decorate cards for different people. Brainstorm how they can tailor their cards to the specific tasks performed by each person. Cards could mention how clean the bathrooms are, how comfortable the indoor climate is or how safe the children feel. Direct children to the newsprint for correct spelling of names.

Collect completed cards. Share with the group your plan for distributing the cards. You may wish to engage children in distributing them personally, perhaps during coffee hour. And/or, obtain postal mail addresses of employees or contracted staff from your administration and send cards by postal mail.

Assist any child who has difficulty writing; some may wish to dictate the text of a card for you to write and then decorate the outside themselves. You may invite some children to pair up with one to write and the other to decorate a card.