CHALICE CHILDREN a Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
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CHALICE CHILDREN A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children BY KATIE COVEY DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR: PAT KAHN © Copyright 2014 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at www.uua.org/re/tapestry. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS SESSION 1: WELCOME ........................................................................................................ 21 SESSION 2: A TOUR OF THE INSIDE OF OUR CONGREGATION ................................. 29 SESSION 3: A TOUR OF THE OUTSIDE OF OUR CONGREGATION ............................. 37 SESSION 4: MAKING CHALICES ........................................................................................ 44 SESSION 5: ALL AROUND US ............................................................................................. 51 SESSION 6: CHALICE NECKLACES ................................................................................... 58 SESSION 7: THE BEAUTY OF NATURE ............................................................................. 67 SESSION 8: FRUIT CHALICES ............................................................................................. 77 SESSION 9: CHALICE FLANNEL BOARD .......................................................................... 85 SESSION 10: HELPING OTHERS.......................................................................................... 96 SESSION 11: A SPECIAL JIGSAW PUZZLE...................................................................... 103 SESSION 12: FAMILY SNACK PARTY ............................................................................. 111 SESSION 13: FEELING SAD................................................................................................ 121 SESSION 14: WEDDINGS AND OTHER SERVICES OF LOVE AND UNION ............... 129 SESSION 15: BABIES ........................................................................................................... 138 SESSION 16: SPECIAL WORSHIP SERVICES .................................................................. 146 SESSION 17: WONDERING ABOUT STARS .................................................................... 160 SESSION 18: WONDERING ABOUT THE MOON ............................................................ 172 SESSION 19: THE WONDER OF WEATHER .................................................................... 179 SESSION 20: RAINBOWS .................................................................................................... 188 SESSION 21: DREAMS......................................................................................................... 196 SESSION 22: IMAGINATION .............................................................................................. 206 SESSION 23: MY SHADOW ................................................................................................ 213 SESSION 24: BLOCK SUNDAY .......................................................................................... 222 2 SESSION 25: TEDDY BEAR MONTH — FRIENDSHIP ................................................... 230 SESSION 26: TEDDY BEAR MONTH — SICK! ................................................................ 239 SESSION 27: TEDDY BEAR MONTH — LOST! ............................................................... 246 SESSION 28: TEDDY BEAR PARTY .................................................................................. 254 SESSION 29: CLOSING SUNDAY ...................................................................................... 262 SESSION 30: HALLOWEEN ................................................................................................ 273 SESSION 31: THANKSGIVING ........................................................................................... 282 SESSION 32: HOW MANY DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS? ................................................ 292 SESSION 33: WINTER LIGHTS .......................................................................................... 300 SESSION 34: VALENTINE'S DAY ...................................................................................... 309 SESSION 35: EASTER .......................................................................................................... 317 SESSION 36: EARTH DAY .................................................................................................. 325 SESSION 37: MOTHER'S/FATHER'S DAY ........................................................................ 333 Note: If you add or delete text in this program, you may change the accuracy of the Table of Contents. The Table of Contents is an auto-generated list; if you change content and want an accurate representation of the page numbers listed in the TOC, click the table and click “Update field.” Then, click “Update page numbers only.” Click OK. 3 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Katie Covey has served as a religious educator since 1984. At this writing she is Director of the School of the Spirit at the Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (Colorado). Katie wrote the original Chalice Children (1998) and two curricula for Tapestry of Faith—Toolbox of Faith, for fourth- and fifth-graders, and Circle of Trees, for multigenerational groups. She self-publishes additional curricula, available on her website, UU Religious Education. Katie received her M.Ed. in Human Development from Tufts University and her B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Connecticut College. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We gratefully acknowledge the following: • Welleran Poltarnees and Laughing Elephant Publishing for permission to use the House Blessing in Session 2 • Deborah H. Stewart of TeachPreschool for permission to reprint the Bean Seed Photo in Session 7 • Vanessa Levin of Pre-K Pages for permission to reprint her Pumpkin Pie In a Cup recipe in Session 31 • The photo and recipe provided courtesy of Kraft Food & Family magazine for Pumpkin Fluff Dip—a Cool Whip— pumpkin dip for cookies and crackers, served in a scooped out pumpkin—in Session 31 PREFACE The first edition of Chalice Children, published in 1998, was my first UUA curriculum. It was an attempt to make the Sunday morning time for preschoolers relate to Unitarian Universalist identity. Today I am delighted to help put a second edition of Chalice Children online as part of the Tapestry of Faith program. The intervening years have broadened my understanding of faith formation and my desire to introduce the basic tenets of our faith to young children and their families. Those tenets are love, our covenantal community, our celebration of diversity, a personal sense of wonder and awe, and our hope and work for a better world. In the preschool years, at about four or five years old, young children start to realize that they and their loved ones will come to an end. As they become aware of realities such as death, suffering, violence, and evil, young ones also need the reassurance of love, joy, beauty, good, hope, and community. Helping children find that balance is a goal of the new Chalice Children. This edition aims to enrich preschoolers' religious education outside as well as inside their religious education (RE) time. Young families come to us seeking support for their spiritual life. They experience their young children's questions and existential moments and wish to have resources. The new Chalice Children delivers those resources in the form of an extensive Taking It Home section for leaders to give the children at the end of each session. The revised Chalice Children also offers: • Updated suggestions for story books. You'll find some of the "classics," but there's more reliance on books published since 2005. • Familiar sessions, modified: "Memory Cards" becomes "All Around Us"—with the addition of digital pictures, making the game is easier! "Chalice Cookie" becomes "Fruit Chalices" to make it healthier and more adaptable. "Snow" becomes "Weather," and "Planting Fall Bulbs" becomes "The Beauty of Nature," to accommodate the geographical diversity of our congregations. "Teddy Bear Month: Fixed!" becomes "Teddy Bear Month: Sick!" to avoid implying that the session discusses neutering. • New sessions: o "A Tour of the Outside of Our Congregation," as well as the inside. o "Special Worship Services" offers adaptable resources for leaders to create a session that reflects special services offered in (or unique to) your congregation, using a Flower Ceremony, Water Service, or special Sharing of Breads Service as examples. o "Earth Day" was added to celebrate the holiday and connect to our seventh Principle. Other additions include rhymes to transition the children to Circle Time and Circle Games (a predictable format provides continuity each time a child attends) and new suggestions for multimedia resources. Finally, as part of bringing Chalice Children online as a Tapestry of Faith program, each session now provides a unique Spiritual Preparation exercise for leaders and a Find Out More section at the end of each session to help leaders extend their own learning. 4 THE PROGRAM of getting to know one another. Through repetition, children learn about their religious community, practice There are no extra pieces in the universe. listening and sharing with others, and develop a sense Everyone is here because he or she has a place of belonging. Leaders should be intentional about using to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big the term "Unitarian Universalist" as much as possible to jigsaw puzzle. — Deepak Chopra help familiarize the children with our name. While the Young families come to