Use this snack to remind kids how sweet it is to honor our mothers.
You’ll need:
- Bible
- licorice laces (2 per child)
- coffee stirrers (1 per child)
- mini-marshmallows (20 per child)
Read aloud Proverbs 1:8-9.
Say: The Bible says our mother’s teaching is like a chain of honor around our neck, like a beautiful necklace. So let’s make yummy necklaces to remind us how sweet it is to listen to our mothers’ instructions.
Give each child one coffee stirrer, two licorice laces, and about 20 mini-marshmallows. Then instruct children to poke a hole through the middle of each marshmallow using the coffee stirrer and push a licorice lace through the marshmallows. Help children tie the licorice ends together to make a necklace of about 10 marshmallows. As children work, discuss what it means to honor their mothers.
Allow kids to eat one necklace and give the second to their mom.
3. A Mother’s Footsteps
Use this craft as a gift to celebrate and pamper mothers.
You’ll need:
- Bible
- empty 2.5-ounce baby food jars or other small containers (1 per child)
- bowls
- spoons
- measuring spoons
- white sugar
- brown sugar
- olive oil
- vanilla extract
- stickers
- ribbon
Ahead of time, remove labels from the baby food jars.
Say: Your mothers or women who are like mothers to you take a lot of steps in a day as they help you and take care of you.
Ask:
- Where are the places your mom goes most days?
- What does she do?
Say: Moms are on their feet a lot, but the most important steps they take are those that follow God.
Read aloud Proverbs 20:7.
Say: There are women in our lives, like mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, who love God and walk with integrity. When we follow their example, we’re blessed because we’re also walking with God. Let’s make a special gift for our moms that will take care of their busy feet.
Help each child make a sugar foot scrub using the following recipe.
Mix 2 tablespoons white sugar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and a few drops of vanilla extract for scent. Then spoon the mixture into the baby food jar.
Allow children to decorate the jar with stickers and ribbon.
Father’s Day
4. Just Like Dad
Use this game of Charades to imitate our earthly fathers and God, who is our dad in heaven.
You’ll need:
- Bible
- various articles of men’s clothing and props (gather men’s shirts, pants, neck ties, or jackets that you or people you know may have around the house)
- slips of paper
- pens
- markers
- cardstock (1 piece per child)
Say: Today let’s celebrate our fathers or other great men in our lives. Each one of you will come up with an action that a dad does and perform it for the group. The group will then guess what the action is. As a bonus, you can use the clothes and props to dress up like a dad or a man you admire!
Have the kids play a game of Charades with the clothes and props, imitating the actions of fathers or other men who are like dads to them.
Say: It’s fun to pretend to be like our fathers. Let’s see what the Bible says about imitating God, our heavenly father.
Imitating God Charades
Read aloud Ephesians 5:1.
Ask:
- Why is it good to imitate or do our best to be like God?
Say: We’re going to play the game again, this time imitating the actions of God, our Father in heaven.
Have the kids play a second game of Charades, this time performing actions that God wants us to imitate. Give ideas if needed, such as serving others’ needs, praying, caring for the sick, showing kindness, respecting parents, and so on.
Say: Sometimes it can be hard to know how to imitate God because we can’t see him. But we can look to our fathers and other honorable men as examples. If they love and follow God, then we can imitate them as they imitate God. Let’s make a special craft to celebrate our fathers and thank them for imitating God.
Give kids each one piece of cardstock. Have them fold the cardstock in half and color a picture of themselves inside. Have them draw features on the pictures that show ways they can be like their fathers and/or God. Instruct them to write the words from Ephesians 5:1 on the front of the card and decorate it. Encourage the children to give their cards to their father or someone who is like a father.
5. Heavenly Father
Use this message to show kids that we all belong to one family.
You’ll need:
- Bible
- large sheet of bulletin board paper
- brown marker
- green paint
- small paintbrush
- wet wipes
- paper towels
Ahead of time, draw a large tree trunk with some branches on a large sheet of bulletin board paper.
Say: A family tree is a chart or picture that shows how people are connected or related in a family. Let’s look at some family trees in the Bible.
Read aloud Genesis 15:1-6.
Ask:
- Who are people on your family tree? Call out their names and how they’re related to you.
Say: Do you know…we can also put God and Jesus on our family trees? When we believe in Jesus, we become a part of God’s family!
Read aloud Ephesians 2:19.
Say: Because of Jesus’ perfect life and his sacrifice, God welcomes us into his family. God is our Heavenly Father! Let’s make a family tree to show we’re a part of this special family. And to honor Father’s Day by remembering and celebrating our Heavenly Father.
Working with one child at a time, apply a thin layer of green paint to each child’s hand using the paintbrush. Have kids each make handprints on the top of the tree trunk. Use wet wipes and paper towels to wash hands. When the paint has dried, have kids write their names with a marker on their handprints.
6. A Quiver Full of Candy
Use this craft as a special Father’s Day gift to celebrate dad.
You’ll need:
- Bible
- tape
- and for each child:
- 6 lollipop sticks or wooden skewers
- 6 Hershey’s kisses
- 1 plastic or paper cup
- 6 feathers cut out of paper
- fine-tipped markers
- 1 plain address-size adhesive label
Ahead of time, print the Bible verse Psalm 127:3-4 onto address labels. You’ll need one copy of the verse per child.
Ask:
- If your family celebrates Father’s Day, what do you do to celebrate?
Say: Many families celebrate Father’s Day by giving their fathers gifts. Today you’ll make a gift, but you also are a gift. The Bible says so!
Read aloud Psalm 127:3-4.
Say: The words of this Bible verse can give us a picture of something fun we can do for our dads to celebrate Father’s Day. Let’s make a delicious, arrow-shaped gift for our fathers that’ll tell them things we love about them.
Give kids each six paper feathers. Guide kids in writing one letter from the word “father” on each feather. Help kids write a descriptive word or draw a picture about something they love about their dads that begins with the letter on each feather.
To assemble the arrows, tape a feather to one end of the lollipop stick. Stick the other end of the stick into the flat end of a wrapped Hershey’s kiss. Once the arrows are assembled, place them in a cup. Stick a label with the printed verse on the outside of the cup.
