Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Children

GIANT Children’s Meeting!

Written on:

Giant Children’s Meeting! 4th Sundays at 9:00am though May 2021

Join Friends and Families from across the Yearly Meeting for a monthly religious education program. It’s “giant” because everyone is invited! It’s “children’s meeting” because we’re making a space to nurture the spiritual lives and Quaker identity of young people. We hope this online community will support families and the Friends offering children’s programs in their meeting; the 9:00 start is intended to allow folks to attend worship in their own meeting later that morning.

Each 30-45 minute program is for preschool and elementary-age children and their families. Each time will feature a theme and seasoned facilitators leading us through grounding, exploring, wondering, and creating.

  • February 28: Giving Love Everywhere
    Bring something to share that you have made with your hands! 

  • March 28: Growing Our Community
  • April 25: Caring for Our World
  • May 23: Standing in the Light

Register below to receive the Zoom link to join! A welcome email with Zoom link will be send on the Thursday before each Sunday program.

*If a meeting would like to share the Zoom information directly to families in your meeting, please contact the Youth Religious Life Coordinator, Melinda, directly: mwennerbradley@pym.org

Giant Children’s Meeting Registration

Giant Children's Meeting Registration

Note: If you are a meeting religious education contact or committee member and you will share the program and Zoom information with families in your meeting, please answer the questions for yourself (not for children). Thank you! We will not record this Zoom event or take screen shots of participants during the program. We will ask that participants not take “screen shots” on their own devices. We are not asking for photo permission for these reasons, for this event. More information about PYM Child Safety in Online Spaces can be found here: https://www.pym.org/religious-education/guidance-and-practices-for-online-youth-gatherings/
  • Please list all children who will participate and their current grade in school (name, grade):

GIANT Children’s Meeting!

Written on:

Giant Children’s Meeting! 4th Sundays at 9:00am though May 2021

Join Friends and Families from across the Yearly Meeting for a monthly religious education program. It’s “giant” because everyone is invited! It’s “children’s meeting” because we’re making a space to nurture the spiritual lives and Quaker identity of young people. We hope this online community will support families and the Friends offering children’s programs in their meeting; the 9:00 start is intended to allow folks to attend worship in their own meeting later that morning.

Each 30-45 minute program is for preschool and elementary-age children and their families. Each time will feature a theme and seasoned facilitators leading us through grounding, exploring, wondering, and creating.

  • February 28: Giving Love Everywhere
    Bring something to share that you have made with your hands! 

  • March 28: Growing Our Community
  • April 25: Caring for Our World
  • May 23: Standing in the Light

Register below to receive the Zoom link to join! A welcome email with Zoom link will be send on the Thursday before each Sunday program.

*If a meeting would like to share the Zoom information directly to families in your meeting, please contact the Youth Religious Life Coordinator, Melinda, directly: mwennerbradley@pym.org

Giant Children’s Meeting Registration

Giant Children's Meeting Registration

Note: If you are a meeting religious education contact or committee member and you will share the program and Zoom information with families in your meeting, please answer the questions for yourself (not for children). Thank you! We will not record this Zoom event or take screen shots of participants during the program. We will ask that participants not take “screen shots” on their own devices. We are not asking for photo permission for these reasons, for this event. More information about PYM Child Safety in Online Spaces can be found here: https://www.pym.org/religious-education/guidance-and-practices-for-online-youth-gatherings/
  • Please list all children who will participate and their current grade in school (name, grade):

GIANT Children’s Meeting!

Written on:

Giant Children’s Meeting! 4th Sundays at 9:00am though May 2021

Join Friends and Families from across the Yearly Meeting for a monthly religious education program. It’s “giant” because everyone is invited! It’s “children’s meeting” because we’re making a space to nurture the spiritual lives and Quaker identity of young people. We hope this online community will support families and the Friends offering children’s programs in their meeting; the 9:00 start is intended to allow folks to attend worship in their own meeting later that morning.

