Activity time: 5 minutes

Materials for Activity

• The behavior covenant rules that children brainstormed in Session 1: We Are All One, transcribed onto a single, large sheet of paper or poster board
• Colorful markers
• Tape

Preparation for Activity

• Transcribe the list of desirable behaviors that the children suggested in Session 1 onto a large sheet of paper. Leave room at the bottom for all of the children and co-leaders to sign their names.
• Identify a place in the meeting space where you can post the covenant for the duration of Moral Tales.
• Optional: Place colorful markers in a basket.

Description of Activity

The goal of this activity is to give the children ownership over the behavioral rules for Moral Tales and establish a sense of safety and community. Show the group the covenant. Lay the covenant on the floor, in the center of the group. Remind the children that the covenant is a promise to one another to keep a safe, cooperative community in Moral Tales. You may wish to tell the children that making this covenant is a way to practice Unitarian Universalism's third Principle of "acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth." By keeping this covenant, each child will help create a safe place to ask questions, to wonder, and express themselves freely.

Read the covenant aloud. You may like to sign the covenant first, to model. Then invite the children to sign it as a promise to abide by its rules. Ask them to go two or three at a time to sign their names using any color marker they wish. When all have signed, including the adults, post the covenant.

Tell the children, in your own words:

If anyone feels at any time that the rules of the covenant are not being followed, they can ask for a time outside of our group activities to discuss it, either with the whole group or one of the leaders.

Including All Participants

If any child is unable to get down on the floor, bring the covenant to them to sign, or place it on a table where all can reach it. If a child is physically unable to sign their name, invite the child to choose another child to write their name.