One of the most important goals of the World of Wonder program is for the children to engage directly with nature, thus the culminating session is designed to be a shared experience in nature, in a nearby natural area or park. Consult with the religious educator to plan all necessary arrangements...

The Creating Home program focuses on the functions homes serve for humans and other animals. Some functions, such as shelter, are concrete and universal. Others, such as fostering cooperation and providing personal safety, are less tangible and not necessarily found in all family homes. As the...

Every congregation has its own approach to structuring religious education. You can implement the Creating Home program with any model your congregation uses. As leader, you will choose the combination of activities for each session....

As soon as your program has been scheduled, prepare a calendar with the dates for each session. The more co-leaders and parent volunteers a program includes, the more useful a calendar will be. Post the calendar in your shared meeting space, and duplicate it for each adult participant. Use the...

Wisdom begins in wonder. — Socrates, Greek philosopher IN TODAY'S SESSION... we celebrated our time together with an outdoor Wonder Walk. We used our senses and our "wonder skills" of slowing down, paying attention, and observing nature. We talked about the quote from Socrates and what it means.

Memory is lodged in pictures and feelings in the cells themselves. Like a sponge filled with water, anywhere the flesh is pressed, wrung, even touched lightly, a memory may flow out in a stream. – Clarissa Pinkola Estes IN TODAY'S SESSION... The final session of our Creating Home curriculum...

It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees... We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind....

We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle...

People overestimate the pleasure they'll get from having more stuff. This does not apply to new rose bushes, crayons, or yarn stashes. — Dr. Sun Wolf IN TODAY'S SESSION... we learned about the 5 Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot. We heard the story "Enough Stuff," which introduced the...

We have to celebrate, because this brother of yours …he was lost and has been found. – Christian scripture, Luke 15:32 IN TODAY’S SESSION… Today we used a version of the Prodigal Son story from Christian scripture as a way of focusing on the ways we move away from and back into our homes.

Question: How do energy conscious people think about wind power? Answer: They're blown away! — United States Energy Information Administration IN TODAY'S SESSION......

A place will express itself through the human being just as it does through its wild flowers. – Lawrence Durrell IN TODAY’S SESSION… Today we talked about our worship home. It is an important distinction for children to understand that worship is our corporate response to our faith. It is in...

Imagine a glorious full moon coming over the tops of the spruce, big and yellow, shedding a mysterious light on everything... the moonlight had colour, you could see to paint and be able to appreciate the colour of things. — Arthur Lismer, Canadian Unitarian artist, 1948 IN TODAY'S SESSION... we...

One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade. – Chinese proverb IN TODAY’S SESSION… The group talked about ancestors – both family and faith ancestors – and the legacies they leave for future generations. The children heard a story, “The Farmer’s Legacy,” in which a farmer...

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way its animals are treated. — Mahatma Gandhi IN TODAY'S SESSION... We considered how kindness is important in the web of life and learned about real life examples of animals who have acted with altruism to save the lives of...

What is there more kindly than the feeling between host and guest? – Aeschylus IN TODAY’S SESSION… Today’s session focused on the story of John Murray, Universalist minister. A story about John Murray’s arrival in the United States from England was used to start a discussion on...

The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. — e.e. cummings, 20th-century IN TODAY'S SESSION... we played! We learned that, through play, animals, including humans, learn new skills, get exercise, relieve stress, and form social bonds. We learned that laughter and joy are very healthy for us...

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...

Nor need we power or splendor, wide hall or lordly dome; The good, the true, the tender – these form the wealth of home. – Sarah J. Hale IN TODAY’S SESSION… Today we talked about families. Children heard the true story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins who partnered and raised a chick,...

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...