WONDERFUL WELCOME
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 10: THE GIFT OF PROTECTION
BY AISHA HAUSER AND SUSAN LAWRENCE
© Copyright 2008 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 9:24:03 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another and all involved in one another.
— Thomas Merton
This session focuses on the interdependent web of life and introduces the intangible gift of protection — protection of the environment and all life that shares it. Learning to respect and appreciate the Earth, our home, is one of the cornerstones of our faith.
Children today are much more involved with indoor activities — often media, such as computers, video games and television — than adults were at their age. Many of our children lack the interaction with the outdoors that would help them develop a healthy relationship with nature. In this session, you will help children understand the importance of their connection to the Earth with activities that encourage interaction with nature regardless of the setting of your congregation.
In Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv argues that children who are not exposed to the natural world are at a disadvantage. Louv calls this disadvantage "nature deficit disorder." He writes, "A growing body of research links our mental, physical, and spiritual health directly to our association with nature in positive ways." Louv asserts that the environmental advocates of today are the children who spent time in nature years ago. He suggests that children need to go outdoors and experience the natural world in order to develop intellectual, spiritual and emotional understanding of the harm pollution and littering cause to the environment.
This session affirms Louv's ideas and helps address "nature deficit disorder." It includes a walk outdoors (Activity 4). If the group is large, engage additional adults in the activity. Have parents sign permission slips distributed well in advance. Make sure children have appropriate outerwear.
Beyond the session, the congregation can be a community that actively elevates the spiritual importance of spending time in nature. In one activity, the children create an "Energy Inventory" of either their congregation or home (Faith in Action). The Taking It Home section suggests ways for parents to offer their children unstructured, outdoor play time and suggests they make a commitment to doing so.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: The Wonder Box | 5 |
Activity 2: Nature Inventory | 25 |
Activity 3: Story — The Green Man | 5 |
Activity 4: If I Were the Green Man/Woman | 15 |
Faith in Action: Energy Inventory | varies |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Earth-Protection Skills | 5 |
Alternate Activity 2: Fairy Houses | 35 |
Alternate Activity 3: Outdoor Meditation | 20 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Today, children's outdoor play is more limited than that of previous generations in terms of where they can go, what they can do, and how long they can stay outdoors. Children with little direct experience of the outdoors may find it hard to understand the seventh Unitarian Universalist Principle — the interdependent web of life.
Think about your free time spent as a child. Where did you play? Did you have time after school to just be outdoors with neighborhood friends? Did you have lots of adventures exploring? What sense memories do you have from these times, such as the feel of pine sap, the smell of a meadow, the color of the sky at dusk? Before leading this session, reflect on positive experiences you had playing or simply being outdoors when you were a child. Share that energy with the children today.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather participants in a circle around the chalice. Say:
All around the world, Unitarian Universalists of all ages light chalices when they gather together. With this ritual, Unitarian Universalists can connect to one another, even though they might never meet each other.
Now we will light the chalice, the symbol of our Unitarian Universalist faith; then say together our opening words.
Light the chalice and invite the children to repeat each line of the opening words:
We are Unitarian Universalists.
With minds that think,
Hearts that love,
And hands that are ready to serve.
Together we care for our Earth,
And work for friendship and peace in our world.
Extinguish the chalice.
ACTIVITY 1: THE WONDER BOX (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
With the children still in a circle, show the Wonder Box and invite them to guess what gift could be in this big, beautifully wrapped box. Take some guesses. Then pass the box around for children to open and find the items inside. Ask if anyone recognizes the items and where they have seen them. Allow some comments.
Elicit ideas about what this session's intangible gift could be. Responses that include references to the outdoors will help lead the discussion to protecting the outdoors. You can say:
These are items from nature. Why is nature important to us? Why is it important that we respect and take care of the environment?
Allow some comments. Then say:
We want to protect the Earth because the Earth is the only place that human beings can live. We share the Earth with all of nature. It is important that we protect nature and everything in it. Protecting nature is a way to protect ourselves and make sure we have someplace to live.
As Unitarian Universalists, we think it's very important to always be aware that we are part of everything on Earth, and we must protect all the life we share our Earth with.
ACTIVITY 2: NATURE INVENTORY (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The children observe and document the nature that exists outside the congregation's building. Before going outside, ask the children what they have noticed about the grounds around the congregation. Explain that they will be going outside to report on what kind of nature surrounds the building. Tell them they will draw, write or place stickers on paper to keep track of what they see.
