Making a blessing tree gives you the opportunity to share blessings. Make an impression on children and influence them to be a blessing to others.

Count Your Blessings Craft and Activity

Supplies:

Construction paper, a marker, and finger paints.

Directions:

1. Draw a simple tree outline on construction paper.
2. Let children paint leaves on the tree with finger paints.
3. As the paint is drying, have the children tell you things that have and things they enjoy and like doing.
4. Explain that all we have is from God. God blesses us. The things that we have and do are blessings. Psalm 100:4 – “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”
5. Write or have them write on their picture the blessings that they have. Remind them about all the things that they said they have and enjoyed doing.
6. Have children think of ways that they can be a blessing to others.

Thanksgiving is not the only day of the year that we should count our blessings. Everyday of the year we should count our blessing and praise God.

Count your blessings Today!

Have you heard “I’m bored” or want something fun for your children to do? Fall can be a time of learning while you “bust the boredoms”.

Start by sending your children outside or go to a park and gather leaves. Look for leaves of all shapes, colors, and sizes. See who can find the biggest, smallest, or most unusual leaf.

Make a movie- Plan your character, setting,  problem, plot, and solution. Use a video camera to tape the adventures you encounter as you search for the perfect leaf.

After the leaves are gathered, you can dry them or use them as they are.

Tracing and imprinting- Tape a leaf to a piece of paper and let younger children trace around it. Put the leaf under the paper. Use the side of a crayon to roll over the leaf, making an impression.

Story or comic strip- Decide who your characters will be. Choose leaves for the characters in your story. Take a big sheet of paper.  Glue or tape leaves to the paper. Draw arms, legs, and a head onto the paper, connecting it to the leaf. Add your story and share with others.

Notebooking- Make a notebook with the different leaves that you found. Label the parts of each leaf and what type of leaf it is.

Bible pumpkin painting- Paint your favorite Bible character or Bible story on a pumpkin. This is a picture of King David. The picture at the beginning is of Jesus wearing a crown. We used acrylic paint on the pumpkin. Use your pumpkin to tell others your favorite Bible story.

Have fun as a family and bust the “boredom’s”.

Use fall nature objects to paint a masterpiece. This multi- sensory activity helps people of all ages to use their imagination and creativity. Younger children have fun and learn through the painting experience. Older children and adults can put thoughtfulness and detail into their designs.

Fall nature items can include:

Gourds, Potatoes, leaves, pine cones, gumballs, nuts, sticks, grasses, and weeds. There are many more. Go on a scavenger hunt and you will discover many interesting objects that God has made.

A fun advantage to using nature is that your painting will look different each time you paint something. You do not need to paint in straight lines. Try different directions and techniques.

1. Choose what nature objects you want to use.
2. Put down a plastic tablecloth or a sheet of plastic for EASY cleanup. Keep this for simple cleanup of craft projects.
3. Gather a variety of paint colors, dishes with paint to roll your objects in, paper plates to set your painted nature objects on, and a cloth for quick wipe-ups.
4. Roll or thoroughly coat the item you are using  in the desired color of paint.
5. Have fun! Drag, roll, dab, spin, twist, flop, and swish. Try ideas that pop into your imagination. Use a new color and mix the designs together.
6. Watch this video for more ideas and techniques.

Make your paintings into fall or thanksgiving cards. Give them to older people, shut ins, out of town relatives, or anyone who could use a smile.

Have fun painting and teaching your children how God has made each detail of nature!

God Made Me

Preschoolers love to play and learn about themselves. Let them use their wiggles to learn that God made them special.

There are many activities you can use to engage children in learning. Incorporate all of the senses into play to keep the child’s interest and help them to learn. Confucius said “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand”. Try some of these ideas and add your own to teach Genesis 1:27 “God created man”.

Throughout the activities use repetition and be excited. Use these phrases and fill in the blank with the body part you are talking about. ” God gave you___.”  “Where are your___.” ” What do you use your___ for?”

• God made my hands

Have a small pan of water and a cloth. Let them use their hands to wash a toy. When they are finished put a few ice cubes in the water. Talk about how God gave them hands to feel the warm and cold water.

• God made my feet

Allow children to take off their socks and shoes. Let them walk on different textures. Examples – a plastic bag, play dough, hard flooring, carpet, packing bubbles, leaves. Use your imagination. Join in on the fun. Children love it when you have fun with them. Talk about how God gave them feet to walk and run.

• God made my eyes

Let the children throw colored scarves or beanbags in the air. Call out a color and have them bring it to you. Cheer and clap as you tell them that God gave them eyes to see the colors.

• God made my mouth

Sing fun songs with actions. Between songs tell the children that God gives us a mouth so that we can sing and talk. When you are finished drink juice. Tell them we can thank God that we have mouths to drink and taste the yummy juice.

