UniKids

8-Week Summer Fun Series—“Anything Goes”

Parents, grandparents, and youth directors, join us for our Anything Goes! 8-Week Summer Fun Series for Kids—and it’s totally FREE!

It’s easy to engage your kids in this creative spiritual experience! All materials can be found below. Use everything provided or just parts of it! Modules will include a video, handouts, and other resources for scavenger hunts, storytelling, visual tours around the world, games, and arts & crafts projects. Interfaith topics include culture, mother earth, diversity and inclusion, meditation and prayer practices, engaging challenges, and more. All presented age appropriately for your youngsters!

 

Week 1: The Summer of Anything Goes

Supporting Materials

Self-Care Bingo is recommended for ages 4 to 10, but fun for kids of every age!

Please note, activities on the Self-Care Bingo Card do need some adult supervision and/or may change depending on the family’s sheltering-at-home situation.

Week 2: We Are a Divine Family

This week, we will talk about diversity, Juneteenth, and read a short story on racism, "A Kids Book About Racism" by Jelani Memory.

Our affirmation is:

The whole world is home, and we are a divine family."

Through the story, an activity celebrating our differences, dancing to a video and creating a “Diversity Tree.” We help have a conversation on a big topic, celebrate and honor our differences, acknowledging the gifts that we each bring to make our world a better place.

Supporting Materials

Week 3: Wherever I Stand Is Holy

This week, we will talk about sacred places and sacred spaces and why they are important and how you can create a sacred space for yourself. We will visit Machu Picchu in Peru and a mosque in Iran to see a couple sacred places and then invite children to talk about what they saw and why it might be a sacred place.

Then, an invitation is extended to write a list or draw a place that is a sacred place for them. There are two documents of “fun facts” to use, one while viewing Machu Picchu and the other while visiting the mosque. At the end is a scavenger hunt to find items to create a sacred space, or what we might call an altar. 

Our affirmation is:

Because I am a child of God, wherever I stand is holy.

Through “world travel,” music video, family and group conversations, and a scavenger hunt of “things I love,” we learn what a sacred place is, and how to create a sacred space in order to feel closer to God and to each other.

Week 4: A Blessing to the World

This week’s focus is on thoughts and words of blessing. Through a music dance video, a blessing and joyful word collage craft activity and other interactions, we look at finding ways to be a blessing to others. The idea of harmlessness extends beyond our actions to our words and thoughts as well.

We want to offer opportunities to infuse their hearts and minds with thoughts of blessing and peace toward others. The more we fill our hearts and minds with thoughts of blessing and harmlessness, the more light and love and peace there will be in the world. 

Our affirmation is:

I wish only blessings for all.

A visualization near the beginning helps create a list of words and phrases that each child creates to consider how they are a blessing to others. Also included are two documents to accompany the video, lyrics to sing along to the dance video, “Best Day of My Life,” and instructions for making the Blessing and Joyful Words Collage.

The few minutes at the end is a fun, light-hearted way to speak the words of blessing out loud by making a “fist puppet,” which requires WASHABLE MARKERS, and drawing a face on their hand. The video details how to do this, inviting the child to speak “I AM” affirmative words to themselves, and then “YOU ARE” words of blessing to someone else.

Support Materials

Week 5: Care for Our Earth Home

The best way to enjoy the planet is to get out and do something — not sit and talk about it. This lesson offers an encouraging reminder for an attitude of enjoyment and appreciation when we experience the natural world in all its forms. To enjoy means to have an inner experience of joy — to be “in joy” as our bodies and minds are engaged in activity. In this episode we listen to a story about two nature fairies learning to ENJOY nature, so that we can better take care of our earth home. 

Our affirmation is:

I love and care for my earth home.

Through the building of a nature mandala, children are encouraged to go outside and use the environment and materials available, even in an urban environment, to practice mindfulness, caring for earth and enjoying the world around themselves. There is also a brief video on “The Story of Stuff” inviting children to “clean house” and recycle or donate unused clothes, toys and books. There are three handouts: instructions for building a nature mandala, a handout for things to do to care for our earth, as well as one providing ways to clear out “Stuff.”