As you walk, ask the group questions about what they see that is part of nature. How many trees or birds do they see? If yes, what kinds? What about squirrels? Pigeons? If it has rained recently, are there earthworms? Is there grass? Tailor your questions to the surroundings of the congregation.
When you are processing, ask if anyone noticed anything that didn't belong. Some children may notice litter. This would be a good transition to discussing pollution and how that harms nature. If you are in the woods and no litter has been spotted, ask how foreign debris would affect the site.
Including All Participants
Be aware of any mobility issues with any of the children and make sure the outdoor space you plan to visit is accessible for all. If necessary, modify the outing to ensure each child can have an up-close outdoors experience.
Be mindful of any special needs children have. Is there a deaf child? Ask what they see. Is there a blind child? Ask what they hear. Have the group participate in focusing on specific senses, as well. Do they hear birds, squirrels running or wind rustling the leaves?
Some children might not be able to write, but most will be able to draw or use stickers to record what they see outdoors. Bring a variety of nature stickers and be ready to help children spell words they want to write.
ACTIVITY 3: STORY — THE GREEN MAN (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite the children to get comfortable for listening to a story. Read or tell the story.
ACTIVITY 4: IF I WERE THE GREEN MAN/WOMAN
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite the children to imagine that they are the Green Man or a Green Woman. What are some of the items from nature would they put in their cave? How would they live so they don't disrupt the nature around them? How might they take care of the animals or small children? Give the children an opportunity to talk about their pictures.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle and show them the Wonder Box poster. Explain that it looks like the Wonder Box to remind us about our intangible gifts. Invite a child to tape or glue the picture of the Earth to the poster. You may say, in your own words:
Now we will see the Earth we live on, every time we are together. The Earth is our home, and we need to protect it.
Tell the children you are happy and thankful you all could be together this morning. You may say:
Giving thanks for being together helps us remember that we share our Earth with one another and with every living thing. Everything we do to protect our Earth is also a way to protect one another and all living things. Let's say our closing words of gratitude together.
Invite the children to hold hands. Show them where you have posted the closing words. Ask them to say each line with you, and say the lines slowly:
We are thankful.
We are thankful to be here.
We are thankful to be here, together.
We are thankful to be here, together, now.
Then ask one child to very gently squeeze the hand of the person to their left, and have that person continue to pass the squeeze until the squeeze has returned to the person who started it. Tell the person who started the squeeze to signal that it has returned to them by raising their arms, still holding hands with the people on either side. When this happens, instruct everyone to raise their clasped hands, together. If you like, suggest a word for them to say at this moment, like "Good-bye!" or "Shalom!" or the name of this session's intangible gift — "Protection!"
Extinguish the chalice. Distribute Taking It Home handouts. Thank and dismiss participants.
FAITH IN ACTION: ENERGY INVENTORY
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Have participants walk around the congregation and find out how much energy is used by lights, computers, and other appliances — including toys. Make note of all the items that use energy sources such as electricity, oil, or batteries. Explain that all energy comes from the Earth and we do not want to use it all up. Help the children talk about what it means to save energy and why saving energy is an important part of protecting our Earth.
Including All Participants
Make sure any walking tour of the congregation or other building is accessible to children with mobility, sight or other limitations.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Reflect on these questions and discuss them with your co-leaders:
TAKING IT HOME
The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another and all involved in one another.
Thomas Merton
IN TODAY'S SESSION... The children discussed the importance of connecting with nature and took a nature inventory of the grounds around the congregation.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about...
Together with your child(ren), estimate the time they spend playing indoors as opposed to playing outdoors. Then, compare the free time they spend in front of computers, television, video games, etc. with the time spent in nature. Ask them which is more fun, and why. Some factors that can limit children's outdoor play time include the location of your home, the proximity of safe outdoor play places, the extent of a child's structured, indoor non-school activities, and your family's culture and practices. As you talk with your child(ren), think about ways you could increase their access to outdoor experiences.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...
Make a commitment to engage your children in unstructured, outdoor play time. If you are concerned about children's safety outdoors on their own or with peers, spend time as a family in unstructured time outdoors. At a park, on a trail hike, at a beach, in a rowboat, or even at a neighborhood playground, make time for your children to simply be outside.
FAMILY ADVENTURE
Take pencils and notebooks to a meadow, a wood, or a body of water and do a nature inventory together. Sketch or write about some of the flora and fauna you see. At home, use the Internet and books to identify the plants and creatures you saw and learn more about them.
