Resources for Nursery, preschool

Refuge: The Timeless Story of Christmas

Refuge: The Timeless Story of Christmas

The Christmas story and what follows: the fleeing of Jesus, Mary and Joseph from Herod's soldiers to Egypt. An immigration story, this book has timeless crossover appeal and a message that couldn't be more relevant today as so many leave their homeland for fear of...

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A New Alphabet for Humanity

A New Alphabet for Humanity

Alphabet Words to Inspire Compassion, Kindness and Positivity This book features 26 empowering alphabet words to activate the potential of our children and create a bright future for humanity. A New Alphabet for Humanity teaches children the power of positive words so...

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Teaching the Language of Children’s Spirituality

Teaching the Language of Children’s Spirituality

We as human beings need stories. It's this primal part of who we are as a human race — from the very beginning. That's how we have always made meaning. Telling stories, over and over again. Caryl Cresswell, a recorded minister in Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting, a...

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Sparkling Still LibraryThing Collection

Sparkling Still LibraryThing Collection

Looking for excellent children’s books to illustrate Friends faith and practice? Start HERE with the Sparkling Still LibraryThing collection, a continuously updated catalog by theme and age group.

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Books for these trying times with COVID-19

Books for these trying times with COVID-19

A listing of nine books with brief synopses that we think have a message for children in these trying times. Many of the stories are about children overcoming challenges.We hope the books  encourage you to think about other things, and appreciate the beauty around us....

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Quiet

Quiet

Lesson plan for the home with book, videos and activities. The author reminds us that mindfulness‚ "being quiet, still, and present with one another" is a very special thing. Everything is in such a hurry, busy as busy can be. The birds are flying so fast, the...

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Good People Everywhere

Good People Everywhere

Lesson plan for the home with a book, video and music. Good People Everywhere is a soothing story to help children become mindful of the beautiful, caring people in their world. Each page delightfully unfolds with vibrant, engaging illustrations and endearing stories...

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Centering Tools: Mandalas

Centering Tools: Mandalas

"It all starts with stopping," says author Beth Collea, as she describes how the practice of coloring mandalas helps young children settle. Links are provided to websites with free, printable mandalas from the simple to the intricate.  This tool is useful for family...

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What is Given from the Heart

What is Given from the Heart

A little boy and his mother fall on hard times, but discover that they can still give heartfelt gifts. A touching story of compassion, this is the last picture book authored by one of America's best loved children's authors. "Misery loves company," Mama says to James...

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Settling Routine

Settling Routine

We use this settling routine from Ann Arbor (MI) Friends Meeting with all our kids, sometimes omitting a line or two. It's important to have chairs an appropriate height for all children so their toes can touch the floor. Sitting on the floor with knees bent and feet...

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Loaves and Fishes

Loaves and Fishes

This picture-book version of the Biblical parable of the loaves and fishes tells the story from the perspective of the young boy who offers up his simple lunch of rye bread loaves and fish he'd caught at his quiet fishing spot to Jesus, who uses them to feed the...

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Religious Education for the Home and Small Meeting

Religious Education for the Home and Small Meeting

This is an idea packet assembled for families and small meetings who seek to educate children in Quaker faith and practice. Originally published in 1986, this is a treasure trove, worthy of adaptation and revision given that most Quaker meetings still face these...

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Thy Friend, Obadiah

Thy Friend, Obadiah

Obadiah, a young Quaker boy living in colonial Nantucket, is constantly followed by a sea gull. Obadiah wishes the seagul would leave him alone, but when it does leave, he yearns for its companionship. This story helps young children learn about the importance of...

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Busy Box

Busy Box

A Busy Box can be kept on hand should children arrive at a small meeting with no formal religious education program.  For Meetings with an RE program, the Busy Box is useful to help young Friends quietly join Meeting for Worship before or after the lesson. Friendly...

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Plays for the Christmas Holidays

Plays for the Christmas Holidays

We are grateful to Nancy Pickering of Middletown Friends Meeting (Philadelphia Yearly Meeting) for three plays celebrating the Christmas season This is the Stable, A simple telling of the Nativity with readings from the book by Cynthia Cotten, illustrated by Delana...