Each 30-45 minute program is for preschool and elementary-age children and their families. Each time will feature a theme and seasoned facilitators leading us through grounding, exploring, wondering, and creating.

  • February 28: Giving Love Everywhere
    Bring something to share that you have made with your hands! 

  • March 28: Growing Our Community
  • April 25: Caring for Our World
  • May 23: Standing in the Light

Register below to receive the Zoom link to join! A welcome email with Zoom link will be send on the Thursday before each Sunday program.

*If a meeting would like to share the Zoom information directly to families in your meeting, please contact the Youth Religious Life Coordinator, Melinda, directly: mwennerbradley@pym.org

Giant Children’s Meeting Registration

Giant Children's Meeting Registration

Note: If you are a meeting religious education contact or committee member and you will share the program and Zoom information with families in your meeting, please answer the questions for yourself (not for children). Thank you! We will not record this Zoom event or take screen shots of participants during the program. We will ask that participants not take “screen shots” on their own devices. We are not asking for photo permission for these reasons, for this event. More information about PYM Child Safety in Online Spaces can be found here: https://www.pym.org/religious-education/guidance-and-practices-for-online-youth-gatherings/
  • Please list all children who will participate and their current grade in school (name, grade):

Lightning Kids

Written on:

Let’s brighten up the new year with some new ways of playing! We’ll do some thinking outside our zoom-boxes to create new space. Go on adventures into that space as our super-selves! Mix things up to make them brand new. Simple life-hacks for even the youngest Friends. See how silliness goes a long way to warm the heart!

GIANT Children’s Meeting!

Written on:

Giant Children’s Meeting! 4th Sundays at 9:00am though May 2021

Join Friends and Families from across the Yearly Meeting for a monthly religious education program. It’s “giant” because everyone is invited! It’s “children’s meeting” because we’re making a space to nurture the spiritual lives and Quaker identity of young people. We hope this online community will support families and the Friends offering children’s programs in their meeting; the 9:00 start is intended to allow folks to attend worship in their own meeting later that morning.

Each 30-45 minute program is for preschool and elementary-age children and their families. Each time will feature a theme and seasoned facilitators leading us through grounding, exploring, wondering, and creating.

  • February 28: Giving Love Everywhere
    Bring something to share that you have made with your hands! 

  • March 28: Growing Our Community
  • April 25: Caring for Our World
  • May 23: Standing in the Light

Register below to receive the Zoom link to join! A welcome email with Zoom link will be send on the Thursday before each Sunday program.

*If a meeting would like to share the Zoom information directly to families in your meeting, please contact the Youth Religious Life Coordinator, Melinda, directly: mwennerbradley@pym.org

Giant Children’s Meeting Registration

Giant Children's Meeting Registration

Note: If you are a meeting religious education contact or committee member and you will share the program and Zoom information with families in your meeting, please answer the questions for yourself (not for children). Thank you! We will not record this Zoom event or take screen shots of participants during the program. We will ask that participants not take “screen shots” on their own devices. We are not asking for photo permission for these reasons, for this event. More information about PYM Child Safety in Online Spaces can be found here: https://www.pym.org/religious-education/guidance-and-practices-for-online-youth-gatherings/
  • Please list all children who will participate and their current grade in school (name, grade):

Lightning Kids

Written on:

Let’s brighten up the new year with some new ways of playing! We’ll do some thinking outside our zoom-boxes to create new space. Go on adventures into that space as our super-selves! Mix things up to make them brand new. Simple life-hacks for even the youngest Friends. See how silliness goes a long way to warm the heart!

Lightning Kids

Written on:

Let’s brighten up the new year with some new ways of playing! We’ll do some thinking outside our zoom-boxes to create new space. Go on adventures into that space as our super-selves! Mix things up to make them brand new. Simple life-hacks for even the youngest Friends. See how silliness goes a long way to warm the heart!

GIANT Children’s Meeting!

