On June 11th we will begin our summer UU Maker Space program in Religious Education. Kids in grades K-12 are invited to join us every Sunday to play creatively, solve problems, and learn from failure so that they can grow up to change the world! As UU religious educator Joy Berry writes,
Our kids thrive on DOING. It changes their brains and the way they see themselves: When we make things, we are more confident, more open, less anxious about perfection. We naturally collaborate and take risks, and we begin to see ourselves as creators of the world around us, not passive consumers…. We can bring our UU values and theology to life when we build capacity in our kids for imagining, doing, helping, healing. We say we are the church of the open minds, loving hearts, and helping hands. Makerspace work in RE programs can help make that a reality.
This is a model I am very excited about, and we need your help! Please take a look at this extensive donation list to help you identify materials you might have laying around or that you can collect for us and donate to our project. You can drop off your donations in the Maker Space tub that will be near the Welcome Table on Sunday mornings. You can also pick up a copy of the list at the Welcome Table.
This summer we will also be inviting individuals from our congregation (RE teachers, parents, and the larger church community) to share their skills with our children. Are you a creator? Artist? Crafter? Inventor? Baker? Builder? Problem solver? I would love to work with you to develop a project that will engage and excite our RE children one Sunday morning this summer. Let me know if you would like to be involved!
William Ellery Channing said, “The great end in religious education is not to stamp our minds upon the young, but to stir up their own.” Won’t you join us in putting this philosophy into practice this summer?
Karen Magoon Pearson is Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's Director of Religious Education.