Youth Curriculum, 2-9-25

Curriculum Overview:

Youth will explore the idea that true happiness comes from within and that each person is already whole and enough, just as they are. Through creative activities, movement, and reflection, students will learn to let go of limiting beliefs, embrace self-love, and cultivate gratitude for themselves and their lives.

February Monthly Theme: Love

Week 2 Value: You Are Enough: The Art of Happiness

Affirmation: “I embrace the wonder of life, knowing I am enough.”

Spiritual Lesson: 

Students will engage in activities that encourage self-acceptance, gratitude, and the practice of releasing negative thoughts. By the end of the lesson, they will understand that happiness is not something to chase but something to nurture from within, helping them feel more confident, joyful, and connected to themselves and others.

Mindfulness: Music and Prayer

Youth are invited to listen to and move with the music and describe how the music made them feel in as many ways as possible. After sitting with their feelings, we repeat a five-step SOM Prayer affirming that we are whole, complete, and enough just as we are.

Active Listening: Book/Music/Video

• Book: You Are Enough: A Book About Inclusion by Margaret O’Hair & Sofia Sanchez
• Music: Count on Me by Bruno Mars
• Book:  I Am Enough by Grace Byers (younger class) 
• Music: Can’t Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (younger class

Creative Expression: Valentine’s Gratitude Hearts

Each student will receive a large paper heart. Inside the heart, they will write or draw things they love about themselves and things they are grateful for in their lives. They can decorate their hearts with colors and stickers. They will also create a second heart for a loved one, decorating it to symbolize what they love about that person. We will discuss how recognizing these qualities and blessings helps cultivate inner happiness.

Connecting: Move and Let Go  

Students will form a circle. Each person will think of something they’ve been holding onto that may keep them from happiness (e.g., a mistake, a worry, a comparison). They will then move through a series of gentle stretching and shaking exercises to symbolize letting go, accompanied by mindful breathing, saying, “I release what no longer serves me, and I embrace who I am.”