Week 1 - What does it mean to belong to a faith community?

What are we learning to do?

• Understand that we all belong to something and belonging is an important part of our lives.
• Understand that religious people have signs we can notice about the fact that they belong to a religion.

Lesson 1 - Do we all belong to something?

Play a game of would you rather using the cards or the clip below. 

Things to talk about after watching

Talk about how all these choices (those in the would you rather game above) are about who we are, what we like and we are all different.

Activity 1 - Me, myself and my feelings

Draw a stick man in the middle of a plain sheet of paper. (See worksheet below)

Steps to success

1. Write or draw three things in the cut-out person that makes you who you are; parents, siblings, hair colour, name, likes, skills, etc.

2. Think about your feelings and what makes you feel happy and what inspires you. 

3. Add a happy face to your person cut-out and write what makes you happy (one word or a picture is fine)

4. Add what makes you feel upset. Children might benefit from the parent sharing his/her own sad time. 

Worksheet

Activity 2 - How does it feel to be lost?

Can you think of a time when you got lost or thought you were lost for example when you went shopping, at the seaside, at the park or in a busy place?

What words would you use to describe how it feels to be lost?

If you can't explain it, try drawing an emoji to show your ideas. 

Activity 3 - Looking for signs of belonging in your carer's life

If you are able, have a look at things from your life that might tell your child something about who or what you belong to. This could be multiple things e.g. a family photo, a wedding ring, tickets to a play or event you went to with a friend, mementoes from a holiday with friends, objects from a club you belong to etc.

Ask your child to guess what each thing shows about you/ your family.

Talk about how these things show/ are signs or symbols of all the things you belong to; you belong to your family, your friends, the clubs you attend, and hobbies you do.

Your child might have talked about how we feel worried and scared when we get lost or lose our special people because we belong to them and need them. We all belong. 

Activity 4 - Looking for signs of belonging in your own life 

Talk together about all the people, places and groups your child belongs to. Look for things you have that show they belong to these groups.

Write down the two most important things they belong to on the outside of their person and decorate the outside. You could write the following on paper to help them. e.g. family, brother, sister, friends, church, mosque, swimming, Rainbows, Beavers, football, etc.

Week 2 -  What does it mean to belong to a faith community?

Lesson 1 - How do Christians show they belong?

What are we learning to do?

• Describe what Christians believe about God caring for them.

• Find out more about Christian signs of belonging

Learning about Christian Symbols. 

Visit the following website and scroll along the pictures. There is an arrow on the right hand side you can click to show more images. Talk about the explanations on there together. 

https://request.org.uk/life/spirituality/christian-symbols/

You can also use the following sheet to help you draw some of them. 

Activity 1 - Make a gallery of Christian symbols 

Make a gallery of Christian signs of belonging. Label them and write a sentence to say why Christians wear them or use them or display them. 

Worksheet

Things to talk about after watching the clip

• The woman does not settle for just the coins she has.
• She searches for the missing coin.
• She does this because they all belong to her.
• Explain that for Christians this makes them think about how God cares for every single human and notices when we are lost.
• Ask your child to tell you who they think the woman represents (Answer - God).
• Ask your child who they think the coin represents (Answer - a lost person or human).
• Can they remember learning about the story 'The Lost Sheep' where the shepherd went looking for the one sheep that was lost even though he had 99 others. If you can't remember you can watch it below. 

Ask the following 'I wonder...' questions about the story. 

• I wonder if you sometimes wander off sometimes?
• I wonder how your special adults feel when they lose you?
• I wonder how you feel when you get lost?
• I wonder how it feels to know that someone is always looking out for you?
• What makes you feel happy about the story? What happens to the characters that makes you feel happy?

Activity 3 - Give each group a plain outline of a book.

Ask you child to write why they feel happy in the book.

They might write about ‘being looked after’, ‘being found’ or ‘feeling better’. 

Worksheet