Companions with Creation: Week One
God creates all things with unique purposes and calls them good
Genesis 1–2:3
Story
Note: This first story is quite long, but it sets the scene well for the remainder of the term and is an essential story to retell. The suggestion is to put most of your energy and creativity into re-enacting the story, doing so will require a bit of prep work.
Set up a “stage” with a background of “the heavens” and “the earth” separated. Assign roles, someone to be the “waters”, a group of people to be “light” in its different forms (ie sun, stars, moon), someone to be “darkness”, etc. Give sufficient time for kids to interpret their “character” in their own ways, prompt them to think about how they might best express themselves as “sun” or “waters”. Perhaps it will be helpful for the kids if the leaders contextualise the characters where possible to Aotearoa NZ, ie Tūī and Titipounamu to represent “birds” or Tuatara to represent “creeping creatures”. This might be a way of introducing the overarching theme of connecting to the place in which we live. However, ensure it is well known that God created the WHOLE world, which is much bigger than Aotearoa NZ and contains many different kinds of creatures - this could be evidenced by the appearance of “livestock” or “beasts”.
Once all characters are dressed to the part, gather everyone to perform the story as a melodrama.
Message
This week's focus is simple: God individuates creation, giving each thing a unique purpose, yet orchestrating all bits and pieces to work together as a whole harmonious heavens and earth. God calls different parts of creation good, giving all things value and a place of belonging. God created us humans, specially and separate from other parts of creation, signifying we have our own unique purposes and relationship with God.
Games
“Animal Kingdom” (similar to “Fruit Salad”)
- The purpose of this game, in relation to the message, is to emphasise the diversity in creation.
- Form a circle of chairs that is one chair fewer than a total number of players.
- Nominate a player to be ‘in’, that player stands in the centre of the circle.
- Going around the circle, allow each player to name themselves as a different type of animal. Encourage them to create a gesture that represents their animal as well.
- The player who is ‘in’, calls out something that relates to more than two of the animals (i.e. all animals that fly)
- If the ‘in’ player calls out “all animals with fur”, everyone who is an animal with fur must get up quickly and perform their gesture as they move to change places.
- Players who are not animals with fur remain seated.
- The person who is ‘in’ tries to sit in an empty spot whenever players swap positions.
- If they manage to sit in a chair, the player not sitting in a chair is then ‘in’.
- The person in the middle can also call ‘animal kingdom’ and everyone who is seated has to get up and perform their gesture as they move to change spots. The game can finish whenever you like.
Alternatively, try this version:
The group sits on chairs around in a circle with the odd one out standing in the middle trying to catch someone out to swap for a seat in the circle.
Explain the actions for the animals you will use in your game before the game starts. These will be performed by three people sitting together in the circle - the middle seated person and their two neighbours.
The person standing in the centre of the circle will point to a person and name one of the animals then, slowly, begin to count to five out loud.
The seated person being pointed to must perform the action associated with the chosen animal, whilst their two neighbours, one on either side, perform the animal's complementary actions.
The whole animal charade must be performed to the satisfaction of the group within the centre person's count of five.
Failure of any one of the actions causes the person who miffed their required action to swap places with the centre person and catch out another seated person in the circle.
Here is an example of an action:
Elephant - middle person holds their nose with one hand and threads their other arm through the hole - this forms and waves the “TRUNK”. The neighbour on the right places their right hand on their own head and flaps the elephants right elbow “EAR” while the left neighbour performs the left elbow “EAR” waving with their left hand on the head.
Allow the children to come up with actions that make sense to them. Encourage and celebrate creativity.
The more options the trickier it is to remember what you have to do when the centre person is pointing to you or one of your neighbours. Because ALL three of you have to be alert and know what action you are requested to perform.
Activity
Weave stars
This activity helps to reinforce that we are co-creators with God and we can purposefully use God's beautiful creation to create even more beauty. Learn how to appropriately harvest harakeke/flax bush here: my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/harakeke
Please remember that harakeke/flax is a taonga (treasure) in te ao Maori (the Maori world) and should only be harvested using proper Maori procedures. Only take what you need, as Harakeke is a finite and precious resource. If you feel uncertain or uncomfortable harvesting harakeke/flax for your purposes, consider cutting up paper or an empty, clean Tetra Pak (material used for Soy Milk cartons, for example).
Suggestion: Consider sharing the history and purpose of Maori weaving harakeke/flax into practical and decorative creations. See nzgeo.com/stories/flax-the-enduring-fibre for an extensive overview.
- Strips of paper or flax (anywhere between 1-4cm wide, 20-30cm long each, make sure each are the same length and width) - 4 for each star
- Scissors
- Instructions, which can found on this website: alibrown.co.nz/blog/flax-gift-wrapping
Takeaway activities for families
Practice harakeke/flax bush weaving with your family. String up the stars, make others into ornaments. Consider using the same weaving method with magazine strips. Or if you are feeling particularly resourceful, examine the contents of your recycling or rubbish bin and discover if any product can be cut up into similar sized strips, both saving it from landfill and repurposing it into something more beautiful.
Wellington local, Anna Ward learnt to weave harakeke/flax into stars and quickly realised she could replicate the same pattern just as easily (if not more easily) with Tetra Pak products that were destined for the landfill. Using her family's emptied soy milk containers, Anna made a few hundred stars, strung them up in groups of 15, gave them away as Christmas gifts, and sold many more at a local low-waste Christmas market.
Consider learning indigenous versions of the creation story, focus on the Māori creation story or other stories of our Pasifika neighbours. Talk about the similarities and differences. I wonder where God is present in these indigenous creation stories?
