Youth RE

Spirit Play
(ages 3-6)

Children in the Spirit Play class are encouraged to begin their experience each Sunday upstairs with their families. By doing so, the children have the opportunity to:

  • ring the church bell
  • add canned food to the weekly food collection
  • greet neighbors and friends
  • participate in our music
  • hear the Message for All Ages

Children will be escorted downstairs by their teacher and the Director of Religious Exploration, Renee Bowman.

Once downstairs, children in Spirit Play are guided by two of the same team of six teachers who volunteer for the entire school year. In this way, our children grow comfortable with these familiar faces and bonds are formed.

Our teachers for the 2014-2015 school year are (from left to right), Dee Carman, Amanda Brizendine, Mary Schnake, Natalie Mickelson, Susie Poole, and Colleen Tennery.

The group first gathers together by lighting our chalice and sharing these special words together each week:

"We light this chalice, symbol of Unitarian Universalism.
We are the church of the open mind (lift hand as if opening up your mind),
helping hand (turning hands outward, as if giving something away),
and loving heart (crossing hands over heart or making heart sign).
Together, we care for our earth (make round symbol with hands),
and work for peace and justice in the world (holding hands in our circle)."

Once our chalice is lit, the teacher will lead the class through a lesson relating back to the theme for the month at UUCC. After the lesson, children in Spirit Play are encouraged to choose items from the shelves to play with, such as puzzles, art materials, books, play-doh, or even a game of pretend with our play kitchen.

Children in this class gain experience in caring for themselves, their environment, and most importantly, each other. As they engage in the ritual that is typical of their time with us, they will take turns lighting the chalice (a battery operated candle!), ask questions, answer each other's questions, take responsibility for their own work, attend to the needs of others, and tidy the classroom before they leave. They will laugh, discuss, sing, wonder, and then extinguish the flame, all with the comforting assurance that we'll light it together again next Sunday.