WORLD OF WONDER
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 9: CREATIVITY IN NATURE
BY REV. ALICE ANACHEKA-NASEMANN, PAT KAHN, AND JULIE SIMON
© Copyright 2013 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/9/2014 2:37:42 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
Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. — Langston Hughes, 20th-century African American poet
This session looks at creativity in the web of life, exploring the idea that humans are not the only creatures that exhibit an urge to create. The central story, "The Most Beautiful Bower in the World," introduces the elaborate structures that male bower birds make to impress females. Female bower birds select mates based on the creativity shown in the bowers the males make. Children's creativity is fostered in a recycled art activity that encourages self-expression and imagination. For a hands-on experience of nature, see Alternate Activity 1, Birding Expedition.
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 — The Most Beautiful Bower in the World | 10 |
Activity 3: Creative Nests | 25 |
Activity 4: Creativity in Nature | 10 |
Faith in Action: Multigenerational Recycled Art | 120 |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Welcoming Web Game | 10 |
Alternate Activity 2: Birding Expedition | 30 |
Alternate Activity 3: Creative "Ish" Exploration | 25 |
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, take a few moments to reflect on your own creativity:
As you prepare to lead the group, honor the creativity that exists in each participant and 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 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 creativity. What do you think the word "creativity" means? Have you ever been "creative?"
Take responses, then say:
Creativity means using your imagination to make something new and different. We will meet an amazing bird called a bowerbird that will show us just some of the creativity found in nature and in our interdependent web.
Including All Participants
At this age there is a very wide span in terms of reading ability. Point out words as you read them to the children, but do not expect children 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 — THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOWER IN THE WORLD (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, read or tell the story, "The Most Beautiful Bower in the World."
When the story is finished, lead a brief discussion using 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: CREATIVE NESTS (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children experience their own creativity by making nests using a variety of supplies. As they note the differences among the nests their peers make, they see how creativity can be expressed in many ways.
Gather the children in a large, open space and show them the materials you have gathered for nest making. Explain that they will create their own nests using their imaginations and the available materials (and a blanket or towel from home, if they have brought one). Tell them they may use any of the materials they want in any way they want and may take their nest home with them.
Allow the children to create the nests undisturbed for approximately 15 minutes. Then, gather in a group. Have each child in turn share the "nest" they have created. With each nest, invite everyone in the group to notice features that are interesting, unique, or especially creative. Instruct participants to only share positive comments.
When you are done, gather in a circle and process the activity with questions such as:
ACTIVITY 4: CREATIVITY IN NATURE VIDEOS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity makes bowerbirds and their bowers concrete by showing the children what they look like.
Watch the footage you have selected.
When you are done, gather in a circle and process the activity with questions such as:
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 creativity, which is using our imaginations to create something new and different. Unitarian Universalists believe that that all people and animals and plants are part of an invisible web of life, like the web on our mural. Each time we meet we add something new to our World of Wonder mural. Today we add a picture of a bowerbird, to remind us of the amazing creativity in our lives and in the web of life.
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: MULTIGENERATIONAL RECYCLED ART WORKSHOP (120 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The children lead a multigenerational group to explore creativity in a way that promotes recycling.
Open the gathering by having members of the World of Wonder group introduce the concept of creativity and explain how bower birds use creativity. Invite participants to use the materials in any way that they wish to create a work of art. Possibilities include collages, wall hangings, sculptures, and functional objects such as pencil holders. Say that the goal is to be as creative and imaginative as possible; there is no right or wrong way to do their work.
After about an hour, invite participants of all ages to briefly share their creation and celebrate the amazing expressions of creativity in the group.
Optional: Serve refreshments.
To close the gathering, have the World of Wonder children lead participants to sing "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands."
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
Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. — Langston Hughes, 20th-century African American poet
IN TODAY'S SESSION... we considered how creativity benefits the web of life. We learned that female bowerbirds select their mates based on creativity in building structures called bowers. The children created their own "nests" using a variety of materials and noticed how many different ways the nests could be created. We added an image of a bowerbird to our World of Wonder mural.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... different ways of being creative, for example in writing, with artwork, in movement or dance, with music, with problem-solving, with imaginative ideas. Name and appreciate different ways the members of your family express creativity. Identify ways these gifts of creativity benefit your family, your community, and the web of life.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...
A Family Adventure. Go on a birding expedition, if possible in a local nature preserve. Look for nests and notice how they are constructed and the materials used. Try to identify the different songs and sounds that the local birds make. At home you can learn about identifying birdsong online at the Nature Songs website (at www.naturesongs.com/birds.html).
Family Discovery. Learn together about creativity and intelligence as it is expressed in nature. Read books such as What Does the Crow Know? The Mysteries of Animal Intelligence, by Margery Facklam. On YoutTube, watch video of the Satin Bowerbird (1:42) (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ32_ijdmLo) or the painting elephants of Thailand (at www.youtube.com/results?search_query=painting+elephants+of+Thailand&oq=painting+elephants+of+Thailand&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=youtube-psuggest.3...7156.9130.0.9282.12.12.0.0.0.0.163.1447.1j11.12.0...0.0.) of Thailand.
