Lesson 1FEELING SAFEApproximate Teaching Time: (20minntes)

The first two lessons focus on feelingsafe and unsafe. It is important toremember that young children may notunderstand the concept of feelings oremotions. They need very concreteexamples and lots of repetition.Because young children can be veryeasily frightened, a positive contextmust first be established beforeintroducing unsafe feelings.

OBJECTIVES./ To give children the opportunity to

relate and discuss positive personalexperiences .

./ To enable children to identify timeswhen they feel safe.

./ To help children identify safe feelingsas "Yes" feelings.

Introduction:Today we are beginning lessons that willhelp you to learn how to stay safe. We knowthat God loves us and wants us to be safe.In our first lesson we're going to spendsome time talking about feelings.

Feeling SafeUse the following story to introduce thetopic of feelings.

StoryIt was a very special day for Joseph andSarah. They were twins and it was theirbirthday. They were both seven years old.Mom and Dad had promised to take them toMcDonalds for a big birthday party. Theyhad been looking forward to this day for avery long time. Now the big moment hadarrived and they were very excited. Theywere all packed into the car and headed off

to McDonalds. When they arrived everyonegot a party hat. Then they had burgers andfries and more burgers and fries and ofcourse, something to drink. Then they hadice cream. Dad got some on his nose andeveryone laughed. Joseph's friend, David,started to sing and soon they were allsinging their favorite songs. At last it wastime to go home and everyone said it wasone of the best parties ever.

Did the children enjoy the party?

What did they like?

How do you know?

How did they feel?

How do you know?

The twins felt happy on their birthday .They were very excited and enjoyedthemselves a lot. When we are happy,we celebrate with our friends.

Draw some faces illustrating variousemotions on the board, e.g. happy, sad,surprised, upset, proud, and scared. Ask thechildren to identify the feelings associatedwith the expressions. Ask them to list thethings that make them feel happy, sad, upset,scared, etc. Try to elicit an example fromeach child and ask them to select a face thatmatches the feeling. Encourage the childrento think about how they express feelings.Remind them that we can talk to people wetrust about our feelings.

Say to the children: People we can trust area special gift from God. God has given ussome adults as special helpers with whomwe can share our feelings and our secrets.We can trust our special helpers.

God gives us feelings too. Feelings are partof what makes us special and unique.(Unique means that there is no else just lik~you or just like me in the whole ~orld!) .It IS

important to share feelings. Shanng feelmgshelps us understand them.

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I'm going to explain how feelings work. Onthe outside we have our bodies. Our bodieslet us know ifit's too cold by making usshiver and they let us know if it's too warmby making us sweaty. On the inside we havefeelings and they let us know things too.Your feelings are inside you and yourfeelings can tell you things about what'shappening to you. Different things give usdifferent feelings. When we are lookingforward to something, like Santa Claus orgoing to the zoo, we have nice, happyfeelings.

In the Stay Safe program we will be lookingat times when we feel safe and times whenwe don't feel safe. Let's talk about feelingsafe first. Write the word "safe" on theboard. Encourage children to talk abouttimes when they feel safe, places where theyfeel safe and people with whom they feelsafe.

Do you think Joseph and Sarahfelt safewhen they were at their birthday party?

Yes, we usually feel safe when we are withour friends.

Here is a story about James making newfriends.

StoryThis is a story about a boy called James. It'sa story about a time when James felt safe.James was seven years old. He had to go toa new school in the city because his Dad hadchanged jobs. James felt sad leaving hisfriends at the old school. But the teacherwho met him at the new school smiledkindly and showed him to his classroom.

The teacher and the children in his classwelcomed him. At break time Amy, the girlbeside him, gave him some chocolate. Atlunch time one of James' new friends, Neil,talked to him about playing soccer. Jamesfelt safe in his new class with his newfriends.

Did James like his new class? Why?Why did James feel safe?When do you feel safe?

How did you feel on your first day in thisschool?

The teacher might also like to tell thechildren about her first day as a teacher inthe school.

We are all God's children. We are part ofGod's family and God wants us to help eachother and take care of each other and bekind to each other. James' classmatesshowed that they are kind by making Jamesfeel welcome.

Write the heading "Yes feelings" on theboard. Ask the children for examples oftimes when they felt safe and list them underthis heading.

In the Stay Safe program safe feelings arecalled "Yes" feelings. One thing that youwill hear many times when we have our StaySafe lessons is that "God loves us so muchthat God wants us to be safe."

Follow-up activities• Tell James' story to an adult you know andtalk to him or her about times when you feelsafe.

Closure:Today we talked about feeling safe. Feelingsafe is a "yes" feeling. In our next lessonwe will talk about times when we feel unsafeand learn what to do in unsafe situations.

[Homework: See worksheet for thislesson.]

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STAY SAFEI LESSON 1 Grades 1& 2

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