Here is a week of ideas to teach attentiveness.  Begin by creatively making a poster of one of the following verses and place it on the fridge all week.  Read the suggested passages for Bible stories or thoughts 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.  Remember to teach as you go; here a little, there a little.

Bible Verse:

Study to be quiet. 1 Thessalonians 4:11
We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.  Hebrews 2:1

Bible Stories:

Mark 1:35 Jesus loved to get alone with God so he could be quiet and just listen to God. Usually Jesus would get up very early in the morning to go to a quiet place. There he would pray to God and be quiet and listen to God talk to him.

Psalm 29:3 and 1 Chronicles 16:33   We can hear God in many ways if we will be quiet and listen to God. The Bible says God’s voice is in the waters and the thunder. The Bible also says the trees of the wood sing out the presence of the Lord . If we are quiet we can hear God in many ways.

Luke 2:41-49 Jesus went to the temple when he was 12 years old. He was so glad to get to go. He wanted to learn all he could from the teachers at the temple.  When  his parents got ready to leave they couldn’t find Jesus.  They finally found him sitting with the teachers and listening quietly as they taught about God. Can you be quiet while your teacher or preacher teaches about God?

II Thessalonians 3:12 Jesus wanted everyone to work quietly.  He knew that was the best way to work. When you are talking loudly while you work you can’t do your  best on what you are doing.  If someone else is talking and working and you are not quiet they can’t do their best.. We must study to be quiet while we work or while others work or talk.

Matthew 5-7 One day Jesus went on a mountain and a great many people followed him to the top, of the mountain.  Jesus saw the people and began to teach them. The people sat and listened to Jesus preach about God for hours quietly.  Can you sit and listen quietly when someone is preaching about God?

Prayer: Help us be attentive to God and listen to our teachers and parents.

Activities for baby:

Look him in the eyes without saying anything as you make different expressions
Show a picture of Jesus praying alone
Let him hear different sounds: clock, bell, squeak toy, etc.
Sing quietly to him
Talk in a strong voice and soft voice, a whisper and a shout

Activities for older preschoolers:

Find picture of Jesus praying alone with God and make a puzzle
Make list and gather things that are quiet things to do in “Big Church”
Walk in woods and be very quiet, listen for “God sounds” (birds, rustle of leaves, etc)
Play silent game -who can be quiet the longest
Paint picture without saying a word
Look for clock hidden in room
Identify 5 different expressions on mother’s face – ex. happy, sad, mad, etc.

Songs: Make up songs by fitting  Bible verses or thoughts on attentiveness to a familiar tune
Suggestion: (Tune of Are You Sleeping)
I am listening; I am listening
Yes I am; yes I am
Listening to my parents.
Listening for God sounds
Quietly today; quietly today

The bunny stays in a rabbit hole in the ground all winter.  When spring comes, the bunny comes out of  his hole.  We can relate this to Jesus being in the tomb for three days, but on Easter morning, He came out and is alive today.

Eggs remind us of new life.   Coloring them reminds us of how beautiful our world is as the earth comes back to life again with new flowers and new leaves and grass.  Relate this to Jesus coming back to life.

New chicks, bunnies, lambs, and ducks are  also reminders of new life.    Jesus gives us new life by what He did on the Cross for us.

Put Bible verses on the eggs you hide and then gather together to read them all.  Some suggested verses are:

Revelation 21:5 Jesus makes all things new.

Galatians 2:20  Jesus Christ lives.

Matthew 28:6  Jesus is risen.

Song of Solomon 2:12  The flowers appear on the earth.

2 Cor. 5:17 (Living)   When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!

Make a cross out of twigs or craft sticks and keep it in a prominent place during the Easter season.  Point out that it is empty because Jesus didn’t stay on the cross or in the tomb . . . He is alive!!

A great book to teach the real meaning of Easter is Easter Bunny, Are You For Real?

