A wise lady told me once, “Don’t make your children so different from the world that the world doesn’t want what you have.”  I thought that was great advice, so we have always enjoyed the innocent fun at Halloween.  But some things that go on at this time go beyond fun and can cause fear in children.

A friend of mine wrote me this week with a question about how to talk to her grandchildren about the fear they are experiencing after hearing some Halloween ghost stories.  Here’s what I sent her:

You could start by saying that there are bad spirits in the world, but we don’t have to be afraid of them if we believe in Jesus because of 1 John 4:4 “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.“

Emphasize this is why it is important to stay close to God because He is greater than the bad spirits.  In fact, they are afraid of Him and the Bible says that at the name of Jesus they have to run away (Philip. 2:10 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”) He said we can use His name to tell the bad spirits to go away (Mark 3:15 “and he gave them authority to cast out demons.”) Talk to them about the power of using the name ‘Lord Jesus Christ’

God has given us good spirits called angels to watch over us  (Psalm 91:11-12 “For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.” All of Psalm 91 is about God’s protection – good psalm to memorize.

I would definitely choose at least one scripture to memorize with them that they can quote when they feel fearful.

Two that I always use with children are:
Joshua 1:9 “I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 56:3  “What time I am afraid, I will trust in God.”

Tell them about when Jesus used scripture to battle the devil (Luke 4)
There is power in the Word (Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.“)

Tell them that God doesn’t want us to be afraid (2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”)

Lead them to talk to God about their fears.

A good book to teach children to use this holiday to celebrate God’s victory over evil spirits is Halloween: Is It for Real? by Harold Myra

Please check out http://www.ministry-to-children.com for great insights and ideas to help use Halloween to emphasize trusting Jesus.

Joshua 1:9
…the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We all need to be aware that ‘God is with us wherever we go.’  This is called ‘practicing the presence’.  If you would like to learn more about this for yourself, I suggest reading Practice the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.  In it he says, “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.”

Begin to practice the presence of the Lord daily in your life, if you don’t already, and then lead your little ones to grasp the concept that God is always with them.  Here are some simple suggestions to get started:

Go outside in the morning and talk about how God will always be with us just as the sun will always come up every morning.  Thank God that He is always with us.  Paint a picture of the sun.

Make a night time picture with moon and stars and thank God for being with us in the dark.

Make a Bible verse reminder to hang on the fridge by pasting pictures of the different places your family may go.  Write the verse out and repeat it often. (see picture above)

In everything you do be sure to include the thought of the presence of God – as playing say, “God, I’m glad you are here with us.”  As going to the grocery store say, “God, thank you that you are with us and will help us as we shop.”

Find pictures of children in other lands to color and talk about God is with them just as he is with us here  – Look at a globe or a map and share Joshua 1:9.

Sing the Bible verse to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”:

‘God, you’re with us wherever we go,
wherever we go, wherever we go.
God, you’re with us wherever we go;
God, you’re always near.’

Sing about where you are going or what you are doing – ex. God, you’re with us as we ride in our car, when we hurt ourselves, when we play at home, as walk in the park, when we are feeling sad, when we are feeling glad, when we visit a friend, etc.

Lay this foundation early and practicing the presence will be firmly established in your children’s lives.  What a relationship they will have with the Lord!!

Never think it is too early to start establishing God’s Word in a child!!

1 Samuel 1:23
And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord establish His word.” So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

In Bible days, weaning didn’t take place for 3 to 5 years.  This scripture seems to support spending those years establishing God’s Word in the child.

This week we are emphasizing the Bible verse “A brother is born to help in time of need” (Proverbs 17:17b)

Today Grant and I read the story of Moses in The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes; we talked about how Moses’s big sister helped her little brother in time of need. We also read Courage the Monkey in which the little brother helped his big brother have courage. We read a favorite again today We’re Very Good Friends, My Brother and I.

We sang this song:Grant Has a New Brother 

We cut out, colored, and put happy faces on paper dolls of Grant and Hudson.  We then covered them in plastic to make them durable to play with.

A simple activity but it gave us opportunity to talk about the fact that brothers are friends and that Grant can help Hudson and one day Hudson will be able to help him.

When Hudson was crying today, we stopped what we were doing and prayed for him to be happy and not cry.

I think Grant loves his brother!

How fun to be able to spend time with Josh and Becca during these special days in their family.  What a privilege to be with Grant as he grows to love his new brother.   This week we are using Proverbs 17:17b with him and Hudson – “. . . a brother is born to help in time of need”.

