By Janeen K. Grohsmeyer, in her book A Lamp in Every Corner: Our Unitarian Universalist Storybook (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2004)....

This Korean folk tale, translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl, is similar to the European folk tale “The Frog Prince.” Used with the translator’s permission. Once there was a woman who had a son late in life, and much to her surprise, he was born as a snake. She covered him with the bamboo hat she...

A retelling of a Hawaiian legend. The god Maui was the smallest but smartest of his brothers, who often made fun of him because he couldn’t fish very well. Sometimes Maui would go out on a boat with his brothers, distract them when they had a fish on the line, and steal it from them, claiming it...

Joshua 1: 1-3, Joshua 2:1-7,15-18, 21, Joshua 6: 1-25 (New Revised Standard Version) ... The Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun... saying, "... Now proceed to cross the Jordan [River], you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Story, "Siding With Love" Preparation for Activity Read the story and prepare to share it with the group. Review the discussion questions. Choose those that will best help the children share their interpretations of the story and relate it to their...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Story, "Where I'm From" Preparation for Activity Read the story and prepare to share it with the group. Read the discussion questions....

From the collection Stream of Living Souls. Used with permission. "What do you want for Christmas?" the father asked his daughter. She wrinkled her nose and scrunched her eyes and thought. "Do you want a doll?" "No." "A tea set?" "No." "A pony?" "No, Daddy, I have to think....

One of the reasons Muhammad was able to get people to listen to him was because, from a young age, he had proven himself to be wise and just. Here is an example of a problem he was asked to solve. Mecca found the walls of the holy building, the Ka’ba, needed repairing. So they fixed the walls.

Adapted from Christian scripture. There once was a father, who had two sons. The younger son wanted to leave home and travel to distant lands. He asked to have his inheritance. So the father divided his wealth and gave each son his half. The older son stayed at home, continuing to work with his...

Once upon a time in Kenya, on a peaceful river near the east coast of Africa, a herd of hippopotamus was surprised by heavy rain. The rain washed them away from their river home, toward the Indian Ocean. Then came something worse. A tsunami! In the huge, windy storm the ocean waters became strong.

Adapted from Hebrew scripture. Once long ago, in the city of Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, there lived a man named Elimelech. Elimelech was married to Naomi and they had two sons, Kilion and Mahlon. The time came when a great famine struck Bethlehem and none of the farmers could produce enough...

Adapted from a Jewish folktale from Poland In this fun and participatory story a farmer lives in a house with his wife and children and the grandparents, and it is so noisy that he thinks he will go crazy. The rabbi advises the farmer to bring his animals into his home, too. First chickens, then...

This story is designed to be used with Leader Resource 2, Beehive Poster in Activity 3. What Do Bees Do at Home? How do you think bees get into their hives? (Point to the opening in the hive on the poster.) That's right; the hive has an opening so the bees can go in and out. Last week we talked...

In the warm salty waters of the great blue sea, little orange and white fish called clown fish played their favorite game: chasing each other round and round, swimming as fast as they could go. Yet always they stayed close to their sea anemone home. Their sea anemone had thousands of soft white...

“The Magic Vase” was adapted from "The Magic Vase" as retold by Margaret Silf in One Hundred Wisdom Stories from Around the World, compiled by Margaret Silf (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003), 41-42. Used by permission, all rights reserved. There was once a poor family who lived in a drab...

Hannah Salwen looked left. She saw a man who was homeless, sitting on a fence. She looked right, at the Mercedes beside them at the intersection. "Dad," she said, "if that man"—she pointed to the Mercedes—"had a less nice car, that man there" —she pointed to the man who was homeless—"could...

Once the great Sufi holy man and wise fool Nasreddin Hodja was walking down the street when a group of women came running up to him. Obviously distressed, they cried out to him, “Help us, Hodja! Help us.”...

The quotes in this story come from the website Oasis of Peace. Imagine a village that is home to 55 families with a waiting list of more than 300 families hoping to become part of the community....

This twelve-session program provides avenues for in-depth exploration of the diversity, commonality, and meaning of families.

"I don't want to go," said six-year-old Ruben, with his hands placed firmly on his hips. "Don't want to go where?" Ruben's dad, Nic, asked as he rolled back on his heels from where he was kneeling in the rose bed. "To the family playground picnic," Ruben said....