When I am frightened, will you reassure me? — from “When I Am Frightened,” Hymn 1012 in Singing the Journey

The theme of this session is “Sharing our fears with friends makes us feel less afraid.” Activities and stories demonstrate that fear is a normal, natural feeling everyone shares. Using a third party—teddy bears—helps the children talk in a nonthreatening way about how it feels to be lost and scared.

Remember that preschool children vary greatly in their social development. The youngest children may still engage in parallel play; four year olds may be learning to express their feelings; kindergarteners may be more willing to conform to the goals and norms established by parents, teachers, church leaders, and society.

Note: Before this session, ask families to have their children bring a favorite stuffed bear or another animal to each session in this unit. See Session 25, Leader Resource 1, Teddy Bear Month Invitation.

Goals

This session will help preschoolers:

• Learn behaviors they can use to make the Chalice Children group a caring place
• Know that the Chalice Children group and the larger congregation is a safe place to share their fears
• Feel a growing sense of belonging to and identity with a Unitarian Universalist congregation.

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

• Experience comfort as they share with the group their fears of and feelings about being lost
• Understand that fear is a feeling everyone shares and that it helps to talk about it.