10-hooray This is a song that children really love about the empty tomb .  It is from Every Song a Bible Story from Maranatha Music.

Make Easter a family time of worshiping together and thinking about the risen Lord.  Read the Easter story together from Matthew 27-28, Mark 15 – 16, or Luke 23-24.

Happy Easter from my family to yours.

Creatively work together to display each day’s verse on the fridge. (cut, color, or paint a heart and put the verse on it)

Repeat the verse often during the day as you reinforce it as you go – here a little, there a little. (Deuteronomy 6:7), (Isaiah 28:10)

Read the Bible stories yourself and then tell them in your own words. Be animated and use visuals when possible.

Have fun establishing God’s Wird in your children this week!!!!

Day One

Bible Verse or Thought: Proverbs 17:17 – A friend loves at all times.

Story: David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18 1-4)

Activity for Baby to 3: Have a friend over to play with child. Tell story of David and Jonathan. Share toys. For infant, spend time talking about and thanking God for all the baby’s friends, after reading story.

Older Activity: Have child help make cookies and then invite a friend over to share them with. Talk about ways to show love to our friends.

Day Two

Bible Verse or Thought: 1 John 4:7 – Love one another.

Stories: Elisha’s Friends (2 Kings 4:8-11); Abraham and Lot (Genesis 13:1-18)

Activity for Baby to 3: Tell the story of Elisha and talk about how you prepared a room for baby to show your love for him. Point out things in baby’s room.

Older Activity: Read story. Draw a picture of the story.

Day Three

Bible Verse or Thought: Galatians 5:13 – Help one another
Story: Four Friends (Mark 2:1-12)

Activity for Baby to 3: Make a card for a friend and pray for for their friends.

Older Activity: Same as for Baby to 3

Day Four

Bible Verse or Thought: 2 Corinthians 1:24 – We are helpers.

Story: We Work Together – (Nehemiah 1:1-11, 2:1-20, 3:1-32, 6:15-16)

Activity for Baby to 3: Help fold laundry or pick up toys.

Older Activity: Play blocks together and pretend to build the wall as you tell the story. Dads, let child hammer some nails in some scrap wood while you supervise.

Day Five

Bible Verse or Thought: Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another.

Stories: A Kind Man (The Good Samaritan) – (Luke 10:30-35); Philip’s New Friend – (Acts 8:1-39)

Activity for Baby to 3: Do something special for baby or child like making him cookies or getting him a new inexpensive toy. Give him a hug and lead child to give someone a hug. Talk about ways he can show kindness.

Older Activity: Read story. Say Philip showed kindness by reading the Bible to his friend and telling him about God. Let’s be kind to our friend ______ and tell him about God. Lead child to send a Bible verse or Bible story to one of his friends.

Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This was first announced to the shepherds, who were the lower class citizens of that day . . . Jesus was born for all mankind, rich and poor.

Have a birthday party for Jesus, complete with cupcakes and candles and singing happy birthday to Him.  Our family does this sometime during the season when we can give Jesus full attention apart from the gift giving to each other.  The present for Jesus is always the first to go under the tree, wrapped in gold or silver paper.  It is filled with papers from previous years where we have all drawn on one side pictures of several things we are thankful for through the last year.  On the other side we have written the things we want to give Jesus in the coming year such as more time with Him or showing more compassion for others, etc.  We open the gift at the birthday party and read what each wrote the previous year,  make the sheet for the present year,  and then wrap it back up.  We end the evening with singing Christmas carols by candle light.

Thank you for celebrating the birth of Jesus each day this month with us through this blog. We wish you a very Happy Christmas Day!

In an earlier era, the general store stocked about a thousand different products. But today, the typical Wal-Mart superstore stocks 130,000 items. Not long after the Halloween candy is eaten, the sounds of Jingle Bell Rock start to invade department stores and the “happy holidays” greetings begin to be heard. The rush is on! The traffic increases. People spend the night at Toys ‘R Us just to have a chance at buying a Nintendo Wii.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

For a long time, we have incorporated an activity into our Christmas traditions, called ‘The Christmas Web’. Recently we visited the Antebellum Plantation at Stone Mountain and saw that this was done way back around the turn of the 19th century.

