Goals:
To become aware of how houses of worship differ in appearance
To understand the similar purpose of different religious communities

Materials for making your own church:
Large corrugated cardboard boxes, such as TV or appliance cartons and several sheets of corrugated cardboard
Several shoeboxes
Carpet squares, cloth scraps
Colored cellophane or tissue paper
Construction paper, poster paint, markers

Activities:
• Do an internet search of pictures of different places of worship: churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques; some links to try: Sacred Sites, AlltheWeb Picture Search (click on "Pictures" to start), Historic American Buildings search, UU architect, Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings
• Drive around your town, city or county and take pictures of all the houses of worship you find. Make a poster of your photos.
• Play “I spy” when you’re driving around town, or on a long trip. Who can find the most houses of worship?

Discussion Questions:
How were the places of worship you saw different?
Was there something about them that helped you know what they were?
Did you have a favorite building?
Was there anything about any of the buildings that you really liked?
Discuss what happens inside a house of worship and how these activities are similar despite the differences in the buildings.

Project:
What would a church building look like if you could make it? List ideas. Encourage kids’ thinking with questions like: What kind of outside would it have? Bricks? Shingles? Glass? Would it have a steeple? A bell? Would there be stained-glass windows? Clear ones? None at all? What would the front door look like? Dark? Bright? Painted?

Using the boxes and other materials you have collected, construct a church building. Insofar as possible, incorporate the features mentioned in your discussion. Begin by turning the cardboard carton on its side, so that the top becomes a set of doors. Attach two other sheets of cardboard to form a roof. Use small boxes to make a steeple if the children want one. Draw windows with black markers and fill in with colored markers to make a stained glass effect. Or cut flaps in the cardboard so they can be opened. Tape scraps of material inside for drapes or curtains. Paint the outside of the box to resemble painted clapboard, or draw bricks on it with markers. Paint the doors. Put carpet samples or bright colored construction papers inside for floor covering. Let imagination and the resources you’ve collected be the only limits to your creativity!