At First Parish Stoughton, we embrace the joy, curiosity, and creativity of our Kids & Youth to help foster exploration, growth, and learning through different avenues.

Sunday Morning

Sunday mornings, our Kids & Youth program holds hands-on activities to enable young people to explore new ideas and wrestle with moral conundrums. For our kids, we’ve used different models including story telling and play, such as Spirit Play (Home – Spirit Play (spirit-play.com)), to introduce them to UU values and meaningful stories. Our youth are led in a table-top roleplaying game (think Dungeons and Dragons) to explore and solve moral questions, learn democratic decision making, and practice expressing and centering their values.

Service Opportunities

Serving others is a cornerstone of community, and it’s something we emphasize with our Kids & Youth. A few times a year, the Kids & Youth serve breakfast during our First Sunday Feasts and are encouraged to participate in our community “Workships” to help keep our building and grounds looking spiffy. We also look for opportunities to help out in our wider community through collaboration with our other committees.

Special Events

Throughout the year, we hold special events for the First Parish and wider Stoughton community. These include activities such as a yearly visit from Santa and an annual Spring Egg Hunt to fun activities at our Fall and June Fairs. Follow us on Facebook or check back regularly for these events!

Intergenerational Worship Services and Fellowship Events

Throughout the year, we hold special intergenerational services to engage the entire family. In the past, this has included visiting speakers and ministers who delight the young (and young at heart) with scintillating storytelling, magic tricks, music, and more. We also periodically hold informal get-togethers, like game nights, where our families and friends can come together to deepen our connections.

Milestone Programs

Several programs are traditional milestone programs in UU congregations, such as Our Whole Lives (OWL) and Coming of Age. OWL (Our Whole Lives: Lifespan Sexuality Education | UUA.org) is a sexuality education program rooted in UU values to provide a strong foundation for relationships, behaviors, and sexual health and is most often provided for Youth in grades 7-9. The Coming of Age (Celebrating Coming of Age | UUA.org) program varies by congregation but seeks to help young people identify and express their values as they begin to enter young adulthood. Check back for announcements on when these programs will be offered!

Information for Visitors

If you’re visiting First Parish Stoughton for the first time – Welcome!

Here’s some useful information for when visiting with young ones:

• You are more than welcome to attend any service as a family – we love to have little ones in the sanctuary of any age (and their contributions)! 
• All worship services start with everyone upstairs in the sanctuary, and the Kids & Youth are dismissed to the classrooms downstairs about a third of the way through the service. 
• If you need child care while you attend services, you are welcome to drop off your kids aged 1-4 years in the nursery downstairs before the start of service, and pick them up after. If it’s been a quiet month and the nursery is empty when you arrive, let our Ushers know, and we’ll get our on-call childcare volunteer to watch your little one(s).
• Kids & Youth programs will be dismissed at the start of coffee hour. The Youth program sometimes will reconvene until 1PM to continue playing their game, but all are welcome to come and go as needed. 
• You are welcome to come to the classrooms downstairs before the start of service to meet the Kids & Youth facilitator(s) and introduce your family. 
• Reach out to KidsAndYouth@FirstParishStoughton.org for more information or if you have any questions.