WORLD OF WONDER
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 8: LIFE-GIVING PLANTS
BY REV. ALICE ANACHEKA-NASEMANN, PAT KAHN, AND JULIE SIMON
© Copyright 2013 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/9/2014 2:35:22 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar. — Helen Hayes, American actress
This session introduces the abundance and diversity of plants through the central story "Noah's Wife: The Story of Naamah." Kinesthetic learners will enjoy embodying the life cycle of a seed. The children learn "The Garden Song" and plant seedlings to take home. The Faith in Action activity involves creating or maintaining a garden, either on-site at your congregation or in partnership with a local community garden. Alternate Activity 2, Planting for Wildlife, invites children to make a lasting contribution to the congregation's landscaping by planting perennials; advance planning required.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Earth Ball Name Game | 5 |
Activity 2: Story — Noah's Wife: The Story of Naamah | 10 |
Activity 3: Growing a Plant | 10 |
Activity 4: Starting Seedlings | 15 |
Activity 5: The Garden Song | 10 |
Faith in Action: Congregational or Community Garden | |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Watering Can | 15 |
Alternate Activity 2: Planting for Wildlife | 30 |
Alternate Activity 3: Super Scents | 15 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Find a place where you can be quiet with your thoughts. Close your eyes and breathe deeply for several minutes, perhaps repeating a word or phrase to separate yourself from the activities of the day. When you feel settled and relaxed, consider:
Allow your own sense of reverence, wonder, and awe to be present as you lead this session.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The opening circle rituals reinforce the theme of interdependence and the web of life and provide leadership opportunities for participants.
Gather participants in a circle around the chalice. Using the Leadership Chart created in Session 2, assign roles for this session. Briefly describe each job. Explain that next time you meet the jobs will change and anyone who did not get a job today will have a chance during another session. Throughout the session, prompt those with leadership tasks at the appropriate times.
Remind the group that each session starts with the ritual of lighting the chalice. In these words or your own, say:
All around the world, Unitarian Universalists of all ages light chalices when they gather together. With this ritual, Unitarian Universalists are connected to one another, even though they might never meet each other. Now we will light the chalice, the symbol of our Unitarian Universalist faith; then say together our chalice-lighting words.
As needed, help the designated leaders light the chalice and lead the chalice-lighting words:
We light our chalice to honor the web of all life.
We honor the sun and earth that bring life to us.
We honor the plants and creatures of land, water, and air that nourish us.
And we honor each other, gathered here to share the wonder of our world.
—adapted from words by Alice Anacheka-Nasemann
Point to the covenant the group created in Session 1 and briefly review it. Invite any newcomers to sign their name. You might have the Welcoming Leader or Justice Leader invite newcomers to sign the covenant, if those roles have been assigned.
Remind the children that each time we meet, we will explore something about our seventh UU Principle: respect for the interdependent web of life. In these words or your own, say:
Today we will talk about plants. There are so many different kinds of plants! When we have a lot of something, that's called abundance. And when there are many different kinds of something in nature, that's called bio-diversity. Both abundance and diversity are very important to keep the interdependent web of life strong and healthy.
Including All Participants
At this age there is a wide span in reading ability. Point out words as you read them to the children, but do not expect them to be able to read.
ACTIVITY 1: EARTH BALL NAME GAME (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity engages active learners while helping everyone learn the names of participants and leaders.
Stand in a circle with participants. Say, in these words or your own:
One important way to make connections and help everyone feel welcome is to know each other's names. We will use this earth ball each time we are together to help create connections in our group. When someone throws the "earth" to you, catch the ball and say your name.
Demonstrate by throwing the ball gently to a co-leader. Have the co-leader say their name.
Then everyone says "Welcome, [co-leader's name]." Then, that person will gently throw the earth ball to someone else in the circle, who will say their name and be welcomed by the group.
Continue until everyone in the circle has been introduced.
Including All Participants
If throwing and catching the ball is difficult, do the activity seated with legs out and feet touching, rolling the ball instead of throwing it. If any participant cannot stand or sit on the floor, have everyone play in a circle of chairs.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — NOAH'S WIFE: THE STORY OF NAAMAH (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle in the storytelling area and show them the story basket. Say something like:
This is our story basket. I wonder what is in it today?
