• Chalice and candle or LED/battery-operated candle
• Lighter and extinguisher, if needed
• Newsprint, markers, and tape
• Tool of the Day - a hammer

• Print the opening words on newsprint. Post the newsprint where the children will be able to see it when they gather in your Council Circle space.

Invite the children to gather in a circle in the Council Circle space. Light the chalice.

Indicate where the opening words are posted for any children who are unfamiliar with them. Lead the group in reciting:

We are Unitarian Universalists

with minds that think,

hearts that love,

and hands that are ready to serve.

Hold up the hammer. Tell the children it is the Tool of the Day. Ask, "What do you think makes this a Unitarian Universalist tool?" Allow participants to share ideas. Affirm that there is truly no one answer. Then offer the explanation that the hammer can represent power. You might say:

Unitarian Universalism is a faith that values using our power to work for good. Unitarian Universalists support the importance of questioning as part of the democratic process. This is a key part of growing in faith and deepening in religious understanding. Unitarian Universalism values the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large, as our fifth Unitarian Universalist Principle states.

Another Unitarian Universalist Principle, the seventh, affirms that we are part of an interdependent web of all life. When one part of that web suffers injustice, the entire web suffers injustice. That is another reason we believe we should use our power for good.

Pass the hammer around the circle. Invite the children to share their experiences seeing or using hammers.

Collect the hammer. Extinguish the chalice.