There is actually a new form of yoga that has evolved in India: laughter. Simply initiate laughter among the children and have them keep it going. Laughter changes the chemistry of their brains. It connects them. As with all forms of creative activities, laughter must be practiced in a supportive...

Find any excuse to get children up and moving, particularly with songs. Then bring in the emotions. Have them sing a song like "Simple Gifts" or "Morning Has Broken" while walking around the room showing sadness in their bodies as they sing. The songs will sound sad simply because their...

Adding hand gestures to songs can be a participatory event. For the song "Wade in the Water," for example, simply ask the children what motions would work for the phrase, "Wade in the water." The children will suggest some ideas for movement, and they will all be good. The motions might involve...

With partner songs and rounds, you can do a mix-it-up. A partner song is made up of two or more songs that are sung at the same time. UU song leader Dr. Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock, for example, combines the chorus of "Wade in the Water" with "I Wanna Die Easy When I Die" and some...

The simplest form of group dance is the line dance, in which the dancers follow the leader either in a circle or in free patterns around the room. They can hold hands, place their hands on each other's shoulders, or place them around each other's waist....

Creating a sense of ritual can also have a calming effect and help you manage discipline. We need to honor children's sense of play, but we also need to create basic discipline. Discipline need not mean the old hierarchical model of the oppressive teacher, but discipline does require a supportive...

Music for worship in the classroom setting can take a variety of directions. You can honor the traditional adult way of worshiping, with preludes, hymns, offertories, and postludes, or you can take many new directions. Whatever you do, give worship a sense of ritual. As you light the chalice, for...

© 2009 Within Tapestry of Faith, the role of music is to make our lives and our children’s lives more vibrant and connected to each other and to the universe. We do not need to be trained musicians to make our music come alive. Whether we are experienced singers or shower singers, we can make...

It is my hope as a religious educator that you have found this essay and the activities useful for your religious exploration classes. May you envision many more ways to help our children nurture their spiritual being and to support their work in becoming whole and holy in transforming the world.

Lengths of light fabric such as netting or chiffon, or old scarves, long lengths of ribbon Odds and ends of other fabrics and ties that can be improvised into costumes Percussive instruments such as hand drum with mallet, large cymbal, jingle bells, wooden tone bar, scratcher with stick, finger...

Pass around an ordinary object such as a pencil or pen; have each child imagine it is something else and show us without words what it has become. Have the class stand in a circle. Move across the circle with emotion such as joy or anger, give emotion to another person....

Children can move to music in any way they wish; first as individuals, then with a partner, then in threes, fours, and finally as group Move using scarves or netting or other material as extension of your body. Move to express a poem or saying Body prayer can be used in the opening or closing...

Use movement and sound to say your name. The group repeats after you, then the next person follows suit. This activity can be done either seated in a circle or standing. Have children move to drumming. Hit the drum once to stop, and call out an emotion: joy, anger, sorrow, peaceful....

Although we use our bodies in all of the visual arts and writing activities, drama, movement, and dance are all about embodying our spirit and creativity. Younger children are eager to move, but most youth lose this sense of bodily expression in our intellectual Western culture. Unless they...

With drama or movement: Have the children act out stories they have created, or use movement to express the feelings in writing. Children can pair off and respond to each others' work. With art: Create small books of poems or stories with paintings or drawings....

Gather many small or large color cards from your local paint or hardware store. Generate a list of words that are appropriate for children and tape one on each color card. See the Gargantuan Word Jar Inventory in the bibliography for possible words or explore word lists according to grade level...

Cut images from magazines (National Geographic is especially useful). Lay the images on a table. Have each child choose an image that calls to them. Then have the children sit with the images for a few minutes before writing about them. Ask the children why they chose their images, what they like...

Writing is a time-honored practice on the spiritual path, helping people to name their experiences and to use specific senses to express their feelings about the world....