Opening for Session 11, Hear Our Voices
Part of Love Surrounds Us
Activity time: 5 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Ribbon sticks (or wrist ribbons) in a container (Session 1, Opening)
- Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle
- Session 1, Leader Resource 1, Rote Teaching - Love Surrounds Us Song
- Blue cloth for centering table
Preparation for Activity
- If you have not previously made ribbons sticks or wrist ribbons for each child do it now as per instructions in Session 1, Opening.
- Spread the cloth on a centering table. Place the container filled with ribbon sticks and the chalice, candle, and lighter on the cloth.
- Check ribbon sticks to be sure all ribbons are still safely attached.
Description of Activity
Invite children to find their ribbon sticks and then come sit together. Welcome the children.
Optional: Lead the group to sing the song "Love Surrounds Me."
Have each child say their name and wave their ribbon stick above their head. Remind them that they will learn all the UU Principles and that each Principle will have a different color. Tell them blue represents the fifth Principle. Have them find the blue ribbon and say the Principle together: "Everyone deserves a say about the things that concern them."
Ask participants if anyone can remember the first Principle (Each and every person is important). Ask if they remember what color we assigned to the first Principle (red). Ask if they remember the second Principle (We believe all people should be treated fairly) and its color (orange). Ask if they remember the third Principle (We accept all people and we learn together) and its color (yellow) and the fourth Principle (Each person is free to search for what is true and right in life) and its color (green).
Lead the opening chant:
Group chants "Love surrounds us every day. The Principles show us the way."
Leader says "______ please, put your ribbons away." (Child named returns their ribbon stick.)
Guide children, as they are named, to return their ribbon stick to the container and then return to the circle. This is a way to acknowledge the presence of each participant. If the group is large, say only several names, then direct the others to put away their ribbon sticks all together and come back to the circle.
When all the children have returned to the circle, say "Now we will light the chalice, the symbol of our Unitarian Universalist faith." Light the chalice. Lead the group to say together:
Love surrounds the chalice and we are included by the light of the chalice.
Including All Participants
Help attach wrist ribbons (Session 1, Opening) to children's wrists, legs, or fingers, and later, help remove them, if any children are physically unable to use a ribbon stick.