Take the story-related items from the basket, one at a time, and pass them around. Objects that are fragile or cannot easily be passed around can be held up for all to see and then placed on the altar/centering table or any table or shelf.
Take the chime or rain stick from the basket and say in these words or your own:
Each time you hear a story during World of Wonder we will use this instrument to get our ears, minds, and bodies ready to listen. Sit comfortably and close your eyes. When I sound the chime (turn the rain stick over), listen as carefully as you can and see how long you can hear it. When you can't hear it anymore, open your eyes and it will be time for the story to start.
Sound the chime or rain stick.
When the sound has completely disappeared, ask children if any are familiar with the story of Noah's ark. Provide context as needed. Then read or tell the story, "Noah's Wife: The Story of Naamah."
When the story is finished, lead a brief discussion with questions such as:
Including All Participants
Fidget objects, described in Session 1, Leader Resource 1, can provide a non-disruptive outlet for anyone who needs to move or who benefits from sensory stimulation.
ACTIVITY 3: GROWING A PLANT (10 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle and tell them they are going to become plants. In these words or your own, say:
How do plants start out?
Wait for responses. Affirm:
Yes, plants start as seeds... So, let's become seeds now. Crouch down and curl up like a tiny seed in the ground.
Continue, and have the adult helper model the children's movements as you describe them:
As you begin your journey as a seed, you'll need water to grow. I'll sprinkle you with some water. [Use your hands or fingers to sprinkle water or pretend to use a watering can.]
Now that you have the water you need, take one arm and extend it to the ground. This is your root, which continues to grow strong down into the soil to absorb water and nutrients—your food. Grow your root into your feet to steady your plant in the soil. Your feet are now a sturdy root.
With a big, hardy root, the stem begins to grow up out of the soil. Start slowly standing upright. Your body is the stem which holds the plant upright, just like your skeleton holds your human body upright.
Your stem grows taller and stronger, seeking sunlight. Once your stem is sturdy, leaves start to grow out of the stem. So, unfurl your arms to be leaves. The leaves absorb sunlight and convert it into food for a plant, so hold your leaves out for some sun.
The plant starts to grow a beautiful flower. Your face represents the flower so turn it up to the sky. The flower is looking for a bee to visit it. Here's a bee coming to visit each flower. [Buzz around to visit each "flower."]
After a bee visits your flower, the flower wilts, and a yummy fruit is left behind. The fruit is full of seeds for more plants. Hang your head down to represent a fruit heavy with seeds.
Now a hungry animal comes and takes the fruit and the seeds. It eats the fruit and drops the seeds in a new location. Crouch down into a ball to become a seed once again, sleeping in the soil, waiting to start the cycle all over again.
Process the activity with questions such as:
ACTIVITY 4: STARTING SEEDLINGS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children around a table. Give each child a paper cup or a section of an egg carton. Pass the potting soil around and tell children to fill their cup with soil.
Using the seed packet directions, tell the children how deep in the dirt to plant their seeds and how much water to add. Help children plant and water the seeds.
Tell the children to put the planted seeds near a sunny window at home, and to keep them moist but not too wet. Tell them to check on their seed each day. Explain that in a few days, a seedling should sprout!
ACTIVITY 5: THE GARDEN SONG (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Teach the chorus by singing a line and having the children sing it back. Then, the music leader can sing the verses and have the children join in on the chorus. If no music leader is available to sing the verses, you can show the video of Peter Seeger and lead the children to join in with the chorus.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather in a circle by the World of Wonder mural. Say in these words or your own:
Today we learned about the abundance and diversity of plants in our interdependent web of life. Unitarian Universalists believe all people and animals and plants are part of an invisible web of life, like this web. Each time we meet we add something new to our World of Wonder mural. Today we add a picture of a community garden, to remind us of the importance of plants in our lives and in the web of life we all share.
Attach the picture to the mural.
Indicate the lyrics to the closing song "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands." Invite the Song Leader to start the song with accompanying hand motions. Participants can help each other remember hand motions or can create new ones.
Distribute Taking It Home. Thank the children for participating and invite them to return next time.