Written on:

Giant Children’s Meeting! 4th Sundays at 9:00am though May 2021

Join Friends and Families from across the Yearly Meeting for a monthly religious education program. It’s “giant” because everyone is invited! It’s “children’s meeting” because we’re making a space to nurture the spiritual lives and Quaker identity of young people. We hope this online community will support families and the Friends offering children’s programs in their meeting; the 9:00 start is intended to allow folks to attend worship in their own meeting later that morning.

Each 30-45 minute program is for preschool and elementary-age children and their families. Each time will feature a theme and seasoned facilitators leading us through grounding, exploring, wondering, and creating.

  • February 28: Giving Love Everywhere
    Bring something to share that you have made with your hands! 

  • March 28: Growing Our Community
  • April 25: Caring for Our World
  • May 23: Standing in the Light

Register below to receive the Zoom link to join! A welcome email with Zoom link will be send on the Thursday before each Sunday program.

*If a meeting would like to share the Zoom information directly to families in your meeting, please contact the Youth Religious Life Coordinator, Melinda, directly: mwennerbradley@pym.org

Giant Children’s Meeting Registration

Giant Children's Meeting Registration

Note: If you are a meeting religious education contact or committee member and you will share the program and Zoom information with families in your meeting, please answer the questions for yourself (not for children). Thank you! We will not record this Zoom event or take screen shots of participants during the program. We will ask that participants not take “screen shots” on their own devices. We are not asking for photo permission for these reasons, for this event. More information about PYM Child Safety in Online Spaces can be found here: https://www.pym.org/religious-education/guidance-and-practices-for-online-youth-gatherings/
  • Please list all children who will participate and their current grade in school (name, grade):

Children & Families Community Playdate: Meeting for Feelings

Written on:

PYM Community Playdates are for Children up through 5th Grade and their Family

Our January 16 Community Playdate (10:00am) is a “Meeting for Feelings.”

We’ll welcome two special guests from New York Yearly Meeting, Joy Meikle and her puppet buddy, Aura, to lead this program. It’s a “safe space for kids to talk about their feelings. ” Learn more about what Joy and Aura are offering in NYYM here.

Registered children will receive “The Feelings Book” by Todd Parr as a gift, with thanks to the D’Olier Fund and their generous support of PYM Youth Programs.

Learn more about PYM Community Playdates for kids and families and REGISTER HERE!

Pastoral Care for Our Children in These Times

Written on:

As the pandemic continues, and this week our nation struggles once more against the legacy of racial injustice and violence, our children look on. 

Children and teens are experiencing the continued uncertainty of Covid and its impact on school, peer relationships, and future plans. Additionally, the events in Washington D.C. on January 6 were deeply disturbing and young people may feel anxiety, confusion, fear, sadness, or anger, and have questions about what they see and hear in the media and from friends. As parents, we’re holding space for our children’s feelings alongside our own anxiety, fury, and questions about moving forward. What follows are resources specifically for children, youth, and families.*

Where to Put Feelings

I was reminded by a Friend that worry dolls are a simple way to acknowledge children’s concerns and help them to find a place to put them. Sitting with a child while they share their worries, fears, and questions with the small doll and put it under their pillow at bedtime may not resolve the feelings, but it models healthy sharing and perspective.

Children need us to hear their concerns, and we can provide reassurance even if we do not have answers. Offering up our concerns in prayer is another way to acknowledge and place them in a larger “container” of our faith. This set of coloring pages “Prayers For When You Feel Anxious” includes both suggested prayers and three different sets of images for mindful coloring.

Young children cannot always articulate their feelings, and they may show us how they are feeling through play or behaviors. Sadness may look like: anger, tiredness, boredom, numbing out (often on screens), displaced frustration, resisting direction from adults. Their anxiety may show up as: anger, negativity, difficulty sleeping (particularly falling asleep), defiance, avoidance, lack of focus, over-planning, and chandeliering (“flying off the handle”). 

