Alternate Activity 3: Questions and Gods of Housecats
Activity time: 15 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Supplies for simple drawings - paper, colored pencils, and/or washable markers
- Paper towels and any cleanup supplies appropriate to your media
- Optional: Cat-related background music and music player
Preparation for Activity
- Set up tables or other workspaces for easy access and comfortable drawing.
Description of Activity
This activity asks participants to imagine the Big Questions of housecats, then make drawings showing cats and some of their answers to their Big Questions.
Mention that cats have played a surprisingly important part in human religions. Ancient Romans had a Goddess, Diana, who sometimes took the form of a cat. Some ancient Egyptians worshipped cats, and they sometimes referred to Ra, the sun God, as "the great cat." Throughout history, there are many interesting connections between cats and human religion.
But what about the religions of the cats? What sort of Big Questions might a housecat ask? What sort of answers might it come up with? What sort of religion might a group of housecats form? Invite comments and discussion. If the group has trouble getting started, ask more leading questions, such as: What might a housecat most desire? Most fear? How might a housecat pray if it was hungry? Where would it send its prayer?
Close the discussion and ask youth to make simple drawings to illustrate their ideas. Any style drawing is fine, including cartoons.
Give the youth an idea of the time available, and play appropriate background music if you like. The soundtrack of the musical Cats is one possibility.
Allow time for participants to share their drawings. Post the drawings if that is appropriate for your space. Tell the group that though this activity is light hearted, it might help us think about how different religions serve different populations with different concerns. Invite comments or observations.
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