RE Connect Resources
January Theme: Loneliness and Solitude
- 100+ Winter Activities How-To’s – Run Wild My Child
- 100 Things to do Outside with Your Kids This Summer – Learning Mama
- 10 tips to get Your Kids Outside – Take Them Outside
- Easy Ways to Get Kids Birding – Audobon Society
- 10 Reasons Why Kids Need to Spend Time Outdoors – Kim Dinan
- Fruliftsliv: The Nordic concept of getting outdoors – BBC Worklife
- Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health – Yale Environment 360
- The Benefits of Solitude for Kids and Parents Alike – Jennifer Paterson, ARCT
- What type of birds are in my backyard?
- Locating the Winter Hexagon in the night sky
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv
10 Books to Encourage Outdoor Play – Book Nerdy Mommy
Exploring Nature Activity Book for Kids: 50 Creative Projects to Spark Curiosity in the Outdoors, by Kim Andrews
Februrary Theme: Perfection and Imperfection
- 4 Parenting Styles of Perfectionist Parents – Psych Central
- The Imperfectionist Maniesto: Living a Creative Life – Melissa Dinwiddie
- Living with, and Loving, Your Imperfect Life – Mindful
- Anxiety in Children – 10 Practical Strategies to Help Kids Manage Perfectionism – by Karen Young
- How to Help Children Calm Down – Child Mind Institute
- 10 Breathing Exercises to Help Kids Calm Down – Mindfulmazing
How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Fearlesness, Confidence and Freedom from Perfectionism by Stephen Guise
From Perfectionism to Polished Pragmatism: The Gutsy Girl’s Guide to Getting Good Enough – Janel Anderson
What to Do When Mistakes Make You Quake: A Kid’s Guide to Accepting Imperfection – by Claire A. B. Freeland, Jacqueline B. Toner, Janet McDonnell (Illustrator)
Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise
March Theme: Vision (Vision for Our Community)
- Justice-Making as Faith Formation from the MidAmerica Region of the UUA
- From a young age, our children and youth are learning what being a Unitarian Universalist means—not just in theory, but in practice. In this webinar, we will talk with experts in the field of religious education and faith development about how justice-making can be a primary pedagogical tool and spiritual practice for children and youth in our Unitarian Universalist congregations. We will pay special attention to faith formation and identity development for children and youth of color, as well as LGBTQIA+ young people.
- Roots and Shoots: United States
- Being a part of Roots & Shoots means standing up and taking action to solve problems in your community. On this page you’ll find all the resources, insights, and ways to connect to other change-makers in order to help you create meaningful projects that solve real-life issues with big impact. Join Roots & Shoots to address problems that matter to you – from your neighborhood to our shared planet.
- 50 Community Service Ideas for Teen Volunteers
- Getting Involved in Your Community – healthychildren.org
- DoSomething.org
- As the largest not-for-profit exclusively for young people and social change, DoSomething’s millions of members represent every US area code and 131 countries. Using our digital platform, DoSomething members join our volunteer, social change, and civic action campaigns to make real-world impact on causes they care about. Sorry in advance for the #humblebrag, but here are just a few of our greatest campaigns.
- For One Teen, Giving Back Changed Her Life – Only Good TV
- Taking a Small Risk for Big Growth – UUA
- Unitarian Universalist Youth Page – Facebook
- also includes link to how to register for YUUP! (Young Universalist Youth Program)
Preschool and Early Elementary Resources
April Theme: Passion and Purpose
- The Difference Between Purpose and Passion – WeSpire
- You Don’t Find Your Purpose – You Build It – By John Coleman
- ‘Find Your Passion’ Is Awful Advice – By Olga Khazan
- It’s Not About Passion, It’s About Your Purpose In Life – by UJ Ramdas
- 5 Differences Between Finding Your Passion and Finding Your Purpose – Power of Positivity
- The Philosophy of Ikigai: 3 Examples About Finding Purpose – by Jeffrey Gaines, Ph.D.
- Finding Your Passion: Books for Kids – Curated by Bookroo: The Children’s Book Experts
May Theme: Happiness
Preschool and Early Elementary Resources
- Emotion Game – By MomEndeavors
- 10 Activities to Help Kids Explore Emotions – By Apperson
- How To Teach Kids About Their Feelings – By VeryWell
- 4 Big Emotions to Talk About With Little Kids – By Parents
Middle School/ High School Resources
- The Super Mario Effect – By Mark Rober
- Mark Rober’s YouTube Channel
June Theme: Finding New Ways
- Children’s Ministry’s Impact on Your Church Growth – Childrens Ministry
- 10 Strategies to Grow Your Kids Ministry – Better Bible Teachers
- Youth are the Future of the Church – The Malphurs Group
- 37 Church Statistics You Need to Know for 2019 – Reach Right
- Fast Facts About American Religion – Hartford Institute for Religion Research
- Church Attendance Patterns Are Changing And We Have to Adapt – Karl Vaters
- 5 Reasons Kids’ Ministry is So Important to Churches that Want to Break the 1,000 Barrier – Rich Birch
Our Whole Lives: Lifespan Sexuality Education
Commonly known as OWL, this is a program designed to give honest, accurate information about sexuality changes in lives. OWL provides information that is developmentally appropriate and includes a wide range of topics. Many UU congregations pair with a United Church of Christ church to offer these programs. The topics that are covered address many issues that parents and children want covered, but that are only briefly touched upon in school. This is a great way to reach out to the community and provide a service that is beneficial to all.