Faith In Action: Protecting Seals, Advocacy — Short-term (15 minutes)
Materials for Activity
- Card stock or other paper for the children to make cards
- Envelopes sized appropriately for cards or letters
- Crayons, markers, pens and pencils
- Contact information for Canadian officials
- Newsprint, markers, and tape
- Optional: Magazines with pictures of seals
- Optional: Computer with internet access
Preparation for Activity
- Explore the links in Leader Resources (Protecting Seals) in the Resources section for current information about the effort to end seal-hunting in Canada and actions the children can take.
- Decide what form this short-term project will take. You might have the children write letters or make cards expressing their feelings about seal hunting and why it should be stopped. These could be sent to officials in the Canadian government or of countries that are considering outlawing seal products. They could make write "thank you" cards to U.S. or Canadian officials or advocates who are working to end seal hunting in Canada , or to officials of countries that have outlawed trade in products made from seals. The children could write letters or make cards from the seals, expressing their feelings in first person.
- Find out the names and addresses of Canadian government officials children can write to. Write their names and addresses on newsprint and post it, so the children can copy them onto letters, cards, and/or envelopes. An alternative would be to determine which countries were currently trying to ban the sale of seal products and write letters to their officials. Children could also write "thank you" letters to officials of countries that have agreed to ban seal product sales.
- Place card-making/letter-writing materials and envelopes on work tables.
- Optional: Have pictures and simple information available about seal hunting. You may be able to download a video onto a laptop, or access the internet during the session. IMPORTANT: Pictures and videos related to seal protection can be gruesome, showing animals being clubbed to death, skinned, or left as bloodied or skinned carcasses. Preview everything you plan to show the group.)
Description of Activity
This project engages the children in acting from the empathy
that they have experienced for the seals and the Seal Hunter. They will be given
the opportunity to help protect seals from seal hunting in
Gather the children around the tables where they will work.
Remind them that as Unitarian Universalists we try to put our faith into action.
Suggest that after learning about empathy and caring we want to use our new
feelings to help make the world a better place. Suggest that if children want to
help to protect seals that are still being hunted, they can write letters to
people in
You may wish to tell the children that seal hunting still
goes on and that the largest seal hunt happens each spring in
INCLUDING ALL PARTICIPANTS
At this age, children in a group may have a wide range of abilities in terms of writing. Offer children the option of illustrating a card and dictating the words they want to say to an adult or an older child. Children who do not wish to make or write a card can be invited to draw a scene from the story or one of the role play scenarios.
FAITH IN ACTION: PROTECTING SEALS, AWARENESS/FUNDRAISING – LONG-TERM (15 MINUTES)
MATERIALS FOR ACTIVITY
¨ Poster board, markers, scissors and glue sticks or tape
¨ Magazines with pictures of seals
PREPARATION FOR ACTIVITY
§ See the Resources section (Leader Resources) for information about organizations and campaigns protecting seals. Contact those groups for specific suggestions of projects that are appropriate for children age seven and eight in a congregational context.
§ Discuss with your director of religious education, co-leaders working with different age groups and congregational leaders to decide the best way to engage other religious education groups and/or the congregation at large in this Faith in Action project.
§ Identify places in your congregational meeting space where the children can display posters they make to raise awareness. If you are planning a bake sale or other fundraising activity, set a date and time.
§ Use the samples in Leader Resource, Faith in Action Letters to Parents as a basis for letters/emails you will need to send home in advance of a presentation or fundraising activity.
§ Review the next-steps suggestions for this Faith in Action long-term project in Sessions 5 and 6. You may find guidance or ideas that can help you plan now how to implement Protecting Seals, Awareness/Fundraising over a few weeks or months.
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY
The children will work to raise awareness of the problem of seal hunting in the larger congregational community. If you choose, they can help to raise money for organizations that promote seal protection through legislation and education.
A large scale Faith in Action project such as this requires negotiation with the director of religious education and often other program co-leaders and other congregational leaders. You may need to adjust your ideas to fit the needs of others in your congregational community. Review these general suggestions, and then begin planning.
Poster campaign. Guide children to begin making posters. Display them in an area where people gather after worship.
Presentation. Prepare the children to make a short presentation during a worship service at your congregation. Or, help the children act out the story, “The Wounded Seal,” for other religious education groups and/or for the congregation during worship, during coffee hour, or at another time. After presenting the story, the children could tell about the seal hunting and campaigns to protect seals.
Raise money. Identify an organization to support and organize a bake sale/information table for coffee hour or another time congregational members will gather.
Including All Participants
At this age, children in a group may have a wide range of abilities in terms of writing. Offer children the option of illustrating a card and dictating the words they want to say to an adult or an older child. Children who do not wish to make or write a card can be invited to draw a scene from the story or one of the role play scenarios.Last updated on Saturday, April 19, 2008.
