Appreciating God's Creation

Growing up going to Sunday School as a little child, one of my favorite songs to sing was "If I were a butterfly" by Brian Howard. I think it's a fun song to learn with your kids and come up with your own actions for the different animals. Click here for the lyrics and to listen to the audio clip. Learning new songs can be a fun way to have devotionals together. Maybe you can print out pictures of various animals and teach your children about how God created those intricate details. Spend time out in the gardens and parks together!

Jonah Learns to Obey

One of the first devotionals we ever did with our daughter was shortly after she turned 2. We bought her her first Bible - The Play-and-Learn BIBLE. The thing we loved about that Bible was it was interactive and it taught her to read. We read that story countless times because I think she felt like she could relate to Jonah in the aspect of obedience. At the end of the story, was a great memory scripture using Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NLT) - Obey his [God's] commands.

Each time we read the story, we would talk about a different aspect of the story. We would talk about the city of Nineveh - as she liked the sound of the word. Sometimes we would talk about why Jonah disobeyed God and how Jonah felt about it - then eventually relating it back to how we can learn from this story. Sometimes we would focus a few minutes on the big fish that swallowed Jonah and we would try and imagine what it felt like being inside the fish. We have a story-teller type of child so she could easily share with us her imagination. 

Different kids need different illustrations and tools to help them get the idea. Sometimes we need to learn what works best by trying different methods. If a method is not working or keeping their attention, we just stop and change directions. It's okay to stop and come back to the story at a different time when they might be more interested. The point it to keep reinforcing how the Bible applies to our lives and how Mommy and Daddy use it as well.

Good song to learn as a family: Trust and Obey 

For kids who are young, even learning the chorus is simply enough and easy to remember.  Another idea would be to jazz the chorus up with a rap of your own!

Happy Heart

Ever since the kids were little (as in starting around 9 months old), we used the word "Happy" a lot with them. It seemed like it was close to age 1, they started showing more emotions. When a toy was taken away, they would possibly throw a fit and break down into tears. Or if they did not get something their way, the same would occur. Our daughter learned the word "Happy" by 10 months old and whenever we would see her get upset about something, we would say "Happy" and she would sit there and clap her hands. Now she is 4, and we have been talking about having a happy heart. 

Great Devotional Idea: Watch the Veggie Tales movie titled "Madame Blueberry". It's a hilarious half an hour movie that kids of most ages will enjoy. The kids learn that a thankful heart is a happy heart. The first time I watched it as a parent, I remember feeling totally challenged in my heart to change and be grateful myself. 

Hint: If you want to cut down on the movie time, you can fast forward those Special Bonus Songs that are part of the movie intermissions. But be considerate of any of the older siblings that might want to see them.

Additional Ideas: Make some popcorn for the kids and serve them in brown paper bags shaped into cones. Get them into PJs and tell them it's going to be a special movie night with Bob and Larry.

Questions you can ask at the end of the movie:

1) Why was Madame Blueberry so "blue" [sad] in the beginning of the movie?

2) Did she have a lot of things in her house? 

3) Was she being grumpy or happy?

4) Madame Blueberry learned that a grateful heart is a happy heart? How can you have a happy heart? 

The point is to talk with our kids about being grateful for the things we have. Ultimately having a happy heart. Maybe talk about the times in the week that we haven't been happy and explain why. It's good for us parents to share what makes us unhappy and how we can get grateful.

Memory Verse: Rejoice in the Lord always. Phil. 4:4 or for younger kids we re-phrased it to say "Be Happy Always". 

Take a Walk

This is an idea we got from The Spiritual Growth of Children book. 

Our kids chose to sing 3 songs. Then we sat down and had them close their eyes. I said "Imagine that we are now taking a walk in the forest". Do you see a deer? Do you see the trees? Then make sounds of different animals in the forest. Have the younger ones guess what animals make those sounds. Example, make the sound of an owl, snake or woodpecker.

Have them open their eyes. We gave a piece of paper to each kid to have them draw an animal that they saw in the forest. Our 4 year old drew a big picture of a tree that looked scary to her and I drew an owl. Then we cut out those pictures.

We turned off the lights and used a flashlight to reflect the images that we cut out on the wall. We talked about how we feel when we see those images in the dark. We asked them what makes them scared? 

We turned on the lights and read Psalm 23: 4 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me".

We talked about how God is with us and protects us everyday. We ended with praying at bedtime and sang the song "God is bigger than the Boogey-man" from the Veggie Tales movie.