Kids, Car Time and God

Kids, Car Time and God - Parenting Like HannahSchool starts here in a little over a week. Extra curricular activities will start soon after. In a few weeks, the only “quality time” you may have with your kids is when you are in the car together going from place to place. (And no, I am not a fan, but it is what it is.)

One of my favorite scriptures for Christian parents is Deuteronomy 6:6-7. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You should impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (NIV) Only today, we may need to add “while in the car along the road”, but I think you get the point.

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Fun Ways School Supplies Can Teach Your Kids About God

Fun Ways School Supplies Can Teach Your Kids About God - Parenting Like HannahSchools don’t start here for another month or so, but school supply areas are already filled in box retailers. school supplies now cost pennies on the dollar compared to what they cost the rest of the year. You can buy a lot of supplies for not much money at all if you watch the special sales that they often add to the already lower prices. Then bring the supplies home and have some fun in these last hot days of summer using them to teach your kids about God.

So what are some fun things you and your kids can do with school supplies and learn more about God and what He wants from us and for us in the process? Here are some of my favorites:

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Easy Scarf Service Project and Devotional For Kids

Scarf Service Project and Devotional for Kids - Parenting Like HannahHot weather seems to make us long for the cooler weather that will come in a few months. If you and your kids are in the house trying to stay cool, there is a fun, easy project you can do that will help keep others warm this winter.

Go to your local fabric or craft store and find some fleece fabric. You will want enough that you can cut five or six foot lengths that are six to eight inches wide. In theory, a couple of yards should be plenty. When you get home, you will probably want to be the one to cut the fabric into strips that are six to eight inches wide (if you get really lucky, the fabric store might help!).

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Fun Way To Teach Kids About Developing and Using Their Gifts From God

Fun Way to Teach Kids About Developing and Using Their Gifts From God - Parenting Like HannahDid you know a few strips of scrap leather and some ping pong balls can teach your kids a lot about identifying, developing and using their gifts from God? That’s right. You see the story of David and Goliath has a lot more to teach us than we generally realize, because we don’t understand a lot about shepherding and warfare in ancient Israel.

David was the youngest of a lot of boys. They were old enough to join the army fighting the Philistines. He was left at home to care for the family flocks. Your kids will be interested to learn the family wealth at the time was generally in their herds. Entrusting David to care for the flocks would be like you withdrawing all of your cash from the bank and giving it to your child to keep safe from being lost, stolen or eaten. (Okay, no one would probably eat your cash, but you see the point!)

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Kids, Clay and God

Kids, Clay and God - Parenting Like HannahIf you haven’t introduced your kids to the fun of playing with real clay, I encourage you to buy some at your local craft store. Don’t get the play clay or the colored clay strips, but the real gray clay potters use.

Take your kids outside and spread out a plastic tablecloth or something that can be easily wiped down. Place a bowl of water where your kids can periodically wet their hands to smooth their creation. Cut off a block of clay and encourage them to create a pot or dish.

As they work, share with your kids that in Bible times people couldn’t go to Target and buy dishes when they needed them. Everything was created by them from clay or by a local potter. They would have been very familiar with how a potter formed dishes and pots, as they probably had to go to a pottery studio more than once to commission or purchase pieces. The ideas the Bible shares about God as the potter and people as the items he creates from clay would have made perfect sense to them.

Unless your kids work with clay, they may never understand all of these verses on the level they were meant to be understood. Here are some of the lessons you can share with them as they work with their clay:

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