Children and Family Ministries – May

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By Sarah Grenier

On Sundays with no RE, the kids have asked me, “why didn’t we go back to our classroom?!” Even my own son excitedly confirms every morning before we go to church now, “are we going to be in the kid’s room?” I hope that’s a sign that they are having fun together and slowly absorbing the things we talk about!

In the RE classroom, I’ve been trying out spirit play style stories with Confucius and the story about a little turtle in the polluted ocean. The kids seemed to enjoy the stories, and we had activities afterwards that related to the story of the day. I’m introducing them to the seven UU principles and how our stories relate to those values. I’m trying to get the kids into a class rhythm and to work through social-emotional conflicts.

In the nursery, we’ve started care before service. There have been a lot of BIG emotions about this change which is totally normal. Young children do not like to be separated from their parents. However, we must stretch our comfort zones sometimes and know that they will be okay (for our sake as much as theirs). I will continue to rotate toys and make it an engaging environment.

I want to give a BIG BIG BIG thank you to the members who have donated items to children’s RE from our wishlist including Wendy, Dave, Susan, and a mystery donor. We’ve used all these items so far!

And now, for May events:

  • Sunday, May 5th
    10:30AM: the Children’s RE group will draft their own covenant and make class rules.
    During coffee hour: Sunday Funday “Music in May”
  • Friday, May 10th 6:30PM: Game Night! Bring your favorite board game or play one of ours. We will celebrate all May birthdays with a cake!
  • Sunday, May 12th 10:30AM: We will have a Mother’s Day story and activities.
  • Sunday, May 19th 10:30AM: This will be our spring Child Dedication service. The nursery will be open, but there will be no children’s RE. After the service ALL children will be invited to sit down with Rev. Ma during coffee hour.
  • Sunday, May 26th 10:30AM: We will have a spirit play story that focuses on generosity and “passing it on.”