Week 6: Superheroes & Superpowers

When we hear the word “superhero” or “superpower” we often think of characters from comic books, movies, and other worlds, with skills that are beyond our human reach. Yet, we are all superheroes, people who have superpowers like love, bravery, and kindness—people that make a difference in our world. In this episode, children are invited to identify many superpowers, and pick two favorite ones they have that, when “activated” will help people feel better about themselves, or help others know they are loved and special. Through a brief introduction to Mahatma Gandhi’s story, children learn that an ordinary person can become a superhero for a whole country, and even the world, by using two of his superpowers—love and justice. 

Our affirmation is:

I am ______ and ______ I make a difference in the world.*

After learning about Gandhi, there is a role-playing activity to engage children in demonstrating their superpowers in different scenarios using “Gandhi’s Glasses” to help them see potentially stressful situations differently by sharing their superpowers. There is a handout of Gandhi’s story to expand what is offered in the video, as well as directions for “Gandhi’s Glasses.” Also, there is a pen-pal activity, with links to two websites, inviting children to “fly around the world” as a superhero, by writing letters or drawing pictures and sending them to other children.

*Children will fill in those blanks with their own superpowers

Week 7: Prayer, Prayer, Everywhere

Prayer has been defined as communion with God, a way to talk to God, a practice of listening to our inner wisdom, and a way of being in the moment open to life. It is a way of learning to be ourselves, and for some to be aware of the presence of Spirit. Prayer is also a way of relating to God, to ourselves, to those around us. In opening our hearts and minds we are challenged to grow, change, and to love. Just as we make time to spend with those we love, so in making time to pray we are seeking to grow in our relationship with the Divine and those around us. We might speak, we might be quiet, or we might be active in doing other things.

Our affirmation is:

I pray knowing that all is well.

Prayer can take many forms: singing, dancing, walking meditations, ritual and traditional words, in public, or quietly when alone, as well as sitting in long periods of silence. There is no one correct way of praying, although every faith tradition does have particular practices. We all find our own way of praying. In this episode, children will discover Muslim prayer, walking meditations, a Wiccan prayer, a Jewish Shabbat Service, as well as affirmative prayer. Using a 5 Finger Prayer Method, with a handout, children will learn to focus their prayers and to easily choose their own words. Also included is a brief introduction to painting rocks (kindnessrocksproject.org) as a method prayer including a how-to guide. Finally, there is a handout with 5 unique ways to incorporate prayer into our everyday lives.

Week 8: The Gift of Learning

We are born with a sense of awe and wonder, anticipating discovery around every corner. A shiny penny or a snowflake holds a world of delight. But perhaps because our culture tends to overstimulate and excite our children, boredom begins to seep in. It’s not uncommon to hear complaints of, “I’ve seen that” or “I know that already” from children who are already closing the doors to their sense of discovery. In this episode children can see there is endless discovery and opportunity for growth, and learning is for everybody around the world. Let’s approach life with the wonder of a child and share our discoveries with our children. Perhaps together we can develop an irresistible habit for learning. 

Our affirmation is: 

I will always look for ways to learn and be loving to others.

This week we hear stories from an elder in Uganda who is “in 2030” looking back and imagining our world today, and what we did to make sure every child had the same educational opportunities. The children’s story, “Listen to the Wind” which highlights the building of schools, where there were none, high in the mountains of Pakistan, and finally a very brief introduction to Malala Yousafzai, the young woman seriously wounded for speaking out for children’s right to education, and won the Nobel Peace Prize as a teenager for her efforts. Also included is a music video and two handouts, one of activities for learning about yourself, and another one with activities for learning about each other.

Supporting Materials

Read more about the creator of Summer of “Anything Goes,” Rev. Kelly Isola.