DR. SEUSSS AND UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS
AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET

(NOTE: Please review the Introduction before using this Session Plan. Thank you.)

SETTING THE STAGE
STORY SYNPOSIS: Marco imagines exciting things to tell his father about what he saw on the way home. Will he tell what he imagined or what he saw? (5 Minutes)

AFFIRMATIONS:
Everyone is important.
Church is a place where we learn together.
THEME: Sometimes imagination is private. Sometimes we find extraordinary things in usual places!
PREPARATION: Think about times when you have imagined something that you have decided not to share with anyone. Or think of times when you would have liked to share and did not, or felt that you could not.

NEEDED:
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, Random House, 1937
"To Think That I Saw This at Church" hunt -- This will have to be planned ahead of time. Facts about the location and congregational history or traditions need to be available.

SESSION PLAN
OPENING: Selected by the group. This can be used each session.

CHECK-IN: Welcome. Each person says his or her name briefly tells something that was important to them since the last time the group met, such as went well during the last week, or something that did not go well.
Leave an empty chair or space for someone who is missing from the group that day, or to recognize that others are welcome to be invited to join the group.

STORY
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street

EXPLORING
When you go for a walk, what do you see, or hear, or feel?

Do you ever think of things that are not really there? For example, imaginary friends taking a walk with you? Does anyone else know about these things? How do the things that you imagine make you feel? Good? Afraid?

Do you ever imagine things that you cannot tell anyone? Why?
(Sometimes we cannot find the words to express ourselves, and sometimes we may think that people will laugh at us.)

Adventure options:
1. Take a walk or go outside. Invite each person to look for something such as a bird singing, a flower, a squirrel running, and to tell a story about that thing. The focus of the story is the wonder of the simple thing. Take turns telling the story and listening to the stories that other people tell.
2. Plan a "To Think That I Saw This At Church" hunt. This can be a scavenger hunt of a mixture of common and unique things. Samples might include:
Who is the woman/man in a particular picture, and what did she/he do?
Where are the bathrooms in the church? Could a person with a cane, walker or wheelchair use the bathrooms?
What do any plaques or historical items mean?
What are the parts of the space that participants like the best? Why?
What are the part that participants like the least, or that are scary?
What are the places where children are not supposed to go, and why?
What is the most important space or most sacred space to participants? Why?
3. Another way to plan a "To Think That I Saw This At Church" activity. Develop specific stories about several parts of the facility, such as a bell tower, special windows, or the front of the sanctuary, or using the hymnal. Have the group move from site to site to hear the stories.

"To Think That I Saw This At Church" activity can lead to "did you know" article for the congregational newsletter.

CLOSING
Give each participant a "Adventure Certificate." Invite each person to say what they liked best about the activities. Sample "Adventure Certificate"

ADVENTURE CERTIFICATE
Life is an adventure.
To take this adventure, you must take the first step.
Today you have taken a step by looking beyond the obvious and have told or heard new stories.
Continue to take steps to adventure. Each day there is something new awaiting for you.
Each day is an adventure.


GROUP REVIEW
What did they like about the session? (theme, activities, someone special being there, etc.)

Announce the story for the next session and who will be the adult facilitator, or if there are special events in the time before they meet again.

Rev. Helen Zidowecki, May 2003