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Peaceable Kingdom and the Penn Treaty

Peaceable Kingdom and the Penn Treaty

This lesson explores the Edward Hicks painting, The Peaceable Kingdom (1820), beginning with a famous passage from the book of Isaiah. The focus then turns to the background of the painting depicting the treaty between William Penn and early Friends...

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What Does It Mean to Be Present?

What Does It Mean to Be Present?

This book exploring practical ways to be present could be used as part of a lesson on mindfulness and how we prepare for worship. The illustrations are lovely. Melinda Wenner Bradley has created the attached children's religious education lesson plan, "Looking Back,...

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That Baby in the Manger

That Baby in the Manger

A contemporary and unique children's Christmas book about Jesus' love for all children, That Baby in the Manger offers a needed message about inclusion and acceptance of cultural differences. As the children of a small church struggle with the portrayal of the Holy...

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Holy Week in a Box

Holy Week in a Box

An Episcopalian resource, "Holy Week in a Box" uses simple objects tucked into a small box, along with Bible passages to tell the stories observed during the week leading up to Easter. Each item in the box is a symbol, representing a piece of the gospel narrative:...

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First Day Stories

First Day Stories

First Day Stories is a collection of 12 short stories about Quaker practices and beliefs for preschool children. First Day Stories is not a high adventure book offering deep insights. Instead, it is a gentle book with quiet simple practices that present Quaker life in...

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Faith & Play Quaker Stories

Faith & Play Quaker Stories

FAITH & PLAY™ is a Montessori-inspired curriculum to help children find words and images for expressing the experiences of holy mystery and wonder. Play is children's practice, hence the name Faith & Play, deriving from Faith and Practice. Faith & Play...

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Sparkling Still Curriculum

Sparkling Still Curriculum

A core Quaker curriculum for young children, Sparkling Still provides everything you need to create lessons for children ages 3 to 8 and build a classroom community. Topics include sense of self, family and community, the natural world, the Bible and Quakerism,...

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An Introduction

The Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) is an international, cross-branch, grassroots network of Friends sharing a stewardship for lifelong Quaker faith formation through religious education. We formed in April 2014 and now serve more than 300 Friends in our network. We actively engage and support each other across languages and continents. We gather for regional and annual conferences and offer monthly Conversation Circles via an online conferencing platform. 

Steering Circle

We share leadership as part of our collaborative mission, making decisions using the Quaker ‘sense of the meeting’ process, sitting in expectant, worshipful waiting for the emergence of shared truth. Read more…

Working Circles

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Our work  takes place in ‘circles’ or small groups of Friends who labor on a common task, usually meeting by video conference due to the geographic diversity of the membership. Read more…

The Resource Library

Finders Guide, a sampling of the collection

The QREC Resource Library is a place to share lessons and other educational information in support of our work as Quaker religious educators. This library is a forum for curricula, articles, videos and other educational materials on Quaker themes. You will also find principles, policies and procedures to strengthen operation of your child, youth and adult religious education programs.

Children’s Education

Adult Education

Family

African Quaker Library

Youth Education

Small Meetings

Young Adult Friends

Biblioteca QREC

Events

Find renewal, companionship, and help for nitty gritty issues in Quaker religious education, all the while opening spaces for Spirit to work and listening together for God’s way forward.

QREC holds an annual conference and retreat. In addition we hold online Conversation Circles and post other religious education events as we learn about them.

Conversation Circles

Online conferences for Quaker religious educators to share about their work. Conversations are scheduled for two sessions per topic to encourage international participation.  Join the conversation…

Other Events

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Religious education events of interest to Quakers from all parts of the world. Please let us know about upcoming online or in-person events happening in your area. See the list of upcoming events…

Love at the Heart

Spiritual Practices

Discernment

Active Caring

Quaker Family Culture

Finding the Light

Faith at Home

Home is the heart of faith formation for all families. This is especially true for Friends. As an experiential religion, Quakerism is best learned through living in loving community. Indeed, the vast majority of faith formation for our young Friends happens at home in the busy swirl of daily life.

Become a Member

Submit Resources

Get Announcements

Donate

Attend an Event

Contact Us

Get Involved

QREC depends on all of us sharing our gifts and skills as religious educators. Here are some of the ways you can get involved…