Have you heard of SAD? It is the Standard American Diet made up of processed, nutrient-deficient, fast foods that are not supplying what is needed to stay healthy and be successful. The Bible has something to say about that: Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.(Isaiah 55:2)
If the eating habits of you and your children are ‘SAD’, you will want to check out this new children’s book that addresses the issue in such a way anyone can begin making wise choices in eating. I’m excited to recommend The Adventures of Junk Food Dude by Robyn Openshaw. Robyn writes a blog (http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/) with a passion to help others achieve fantastic health and energy eating whole foods .
Her new book expresses her passion in an interesting story of two little boys and how the differences in their food choices affect their lives. Your child will learn about healthy eating without the feeling of having sat through a lesson on Nutrition. The illustrations by Lori Sume make the book very inviting to children.
If you are looking for a good children’s book to help reinforce healthy eating habits, you will love this book!! There’s even a fun quiz at the end that has you sorting nutritious food and junk food. And the story not only teaches healthy eating, it teaches care and concern for friends! This is an excellent product to help you Train Up the Child!!!
God likes things organized. Just read in Exodus 36-40 and see the details He gives for the furnishings in the Tabernacle and the arrangement of the furniture. As always, He is our example. If He wants His House organized, our homes should be organized. But I’m aware that with all you have to do, the house sometimes becomes low on your list of priorities. However, getting organized will save time in the long run, and having a clutter-free home will have a calming affect on your children.
Accomplishing this comes very easy for some people, but others find it more difficult. We can claim some of God’s promises that apply here:
Philip. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
1 Thes. 5:24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Ask God to help you ‘watch over carefully all that goes on throughout your household ‘(Proverbs 31:27)
Don’t beat yourself up if your gift is not organization – but don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who do have that gift – it’s all part of ‘bearing one another’s burdens'(Galatians 6:2). Some people really enjoy organizing and would be delighted to help. If that’s not you, you have different gifts that you can share. In fact, some people may tend to be so organized that they will need to learn from you how to sometimes leave the broom and go build a memory!
Read 1 Corinthians 12 to see how the Body of Christ is to work.
Deuteronomy 6 tells us to teach as we go. You can make cleaning and organizing a teaching opportunity as you talk about how God was specific about organizing His house and we should do the same.
Give them age-appropriate jobs to do so they can feel a sense of accomplishment:
(Galatians 6:4 Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won’t need to compare himself with someone else.) Lead them to memorize this scripture.
Be like Mary Poppins and ‘find the fun in every job to be done’. Make a game out of cleaning – for example pretend that a bomb will go off if the job isn’t completed by a certain time; or pretend that the president or Jesus is coming for a visit. I like to lead children in a chant of (1 Cor. 3:9) – ‘we work together; we work together’ as we clean up.
Make a game of it:
And please don’t forget to ask for help if needed 🙂
Train Up The Child is dedicated to helping you fulfill God’s commands to parents. Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs us to teach our children as we go; Isaiah 28:10 instructs to teach ‘here a little, there a little’.
Begin this lesson by creatively making a poster of Ephesians 4:32 and place it on the fridge all week. Read the suggested passages for Bible stories and tell them in your own words. I have given you suggested things to share about each. Do at least one of the suggested activities each day. I am sure you can come up with better ideas on your own – this is just to get you started.
Bible Verse: Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another
Bible Stories:
Luke 10:30-35 A man was walking down a road and some bad men jumped on him and beat him up and hurt him so badly he couldn’t move. Then they left him all alone. A man came by later but he would not help the hurt man. Another man came by, but he wouldn’t help either. Finally a man came by and felt sorry for the hurt man so he stopped and helped him. He bandaged his hurt places and took him to a nice, warm place to stay. Which man was being kind?
Ruth 2 Ruth and her mother-in-law had just moved from another country to Bethlehem. They didn’t have a garden to raise any food, so they were hungry. Ruth went to a man’s field of wheat and asked if she could have the left-overs from his field. The man’s name was Boaz. Boaz told her she didn’t have to get the left-overs, but she could have whatever she needed. Was Boaz kind?
Daniel 1 The bad King Nebuchadnezzar had put Daniel in prison. He was being mean to Daniel and his friends. But one of the king’s men felt sorry for Daniel. Instead of being mean to Daniel like the king wanted him to, he was kind to Daniel and helped him to show the king that God is good.