FAMILY DISCOVERY
The song, "Blue Boat Home," Hymn 207 in Singing the Journey: Supplement to Singing the Living Tradition (words by Peter Mayer, melody by Rowland Huw Prichard), would be a good one to listen to, talk about and sing together. Some of the lyrics are:
Far away from the rolling ocean
Still my dry land heart can say
I've been sailing all my life now
Never harbor or port have I known
The wide universe is the ocean I travel
And the earth is my blue boat home.
A FAMILY RITUAL
Plan to include outdoor time in your week. Walking a short distance you normally drive (such as to school or to a nearby friend's house); having a snack or meal outdoors instead of indoors; or simply playing outdoors one afternoon a week will improve your child(ren)'s acquaintance with the outdoors and decrease their time spent interacting with two-dimensional media such as computers, video games and television.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: EARTH-PROTECTION SKILLS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity is designed to follow Activity 2, Nature Inventory, but can be done on its own. Gather the children. If they have done the Nature Inventory walk, invite volunteers to share what they have seen outdoors. Thank each one who shares. Then, engage them in sharing specific skills and behaviors they can use to protect the Earth. Write their ideas on newsprint, along with the ideas you have prepared. After the activity, you may like to type up the list of "UU Earth-Saving Skills" and distribute it to participants' families, the entire religious education program, or the entire congregation.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: FAIRY HOUSES (35 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
By sending children outdoors with a mission, this activity helps focus their attention on the twigs, stones, leaves, and other small objects that make up the natural world.
Invite the children to put on their outerwear and come outside to collect the things they will need to build a home for a fairy. Give each child a basket and take the group outside to the location you have chosen. Tell them their fairy home must be made entirely from items found in nature. Suggest they look for twigs, moss, pine cones, leaves, small stones or acorns. Allow them to look, touch and gather.
Even children who do not believe in fairies can use their imaginations and be creative. Tell the "realist" they can make a home that a grasshopper, frog or even beetles might want to live in. The weather need not be perfect for this activity, as long as the ground is dry for children to pick up items and the children have appropriate outdoor clothing for the temperature.
Bring the group back inside with at least ten minutes to make fairy houses by placing or gluing/taping the objects they have found on cardboard or inside shoe boxes.
Variation
Weather permitting, you may like to build the fairy houses outside. After gathering objects, the children can make fairy houses outdoors — perhaps leaving them there for potential residents to find.
Including All Participants
If children in the group have limited mobility, be sure to choose an accessible outdoor spot. If any children may be unable to stoop to examine and pick up small objects, have the whole group work outdoors in pairs or triplets so any child who needs help will get help from a peer.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: OUTDOOR MEDITATION (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell the children they will do a meditation. You may say:
We will meditate outside so we can pay attention to the outdoors and how being outdoors makes us feel. Please remember that although it is nice to do a meditation together, meditation needs some silence. When we meditate, we keep our bodies, our hands, our words and even our thoughts to ourselves.
Make sure everyone has appropriate outerwear and, if needed, something to sit on. Take the group to the location and lead the meditation you have chosen.
Even two minutes of silence can be meaningful (and challenging) for this age group. Before you begin the meditation, tell the children how many minutes of silence they must keep. Use your voice or a chime or bell to signal the beginning and end of the meditation. You may like to ask the children what they thought about or observed, and then try another meditation period — perhaps a minute longer.
Walking Meditation
Invite participants to walk around on their own and quietly observe with their five senses. Ask them to be mindful of what they smell, hear, see and touch. Remind them not to touch one another and to keep silent for the designated time.
Sitting Meditation
Help the participants arrange themselves sitting comfortably so none is touching another or too close to another's "personal space" — so that each child is surrounded by nature. Invite them to close their eyes to meditate if they are comfortable doing so, or to look around them quietly as part of the meditation. Ask them to be mindful of what they smell, hear, see and touch.
Afterward, see if the group can walk back to the meeting room in silence, continuing the meditation.
Including All Participants
Make sure the outdoor meditation space and the meditation activity itself are fully accessible to all participants.
WONDERFUL WELCOME: SESSION 10:
STORY: THE GREEN MAN
From Stories in Faith: Exploring Our UU Principles and Sources Through Wisdom Tales by Gail Forsyth-Vail ( Boston : Unitarian Universalist Association, 2007).
Once upon a time, there lived a rich and vain young squire. Servants prepared his favorite foods each day. His every wish was granted.