FAITH IN ACTION: CONGREGATIONAL OR COMMUNITY GARDEN
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity engages children directly in planting and/or maintaining a garden.
If your congregation already has a garden, find a project that the World of Wonder children and their families can work on. Depending on the season, they might help prepare the garden for planting, plant seeds, weed growing plants, harvest, or prepare the garden for winter. If the congregation does not have a garden, and space is available, work with the appropriate congregational leaders to plan a garden and designate certain tasks or even a part of the garden for religious education groups. Involve the children as much as possible in decisions about the garden, such as what to plant and where to donate the garden's yield.
Delegates at the General Assembly in Charlotte, NC, approved Ethical Eating: Food and Environmental Justice (at www.uua.org/statements/statements/185320.shtml) as a 2011 Statement of Conscience. Resources include the Ethical Eating Study Guide (at www.uua.org/environment/eating/121903.shtml) and the Ethical Eating blog (at ethicaleating.uua.org/main-courses). Here are some ideas from the blog:
Congregational garden (at ethicaleating.uua.org/main-courses). Create a community garden on the congregation's property or in the community. Research area community gardens and invite a representative to educate your group about getting started. Involve children and youth. One mostly White congregation in Oregon established a community garden in cooperation with Latino-Latina neighbors, including individual plots and a group plot for corn raised with traditional indigenous methods; the project included potlucks with concomitant ESL classes. A Massachusetts congregation maintains an organic community garden at a local human services center, donating most of its harvest to local food assistance programs; the garden hosts the town's Earth Day festival, and provides food for an annual October dinner raising funds for nearby food banks.
At the close of the initial meeting, ask the World of Wonder children to lead participants in the song "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands" or "The Garden Song."
Share the photos or video with the children in a subsequent session.
Including All Participants
Ensure that shared work areas are accessible to all.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few minutes to evaluate the session with your co-leader immediately after the session, while it is fresh. Share your thoughts with other team leaders and the religious educator. You might find it helpful to consider these questions:
TAKING IT HOME
All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar. — Helen Hayes, American actress
IN TODAY'S SESSION... we explored the amazing abundance and diversity of plants. We heard a version of the story Noah's Wife: The Story of Naamah and role-played growing from a seed to a flower. We sang "The Garden Song" and planted seedlings. Help your child remember to water the seedling and share the wonder when the sprouts first appear.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... ways your family can engage with the UUA 2011 Statement of Conscience on Ethical Eating. In addition to congregational or community garden partnerships, there are many ideas and resources in the Ethical Eating Study Guide (at www.uua.org/environment/eating/121903.shtml) and the Ethical Eating blog (at ethicaleating.uua.org/main-courses).
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Plant a garden at home, at your child's school, at your congregation, or in a community garden. Spend time in the garden during every season and live in harmony with the rhythms of life.
A Family Adventure. Tour a local community garden, or plan a trip to a CSA (community supported agriculture) farmer in your area. Learn more at the Local Harvest website (at www.localharvest.org/csa/).
Family Discovery. Explore the wonderful world of herbs by doing Alternate Activity 3, Super Scents at home. Have each family member choose a favorite herb, then find recipes for dishes you can make together. Find ideas in this article: "Kids and Herbs — Fun Cooking for Your Child (at cookinkids.com/Cooking_Kids_Articles/kidsherbs/)."
A Family Game. Play a garden-related game such as the Gathering a Garden eco-friendly board game (at www.amazon.com/Gathering-A-Garden-Board-Game/dp/B00345OAQS). Better yet, create your own family garden game.
A Family Ritual. Each January, seed catalogs arrive. Obtain a seed catalog and set aside time with your family to imagine the garden you will plant in the spring. If you have a garden now, think back to the highs and lows of the previous year's garden. Choose new plantings to try this year.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: WATERING CAN (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity recycles plastic milk jugs to make watering cans.
Tell the children they are going to make their own watering cans. Distribute jugs, markers, and stickers.
Invite children to decorate their watering cans. Have an adult punch holes near the top of each jug on the side opposite to the handle, and show children how to hold the can to water plants.