The idea is that the true message of Christmas has become lost in a ‘web of commercialism’. We tell our kids that it is their job to find the true meaning of Christmas. We put all of them in one bedroom with the door closed while we take 5 rolls of yarn (one for each child). We weave the rolls like a giant spider web all over the house into every room and out onto the patio. It is hard to even move when it is complete. At the end of the roll, we tie a small symbolic gift. The gift has been a small flashlight that symbolizes ‘turning the light on to dispel the darkness’ in our world, or a new cup that symbolizes ‘being the kind of vessel God can use’.

While the children follow their own web through the house, we talk about finding the true meaning of Christmas that is mysteriously hidden in all the hustle and bustle of the season. Mark 4:11 And Jesus said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.” In Col. 1:26-27, Paul writes, “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is the real meaning of Christmas.

Music Machine: The Fruit of the Spirit

Hide Em in Your Heart Vol 1 & 2 by Steve Green

Especially for Children…of all ages by Bill Gaither

Songs for Saplings

Kids’ Praise: Sunday School Songs

Books

The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes

Joseph Forgives His Brothers – Arch Books This is just 1 of about 200 Arch Books; each one tells a different Bible story with colorful illustrations.

The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale

Santa, Are You For Real?

Easter Bunny, Are You For Real?

Thanksgiving, What Makes It Special?

My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts

Sammy’s Gadget Galaxy: A Book About Patience (Building Christian Character) This is 1 of many character building books by Michael Waite

9 Fruits Alive (GodCounts Series)

Memory Verse:   In everything give thanks.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Character Quality – Thankfulness

Bible Thoughts: (Read  and then tell  in your own words)

Hebrews 1:15 God wants us to give Him thanks more than anything.  He would rather us tell Him “thank you” than to give Him money.  He would rather us tell Him “thank you” than give Him presents.  God likes to hear “thank you”.

Psalm 119:1 David thanked God for everything God did.  He thanked him for the good things.  He even thanked God for the bad things that happened.  David thanked God even when he was hurt because it helped him to learn God’s Word.  The bad things that happen to us can help us learn more about God when we go through the hurtful things. God wants us to thank Him when good things happen and not so good things happen.

John 6:1-13 One day Jesus was teaching a lot of people and they were all hungry.  Jesus took what food was given to him by a little boy and thanked God for the food.  God made enough food from that to feed all the people.  Jesus gave thanks for His food and so should we.

Luke 17:19 One day 10 sick men came to see Jesus.  They asked Jesus to help make them well.  He told them how to be healed.  When they obeyed him, they were healed.  All 10 were healed but only 1 came back to thank Jesus.

Psalm 139:14 David thanked God for making him.  He said, “I will thank God for making me wonderfully”  David thanked God for making all of his body – eyes, nose, mouth,  ears, hands, feet, stomach, etc.  Thank God for making all of you.

Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for all You have given us.

Activities for baby:
Thank God for someone special; show picture of them.
Pull pictures of things out of ‘thank you box’.
Show familiar objects while you say “thank you, God for…”
Sing “In Everything Give Thanks”.
Play with hands, feet, etc while you say “thank you, God for…”

Activities for older preschoolers:
Thank God for someone special and make a card for them.
Look for pictures of things to be thankful for and put in a ‘thank you box’.
Paste picture of foods (favorite and not so favorite) on a paper plate and write the Bible verse on it.
Make paper cut outs of the 10 sick men and act out the story.
Play ball together and thank God for each part of the body as you use them.

Songs: “In Everything Give Thanks” (be creative and put the verse to a simple tune)

Books:

The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes

He Remembered to Say Thank You (Arch Books)