Children's Ministry

Resources

YFM Brochure

EdLinks, Winter 09

EdLinks, Spring 09

Monthly Lesson Overviews

Faith

Love

Strength

Wisdom

Power

Imagination

Understanding

Copyright © Unity Northwest Church, 2009, All Rights Reserved

          Children's Ministry Program

          Our children's ministry program is for children ages 3 to 10 years old. The classrooms is staffed  

          each week with two to four teachers.

Sacred Safety

• All staff and volunteers have undergone back ground checks.
  

• All parents/guardians are required to sign their children in
  

        each Sunday and to have a registration form on file.

• At the conclusion of the adult Sunday service the children
  

        join the adults for a closing experience.

• Once the service has ended, the children are guided back to the                                   classroom and parents/guardians are required to pick them up                                            immediately following the service and to sign them out.
  

Classroom Focus

• Currently this is a multi-aged classroom. Please join us in visioning for the right and perfect space that will allow us to divide this classroom.
  

• The lessons focus on reinforcing the idea that God is within us, around us, everywhere present and that we are loved unconditionally. We also begin to establish a basic understanding of the Bible and how the stories in the Bible reflect Unity Principles. Other sacred writings and contemporary children's stories are also used. The children are encouraged to connect with their inner wisdom and to live the Truth they know.
  

Children's Ministry Curriculum

Currently the children's ministry is using the following curriculum schedule.

• Week 1: "A Celebration of Our 12 Powers"
  

• Week 2: "Healthy People/Healthy Congregations"
  

• Weeks 3 & 4: "A Celebration of Our 12 Powers"
  

Sunday Morning Lesson Structure

The Welcome

Greeting Activity

As each child enters the classroom they are asked how they would

like to be greeted. They are also encouraged to move their photo into

the center of the heart so we can see who is with us for the day.

Responsibility Cards

Each child is invited to choose a responsibility of

the day, such as, Greeting Angel; Bell Ringer; Love

Offering Angel, etc... This helps the children to

understand that they all have something to give

and that they can help to create their own class

room experience. This also fosters leadership.

The Sacred Circle

Once everyone has arrive, we move into the sacred circle part of our morning. This is the time we gather together and create community.

We begin with inviting those who have chosen

responsibility cards to set up the sacred circle.

The "Bell Ringer" calls everyone to the circle.

We include the following activities:

Uniting Affirmation

One of the children creates that affirmation. Each child then states their name and repeats the affirmation and then the entire group repeats their name and affirms them. This gives everyone a chance to learn names and to feel a part of the group.

Blessing Board

This activity gives the children the opportunity to bless all those present and all those who could not be with us today. This helps the children to know that their presence in the classroom is important and that they are missed

when they are absent.

Sacred Breath

This is the time when we use a breathing exercise to de-stress and to move our attention to the present moment. Once this is finished the children are invited to share the monthly prayer.

Love Offering

Each week the opportunity to give a love offering is extended to the children. the love offering can be money or it can be anything they would like to bless the world with. This helps the children to feel that whatever they have to give matters.

Celebrations

Our circle comes to a close with an opportunity for the children to share all of their good news. Each celebration is honored with a rousing cheer. This helps the children to learn to focus on the good in their lives.

Storytelling

Once the sacred circle is complete, a Bible, sacred story or

contemporary story is shared. The children are then

engaged in the Living Curriculum questioning strategy that

invites them to explore: the literal events of the story; the

feelings/experiences of the characters; how this story shows

up in their lives and in the world around them; and how they

would like it to be.

Creation Stations

Now the children are invited into creative experiences that encourage them to explore what the story and discussion meant to them personally. There are 2 experiences to choose from each week. The choices will be 2 of the following 3:

Art Expressions

Creative arts projects that require

thinking and expressing and invite the

children to manipulate the materials

in order to see how the story and

principles express in them.

Power Play

Learning by doing. The activities include games and that

have Unity principles as their focus.

Power Lab

Exploring the lesson through science experiments. Young

children are concrete learners so helping them to understand

the lesson through science can be very helpful to them. It gives solidity to abstract principles.

Closing

We close our morning by joining the adults in the sanctuary, sharing what we experienced and joining in the closing song and prayer.

Creating the web of life!