Explain:
To use your watering can, fill the jug with water by removing the cap and pouring in water from a faucet or hose. Replace the cap, then give some flowers a nice, long drink.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: PLANTING FOR WILDLIFE (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity requires some advance preparation, but can be very rewarding for a congregation. Flowering perennials, which will come up each year, are easy to plant. Small shrubs are also easy to plant and will last a long time.
On planting day, have the children take turns digging holes, putting in plants, watering, and mulching. Engage adult volunteers to help as needed. Take pictures or videotape of the planting project and plan to share these with the children in a subsequent session.
Let the children and their families know what time of year the plants start blooming or when prime wildlife season is for the plants. Encourage families to make a special effort to visit and observe the plantings at those times.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: SUPER SCENTS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Place the herbs on a table. Invite the children to take turns crushing a small leaf or flower part from the herbs or gently brushing their fingertips across the plant tops, and then smelling their fingers. Or, you might gather the children in a circle and pass the herbs around.
Ask the children to describe the scents they are smelling. Ask if any of these aromas are familiar. Where have children smelled them before? Share the names of the herbs. Ask children what they think an herb might be used for, then tell them what you know or have found out about that herb.
WORLD OF WONDER: SESSION 8:
STORY: NOAH'S WIFE, THE STORY OF NAAMAH
Noah's Wife: The Story of Naamah (C) Text 1996 Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. Permission granted by Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT, www.jewishlights.com.
"Naamah" is pronounced "NAY-ma."
In the time when the world was still young, plants and animals and people filled all creation. But the people were not always kind to one another.
In earth's garden, there lived a man named Noah and a woman named Naamah. God said to Noah and Naamah, "There is too much hate on earth and in people's hearts. But your hearts are good, and you can help me begin again."
God said to Noah, "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Do this quickly, for I am about to bring a great flood to destroy all that is under the sky. Bring two of every animal that lives on this earth, birds and cattle and creeping things of every kind. Gather enough food for you and for them and store it in the ark."
Then God called out to Naamah, "Walk across the land and gather the seeds of all the flowers and all the trees. Take two of every kind of living plant and bring each one onto the ark. They shall not be for food, but they shall be your garden, to tend and to keep. Work quickly. The rains begin tomorrow." Naamah tied an apron of many pockets around her waist and walked through all of the earth's fields and gardens.She journeyed into the forest and carefully gathered the spores from the moss that made a carpet at her feet. She placed them in the cool deep pockets of her apron, away from the light of the sun.
She came upon the giant redwoods. They carried their cones too high for her hands to reach. "God," called Naamah, "blow me a wind so that the redwoods will let go of their seeds and I may gather them." Just then a fierce howling sound blew through the forest and soon at Naamah's feet were the cones of the redwoods.
Naamah picked acorns from the oak trees, and nuts from the pecan and pistachio. The winged seeds of the maples snapped under the gentle pull of her hands. She carefully lifted the seedlings of the cedar and cypress, the persimmon and plum. She found every tree, from acacia to ziziphus.
Naamah walked into the fields right past the dandelions, pretending not to notice their feathery yellow heads sprouting over the grass. "Naamah," called God, "gather the seeds of every living plant!" And Naamah knew that God meant the dandelions too. Reluctantly, she placed their seeds in her pockets with all the others. Because Naamah had ignored them, God made certain that dandelions would cover the earth.
Naamah gathered the seeds of the sunflowers and buttercups, the orchids and jasmine. The fields blossomed with dahlias and daffodils, lilies and lavender. She picked two of every kind and planted them in red clay pots to carry onto the ark. She collected all the flowers, from the amaryllis to the zinnia.
Tomatoes burst with seed and avocado pits rested in their green fruit. The fields were ripe with potatoes and pomegranates, oranges and okra, lima beans and lemons. Naamah carried large straw baskets to hold all the varieties of fruits and vegetables, everything from apples to zucchini.
When Naamah had collected the seeds and seedlings of every living plant upon the earth, she arranged every plant and seed, each in its special place on the ark. Then she made a sign that read:
NAAMAH'S GARDEN—these plants are not for food.
Then the sun disappeared, lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Dark clouds filled the sky and rain poured from the heavens until the waters covered all the lime green aspens and the emerald green pines.
