My Feelings Are A Gift From God

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the morality module is to build a foundation of morality in children stemming purely from their love to our God. It is important that children have self awareness that their identity is rooted only in Christ. In this module, it is key that we guide our children to craft a Christian conscience.

The purpose of this lesson is to have the children understand that feelings and emotions are a gift from God that help us express how we feel. By the end of this lesson, children should have a deep understanding between expressing emotions in a good way vs. a bad way.

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 15 Minutes

Please review the previous week's lesson. (5 minutes)

Begin by asking children what emotions are? What does the word emotion mean? Tell the children to raise their hand if they know what emojis are. Choose about 4-8 different basic emojis then show a specific emoji and tell the kids to raise their hand if they know they know what this specific emoji means. Hold up the emoji and talk about what they think the emoji is expressing.

Are all emotions good? What emotions are bad? Why? What makes them bad?

Print a variety of emojis and tape or glue them on straw or popsicle sticks. Another option is to print them out on pieces of white paper and show them one by one to the class.

Next ask the kids how they are feeling right now. Have them point to an emotion on the popsicle stick. Next ask the children what makes you feel happy? What makes you feel sad? What makes you feel angry? What makes you feel frightened? Feelings and emotions are a gift from God that help us express what we feel. Do you think it's possible to express our emotions without words? Let's find out. We are going to watch a video without any words. Let's see if you notice any emotional expressions.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

Memory Verse - "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance" Ecclesiastes 3:4

This verse shows that emotions must be regulated. We cannot be sad all the time. There is a time for everything and some feelings such as sadness or anger are temporary.

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 15-20 Minutes

The video below shows a cartoon story of the prodigal son. The video shows the story of the prodigal son without any words but emotions. Tell the children to pay attention to the emotions throughout the video. Start the video at 1:10-4:00.

After the video, ask the children these questions

Did you see the feeling of sadness on the father's face when the son wanted his money?
Did you see the feeling of disgust on the son's face when he thought he had to eat the pig slop because he was hungry?
Did you see the feeling of joy on the father's face when the son had returned to him?

Emotions can help us understand each other even without any words. Emotions are such a powerful gift from God. Next, replay the video and pause to ask the children to point out the different emojis expressed throughout the story. Have them identify and point to the emojis.

As you go through the different emojis, start a conversation. When might someone feel this way? What might someone look like when they are having this feeling? What might their body be experiencing? Go through the different emotions one by one.

Explain that it is good to show all the different feelings we have but we have to show them in the right ways especially when we are angry or upset. Sometimes we may feel like hitting, yelling or hurting someone when we are angry but we have to learn to show our feelings in a nice, kind and polite way. When our emotions get out of control, we get out of control.We have to be able to express our emotions in God's way. How do we deal with our feelings and not let them control us?

One way is to stop, pray and listen.

Stop, take a deep breath or count to 10 then name what you are feeling. It might be anger, sadness, happiness etc. Remind yourself it is never okay to hurt others. God wants us to love one another and treat each other with kindness. We wouldn't want to upset God when we are feeling angry or sad etc.
Pray to God about what you are feeling. Ask Him to make you feel better. God gives us peace. Talk to someone maybe your mom or dad or sibling. You can also write down what you are feeling in a journal. You can draw how you are feeling too.
Listen to what God might be telling you. God wants us to turn to him whenever we are feeling sad or happy. Whether we are sad, angry or happy we turn to Jesus. God wants us to be happy. We can be happy when we are being kind and expressing our feelings in a kind Godly way.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 3-5 Minutes

Ask the children the following questions. They may be difficult for them to answer, but ask them to try and guide their responses based on the content above.

What are some ways we can express our emotions as a Child of God?
Who do we turn to when we are feeling sad or happy?
How can we control our emotions?
Is it okay to yell, scream or hurt someone when we are upset?

LIFE APPLICATION

Life application is intertwined in the content section above.

ACTIVITY - 15 Minutes

For the activity we will make a feelings wheel to help children navigate and control their emotions. The feelings wheel will help them identify what they are feeling. Attached below are a variety of feeling wheels available. Feel free to use whichever option.

Template feeling wheel. Print this template and have the kids color the various emotions
The materials needed for this craft is a white piece of paper, colored pieces of construction paper, glue, scissors, markers and a pin. Using the construction paper, cut out triangle shaped pieces. Glue the four different colored pieces of triangle shaped construction paper. Create an arrow and pin at the bottom of the paper. At the top of the paper, write " I am feeling".
The third option can be purchased from Oriential Trading. How I Feel Wheel - Craft Kit

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

This week at home children should use the feelings wheel to identify and control their emotions.

We went over 3 ways to control our emotions in a Godly way. Practice, stop, pray and listen at home this week. Remember to pray to God how you are feeling. We always turn to God no matter how we feel.

Color the coloring page for HW and memorize this week's verse. Link to: Coloring Page