If You’re Happy And You Know It – author unknown

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands

Repeat with:

Stomp your feet
Shout “Hooray”!
Do all three!

Head and Shoulders – author unknown

Head and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
Head and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,

Head and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes  God made them all!

• God made my ears

Go for a walk and listen for sounds or use a wooden spoon to bang on objects that are safe to hit. Talk about how some sounds are loud and others are quiet. Tell them God gave you ears to hear sounds.

• God made my nose

Have different foods, flowers, and perfumes for the children to smell. Add in a few things that don’t have a smell. Let them tell you what they can smell and what doesn’t smell. Ask them if they like to smell cookies baking. Explain that God gives us a nose to smell many things.

• God made me special

Puzzles and books are another good way to see and hear the ways God makes us special. He makes everyone different but exactly how he wants them.

For this activity I recommend using Create a Face from Lois Graham at Story Time Felts. It comes with multicultural facial parts and the children are able to use the felt pieces to see how God makes everyone different and special. The pieces are washable so you can also use it for the God made my hands water activity.

Give each child a felt nose and have them set it on something that they can smell. Continue using a variety of pieces.  Here are some examples of places they could pick: mouth – food or cd player, Eyes – toy, ears – vacuum. When they are finished let them choose a piece and put it on their felt face. They can make serious or funny faces. Explain that God loves them and made them just the way he wanted them.

• God made you!

Have fun! As you learn with the children remember that God made you special. There is no one exactly like you. God has plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” NIV. Teach others that God made them special!

Keep younger and older children busy and learning with winter activities. Pretend it is winter and have fun!

1. Freeze water in a tray and let your kids play with plastic animals on the ice. Younger children can choose what animals live in snow and what animals live where it is hot. Older children can name where the animals live and place them on a map in the correct location.

2. Fill baggies with shaving cream or spray it on a table. Children can draw winter shapes in the “snow”. Teach shapes by drawing snowmen in different shapes. Ask questions. Example:  Is the square snowman taller than the rectangle snowman?

3. Use crumbled newspaper to make snowballs and have a snowball fight. Count, add, subtract, multiply, and even divide the snowballs.

4. Take two ice cubes and put each in a bowl. Put one outside in the sun and the other indoors. Time how long it takes each one to melt. For younger children freeze plastic animals in the ice cubes. Older children can experiment by setting the ice in different locations and make a graph with their findings.

5. Make an igloo out of a white sheet or plastic draped over chairs or a play tent. Sit inside and read winter stories or books about winter animals.

6. Use packing bubbles for ice. Have fun coloring the “ice” with sidewalk chalk. Use the opportunity to teach younger children colors. Let older children make a picture by popping the bubbles into a design.

7. Use marshmallows, containers, and toothpicks to make snowmen, igloos, forts, animals, or something else imaginative. Be creative!

8. Have a snowflake making contest. Use a variety of art supplies to design one of a kind snowflakes.

9. Look through your house finding things that begin with the letters in SNOW. See how many you can find. The first one to a certain number gets the first popsicle. Younger children can look for colors that match winter items. Examples: white – snow, black – penguin

10. Younger children can use cookie cutters to cut bread into winter shapes. Then frost with marshmallow fluff. Older children will enjoy making this recipe RBP’s Polar Extremes Bible school.

• Tasty Snowflakes

What you need:

Large flour tortillas, waxed paper, kitchen shears, cinnamon, cooking spray, and sugar

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Fold tortilla in half. Fold tortilla in half a second time to make a triangle.

3. Cut out snowflake designs from the tortilla triangle.

4. Unfold the tortilla triangle and place on waxed paper.

5. Lightly spray tortilla with cooking spray.

6. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on tortilla.

7. Bake tortilla for 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp.

What are we teaching our children? Do they understand the meaning and history of this special day? As the years go by it is easy to let pieces of our heritage slip away. This year I encourage you to spend time with your children teaching them about our heritage. History does not have to be dull and boring. Do hands on activities to keep it fun and interesting. Read the history of July 4′th and then try some of the activities I have listed. It will not only keep history alive but you will be making new memories with your family.

History:

Independence Day is celebrated on July 4′th to commemorate the approval of  Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Here is some interesting Independence Day background information from Wikipedia:

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.^[4] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4, 1776. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

Adams’ prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.^[6]

One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on  July 4, 1776.^[7][8] The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth.^[9] Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.^[10] In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States’ 50th anniversary. President James Monroe died exactly five years later, on July 4, 1831, but he was not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

Activities:

The Declaration of Independence signifies freedom. We have many freedoms to be thankful for.

Make a “Declaration of Thankfulness”. Talk about our country and why they wanted freedom and what we have to be thankful for.

• Younger children can draw pictures of things that they are thankful for. Draw pictures of what preschoolers are thankful for and let them color it.
• Older children can read or listen to parts of the Declaration of Independence. Talk about rights that we have, Then write a “Declaration of Thankfulness”. Let them write it on fancy paper and then have an adult burn the edges to make it look old.

Look around your house for everyday things that you can use for music instruments. Water bottles filled with beans, pots, spoons, paperclips in an empty container, and bells are just a few items that you can use for a thankfulness parade. March around playing your instruments and saying things that you are thankful for.

Sidewalk art is a fun way to talk about how we can celebrate what others have done to give us freedom.

• Younger children can draw stars and fireworks with sidewalk chalk. Talk  about how we can do fun things because people wanted us to be free.
• Older children can draw a USA map or pictures of those that signed the Declaration of Independence. Talk about how many people have fought to give us freedom.

Songs to sing:

America the Beautiful

My Country ‘Tis of Thee

Star spangled Banner

Have fun and enjoy this July 4′th in remembrance of why we have Independence Day.

Farm animals are a fun way for children to learn. The first animal sounds many children learn are from the farm. There are many farm animal activities that teach important concepts. Books, poems, songs, and activities can add fun to your day. Here are some easy and fun ways to learn with farm animals.

• Books:

Sit down in a cozy spot and read about the farm. There are many books about farm animals. Old McDonald Had a Farm by Kathi Ember, The Little Red Hen, and the Three Little Pigs are a few classics.

• Book activity- Give children a book that has a variety of farm animals in it. Ask animal questions and have them find the animal that matches the question. Try using sounds, colors, sizes, textures, and more as questions. Example: Find an animal that has soft feathers.

• Songs with activities:

Enjoy singing Old McDonald Had a Farm. As you sing act like the animal you are singing about. When you are finished have children pretend to be animals or use plastic play animals and line them up from smallest to largest.

After singing the Farmer in the Dell use plastic play animals, pictures, or drawings  for sequencing the animals in the song.

Practice numbers skills by singing about animals to the tune of Ten Little Indians. Insert an animal for the Indian and for the ending change it to ten little (animal) say (animal sound).

Ten Little…

One little, two little, three little ducks,                                                                                                                                                                    four little, five little, six little ducks,                                                                                                                                                                    seven little, eight little, nine little ducks,                                                                                                                                                             ten little ducks say quack.

• Poems:

This Little Pig- Traditional Nursery Rhyme

This little pig went to the market.
This little pig stayed home.
This little pig had roast beef.
This little pig had none.
This little pig cried “Wee, wee, wee, wee!”
All the way home.

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep- Traditional Nursery Ryhme

Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Mary Had a Little Lamb- Traditional Nursery Rhyme

• Fun in the car or at a farm:

When riding in the car through the country or when visiting a  farm see who can find the largest and smallest farm animal. What animal is the most colorful?   Who can find the most  brown or pink animals?

• Feltboard fun:

There are many farm activities that you can do with a feltboard. You can make your own felt or purchase a ready to use to use set. Either option is a terrific way for children to learn and use their creativity. They are excellent for stories, ryhming, counting, sequencing, and much more.

• This is just a sample of what you can do with farm animals. Use your imagination. Most importantly have fun with your children!

Go bananas with this rhyme:

• First we pick, bananas
• Pick, pick, bananas
• Pick, bananas

Pick, pick, bananas [picking invisible bananas off trees]

• Then we peel, bananas
• Peel, peel, bananas
• Peel, bananas

Peel, peel, bananas [hold up one finger and "peel" it with the other hand]

• Then we eat! Bananas!
• Eat, eat! Bananas!
• Eat! Bananas!

Eat, eat! Bananas! [tossing invisible bananas into mouth]

• Then we GO! BANANAS!
• GO, GO! BANANAS!
• GO! BANANAS!

GO, GO! BANANAS! [self-explanatory…]                                                                                                                                           From http://parentsblog.scholastic.com/librarian_mom/2008/10/rhyme-time-goin.html

Monkey snack:

• Bananas
• Lace round cereal (fruit loops) onto a string to make a monkey tail.

Craft and Activities:

Children can make a monkey mask from a paper plate or cardstock. Let them use their imagination! Let them cut, paste, draw, color, or paint. The possibilities abound. Designing their own project will help them gain confidence in their accomplishments. Encourage them to be creative!

When they have their mask completed they can act like a monkey and sing 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped her head.
Papa called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped her head.
Papa called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

One little monkey jumping on the bed,
He fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“Put those monkeys straight to bed!”

Watch 5 monkeys teasing Mr. Crocodile fingerplay video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p2PtKG-6XY If you enjoyed the fingerplay the felt it is available at my website http://www.funfelt.com/lois.html

Read monkey stories. You can choose from real or made up. My son loves Curious George. He enjoys the adventures that George finds. Let them tell you what they think will happen or have them make up their own ending. Pull out paper and crayons and let your children have fun creating their very own picture book.

Have fun, act like a monkey, and swing through a rainy day!