A nationwide service-learning project for youth groups
Activities for Youth
This Website Is Your Toolkit
The Youth for Monarchs service-learning project is very flexible and can be adapted for use by any youth group, large or small. Activities fall into four categories. Choose activities that work with your calendar and budget. Choose just a few or choose them all. Together we can make a difference.
Inform
Teach Youth About Monarchs
Begin by using the suggested resources to plan one or more informational activities. These fun and educational activities will teach your junior and senior high youth about monarchs, their incredible lifecycle, their 3000 mile migration and their dramatic population decline. Your kids will fall in love with monarchs. With the exception of rearing live caterpillars, these learning activities can be enjoyed any time of the year.
Connect
Lessons from Scripture
Follow up informational activities with Christian education. The Bible teaches us to care for God's creation. This is the heart of the Youth for Monarchs project. A discussion guide is provided on this website as a free resource. This discussion guide uses the monarch butterfly as an example for teaching the wonder in creation; the goodness in creation; how much God loves the world; and the place of humans in creation.
Act
Plant a Monarch Waystation
After learning about the monarch and creation care, your youth group will want to take action. Use the suggested resources to help them to plant a monarch waystation on your church property. Spring and fall are both good seasons for planting. Choose which season works best with your youth planning calendar.
"Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature—even a caterpillar—I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature. ”
Meister Eckhart
