Alternate Activity 1: Care and Protection Collage
Part of Gather the Spirit
Activity time: 15 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Magazines, with pictures, to cut up
- Poster board, paper-only scissors (including left-handed scissors), plain construction paper, color markers and glue sticks
Preparation for Activity
- Gather magazines.
- Decide whether participants will work individually, in pairs, or in groups; decide how you will form groups so each has a mix of ages and some participants with fine-motor skills for cutting magazine pages.
- Purchase enough colorful poster board to give each group a large sheet.
- Set materials at work tables.
- Identify a place in the congregation to exhibit the finished collages and secure any permission you may need.
Description of Activity
Invite participants to make a collage of different ways that they give and receive care and protection to other people, animals and plants that share our Earth.
Point out that care and protection of our Earth and all life is called "stewardship." Mention that some of us have jobs or chores that involve care and protection. Suggest younger siblings, other relatives, friends, pets or house plants might be some likely care-and-protection recipients. Tell the group they can cut out or draw images to show how care and protection are exchanged. Encourage artists to think of all the ways care is exchanged.
Explain where and with whom participants will work, how much time they have and where you will display the finished collages.
Move around the room and speak with participants as they work. Be ready to crouch down to make comfortable eye contact with someone who is seated, or small. Prompt them to share from their lives; help them identify what they give in their care-and-protection relationships, and what they receive-for example, friendship, the happy greeting of dog's wagging tail, the pleased purring of a cat.
Leave time for clean-up, posting the collages and sharing.
Including All Participants
When collecting magazines for this activity, seek out publications that show a diversity of socio-economic class, ethnicity and lifestyles to ensure all participants can recognize themselves in the images you provide.