Grant and I found a picture of an older brother helping his younger brother and glued it onto a styrofoam plate.  I wrote the verse on the plate and we tied a ribbon to it and hung it on a door knob for him to look at all week.

Becca let Grant pick out Hudson’s clothes for the day.  Grant helps with diaper changing by taking the dirty diaper to the trash with great enjoyment.  He checks his diapered Teddy for poo often.

We read about Joseph and his brothers in Joseph and His Brothers: Genesis 37-47 for Children (Arch Books).  We talked about how sad it was for the brothers to be so unkind to Joseph.  We prayed that God would help Hudson and him to be good friends and help one another. We read We’re Very Good Friends, My Brother and I.

We sang “You’re Something Special” from Especially For Children (classic moments from) The Bill Gaither Trio.  You can download the song here and see the lyrics here.

It seems like just yesterday I was using these same activities with Josh when Jer was born.  Moms, don’t miss a moment with your little ones because with the blink of your eye, they will be grown and having little ones of their own

(This is another lesson from Here a Little, There a Little,  a compilation of  Bible activities I created years ago to use with my preschool children.  It was designed to spend a week memorizing the verse and reinforcing it through 5 Bible lessons and 5 activities.)

Self-Worth
(a sense of your personal worth and value to God and others)

Bible Verse: I will praise God for I am wonderfully made.  Psalm 139:14

Bible Stories:

Psalm 139:14 Did you know that God made you?  He made you when you were in Mommy’s tummy.  He made your arms and legs, your eyes, nose, ears, hands, feet.  He made your inner parts too- your heart, your stomach, your lungs that help you breathe.  God did such a wonderful work when he took all these parts and knit them together into you.  I’m glad God made you.  I praise God that you are wonderfully made.

Proverbs 16:4 God has made everything for His own purposes.  He made you for His purpose.  He made Mom and Dad and brother for his purpose. We must ask God what he wants us to do.  God will show us why He made us and what He wants us to do with our lives.  Let’s ask God to help us know why He made us.  We need to remember that God has a special plan for us.

Psalm 150 The Bible says we were made to praise God.  We should praise Him for His wonderful works.  We should praise Him for being so great.  We should praise Him with music.  Everything alive should praise God.  Let’s praise Him right now with words and singing.

Genesis 1:26-28 In the very beginning God made the world.  He made plants and animals to live in His world but He wanted someone to take care of His world.  So God made man and woman.  He made them like Himself.  He told them to take care of the plants and animals.  He also told them to have children.  That is how we all began.  God made Adam and Eve and they had children.  Then their children had children and on and on until your Mom and Dad had you.

Job 33:4-6 The Bible says that God has made me.  God has breathed life into me.  Because of God I live – I run – I eat – I sleep – I play – I grow. The Bible also says I belong to God.  Since God made me, I belong to Him.  We should always remember we belong to God and try to act like we are His children.  God wouldn’t like one of His to act unkind.  That would make Him unhappy.  God made us wonderful.  Let’s make God happy that He made us.

Prayer: Thank you God for making me wonderful.  Help me to act like I am your wonderful creation.

Activities for baby:

Let him look in a mirror as you repeat the verse

Listen to music and say, “Thank you God for ears”

Let him smell a flower and say, “Thank you God for my nose”

While feeding say, “Thank you God for my mouth”

Clap hands and sing, “Thank you God for hands”

Activities for older preschoolers:

Look at baby pictures and foot print when he was a baby

Trace his hands and sing, “Thank you God for hands”

Let him smell different spices and say, “Thank you God for my nose”

Let him look in a mirror and thank God for making him so wonderful as he points out his eyes, ears, nose,
mouth, hair, chin, etc.

If you haven’t already, hang a growth chart on the wall and measure his height.

Have him color, run, jump, help in some way.  Talk about how God made him so wonderful that he can do                all these things.

Look at pictures of the inside of our bodies and repeat the Bible verse.

Video

This is a great video for teaching  your little one how special God made them.

Songs:

You Are Special cd with several self-esteem building songs by Mister Rogers

Because He Lives mp3 download (second verse is a favorite I have always sung to babies.)

“You’re Something Special” on the cd Especially For Children (classic moments from) The Bill Gaither Trio I highly recommend this whole cd

“Blue, Blue Sky”

Singing and Signing “You are Very Special”

“Five Senses”

“God Loves Me”

Books:

The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes