Youth Curriculum, 5-24-26

Announcements:

Our CSL Youth & Family booth had an incredibly busy and joy-filled weekend at the Lacey Spring Fun Fair, drawing a steady flow of kids, teens, parents, and community members into our “Give and then Get Love” activity, where participants shared uplifting messages of kindness and encouragement with one another – game style. Amid the excitement and energy of the fair, our booth also became a calming, welcoming space where families could slow down and connect, with many parents and older kids complimenting us on our creative, meaningful activity. Special thanks to Greg for assisting at the booth on Sunday and helping with both setup and take down, and to Craig for his help on Sunday and for being especially engaging with the kids throughout the day.

Curriculum:

May Theme: Foundations of Spirit: Discovering the Divine Within
Week 4 Value: Mental Equivalents
Affirmation: I create a clear picture of the good I am ready to receive.

Curriculum Overview:

In Week 4, youth and teens explore the spiritual principle of Mental Equivalents—the understanding that before something appears outwardly in our lives, we first create an inner picture, feeling, and belief about it within ourselves.

Building on the month’s lessons about Oneness, Spiritual Law, and the Creative Process, youth learn that thoughts alone are not enough; true creation happens when thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and actions align together. They discover that when they repeatedly imagine, feel, and believe in their highest good, they strengthen their ability to recognize and receive it.

Spiritual Lesson:

What we consistently picture, feel, and believe inwardly helps shape our outward experience.

Youth explore the idea that a “mental equivalent” is an inner match for what they want to experience. Just as an architect creates a blueprint before building a house, we create internal blueprints through imagination, belief, emotion, and expectation. Youth also discuss how fear, self-doubt, or negative assumptions can weaken their mental equivalent, while gratitude, confidence, imagination, and trust help strengthen it.

Spiritual Practice: Visualization & Embodiment Experience

Youth participate in a guided visualization where they imagine themselves already experiencing something positive they want to create in their lives. They are encouraged to notice what they see and feel, how they carry themselves, and what thoughts they are thinking. Afterward, youth practice physically embodying those feelings through posture, movement, facial expression, voice tone, or simple role-play exercises.

Active Listening: Book / Music / Video

Younger Children (Ages 4–7)

• Book: The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
  Encourages belief in possibility and creative confidence.
• Music: This Little Light of Mine (Children’s Version)
  Reinforces self-expression, confidence, and inner brightness.
• Video: The Little Engine That Could (Animated Story)
  Demonstrates belief, persistence, and positive expectation.

Children & Preteens (Ages 7–12)

• Book: Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
  Teaches creative thinking, resilience, and possibility.
• Music: Hall of Fame by The Script featuring will.i.am
  Encourages youth to envision their potential and believe in themselves.
• Video: Kid President’s Pep Talk
  Inspires positive thinking, encouragement, and possibility.

Teens (Ages 13–16)

• Reading: Excerpts from This Thing Called You by Ernest Holmes
  Focus on belief, consciousness, and aligning with possibility.
• Music: Rise Up by Andra Day
  Encourages resilience, vision, and inner strength.
• Video: The Science of Visualization & Performance
  Explores how visualization impacts confidence, focus, and achievement.

Creative Expression: Vision Mirror

Youth decorate paper mirrors, foil mirrors, or mirror-shaped templates with affirmations, vision words, images of qualities they are strengthening or symbols of their highest good

At the center, they write, “I am becoming what I already believe is possible.”

Connecting: Possibility Circle

Youth complete the sentence: “I am ready to experience…”

Group Response: “And I already carry it within me.”