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KAIROS Sunday 2008: Time with the children
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Below are two ideas for a children’s time, and a copy of the declaration written by children when the United Nations met in Montreal in 2005 to discuss climate change.
Bees
(Leaders’ note: For more information on beeswax see other notes in the KAIROS Sunday package, and check out the KAIROS Re-energize: Time for a Carbon Sabbath campaign for 2007-10 at www.kairoscanada.org or www.re-energize.org. For a children’s activity during the service or church school, set up a station where they can make their own beeswax candles - rolled from sheets of beeswax available at craft stores - to take home.)
Tell the children gathered that you’re going to be talking about a creature they’ve heard of before. Describe some characteristics of bees to see if they can guess it – (ie they are small, they fly around, they buzz, they are black and yellow). Once it is established that you are going to discuss bees, ask those gathered what they think about them, if they have ever seen bees, what bees do, etc. (There will likely be some stories about experiences of being stung, etc!) Try to push the conversation to some of the positive aspects of bees (ie they are a part of the food chain and provide food for birds, grasshoppers, ants, crickets, etc., they pollinate flowers, they make honey – you might bring some flowers or honey to illustrate this point!)
With a picture of a bee hive, you might also illustrate how bees work collectively in a hive to accomplish the work. On warm days, about half the bees in a hive stay inside while the other half go out to gather pollen and nectar. The bees inside the hive beat their wings so that the temperature inside the hive is about 10 degrees cooler than outside-- those bees get a bit of a “break from the heat”. The next day, bees alternate and those who were in the cool hive the day before go outside and those who were outside stay in.
Bees are very gentle. Sound funny? It’s true! Most bees get angry only if you really bug them or if their hive is being threatened.
Finally, you might draw attention to the beeswax candles on the altar and ask if the children know what the candles are made of. You might describe briefly how beeswax candles are special, and help to remind us of the burning bush that will be described in the reading from Exodus. As in that story, where was a bush that burned but was not consumed, these candles are renewable because bees’ bodies naturally produce the wax. When honey is take out of the honeycomb we’re left with the wax, which is strong, smells great and doesn’t pollute. All because God made bees!
or
Shoes
Once the children are gathered, begin to point out the shoes that the children are wearing (eg – who is the character on your shoes? Those sandals are perfect for today’s warm weather!) Continue the discussion about shoes for a few moments, and then pose a question asking if the children would take their shoes off now if they were asked to. Allow various children to respond, and if some children do take off their shoes (this is not necessary), ask them in particular why they chose to. Ask why they think people generally wear shoes inside the church, or if perhaps any of them have shoes that they have especially for church.
Then ask what the places are where they take off their shoes (eg, when entering a school building, when visiting someone else’s house, when coming home to their own house). You might explain that Muslims remove their shoes when entering a mosque, which is their house of worship. And most people all over the world take off their shoes when entering homes as a sign of respect – making houses cleaner and quieter!
Ask if they take off their shoes when they’re outside, and why. What do they really like about having bare feet, especially in the summer? Point out that bare feet can help us really feel all the good things that God created—soft grass, a warm wind, cool water, even squishy mud.
In today’s scripture reading about Moses, we hear that God asked him to take off his shoes because he was standing on “holy ground.” Way back in the times of the Bible people would take their shoes off to show respect even if they were outside—just like you might take your shoes off at a friend’s house, and just like Muslims do when they enter a holy place like a mosque.
So the next time you wear bare feet out in the grass (since it’s better to wait until the snow is gone) remember that the earth is also God’s house, and it’s a beautiful, special house that we need to take care of. Wiggle your toes and say, “thank you God for this beautiful home! Help us all take care of it.”
The Call of the Children
Presented by children at the interfaith service on climate change,
“Cry of the Earth”, December 4, 2005: Montreal
God, we are your children and we think about your gift to us.
But today we have a problem.
We don’t think about what we do
when we let our smoke from factories fill the world.
We don’t think about what we are doing when we make too much garbage.
We need to care about our Earth. We need to help our Earth.
We need to care about each other, everywhere.
We all need equality, water, trees, fruit, food and good air.
Creator of us all, hear our call to you.
Help us recycle and conserve in our homes.
Help us remember that what we buy will help preserve our environment.
Our world is wonderful but it is also polluted.
We must find a solution to help our Earth and avoid death.
We must think and be conscious,
share and talk with each other.
We must:
Act
Create, Collect and Care
Talk, Try, Think, Together.
We want that the world is clean and water is forever
And it starts
Today.
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