Noah and Naamah looked out over the waters and were sad for all that had been destroyed. For forty days and forty nights the skies never brightened, and the rains never ceased.
On the ark, Noah and Naamah cared for the lions and the leopards, the porcupines and parrots, the oppossums and orangutans. Some of the animals liked to eat in the day, and others wanted to eat at night. Just as the squirrels closed their eyes for the evening, the owls hooted for food.
There were as many sounds as there were animals on the ark. The coyotes howled, the snakes hissed and the peacocks shrieked; the noise never stopped. Water was everywhere, but there was none for a bath. The smell of the animals filled the ark.
At these times Noah and Naamah would breathe the sweet aroma of the flowers and sit in the quiet of the plants that they called Naamah's garden. They prayed for the rains to stop.
After forty days and forty nights, a rushing wind rolled over the waters and the rains ceased. The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. When Naamah and Noah looked out the window atop the ark, they saw the black sky soften into shades of blue.
Finally the ground was dry and firm. Two by two, Noah led the animals from the ark. Some pranced, some flew, some slithered, and in this way they spread out over the earth.
Naamah carefully placed all the seeds and seedlings in the deep pockets of her apron. As soon as she set foot on the new land, Naamah knelt down, put her hands into the soft moist earth, and made small cradles in which to plant. She placed downy tufts of milkweed seeds in her palms and held them up to the sky to let the wind carry them in all directions.
Naamah took off her sandals and let her feet sink into the soft soil. She sighed with delight at the touch of the land. Morning gave way to afternoon, and Naamah worked without rest. As she patted the earth around a small raspberry bush, a dark red berry fell generously into her hand. The taste of ripened raspberry refreshed her.
God saw all that Naamah had planted and God said, "Because of your great love for the earth, I will make you guardian of all living plants." For a single moment, God gave Naamah's eyes the vision to see into the future and from one end of the earth to the other. She saw how the seeds were carried great distances, and how they landed softly on the soft ground. As God had promised, dandelions were everywhere.
Naamah delighted in how the trees grew tall and spread umbrellas of shade over the earth. Flowers sprinkled yellow, peach and lilac over the fields. To this day whenever someone digs in the earth and plants a seed, Naamah's garden continues to grow.
WORLD OF WONDER: SESSION 8:
HANDOUT 1: THE GARDEN SONG LYRICS
Words and music by David Mallett and published by Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co., Inc.; used by permission of David Mallett.
CHORUS:
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
Gonna mulch it deep and low
Gonna make it fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row
Please bless these seeds I sow
Please keep them safe below
'Till the rain comes tumbling down.
Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own
'Cause the time is close at hand.
Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature's chain
Till my body and my brain
Tell the music of the land.
CHORUS
Plant your rows straight and long
Season with a prayer and song
Mother Earth will make you strong
If you give her loving care.
Old crow watching from a tree
He's got his hungry eye on me
In my garden I'm as free
As that feathered thief up there.
CHORUS
WORLD OF WONDER: SESSION 8:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: MURAL IMAGE — COMMUNITY GARDEN
"Children holding community garden sign" from iStockphoto.
FIND OUT MORE
Learn about UU congregations partnering with community gardens on the Green Sanctuary blog (at greensanctuary.blogs.uua.org/ethical-eating/hayward-community-gardens-starr-king-uu-church/) or on congregational websites (search UUA.org for community garden partnerships (at www.google.com/search?q=UU+congregations+and+community+gardens&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a)). The American Community Garden Association (at communitygarden.org/learn/starting-a-community-garden.php) also has many resources.
Delegates at the 2011 General Assembly in Charlotte, North Carolina, approved Ethical Eating: Food and Environmental Justice (at www.uua.org/statements/statements/185320.shtml) as a UUA Statement of Conscience. Resources include the Ethical Eating Study Guide (at www.uua.org/environment/eating/121903.shtml) and the Ethical Eating blog (at ethicaleating.uua.org/main-courses).
Learn how Unitarian Universalists are involved in taking care of the earth with these two organizations:
Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (at www.uuministryforearth.org/)
The Green Sanctuary Program (at www.uua.org/leaders/environment/greensanctuary/index.shtml)