One of the young man's favorite things to do was to ride through the woods that were part of his kingdom, hunting small animals for sport. He thought that the woods and all its creatures belonged to him and he could do as he pleased with them.
The people in the village had a different idea about the woods. The woods provided a home to all the creatures that lived there: chipmunks, birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, and wild pigs. They told their children a story about a Green Man who lived in the woods and cared for all of the small creatures. They said he even watched out for children in the woods. The villagers faithfully left out food on winter nights for the Green Man to eat.
One autumn day, the squire decided to go on a hunt. He called to all of his servants to saddle up the horses and get on their riding clothes: they were going into his woods.
They rode into the woods, trampling nests and dens as they went, sending dogs out ahead to chase small animals out of their homes so they could be easily hunted. After a time, the squire became separated from the rest of the hunting party. He was looking for them when he came to a pond — a beautiful, clear, cool pond.
"How clever of me to have a pond in my woods to refresh myself!" he said.
The young man began to remove all of his fine clothing — his shoes, his hat, his jacket, his shirt, his pants, and his socks. He laid his clothes neatly folded by the edge of the pond and jumped into the cool water. He swam back and forth, enjoying himself immensely.
While he was swimming and splashing away, a hand reached out from behind a tree and took his clothing and led his horse away. When the squire got out of the water, he discovered that he had nothing left to wear save a piece of rope. He took the rope and fastened some leaves to it to make a cover up. When his hunting party came looking for him, he was embarrassed to be seen dressed in nothing but leaves. So he hid.
At night, the squire went looking for some shelter and he stumbled into a cave. He didn't sleep much that night. It was dark, and he was frightened, and he kept hearing animal noises all night.
In the morning, when the daylight came, he saw that he was not alone in the cave. There was a goat there, and a chicken, and a gourd for holding water. Someone had been living in that cave! He found some grass for the goat and feed for the chicken. He discovered some grain that he could eat as well.
Over time, the squire settled in to life in the cave. He fashioned a whole garment out of leaves. He ate eggs from the hen and drank milk from the goat. He covered his hand with mud to prevent stings and reached into a beehive for honey to eat. He became acquainted with all the small woodland creatures, and he cared for them, helping them over swollen streams when heavy rains fell, making sure they had food and water, and sheltering them in the cave on the chilly nights.
One day he came upon two small children trapped by a wild pig threatening to bite. When he had chased the pig off, they looked at him. There he was, covered head to toe with leaves and mud, with a wild-Iooking beard and hair. "Are you the Green Man?" they asked.
"I guess I am," said the man, who no longer looked anything like a squire.
When winter came, the Green Man was happy to go into the village at night and to take the food that the villagers left out for him, sharing it with all his animal friends. A year passed peacefully, until one warm day when a hunting party came into the woods. The Green Man hid behind a tree to watch. A rich young man, a squire perhaps, became separated from his hunting group and decided to take a swim in the clear, cool pond. He took off his clothes, folded them, and left them under a tree. The Green Man reached out a hand and took the clothes and the horse, leaving behind his garment of leaves and a coil of rope. He used a sharp stick to trim his hair and beard, and rode into town, back to his parents' castle.
WONDERFUL WELCOME: SESSION 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: THE EARTH
FIND OUT MORE
Blue Boat Home
The song, "Blue Boat Home," Hymn 1064 in Singing the Journey: Supplement to Singing the Living Tradition. reflects the spirit of this session. Some of the lyrics, by Peter Mayer, are:
Far away from the rolling ocean
Still my dry land heart can say
I've been sailing all my life now
Never harbor or port have I known
The wide universe is the ocean I travel
And the earth is my blue boat home.
Mayer's CD, The Great Story (at www.thegreatstory.org/songs/blueboat.html), includes this song.
The Green Man
In Stories in Faith: Exploring Our UU Principles and Sources Through Wisdom Tales (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2007), Gail Forsyth-Vail uses the story, "The Green Man," to illustrate the sixth Unitarian Universalist Source — spiritual teachings from Earth-centered traditions. She provides background about Green Man legends in different cultures and guidance for understanding and teaching the story. Her text reads, in part:
As this tale begins, a privileged young squire treats the natural world as his dominion, to be used solely for his own pleasure and purposes. In the course of the story, he learns to live in harmony with the natural world and care for the plants and creatures of the woodland. He becomes, for a time, the archetypal Green Man of ancient myth and legend. The longer he embodies the Green Man, the more he takes on those sensibilities. When he returns to his former life he is a changed person, one who respects rather than exploits the resources of the natural world.