Tapestry of Faith: Chalice Children: A Program about Our Unitarian Universalist Community for Preschoolers

Taking It Home: Family Snack Party

All kinds of people around the table . . . — "We're Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table," Hymn 407 in Singing the Living Tradition

IN TODAY'S SESSION . . . we celebrated different kinds of families and prepared for the Family Snack Party.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Share a story together from the suggested book list:

  • Daddy, Papa, and Me by Leslea Newman, 2009. A toddler spends the day with their daddies (the gender of the child is non-specific). From hide-and-seek to dress-up, then bath time and a kiss goodnight, there's no limit to what a loving family can do together.
  • Heather Has Two Mommies: 20th Anniversary Edition by Leslea Newman, 2009. This updated and revised version of Heather Has Two Mommies offers an enjoyable, upbeat, age-appropriate introduction to the idea of family diversity.
  • Mommy, Mama, and Me by Leslea Newman, 2009. A toddler spends the day with its mommies (the gender of the child is non-specific). From hide-and-seek to dress-up, then bath time and a kiss goodnight, there's no limit to what a loving family can do together.
  • Two Homes by Claire Masurel, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton, 2003. The gently reassuring text focuses on what is gained rather than what is lost when parents divorce, while the sensitive illustrations, depicting two unique homes in all their small details, firmly establish Alex's place in both homes.
  • We Belong Together: A Book about Adoption and Families by Todd Parr, 2007. Popular author-illustrator Parr illustrates the rewards of family ties in this heartfelt, supportive book geared toward adopted children and their parents.
  • Lucy's Family Tree by Karen Halvorsen Schreck, 2006. Lucy comes home from school with an assignment to create a family tree, but she worries that her adoption from Mexico makes her family too "different." She asks her parents to write a note excusing her from the task.
  • This Is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by James Ransome, 2013. The story of one family's journey north during the Great Migration starts with a little girl in South Carolina who finds a rope under a tree one summer.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try . . . looking at your family pictures together and talking about your family.

A Family Adventure. Invite another family to a picnic together after worship at your congregation.

A Family Discovery. Host another Family Snack Party for friends in your congregation, and have the preschoolers decide on the snack and help make it. If your preschooler didn't make banana pudding in their Chalice Children group, try making it as described on the Teach Preschool website. Also on the Teach Preschool blog, read about how preschoolers can serve their own snack.

A Family Game. Play "Chalice, Chalice, Flame," the same way you play "Duck, Duck, Goose."

A Family Ritual. Invite your preschooler to help set a chalice at the dinner table. Light the chalice together. Say chalice-lighting words, such as, "We light this chalice for the warmth of love, the light of truth, and the energy of action." Mention how nice it is to have help from your preschooler.