Activity time: 20 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Leader Resource 1, Role Play Flowers
• Leader Resource 2, Role Play Situations
• Green construction paper
• A basket
• Masking tape or sticky tack

Preparation for Activity

• Print out two copies of Leader Resource 1. Cut out eight strips of paper as indicated, each with a flower on its left-hand side.
• Print out Leader Resource 2. Cut out the eight blocks of text, each providing a role play situation. Glue or tape each block of text to a strip of paper from Leader Resource 1 that has a flower on it.
• Place all eight strips with flowers and text in the basket.
• Using green construction paper, make a 3-inch wide by 4-foot high green "stem" and attach it to a wall.

Description of Activity

This activity asks participants to make choices that support the sixth Principle. It generates a display for the meeting space which shows that positive choices help us grow.

Center the group by asking them to breathe deeply in, count to five, and breathe out. If they are sitting on the floor, ask them to raise their arms in the air as they breathe in to improve posture.

Ask participants how many choices they make in a day. (What to wear, when to get out of bed, which shoe to put on first.) Repeat and affirm their suggestions:

We make lots of choices each day.

Say, in these words or your own:

We make choices every day that help us grow. Today we will act out some situations that are found on these flowers. You will choose a flower and a partner and I will read the situation. Then you act it out and tell us about your choice. We will put the flowers on the big flower stem to remind us how we grow through our choices.

Ask if there are any questions. Lead the children to choose, read, and enact role plays. After each role play, process with these two questions.

• How does your choice make the world more peaceful, fair, or free?
• What did you learn from making this choice?

Then, attach the flower to the stem on the wall.

When all the flowers are posted on the stem, say, "Look how much we have grown by making good choices."

Including All Participants

Invite physically or developmentally delayed participants to role play with a partner or as part of a small group.