Monday, May 21, 2012

Open House

Enjoying musical fun with the Discovery class

Today our children and youth shared what we have been learning and doing in our classes this year. We loved having so many adults come and visit our classrooms, enjoy seeing our projects, and the special snacks we had prepared.
Listening to a presentation in the Explorers class
Playing "Faith Jeopardy" with the youth group
"Pinwheels for Peace" made by the Treasure Hunters class

Monday, May 14, 2012

Wrapping up the Year

Classes were busy today finishing end of year projects.
The Discovery class talked about flowers, made Mother's Day cards with pictures of flowers, and enjoyed a treat of fresh squeezed orange juice.
The Explorers class learned about Sikhism
The Sikh religion teaches that the outward differences in people's religions are not important in God's eyes.  
There are five symbolic items of clothing worn by many Sikhs.  The Explorers talked about the idea of wearing symbols of one's faith, and made bracelets that represent our own beliefs and activities important in our own lives.
The Treasure Hunters class made lamps for the Sikh holiday of Diwali.
Diwali is the favorite festival of many Sikh children.  It celebrates the time the sixth guru was released from prison.  There are many beautiful lights at night during this time.  
As Unitarian Universalists we know that we can learn a lot from the many religions in our world.  By learning about families who worship differently from us, and who observe different holidays and celebrations, we learn more about our world, as well as about our own beliefs.
The youth group played a "Faith Jeopardy" game.
They worked in teams to answer questions about all of the different faiths they have learned about this year.  Some of the questions were really hard!  It was clear our youth have learned a lot about different faiths.

Mosque visit

The youth group visited a mosque last week to wrap up their study of Islam.  They received a warm welcome and learned a great deal from the experience.  

The Explorers class also finished up their study of Islam.  They enjoyed making homemade hummus.

Our classes have really enjoyed their study of world religions this year!  Please join us in the Lighthouse for an open house after each service on May 20.  The children and youth will share with you what they have learned in their classes this year.