1 Samuel 18 through 2 Samuel 5 King Saul had been chasing David everywhere. He wanted to kill David because David was so good. David hid in a cave. King Saul came into the cave and didn’t see David. This was David’s chance to get Saul back for being so mean to him. He could have hurt him but would that have been kind? No, David let Saul go unharmed. When Saul found out, he told David, “You have been kind, but I have been evil.”
John 4:6-29 Jesus was sitting at a well where people came to get their water. A lady came to get water while he sat there. She was a Samaritan lady and Jesus was a Jewish man. The Jews did not like the Samaritans and would not talk to them or have anything to do with them at all. In fact they were sometimes very mean to them. But Jesus wasn’t mean to the lady. He began to talk to her and tell her about God and how she could be saved. Jesus was kind to the lady.
Prayer: Help us to show kindness by hugging, helping, sharing, and saying kind words to one another
Activities for younger preschoolers:
Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides
Feed birds or ducks or pet animals and share the verse
Share the verse while changing diaper and point out the kindness you are showing by
caring for him.
Teach him to hug and kiss – share the verse.
Play with ball and talk about playing kindly and sharing
Activities for older preschoolers:
Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides
Make a bird feeder out of a pine cone covered in peanut butter and rolled in bird seed.
hang outside in a tree. Watch for birds and share the verse.
Have him draw a picture and send it to someone just to show kindness.
Bake cookies and take to someone – share the verse as you work
Make or buy playdough and tell them you did it just to show kindness to him.
Describe situations or show pictures of different situations and ask if it is showing
kindness or unkindness –ex. Pushing, sharing, listening to parents, helping someone who falls down, telling someone, ‘I love you’, kicking someone
(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.)
Sharing
Bible Verse: Be Ready to Share I Timothy 6:18 All that believed in Jesus had all things in common. Acts 2:44
Bible Stories:
Matthew 14:15-23 Jesus was teaching the people on the countryside and they all got hungry, but it was too far to go back to the city to get something to eat. There was one little boy there with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Do you know what he did? He shared his lunch with all the people. Jesus was pleased with him.
I Samuel 18:1-4 Jonathan and David were good friends in the Bible. They loved each other. Jonathan loved David so much that he gave him his coat, clothes, and his sword and bow. He had learned to share with his good friend.
I Kings 17:10-15 Elijah was one of God’s preachers. One day he was on a trip and when he got to the city he saw a woman gathering sticks. He asked her for some water and food. She told him she only had enough meal to make one more cake and then she wouldn’t have any more food. Elijah told her that if she would share her last cake wit him, God would bless her with enough food for the rest of her life. She shared her last cake and God did bless her with an unending supply of food.
Philippians 4:10, 14, 18 Paul was in prison. Bad men had locked him in there because he was telling people about Jesus and they didn’t like Jesus. Some people from the town of Philippi wanted to share with Paul while he was in jail. They sent him money, food, and clothes. They also sent him a man named Epaphroditus to take care of him. Paul wrote the Philippians a letter and thanked them for sharing with him.
I Kings 4:9-10 Elisha was also one of God’s preachers like Elijah was. He had some friends that lived in a city named Shunem. Whenever he would pass through that city, his friends wuld share their house with Preacher Elisha. They enjoyed sharing so much that they even built a special room for him to stay in when he was in town. Have you ever shared your room when someone was visiting your home?
Prayer: May we all enjoy sharing our room, toys, time, etc. with others.
Activities for younger preschooler:
Hold his hand and thank him for sharing his hand with you.
Let another child lay on his blanket and thank him for sharing.
Take in another child’s room and talk about that child sharing his room with him.
When he smiles, thank him for sharing happiness
Share Bible verses with him, talking about the Word is the best thing to share with others
Share something of yours with him and talk about being ready to share with him.
Activities for older preschoolers:
Make cookies together and take to a neighbor.
Guide him to choose a toy to share with a friend.
Find pictures of children sharing.
Have guests for supper and talk about sharing food, home, and time with the guests.
Make playdough and share
Make basket, 5 loaves of bread, and 2 fish out of paper.
Share something of yours.
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It is one of the best children’s Bibles I have ever seen!!! I like the fact that it is full of familiar Bible stories, but also the not so familiar Bible Stories that will intrigue and challenge the parents’ Bible knowledge :-). My 2 year old grandson is fascinated by the colorful illustrations; this has become one of his favorite books. Take a look here at one of the stories:
