Curriculum for Children and Families
Resources to help children love and care for God’s creation
Creation Connection: Resource for Children is an experiential and contemplative approach where children connect to God, each other and the natural world around them by connecting to and becoming aware of God’s Creation and discovering together how to act with love, care and responsible, compassionate action within it. This resource is written by Elke Keeling, in partnership with A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand, for the Eco Church NZ project. The resource aims to give children experiences in nature where they notice the world around them, connect to it and learn to care for it. Through connection to nature, children notice the Creator at work in every detail and connect to God and each other through their experiences. The resource follows a cycle of Ecology, Theology and Contemplative Action to help children experience, learn and make meaning that leads to thoughtful action.
Companions with Creation is a 10-week resource written by Elise Ranck for the Anglican Diocese of Wellington on how to better care for God’s beloved creation as individuals, members of a nuclear family, and contributors to a wider community. This collection of tools is made for families to learn together, to learn from each other, and to share their learnings with their neighbours.
A Rocha UK’s education plans for primary and secondary school aged children (3-14 years) have been created to aid children in a variety of settings - schools, community groups and churches - to enjoy exploring nature and caring for our planet through both indoor and outdoor activities.
Wild and Wonderful is a website with free eco resources for schools, churches and families. The school resources were initially created for A Rocha Netherlands by long time A Rocha friend Petra Crofton. The Explore Creation pack for churches links Bible, ecology and creation care and consists of six sessions about life in different places such as the dark, the sky, and the water. Each session offers outdoor and indoor activities.
On the website, you’ll also find Extra Resources with crafts, trails, quizzes, recipes and a book club manual. The project supports A Rocha and Climate Stewards, and was funded by Scientists in Congregations with the aim of offering free materials to churches, schools and families using story and adventure as starting points.
The Wonder Box Curricula is a resource from Salal + Cedar in British Columbia, Canada but has ideas that are useful and can be customised for the Aotearoa NZ context. Their Wonder Box Curricula are designed for multi-age groups with the intention of growing children's love of God's creation. They bring together inspiration and wisdom from Messy Church, Godly Play and Forest Schools. The materials are organised for a 90 minute session and small parts can be used for a 30 minute Sunday School lesson or a 5 minute children's talk.
Resources to empower children to take action to look after God’s world
Here are some Children’s Ministry Ideas created by the Anglican Diocese of Auckland for Season of Creation to inspire action and reflection.
Care for Creation - Explore It from Salvationist UK. Children’s Discipleship Material for small groups, ages 7-12 years. Each session includes content for a 30-40 minute group meeting under the headings Start It, Sing It, Tell It, Action It, Pray It. There is also Explore It Ideas (For Me) and (Together), an additional resource to send home to families, to explore the theme further.
Planet Protectors: 52 Ways to Look After God's World - This is an ideal book for 7 to 9-year-old children beginning to read independently. It is also a brilliant resource for parents and guardians to open up conversations with children about environmental sustainability, and for primary schools, Sunday schools and youth workers teaching about the environment. Jam-packed with interesting facts, Christian theology and practical tips, Planet Protectors is an informative and empowering guide for children on helping the environment by living sustainably! In a lively, entertaining style Ruth Valerio and Paul Kerensa offer 52 fantastic ideas for looking after the world – from cycling more and choosing fair-trade, to taking shorter showers and recycling. Children will love taking up a different challenge each week and be inspired to join the fight for the planet’s future as they learn about why it is so important to care for the environment and God’s creation.
National Geographic Kids’ How To Save the Planet: A Kids’ Guide - provides a few top tips to help kids become an eco-hero.
Resources to help children find solace in nature (during COVID-19 and beyond)
Kids and Creation - a resource by Ruth Wivell and Jessica Morthorpe, produced by Uniting Earth.
Resources to teach children about our Kiwi environment
Online Nature Classroom - Kids Greening Taupō have created the Online Nature Classroom to connect tamariki to nature and help them to understand the importance of biodiversity. They will be able to learn about the unique flora and fauna of Aotearoa, and the important role that each species plays in the ecosystem. Each conservation theme is broken down into five days of activities. Designed by a teacher and an ecologist, each unit contains hands-on activities, inquiry questions, informative videos, and a fantastic read aloud book with a follow up activity.
Backyard Biodiversity is a joint initiative between Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust and the Taranaki Regional Council. Through a series of fun videos, Rotokare and TRC environmental educators Ash and Emily will guide you on discovering, protecting, and enhancing backyard habitat for native species. Each video comes with its own task for students to accomplish for the week, be it building their own bug whares, lizard lounges, tracking tunnels, or conducting their own night surveys. Each episode also comes with additional resources for adults and children alike to read, explore, and engage with.
Zealandia has good nature activity ideas for children, youth and families and has some cool resources to go with these activities. Considering building a wētā hotel or creating the ultimate lizard garden in your backyard? Looking for a lesson plan to help you create a predator free environment? Or want to find out how you can become a Conservation Ranger? Activities and resources are added on a regular basis.
Resources to teach children about climate science
NASA's Climate Kids website tells the story of our changing planet through the eyes of the NASA missions studying Earth. Targeting upper-primary-school-aged children, the site is full of games, activities and articles that make climate science accessible and engaging.
Generation Carbon - A Carbon Almanac for Kids - A free ebook to help children learn (and teach others) about climate change.
Sustain Camp
A Rocha partners with Scripture Union to to deliver an adventure-based camp, experiencing creation in a new way – from the mountains to the sea. We’ll be immersing ourselves outdoors, considering how to contribute sustainably to the world around us, as well as how to sustain our relationship with God. You’ll walk up the secret pathways of Karioi Maunga checking and setting traps as you go, be adventuring across different waters (including a solid surf sesh!), and getting your hands dirty at a local farm giving back to the local community. Find out more from the Scripture Union website - this camp is usually offered in spring each year for children in Years 9-13.
Read more about Sustain Camp here.
Nature Playgroups
Getting preschool children and their families to directly experience the natural environment is a marvellous thing in so many ways! It promotes a love and respect for the environment which research shows often endures throughout their lives. Jill Kayser, from Splice, which is a part of Methodist Northern Mission, ran a Nature Playgroup called ‘City Explorers’ in an inner city Auckland park during 2018. Check out this video of the City Explorers.
City Explorers recognises the importance of children playing, exploring and learning in a natural environment. Our playgroup takes place outside in all seasons (weather permitting). we meet every Friday morning in Albert Park, a beautiful “playground” of giant trees, green grass, flowers and more that invites children to be adventurous and explore! (look out for our pink Splice vests to find us.) City Explorers nature playgroup encourages “free play” rather than organising a structured programme. Children are given opportunities to do what kids have done for centuries—play with nature, climb trees, splash in puddles, make mud cakes, care, share and have fun. As they play in this amazing Auckland City “backyard” they build resilience, cooperation, perseverance, playfulness, risk taking, curiosity, empathy and a love for their environment.
There are other Nature Playgroups around NZ, such as the one operated by Play and Learn NZ in various locations around Auckland. They charge a small fee per session.
If your church is thinking of starting a Nature Playgroup, check out some tips from this blog by Lucy Aitken Read.
Read more…
We Need Each Other: Children and Adults in Creation Care - Children and adults need each other to learn about this wondrous world and how to care for it. We can’t afford to wait for another generation to take the lead – we need to work together now. Learn more about our shared responsibilities in caring for creation in this blog piece by Matthew Humphrey, Director of Theological Education, A Rocha Canada.
Relevant Eco Church stories
