Faith Curriculum Library: Tapestry of Faith: Windows and Mirrors: A Program about Diversity for Grades 4-5

Activity 5: Window/Mirror Panel - Reflection on Abundance and Scarcity

Activity time: 10 minutes

Preparation for Activity

  • Collect illustrated magazines for participants to cut up. If needed, purchase stickers with images children may want to use in this activity.
  • Have materials easily accessible.

Description of Activity

Invite the children to bring their Window/Mirror Panels to work tables. Distribute Window/Mirror Panel basket(s) and pre-cut paper if you have prepared some.

Say:

Let's imagine Charles Dickens is coming to take a look at our Window/Mirror Panels. Remember, he was a very observant person. Would he find us to be a community of abundance or scarcity? Would he see extreme wealth, extreme need, something in between or a mixture?

Decorate a piece for your panel that expresses who you are in terms of abundance (having more than you need) or scarcity (not having enough). For your illustration or collage, you can include pictures of real things, drawings (either abstract or representational), words or any combination. Feel free to be comical and exaggerate your wealth or your poverty, as Dickens often did.

Walk around and assist. Some participants may need to engage verbally before they find their direction in this relatively unstructured assignment.

You may want to offer that the shiny materials in the Window/Mirror Panel baskets might be one way to convey "wealth."

Give the group a two-minute warning so they have time to complete their projects, affix them to their Window/Mirror panels, clean up and store their panels.