Tapestry of Faith: Wonderful Welcome: A Program for Children Grades K-1

Alternate Activity 1: Uu Pen Pals

Activity time: 30 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Copies of Handout 1: Spirit Letter to a Unitarian Universalist (UU) Pen Pal, for all participants
  • Markers, pencils and/or crayons
  • A digital camera and printer, an instant camera and film, or photographs of each child brought from home
  • Glue sticks
  • Envelopes and postage stamps

Preparation for Activity

  • With the help of your religious educator, contact the religious educator of another Unitarian Universalist congregation and arrange for the children to exchange "spirit mail" as pen pals with children in another K-1 group. Make a list of the other congregation's children's names, and match them with the children in the group so each participant can give the gift of spirit to a specific child.
  • Another way to find UU pen pals for the children is by joining the REACH email list. As an RE leader, you can use it to reach out to other congregations who might like to partner with you on this project.
  • Obtain photographs of all participants, or obtain a camera to photograph each child - ideally, a digital camera and access to a printer so you can create the photos during the session.
  • Print out copies of Handout 1: Spirit Letter to a UU Pen Pal, for all participants.

Description of Activity

Tell the children that one way to share the gift of spirit is to send a greeting to someone their own age who is a Unitarian Universalist in another congregation. Give each child the name of their UU pen pal and tell the group about the Unitarian Universalist congregation(s) of their pen pals. Distribute handouts. Help children fill in the blanks with their UU pen pals' names as well as information about themselves. Help the children glue their photos on their handouts. Collect the handouts when children are done, or distribute envelopes and have the children fold and insert their own spirit letters.