Creative Service Project for Kids and Teens

Creative Service Project for Kids and Teens - Parenting Like HannahYour kids have a special gift they can give other children. Children are often great story tellers. They have a unique perspective on life other children can understand. If your children love God and can see Him working in the world and in their lives, there is a fun, creative way for them to share their faith with other children.

Challenge your kids to create a picture book that tells other kids something about God. It can be a book explaining how to pray or why it’s important to read your Bible. Perhaps they want to write a book explaining how God can help you through tough times. Maybe they want to tell the story of Jesus in their own words.

Depending upon the age of your kids and your budget, the scale of this service project can vary greatly. It can be as simple as words typed on the computer and printed so your child can add drawings to each page. If your budget is slightly higher, check with local school supply stores. Many have book binding equipment and laminating services for which they charge by project. If you want to spend a decent amount of money, there are many companies who will take the words and drawings of your kids and create a real soft back or hardback book.

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Fun Service Project For Kids: Hygiene Kits

Fun Service Project For Kids - Hygiene Kits - Parenting Like HannahAfter my last dental appointment, my hygienist gave me a free toothbrush, toothpaste and floss. A recent stay at a hotel and they wanted us to take the little soap and shampoo in the room. A friend gave me a decorative soap that has been sitting in its original wrapper in a drawer for months. Sound familiar?

What if your kids collected all of the miscilaneous hygiene items in your home and the homes of family and friends and created hygiene kits? Many organizations who work with the poor, refugees, homeless or minister to the very poor in other countries can get fairly easy access to donated food and clothing. What is often more difficult for them to collect are hygiene items, cleaning supplies and baby supplies. Your kids can put together some hygiene kits and donate them to ministries and organizations who can share them with those who need them most.

Each kit can be items placed in a plastic bag. They can have fun using decorative ones, but make sure they are transparent to help the shelters and recipients. Each bag doesn’t have to have the exact same items. Have your kids make fliers or send emails and texts asking people to gather up all of their free samples and items they are saving for some day, but haven’t used (and probably won’t). great items are toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner – really any personal hygiene item except razors (some shelters may have rules against them). Deodorant is not usually given away, but some friends and family may be willing to purchase and donate them too.

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God is GOOD Challenge for Kids and Teens

The "God is GOOD" Challenge for Kids and TeensIt doesn’t really matter if you are reading this post the day it went on the website or days, months or even years later. The world is filled with evil and lots of people who are more than willing to act in incredibly evil ways. Sometimes, they conduct their evil under the pretense of it being what God wanted them to do.

Yet God is GOOD. The Bible tells us all good things come from God. It also tells us “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 ESV)

In the process of teaching our kids everything in the Bible about how they should behave, we sometimes forget to tell them their purpose as a Christian. We are to worship and obey God and serve Him by serving others and sharing our faith. Those last two things are what the scripture in Matthew is all about. Serving others allows us to point them to God and share His message with them.

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Tips for Raising Grateful Kids

Tips for Raising Grateful Kids - Parenting Like HannahGratitude gets a lot of attention in November and December. Between Thanksgiving which for many is a time of giving thanks and the quickly approaching Christmas which can bring out greed in the sweetest child, many parents struggle how to raise children who are truly grateful all year.

From “The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.” (Psalm 118:24 NIV) to “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17 NIV), God makes it very clear he expects our gratitude.

There are probably many things you can do as you raise your children to help mold their hearts to be grateful. These are a few of my favorite:

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Fun Way to Teach Kids Gratitude

Fun Ways to Teach Kids Gratitude - Parenting Like HannahI’m declaring November the “Month of Gratitude”.  Granted I don’t think I actually have the power to make it official, but I encourage you and your family to join me. The Bible is full of verses like this one in Psalms “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1) I’m sure you have taught your kids to thank God when they pray, but have you ever encouraged your children to fully embrace the idea of a grateful heart?

The best thing about teaching kids to be grateful is that it can have a lot of side benefits. Helping your kids see God’s gifts can also help them begin to notice God actively working in their lives. Teaching them to be thankful for even the most basic things in life can erase the idea of being entitled to good things, because your kids have learned they are special gifts to be appreciated. Helping your kids appreciate everyone who does anything for them will help them begin to see them as people with souls who need to be served and to learn about God.

Like anything, having an attitude of gratitude as they say may mean you and your kids need to break some bad habits. What better way than substituting better attitudes and habits – and have some fun in the process? Declare this November the “Month of Gratitude” in your house. Try to do something with your kids every day to practice gratitude. Use some of the ideas below or get creative and come up with your own. (I would love to hear your comments on the things you did so others can join the fun.)

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