Managing Our Emotions helps children learn about their emotions and accept God’s gift of their entire range of feelings (sadness, joy, excitement, fear, and frustration to name a few). The study draws from the Bible, science, music, and our lived experiences to help children learn to manage their emotions in a positive and healthy way. Techniques like the Emotional Freedom Technique, or “tapping,” and the Buddy Bench, allow children to help both themselves and others.
Authors Trudy Rankin and Faye Wilson provide lesson plans for four two-hour sessions, along with a handy chart at the end of the overview section that provides leaders with a detailed summary of the contents of each session. Each session includes the following components:
• Gathering to worship
• Exploring the scriptures
• Creating art
• Watching videos about the topic of the session
• Reflecting on the lesson
• Engaging in a closing experience
At the end of each session ideas are provided on how to extend the lessons about emotions. These activities will help children connect with each other, learn how to be friends, and work and play together.
This study encourages all of us—children and study leaders alike—to be aware of our feelings, understand what the Bible teaches us about the role of feelings in our lives, find ways we can cultivate strength to deal with challenges, access other church and community resources for support, and discover a community in which to celebrate.
Dr. Trudy Corry Rankin feels professionally called to the work of empowerment, self-care, and personal development, as demonstrated through her nursing career working with terminal patients, as a counselor helping others with mental health issues, and as a representative of the Florida Conference in Latin America through Alfalit International, a grassroots literacy and community development organization. The suicidal death of her twenty-five-year-old cellist son made education in mental health an even stronger call in her life and led her to publish the book Soul Notes of a Composition: Glimpses of Grief from Suicide. She has a doctorate in pastoral care and spirituality and is certified by Stillpoint as a spiritual director.
Dr. Faye Wilson served as a staff member with the General Board of Global Ministries working in the area of mission education for twenty-one years. She has written materials for more than ten mission study themes. Today Wilson is the executive director of GeeFaye Associates, a music and education consulting firm. She is also president of the Salisbury District United Methodist Women (Peninsula-Delaware Conference), and minister of music and arts at Mt. Zion UMC in Quantico, Maryland. She has a bachelor’s degree in religious studies, master’s degrees in both theological studies and journalism, and a doctorate in adult education.