A Family Game. Read the picture books The Dot and Ish, by Peter Reynolds to reinforce a message that anyone can be an artist and one's creations toned not be "perfect." After reading the books, give each person a number of pieces of paper and put dots in the middle of each page. Have each person use their imagination to see what they can make from their dots. See how creative and "ish" you can all be!
A Family Ritual. Create a family altar or centering space together that can serve as a focal point for your spiritual life together. Decide together how to construct this space and what items you want to display there. Elicit everyone's answers to these questions:
Place a decorative cloth over a table or other piece of furniture and then work together to place your inspirational items on this special space.
You can use the altar when you want to set aside a special time as a family, for example, to celebrate a Sabbath, hold a gratitude circle, honor a rite of passage such as moving into adulthood, talk through a family conflict, or share a bedtime ritual. Simply gather around the centering place, light a candle or chalice, and perform your ritual.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: WELCOMING WEB GAME (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity makes the concepts of interdependence and the web of life concrete with a web made out of yarn.
Tell the children that together you will create a web, like a spider web. Explain that, holding a piece of the yarn, you will roll the ball to someone else in the circle and welcome them by name. Then, that person will pass the yarn to someone else and the group will continue until everyone has been welcomed and is holding a piece of the yarn. Remind the children:
1. Do not let go of your piece of yarn when you roll the ball of yarn to the next person.
2. Pass the ball of yarn to someone who is not sitting right next to you.
Start the game. When everyone is holding a piece of yarn, point out that you have created a web together.
Ask everyone to hold their piece of yarn. Then, pull on your piece and ask the children what they noticed. Point out that everyone could feel the tug. Invite another child to tug the string and ask the children if they could feel that, as well. See if they can tell, by feel, who made the tug.
Now drop your string and ask the children what happens to the web. Ask the children what they think would happen if half of the group dropped their pieces of yarn. As needed, point out that the web might fall apart. At the end of the game, ask for a volunteer to roll the yarn back into a ball.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: BIRDING EXPEDITION (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants experience nature directly.
Go on a nature walk with bird watching as your goal. Explain to the children the importance of staying quiet. Pause on the walk to silently listen for birdsong. Look under bushes and in trees for bird nests. Remind the children that the nests are homes and instruct them not to disturb the bird nests in any way. Look for birds and try to identify them with your bird guide.
Invite participants to collect any interesting non-living items they find, such as acorns, stones, or leaves, in their paper bags.
After the walk, process the activity with questions such as:
Including All Participants
Determine whether there are any relevant allergies within your group, such as bee stings or pollen, and plan accordingly.
If you have a child who uses a wheelchair or has limited mobility, select a location that is accessible, with paved paths.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: CREATIVE "ISH" EXPLORATION (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children experience their own creativity by making art projects from the provided supplies. The activity emphasizes the creative process over the finished result. As they note the differences in the artwork made by peers, children see how creativity can be expressed in many ways.
Gather the children at the work table(s). If you have chosen to do so, read the book, Ish, by Peter Reynolds. Show participants the supplies you have gathered. Invite them to use their creativity and imagination to create anything they want, using the provided materials. Explain that there is no "right" or "wrong" way to do their work.
Allow the children to create art projects undisturbed for about 20 minutes. Then, gather in a group and have each child in, turn, share their artwork, if they wish. With each piece of art, invite everyone in the group to notice things that are interesting, unique, or especially creative about it. Instruct participants to only share positive comments.
When you are done, gather in a circle. Process the activity with questions such as:
WORLD OF WONDER: SESSION 9:
STORY: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOWER IN THE WORLD
By Janeen Grohsmeyer.
In the land of Australia, where koalas climb high in eucalyptus trees and kangaroos bound across grassy plains on great big feet, a baby bird pecked his way out of his shell.
His mother called him Kejaro, and she brought him good fruit to eat. Every day, for dessert, she brought him bugs. His feathers were brown and green, just like his mother's. Both Kejaro and his mother had pale blue eyes.
Every day, Kejaro ate fruit and bugs, to help him grow bigger. Every day, he flapped his wings hard, to help him grow stronger.
And every night, his mother told him stories about his father. "He was handsome, with satiny blue feathers," she told him. "He was graceful, with a beautiful dance. He was charming, with a lovely voice. And he built the most beautiful bower in the world."
"What's a bower?" asked Kejaro, for all he knew of the world was their nest, high in a tree and surrounded by green leaves, and the slivers of blue far above them that his mother said was "sky."
"A bower is a special nest, built upon the ground," his mother told him. "With his feet, your father smoothed the ground to make a dancing floor. With his beak, he placed each twig, just so, to make an archway. He chewed leaves and berries to make paint then dipped a piece of bark into it and painted the archway's walls. He flew far and wide to find the prettiest flowers and feathers and shells to decorate the bower with, and all of them were of the most beautiful blue."
