Children's Program

Tim has organized a new idea for children during learning circle times - Children's Learning Circles. These specially designed circles will be lead by a wonderful group of volunteers who have gladly agreed to share their special talents with our children. The Children's Learning Circles will be offered during the normal learning circle times on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning, and at a special time on Friday afternoon, to allow attendance at the Newcomer's Learning Circle. Parents will be able to drop off their children a few minutes before learning circles are to begin to allow them to be on time. At the end of the scheduled learning circle time all children will need to be picked up.

Assistants are needed during the learning circle times, and parents are encouraged to sign-up. This represents an opportunity to play with the kids during your community service shift!

Some of the scheduled Children's Learning Circles:

Mandala's &mdash Sacred circle craft for Fun and Learning - Sharon Hill

We will use several types of materials to create circle designs that give us pictures of our spirits and our paths. These sacred circles represent the feminine, spiritual emotional energy and speak to and from our deeper selves. Children are generally free to communicate, experience, and give expression to these purer, deeper levels of self. In this workshop, we will play with these energies and processes for fun and growth.

Sharon Hill is a licensed clinical social worker with many years of experience working with children and families in therapeutic environments. She lives with her cat Silver in Durham.

Egyptian Amulets - Chris Starr

The ancient Egyptians used amulets when creating mummies to bring special gifts and powers to the dead to help them reach the afterlife. In this children's learning circle we will look at how the Egyptians used amulets during mummification and wrap up our own "mummy" using special amulets for protection. Then we will create amulets of our own to bring special gifts into our lives.

Chris is in the 8th grade and enjoys helping with CTC rituals. Chris loves his Mummy, who shared her love of everything Egyptian with him.

Simple Tools for Little Hands - Cynthia Campbell

A common practice of many of our traditions is honoring the directions and elements. We often have items and/or tools on our altars that represent those elements. In this workshop, we will make simple altar tools with toddler-safe materials, and talk about what they are and why we use them. This will be a fun and easy craft project for small hands.

Cynthia Campbell is a full-time mom and long-time pagan. She loves crafts of all types, and learned from the best: her mother and grandmother! She is currently active with Celebrate the Circle in Durham and Children's Circle in Hillsborough. She lives in Hillsborough with her husband Dan, daughter Jessica, and two cats.

Rituals

Children are welcome at, and encouraged to participate in, all of our rituals. For those children that choose not to fully participate in the ritual, Sherri will once again be offering activities near the ritual space so that parents can participate in the ritual and still have visual contact with their little ones.

General Information

As last year, children are encouraged to gather at the bell before lunch and dinner with their parents - we will have a brief announcement session and blessing of the meal. Then children (with an assisting parent if necessary) will be at the head of the serving line. Also, look for the popular snack table, that is accessible in-between meals, for children of all ages!