Youth Curriculum, 6-28-26
Announcements:
Youth & Family Volunteer Opportunity – August 2
Adrienne and Greg will be in Chicago on Sunday, August 2, and we’re looking for two volunteers to assist with our Youth & Family classes that morning. No experience is necessary—every activity, lesson guide, and suggested timing will be fully prepared and ready to go.
If you’ve ever been curious about helping in the classroom, this is a wonderful opportunity to step in, play, connect with our amazing youth, and be inspired by their creativity and wisdom. Please connect with Adrienne if you’d like to be added to the schedule.
June Theme: Higher Deeper Love: Expanding the Heart of Humanity
Week 4 Value: Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong
Affirmation: I am consciously co-creating a Higher Deeper Love in the world.
Curriculum Overview:
In Week 4, youth and teens step into the role of conscious co-creators, exploring how their everyday choices help shape a more loving and compassionate world. Building on the month’s lessons of recognizing Love within themselves, sharing Love with others, and healing separation through community, they discover that Love is an active force that transforms lives and communities.
Youth will explore how gratitude, patience, forgiveness, and intentional action become expressions of Love in motion. Through reflection, movement, and collaborative experiences, they will strengthen their understanding that even the smallest actions can create meaningful change. They will celebrate that every person has the power to uplift the collective through the Love they choose to embody and share.
Spiritual Lesson:
Love becomes powerful when we put it into action.
Youth explore the idea that creating a more loving world doesn’t require grand gestures. Small, intentional choices made every day can create ripple effects that impact families, schools, communities, and the world around us.
Using Ernest Holmes’ teaching that Love is kind, gentle, understanding, and returns to us as we freely give it away, youth discover that they are active participants in shaping the world they want to experience. They learn that gratitude helps us notice goodness, forgiveness helps us release what no longer serves us, and intentional action allows us to become conscious co-creators of a Higher Deeper Love.
Spiritual Practice: Gratitude Walk & Love in Motion
Youth and teens will participate in a silent Gratitude Walk, either indoors or outdoors, taking time to intentionally notice beauty, kindness, and connection around them. As they walk, they will identify three things they are grateful for and one way they can contribute more Love to their world this week. Following the walk, they will gather to share their observations and reflect on how paying attention to goodness shifts their perspective and helps them become more intentional in their daily choices.
Active Listening: Book / Music / Video
Younger Children (Ages 4–7)
- Book: The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin
Celebrates the unique gifts every child brings to the world and encourages them to imagine the positive impact they can have on others. - Music: Better When I’m Dancin’ by Meghan Trainor
An uplifting song about confidence, joy, and sharing positive energy with others. - Video: What Does It Mean to Be Kind? Read Aloud by Rana DiOrio
Explores simple, everyday ways children can uplift those around them.
Children & Preteens (Ages 7–12)
- Book: Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem
Encourages youth to recognize that their voices and actions matter and that positive change begins with small steps. - Music: On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons
An uplifting song that celebrates possibility, gratitude, and embracing opportunities to make a difference. - Video: The Science of Kindness by the British broadcaster (animated short)
An engaging, age-appropriate video that demonstrates how acts of kindness create a positive ripple effect for both ourselves and others.
Teens (Ages 13–16)
- Reading: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (selected excerpts)
Focus on being proactive, intentional, and recognizing the impact of our choices on ourselves and others. - Music: I Lived by OneRepublic
Encourages teens to live purposefully, take action, and fully engage in making a positive impact on the world around them. - Video: Everyday Leadership TEDx Talk by Drew Dudley
This inspiring TEDx Talk helps teens understand that leadership isn’t about titles or status
Creative Expression Activity: Higher Deeper Love Amazing Race (Indoor & Outdoor)
Youth and teens will participate in a team-based challenge where they complete a series of missions that demonstrate Love in action. Teams will move through stations focused on gratitude, encouragement, patience, problem-solving, and service. Challenges may include creating a group affirmation, completing a cooperative obstacle course, delivering a compliment to every teammate, and brainstorming ways to improve their community. Each completed mission earns a puzzle piece that reveals a final message:
“Small acts of Love create a stronger world.”
The activity reinforces that every action, no matter how small, contributes to the collective good. “Love isn’t something we wait for; it’s something we practice. Every kind word, every helping hand, and every caring action becomes a seed that helps our community grow.”
Connecting: Love in Action Circle
Youth will gather in a closing circle and complete the sentence: “One way I will help create a more loving world this week is…”
Group Response: “My Love makes a difference.”