Interfaith Friendship Story Walk by Sakeena Ahmed

On Sunday morning, November 19, BIS along with the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School and the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s PJ library, organized a story walk for children ages 5 and under with their families at the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School. It was a beautiful effort to collaborate with community members who may not otherwise have met. Approximately 30 families, including over 40 children participated in this event. Muslim, Jewish, and Christian families met, chatted, and enjoyed watching their children play together. Despite their religious differences, families came together for a morning of fellowship and making connections.

A story walk is when pages of a book are transformed into signs that are then laid out on a trail inviting families to follow the path of the pages. This may also involve other activities, games and stations along the way. The book chosen for our story walk was Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners by Laurie Keller. There were five stations for the story walk: (1) music station, (2) snack station, (3) donate a canned good for the needy station, (4) friendship bracelet craft, and (5) decorate a banner and free play station. The children enjoyed the activities and families were overheard saying they would love to see more such events planned in the future.