Youth Religious Education Lesson Descriptions

November 1st at 10:15am

 

PreK & Kindergarten – The Rainbow Connection
Your Name Is A Song
In this lesson, children explore the beauty and importance of names through the story Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. They learn that names carry meaning, history, culture, and identity, and that making the effort to pronounce someone’s name correctly is a way of showing respect and care.

1st & 2nd Grade – Faithful Journeys and Moral Tales (and Lego Values too)
Keep Learning
In this session, children learn about and experience our third Unitarian Universalist Principle, acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. Children find their own individual gifts and interests affirmed as the group explores a variety of spiritual practices from singing to making a Zen garden. Children learn about Unitarian religious educator Sophia Lyon Fahs, whose innovative ideas about children’s faith development inform our congregations’ approaches to religious education today.

3rd & 4th Grade – Timeless Stories: Exploring the Bible Through a UU Lens
Abraham and Isaac
Children hear the difficult story of Abraham being told to sacrifice his son Isaac. They explore questions about trust, obedience, conscience, and the responsibility to protect children from harm. Through storytelling, movement, discussion, and role-play, children consider how to respond when a trusted person or authority asks them to do something that feels wrong. The lesson emphasizes that love, compassion, and safety are more important than unquestioning obedience.

5th & 6th Grade – Toolbox of Faith
Democratic Process (Chalk)
The chalk symbolizes the democratic process. This session provides opportunities to reflect on a variety of decision-making processes, including voting and consensus making. Reflections may include whether “majority rule” is fair.

7th & 8th Grade – Neighboring Justice: An Interactive Social Justice Program
What Does It Mean to Repair Harm?
Youth experience restorative practices rather than simply hearing about them. After learning the basic structure of restorative justice, they work through a fictional conflict using restorative questions and participate in a simplified restorative circle. The lesson helps youth discover that accountability can mean actively repairing harm rather than passively receiving punishment.

High School Youth Group
Ask Us Anything
Youth anonymously submit questions about religion, adulthood, church, relationships, life, or anything else, then help choose which ones the group wants to explore together.