GIFT of Emotions: Creating a Mental Health Supportive Space for All Ages
Nov 14, 2024GIFT of Emotions: An Intergenerational Event for Mental Health Awareness and Support
By Rebekah Witt, Youth & Young Adult Director at Opequon Presbyterian Church
and Project Coordinator of the GenOn Christian Parenting Project
Creating a Safe Space for Mental Health Conversations at Church
Sadness, anxiety, grief, depression—we can all be weighed down by our lives and the world around us. But not everyone feels comfortable talking about this or has someone to talk with. Our church decided we needed to provide a courageous space for talking about our mental health. All ages and stages were invited to our monthly Sunday morning Generations In Faith Together (GIFT) event, which was based on Melinda Szymanik's children’s book My Elephant Is Blue.
Family Feud: Using Games to Open Conversations on Feelings
As folks arrived for GIFT, they were invited to sit at round tables filled with pictures depicting various emotions on people’s faces and guess how they felt. Once everyone settled in, we played a rowdy game of Family Feud! One member from each team came forward, held up a wooden spoon, and prepared to hit the buzzer, which was a metal pot. We asked the teams to compete in answering three questions: What animal weighs A LOT? What makes us HAPPY? What is HEAVY to carry? This helped us continue thinking about emotions and how they make our bodies feel.
Using My Elephant is Blue to Teach Emotional Awareness
Churches love eating, and we are no exception! We enjoyed comforting foods that gave us a boost while listening to our story for the day, My Elephant Is Blue. In table groups, we talked about the emotions in the story and shared some of our own experiences. Sometimes, adults hide their feelings from children, but this was clearly a time when everyone opened up.
Reflective Practices: From Coloring to Breath Prayers
As we all know, it can be hard to find time to rest. So, we provided rotating table activities that encouraged everyone to slow down. We had a large coloring poster from Illustrated Ministry, positive affirmations with mirrors, Play-Doh, a sand garden, breath prayers, a fill-in-the-blank poem of emotions, and wooden finger labyrinths. During this time, we played music in the background, which included “Happiness” from “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” and we used Kayla Craig’s Spotify playlist, “Fall: Every Season Sacred.” Before ending our GIFT event in prayer, we showed a Mr. Rogers clip about being kind to ourselves so that we can then love our neighbors.
Building a Supportive Faith Community for Mental Health
People at church have continued to reflect on the story we read, conversations heard, and how they felt walking away from our GIFT event. Heavy emotions were shared in that space, but there was also a sense of comfort and relief in the sharing. Isn’t this the atmosphere that we want to cultivate in our churches? A place where we can bring out the difficult parts of ourselves and have a community that is there to support us? Yes, because the way we feel matters! Our church plans to use additional children’s books to engage one another in conversation about our emotions. Feel free to use our GIFT event outline in your church or find something that works for you as you begin or continue a conversation about mental health and emotions.
GIFT Outline:
- Arrival Table Activity
- Look at pictures on your table and talk about what each person might be feeling
- Family Feud Game
- Name an animal that weighs A LOT
- Name something that makes us HAPPY
- Name something HEAVY to carry
- Let’s eat foods that are comforting to us!
- Dark Chocolate, Bananas, Oats, Berries, Nuts
- Storytime: My Elephant is Blue by Melinda Szymanik
- Conversation
- Why do you think the author chose an elephant to symbolize sadness?
- Why do you think Blue never leaves?
- What struggles did the elephant create?
- What helps you get through times of sadness?
- Restful Table Activities: Rotate items to each table as time allows while playing music in the background, Happiness” from “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown & Kayla Craig’s Spotify Playlist, Fall: Every Season Sacred
- Coloring Poster
- Positive Affirmations in the Mirror
- Playdoh & Sand Garden
- Breath Prayers
- Poem of Emotions (fill-in-the-blank)
- Wooden Finger Labyrinths
- Mr. Rogers Clip
- Closing Prayer
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