Reflect : Connecting Children to God

For a free pdf download of this resource click here

THANKS JAR

Aim: to remember to thank God all the time

Philippians 4:8 says: ‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.’ This activity is a way of identifying and focusing on positive things in our lives.

Give each child a large container (jars or boxes work fine, you just need to be able to get small pieces of paper in and out of them) and things with which they can decorate it. In advance cut up lots and lots of little pieces of paper, enough for at least 50 for each child, and put them in an envelope with their name on it. Write on the envelope these instructions: ‘THANKS JAR: Spotted something GOOD in your life?
Draw it or write it down, put the paper in the jar and thank God for it.’

Punch a hole in the envelope and attach it to a piece of ribbon to attach to the container. As the children decorate their containers, ask them to tell everyone about something good in their life. It could be something they’ve done this week which they enjoyed, or someone they love. Say that these containers (call them Thanks Boxes or Thanks Jars) are for us to collect notes about good things in our lives. They will
help us remember and thank God for them.

Encourage each child to draw or write one positive thing and put it in their container before they go. Challenge the children to try and use a piece of paper each time they spot something good in their life and to thank God for it when they do. Depending on the age of the children, choose an appropriate length of time and encourage them to open their container to remind themselves of the good things in their life.

Notes for ADAPTING

...for an all-age service setting:

Have some pre-decorated containers for people to choose from, leaving more time for people to draw and write their first ‘thanks’ to put in it.

...for families at home:

These could work really well for families, including those who are not regulars at church. To make sure the instructions get home with the containers, you could print or write them onto luggage labels and attach them.

PRAISE SPAGHETTI

Aim: to have fun thinking of words to praise God

Using either alphabet spaghetti or cooked normal spaghetti, challenge the children to use the pasta to form words which describe God. Encourage them to think of words in worship songs they know as well as normal words which they use in everyday life. When everyone has
done a word, you could take it in turns to say a short prayer using that word. You could also take photos of the words and display them on the wall or on slides during a worship session.

Notes for ADAPTING

...for an all-age service setting:

You could split people into teams and a competition to create the most or longest words to describe God.

...for families at home:

This is a fun activity which could be done during dinner, if adults are happy for children to do this!

SUNSHINE REFLECTION

Aim: to let sunshine inspire us about God

This works best on a sunny day but could also work on a more ‘British’ day. Collect a selection of items relating to sunshine, eg sunglasses, sun cream, a plant in a pot, a hat, a sun shade from a baby’s buggy. Display them in an attractive way and sit everyone down, making sure they can see all the items.

Encourage the children to spend a minute or two looking silently at the objects, then to close their eyes and ask God to inspire them. Allow plenty of time for the children to meet God. Don’t rush. You could spend some time with him too! Read a verse from the Bible about God being light, such as Revelation 22:5: ‘There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.’