In "Love Surrounds Us," a Tapestry of Faith program
Plan and implement a project to engage children in the direct action of planting trees that will help protect the environment for future generations.
Once you have decided on the particulars of your project, help participants make posters to advertise the tree planting and attract volunteers to help. You may decide to ask individual families to "sponsor" a tree if they need to be purchased or find a local nursery that would be willing to donate a few trees. If possible, ask families if they can get one or more of the trees to be planted after the arrangements have been made; this way, children will see the process from start to finish.
Give participants active roles in the actual planting so they will understand all that goes into the tree planting. Talk to participants about the importance of trees and tell them about the particular kinds of trees you are planting. On the day of the planting, make sure to take pictures of the young trees and the participants planting them. You might display a photo montage of the project for members of the congregation. After the planting, publicly thank all the people involved in the project. Consider holding a worship service on the environment or trees on the day you will do the planting. If this is not possible, highlight the tree planting during a later worship service. If your congregation celebrates a Water Communion at the start of the program year, consider using some of the water from that to water the trees each fall.
Pair children with limited abilities with others who can help them make posters and plant the trees.
Make sure at least one of the planting locations is accessible to everyone.
For more information contact web @ uua.org.
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations.
Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Thursday, March 1, 2012.
Sidebar Content, Page Navigation
More Ways to Search
Donate to Support This Program and the Ongoing Work of the UUA
Read or subscribe to UUA.org Updates for the latest additions to our site.
Learn more about the Beliefs & Principles of Unitarian Universalism, or read our online magazine, UU World, for features on today's Unitarian Universalists. Visit an online UU church, or find a congregation near you.