Apple pie is a staple of Thanksgiving in many families. Fresh apples from a nearby orchard combined with flaky crust and smells of cinnamon seem to call everyone to the kitchen with offers to help – taste of course! This time bring your children into the kitchen and let them help you bake the pie. Besides being a great life lesson and wonderful bonding time, you can use the experience to teach your children a difficult concept about God.
Before you start peeling the apples for your pie, ask your children if they know the parts of an apple. If they don’t know, start peeling the apple. Place all of the peelings in a pile. Next slice all of the useful fruit off the apple and place it in another pile. Put the core in a third spot. Show your children how an apple has three parts – the peel, the fruit and the core. All could be described with the word “apple” as part of its name. If the parts were put back together, it would also be an apple.
I love the summer months. Although the new school schedules have eaten into some of those old “hazy, lazy days of summer”, we still tend to have a slightly more relaxed life. I love the idea of sleeping late, wearing flip flops and deciding between reading a book or walking on the beach. I hope this summer you can take some of those relaxed days and spend some time sharing God with your children.
Last summer I wrote a series of lessons for the children’s Bible Class time at our church. The children spent the summer re-living some of the events in the life of Jesus. One of the favorite weeks was what became known as “donkey day”. As the “owner” of the donkey recounted the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the children got to re-inact the event. Of course everyone, including some teens who stopped by after class, wanted a donkey ride.
