Children’s RE

Our youngest children are cared for in a safe, warm, and nurturing environment while families attend worship or other activities. Staff and volunteers create a welcoming space where children can play, explore, and feel secure and supported.

Fall Program Descriptions

K–2 | Our Whole Lives
Our Whole Lives (OWL) helps children begin the lifelong process of learning about identity, relationships, safety, and health in age-appropriate and engaging ways. Through stories, songs, movement, and interactive activities, children explore topics including bodies, families, gender identity and roles, sexual orientation, race, and ability. The program teaches sexual abuse prevention in a trauma-informed way that places responsibility for children's safety on adults, not children. OWL also supports parents and caregivers as their children's primary sexuality educators, offering conversation tips, resources, and at-home reading recommendations to help families continue these important discussions together.

3rd–4th | UU Values
Through hands-on activities, games, and reflection, children explore a core question: How do our Unitarian Universalist values guide us as we take on life's challenges? Participants will explore our shared values while developing tools for putting them into practice in their everyday lives. The curriculum emphasizes social learning, group cohesion, and the strong community connections that help children experience what it means to belong to a Unitarian Universalist congregation.

Spring Program Descriptions

K–2 | UU Values
Children explore the six shared values of Unitarian Universalism—Justice, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, Interdependence, and Generosity—through imagination, storytelling, and teamwork. Each session introduces a new adventure featuring JETPIG, a pig with a jetpack who needs the group's help solving a problem. Children work together to help JETPIG, discovering along the way how one of our six UU values can guide their choices. Through playful challenges and reflection, children practice putting our values into action together.

3rd–4th | EPIC (Equal Partners in Community)
EPIC is a play-based, hands-on program that helps children explore what it means to be an active part of a Unitarian Universalist congregation. At this age, many children become curious about the hows and whys of church: Why do we light a chalice? How do we welcome people? How can kids help care for our community? Through movement, art, conversation, and skill-building, participants explore the “high five” of UU congregational life: Spiritual Growth, Community Care, Hospitality, Justice-Making, and Worship. EPIC helps children move from simply attending church toward seeing themselves as active, loving participants in our shared community.

5th–7th | Crossing Paths
Crossing Paths continues a 70-year Unitarian Universalist tradition of learning about other faiths through relationship and firsthand experience. Youth deepen their own UU identity while respectfully exploring a variety of world religions and faith traditions. Through discussion, experiential learning, and visits to neighboring religious communities, participants practice curiosity, hospitality, and respectful engagement across differences. Along the way, youth develop language for their own spiritual values while building greater understanding of the many ways people make meaning and practice faith.

Spring Program Description

5th–7th | Crossing Paths Continues

Fall Program Description

8th–9th | Our Whole Lives
Our Whole Lives (OWL) is a comprehensive, values-based sexuality education program that helps young teens navigate adolescence with accurate, age-appropriate information and opportunities for thoughtful conversation. Through interactive workshops, youth explore topics including anatomy, body image, gender identity, sexual orientation, healthy relationships, communication, consent, and sexual health. The curriculum encourages critical thinking, responsible decision-making, and clarification of personal values while fostering empathy and respect for others. In a supportive group setting, youth develop the knowledge and skills they need to make informed and healthy decisions about their bodies, relationships, and well-being.

Spring Program Description

8th | Coming of Age
Coming of Age is a Unitarian Universalist rite of passage that invites youth to explore their beliefs, values, identities, and sense of self more deeply. Through reflection, discussion, relationship-building, and spiritual practice, participants consider what matters most to them and how they want to live in the world. Each youth is paired with an adult mentor who accompanies them throughout the program, offering another trusted relationship within the congregation. The year culminates in a youth-led worship service in which participants share what they have discovered and articulated about their own beliefs. It is our expectation that youth who participate in COA have or will take Our Whole Lives.

9th–12th | Youth Group
Youth Group is a welcoming community where teens can build friendships, explore their beliefs, and talk about the questions and challenges of their lives. Through conversation, service, fun, spiritual exploration, and shared leadership, youth deepen their connections with one another and with Unitarian Universalism. The group follows a youth empowerment model, giving teens meaningful opportunities to shape their community, practice leadership, and make a positive impact within and beyond the congregation.

Spring Program Description

9th–12th | Youth Group Continues

We continue to offer OWL and plan to provide it for the following cohorts: 1) Kindergarten and 1st grade, 2) 4th-6th grade, and 3) 7th-9th grade. It is possible we will offer the high school version due to high demand from the larger Newton community.