In her article, Five Things Kids Need in Order to Learn and Thrive During this Pandemic Year (linked below), Stephanie Malia Krauss names children’s need to:

  • Feel safe: physically and emotionally
  • Know what’s going on (within age-appropriate parameters)
  • Feel socially and emotionally connected
  • Have time, space, and support to learn and create
  • Feel loved and know they belong

Resources for Adults Supporting Children:

How To Talk To Kids About The Riots At The U.S. Capitol

Spiritual Practices for Use During a Traumatic News Event from Traci Smith

Five Things Kids Need in Order to Learn and Thrive During this Pandemic Year.

A Kids Book About Anxiety by Ross Szabo from the “A Kids Book About” series. The inside covers suggests, ”This book is best read together, grownup and kid.”

It’s Not Just Adults Who Are Stressed. Kids Are, Too. — Identifying your child’s emotional and behavioral reactions to stress is crucial, experts say, especially when anxieties are high.

COVID-19 Quarantine: an Emotional Tipping Point for Teens

“It’s okay to just be sad” from Courtney Martin and her blog, “the examined family.” 

“Coping with COVID-19: A Work Book for Kids and Teens” Designed to help children and teens communicate and cope with their feelings and emotions regarding the global Covid 19 pandemic. Includes writing and drawing prompts to help create a therapeutic experience and provide an opportunity to have open conversations. A good resource for pastoral care for young people (this resource does not touch on death or bereavement).

“Death feels closer”

There may be times in coming days when, in our experience as a meeting, or as a family, or as friends and neighbors, there is a child or young person dealing with loss. A research study published by Penn State University last summer concluded that every Covid-19 death leaves an average of nine survivors who have lost a grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse or child. Millions of Americans are in mourning for friends and relatives, co-workers and community members. 

Some of the more difficult conversations I’ve had in the past months with my own children have been about death. My college-aged child remarked during a conversation one day, “Death feels closer,”and has expressed anxiety about family and friends getting sick. A younger sibling has shown up at my bedside unable to sleep, and shared their deep uneasiness about the inevitability of death. “Darn existential questions!,” he tried to joke through tears.

As a parent, I hold my children close and provide what comfort I can. I’m glad for the Godly Play stories they heard and wondered about as younger children, which gave them images and language for big questions about the Divine and created spaces to come close to existential questions we all face about death and aloneness.

Thinking about how we talk about death and helping children develop a vocabulary for loss and grief is pastoral care preparation we can also do across ages in meeting communities. There are excellent resources for children through adolescents for talking about death and dying, that could be recommended to a family in need of support. In addition to this list of books about grief for young children through teens, the titles below are highly recommended. 

Suggested Books about Death and Grief:

Giants by A.E. McIntyre, illustrated by ElisaBeth Steines. A gentle treatment of a child’s grief story, written by a parent who lost their own parent as a young child.  Website for the book.

The Pear Tree A folktale retold by Luli Gray and illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight. Probably better for older children, the message is that death is a reality of life, but there is always hope.

Death Is Stupid by Anastasia Higginbotham is part of the “Ordinary Terrible Things” series. A realistic and moving read-along for a child and adult.

The Memory Tree by Britta Teckentrup is a story about remembering and letting go, and what remains — the forest animals lead the way.

A Little Blue Bottle by Jennifer Grant, illustrated by Gillian Whiting. Thinking about the sadness of losing a neighbor, and what our grief means to God. Includes a page, “Best Practices for When a Child Is Grieving.”

A Kids Book About Death by Taryn Schuelke from the “A Kids Book About” series. The inside covers suggests, ”This book is best read together, grownup and kid.”

*Pastoral Care for our Community during the COVID-19 Outbreak is another resource by my colleague George Schaefer, Care & Aging Coordinator. Adults seeking support can also reach out to the Friends Counseling Service.

Melinda Wenner Bradley, Youth Religious Life Coordinator mwennerbradley@pym.org. (My children gave their permission to be quoted in this piece.)