Faith Curriculum Library: Tapestry of Faith: Love Surrounds Us: A Program on the UU Principles and Beloved Community for Grades K-1

Taking It Home: Our UU Principles

"Clara Barton, Angel of the Battlefield" Illustration by Amy Paschall

Download, print, and copy the coloring sheet (PDF) and give to children with their Taking It Home handouts to help them engage with and remember this session's story, "Angel of the Battlefield, Clara Barton."

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

IN TODAY'S SESSION... participants celebrated learning all seven Unitarian Universalist Principles and heard about a Universalist woman, Clara Barton, who lived the UU Principles. Participants made nurse caps to remind them of Clara's story and mobiles that demonstrate the gift all the individual Principles are to the whole community.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Do some family role-playing. Talk about situations that happened in your lives this week. Then apply one of the UU Principles to discover how it can relate to the situation. In child-friendly language, the seven Principles are:

We believe each and every person is important.

We believe all people should be treated fairly.

In our congregations, all people are accepted and we learn together.

We believe each person is free to search for what is true and right in life.

Everyone deserves a vote about the things that concern them.

We believe in working for a peaceful, fair, and free world.

We believe in caring for our planet Earth and every living thing that shares it with us.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... making UU Principle Posters for different rooms in the house. How would you make a poster to display on the refrigerator? How would you make a poster to stick on the bathroom mirror? How would you make a poster to hang by your bed?

A Family Adventure. Visit a zoo. Watch each kind of animal. Is there a UU Principle that guides us about caring for animals? How do we care for animals in the world? What ways can one or two families help?

Family Discovery. Check out this website to hear a clip of the Magic Penny Song, written by Malvina Reynolds; the lyrics encompass all the UU Principles. Read the words, learn the song, and discover the connections.

A Family Ritual. Place a penny next to each plate at your meals to remind you of the basics of the Unitarian Universalist Principles. Give the penny away outside your family.