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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Kids, Greed and God

Kids, Greed and God - Parenting Like HannahIt’s funny. Every year around Christmas, articles start appearing about ways to keep your child from becoming overly greedy. Personally, I have even posted some fun ideas and service projects to do with your children around the holidays. I think many of these articles are probably penned after a parent stands in the line for Santa with their antsy child while some other child reads Santa a list longer than he is tall.

What I haven’t shared with you is the dirty little secret about greed. I guess I was afraid if you found out, you would give up trying. I’m a little older and braver this year, so here it goes. You can’t banish greed from your child’s life merely be giving less presents at Christmas and birthdays and doing a service project or two during the holidays.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Convincing your child he doesn’t have a right to every toy ever made on each birthday and Christmas is probably a very good thing. Having your children serve others at Christmas is definitely a wonderful thing. But those two things alone won’t banish greed from your child’s life. (Sadly, if the present reduction thing isn’t done carefully, it can backfire and make your child even more greedy.)

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New Resource for Teaching Kids About Money

New Resource for Teaching Kids About Money - Parenting Like HannahRarely do I recommend a resource after I have given its initial review. A new resource is released tomorrow I believe is so important, I am going to break my unwritten rule. One of the biggest sources of confusion for many Christians and of conflict in many marriages is the subject of money. Oh, God gives us pretty clear guidelines, but knowing how to put them into practice can be tough if not almost impossible for many.

Whether you constantly struggle with debt and finances or feel you have a good, godly grasp on the subject, you may wonder how to pass on skills for handling money, that will not only prevent your children from the stress of debt, but teach them how to use their money in godly ways. Smart Money Smart Kids is written by Dave Ramsey and his adult daughter Rachel Cruze. The book does one of the best jobs I have seen of not only explaining what money skills you need to teach your children, but exactly how to do it.

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Resources for Teaching Kids Godly Money Concepts

Resources for Teaching Kids Godly Money Concepts - Parenting Like Hannah
Smart Money, Smart Kids by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze

My husband and I were blessed to be raised in families where we were taught godly values about money. We were trained to spend less than we earned, keep debt to a minimum, save money for unexpected expenses (and expected large ones) and give a good bit of our money away to Church and charity.

As single people, we continued these careful ways. When we married, it was easy to pay down the little debt we had and become debt free. Once our daughter entered the picture, we quickly introduced her to the concepts of work, saving and giving.

So, when we found Dave Ramsey, it wasn’t because we needed to change anything we were doing, but we wanted some fun, informative materials on financial topics to use while homeschooling our daughter. We stumbled upon him through his radio show and purchased his teen video series. As I have mentioned before, our daughter absolutely loved it. She was probably in middle school at the time and would jump out of bed every morning and race to put his dvd in and watch it.

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Tips for Teaching Kids About God and Money

Tips for Teaching Kids About God and Money - Parenting Like HannahRaising kids to have godly values about money is tough. Not only are parents battling an extremely materialistic society, but godly principles about money require a delicate balance. Everything we have belongs to God and is a blessing from Him. (James 1:17) We need to take good care of our blessings and give generously back to God through helping others and direct donations to God’s work. (II Corinthians 9:7) We need to work hard in our jobs. (Colossians 3:23) We shouldn’t be obsessed with money, especially to the point where it replaces God. (I Timothy 6:10)

There are some practical things you can do to help your children begin to find this godly balance about money.

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