"Like the sky?" Kejaro asked.
"Like the sky," his mother agreed. "When I came to the bower, your father danced and sang for me, and then I joined him on the dancing floor. Someday, Kejaro, you will build a bower for your lady love."
Then his mother covered him with her wing, for it was time to sleep. Kejaro closed his eyes, wondering what kind of bower he would build when he was grown.
When Kejaro was three weeks old, he flew for the very first time. Soon, he could swoop and soar and zoom up and zoom down. He went high enough to see the sky, and it was huge, not just little slivers. It stretched from one end of the world to the other, and all of it was of the most beautiful blue.
A few days later, he and his mother left their nest. They flew until they found a flock of other birds. All of them had brown and green feathers and pale blue eyes.
Kejaro spent his days playing with his new friends. They flew high in the sky, zipping and zooming and swooping and soaring. They ate fruit from trees and bushes. Sometimes, for dessert, they would hunt bugs. At night, they slept on the branches of trees. Around them, koalas climbed high in the eucalyptus trees and kangaroos bounded across the grassy plains on great big feet.
When Kejaro was five years old, he noticed that he had some new feathers that were a dark, satiny blue. The other boys had some new dark feathers, too. All the girls were still green and brown. Kejaro decided he didn't want to spend his days zipping and zooming and swooping and soaring.
He wanted to build.
Kejaro flew into the forest, searching for just the right spot. He found it, surrounded by four tall trees, with a little rivulet of water not far away. With his feet, he smoothed the ground to make a dancing floor. With his beak, he placed each twig, just so, to make an archway. He chewed leaves and berries to make paint then used a piece of bark to paint the archway's walls. He flew far and wide to find the prettiest flowers and feathers and shells to decorate his bower with, and all of them were of the most beautiful blue.
Every day, he noticed that more of his own feathers were turning satiny blue. Every day, he practiced dancing and singing, making the sounds of other creatures he heard. Every day, he smoothed the dancing floor and rearranged the flowers and feathers and shells.
Some days he went hunting for more decorations. Kejaro found snail shells and bright leaves and beetle wings, but he liked blue parrot feathers the best. He took a few from another bird's bower a few flights away. The next day when he came back from a trip, every single one of his blue parrot feathers were gone. So Kejaro went searching again.
In the spring, a lovely green and brown bird with pale blue eyes came to his bower. He danced and sang his best for her, but then she flew away.
Kejaro was sad, but he promised himself, "I'll do it better next time." All that next year he built and rebuilt his bower, painting the archway, smoothing the dancing floor, finding and arranging his decorations of the most beautiful blue. Almost half of his own feathers were satiny blue now, and he practiced his singing and his dancing, too.
That spring, three birds came to his bower, and he sang and danced for each of them. Two of them left when he was finished, and one of them stayed for a little while, but none of them joined him on the dancing floor.
Once again, Kejaro was sad, but once again he promised himself: "I'll do it better next time." All that year he worked hard, trying to build the most beautiful bower in the world. When spring came again, all of his own feathers were dark satiny blue. He gleamed in the sunshine, and his eyes were as blue as the sky.
One morning, a lovely green and brown bird with pale blue eyes came to his bower. She watched as he danced and sang his best for her. Kejaro finished his song and waited, hoping she thought he was handsome and graceful and charming, hoping she would stay.
She hopped over to him and said, "My name is Camira."
"My name is Kejaro," he told her, wondering if she would be his lady love.
Camira fluttered her wings a little and said, "You have built the most beautiful bower in the world."
And Kejaro was happy, for that meant he had finally done it right this time.
Then he was happier still, for Camira joined him on the dancing floor, and the two of them danced together inside the most beautiful bower in the world.
WORLD OF WONDER: SESSION 9:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: MURAL IMAGE — BOWERBIRD
"Satin Bowerbird" from iStockphoto.
FIND OUT MORE
View more creativity in nature on these Youube videos David Attenborough on bowerbirds (9:28) (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgHwdLiKIpQ&feature=related) or this video (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1zmfTr2d4c&feature=related) (includes images of the bowerbirds mating). YouTube offers many videos of the painting elephants (at www.youtube.com/results?search_query=painting+elephants+of+Thailand&oq=painting+elephants+of+Thailand&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=youtube-psuggest.3...7156.9130.0.9282.12.12.0.0.0.0.163.1447.1j11.12.0...0.0.) of Thailand.
Learn more about the emotional lives of animals from these books:
The Souls of Animals by Unitarian Universalist minister Gary Kowalski (Stillpoint Publishing 1991)
When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy (Delacorte Press, 1995)
The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (Ballantine Books, NY, 2003)
Visit the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (at www.uuministryforearth.org/) or the UUA's Green Sanctuary (at www.uua.org/leaders/environment/greensanctuary/index.shtml) program to learn how UUs are involved in taking care of the earth.