Alternate Activity 2: Stained Glass Chalice
Activity time: 20 minutes
Materials for Activity
- White glue
- Colored tissue paper
- Disposable paintbrushes for participants to share
- 18" pipe cleaners in different colors
- Pyrex® custard cups or other wide-mouthed, heat-resistant vessels, approximately one-cup size, for all participants
- Old newspaper
- Optional: Votive or tea candles for all participants
Preparation for Activity
- Mix white glue and water mixture - two parts glue to one part water - in small food storage containers.
- Cut colored tissue into small squares.
- Cover work tables with newspaper.
- Optional: Twist individual pipe cleaners into circle shapes, two for each participant
Description of Activity
Tell participants they will construct a chalice - a symbol of their faith home, your Unitarian Universalist congregation that they can take with them to use in their family homes. You may say:
The chalice is a symbol of the Unitarian Universalist tradition. It is a symbol for love, freedom, community, and light.
Distribute glue mixture, Pyrex or heat-resistant cups, squares of colored tissue, paint brushes, and pipe cleaners in assorted colors to participants at their work tables.
Invite the children to lightly brush some glue on their individual cups, and begin adding pieces of tissue paper. They may add as many layers of tissue paper as they wish. As participants layer the colors, a stained glass effect will appear. Demonstrate for participants how to brush a layer of glue mixture over each new layer of tissue to smooth it. If you are using measuring cups with red gradient lines, three layers of tissue paper will cover the red lines.
Chalices will dry in about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, help the children each make two circles with 18-inch colored pipe cleaners. Allow participants to choose the colors they wish to use, and ask them to explain why they chose those colors. Tell the children they may add their two circles anywhere around the chalice as long as the circles are connected to each other and to the chalice.
You may wish to give each child a votive or tea light candle to take home with his/her chalice. If you have suggested a chalice-lighting ritual and safety practices in your Taking It Home section to help families use the chalice with their children, remind children to share the handout with their parents.