i have gotten SO MANY hits on my blog from my april kiddo kraft last year (resurrection eggs) thanks to pintrest, so if you're new here, howdy! ;)
i know i just posted a couple hours ago why i've been so absent (i didn't mention spring break, a death in the family with a funeral out of town, or other "jobs" keeping me busy). but, in light that i am leaving in less than a week, and the fact that i'm sure i will not get a non-mission-trip post in after my travels, i figured i'd just go ahead and kiddo post now!
so, this month's kiddo kraft was inspired by two of my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) friends Eva and Dallas. on a facebook MOPS group post about curbing bad behavior, both of them mentioned remembering to focus on positive reinforcement of good behaviors through the use of a jar to collect stones/marbles/something and then the child gets rewarded when it's full.
another inspiration came to me from the teacher of my Apples of Gold bible study yesterday who was discussing parenting specifically by teaching our children to receive and respond to God. what really rang with me was using kingdom-verbaige in discipline: i.e., "did XXXX (lying, hitting, whining, disobeying, etc.) reflect God's nature." - but she said in the affirmative: "when you did XXXX (shared, waited your turn patiently, let your brother go first without whining, gave your old toys to children without them, held your sister's hand when she was scared, were kind to that animal, etc.), you showed God's nature."
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so...dadadada! this month's kiddo kraft is: (INSERT YOUR CHILD'S NAME HERE) JAR
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i'll tell you how to make it (cause it's less than 30 seconds) first and then tell you what it's for after. and, at first i was going to let them completely cover and decorate them with stickers and then modpodge it, but then i realized, wait - this jar is supposed to reflect that it's THEM, so it should just have a picture of THEM on it.
so here's how you make a picture into a sticker: get your handy dandy Xyron sticker maker (i used the permanent cartridge), run your cut-out picture of your kiddo through it, stick it on your jar. your child could stick their picture on it if you want them to...or you can be anal like me and let them watch you align it "perfectly" for them. if you don't have a sticker maker, i HIGHLY recommend it. i use it for all sorts of projects! love it love it love it love it. use your 40% off coupon and buy one or put it on your bday/christmas/mother's day gift list.
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i bought my jars at Michael's for 3.99 each. before i let the girls pick which color they wanted, i made sure that the stones/marbles i picked out would fit through the opening of the jar first! lol. and they got to pick out the stones' color too (i bought a big bag at the same store for $6.99 before my 40% coupon). with the picture sticker on, i think the jars look so cute - they look like they're laughing together at something. ;) maybe at me?!
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anyhow, the crafty part is done! i was also thinking of writing a Bible verse on it (see the verses mentioned below), but i have stalled that idea for now. maybe i'll come back to it after they fill up their jar...as a way of seeing that they have been "filled" X number of times? i'm still brainstorming on that part. :)
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now on to what these jars are for!
in the Bible, there is a story that demonstrates the idea of God being the potter and man being the jar. God crafted the jar of clay, molded it, poured his love into His creation. well, you and i (and your child) were made by God. we are jars of clay, and we get to choose what we fill ourselves with - good God stuff or not good stuff. the thing is that God blesses us when we choose the good God stuff. so it is with these ideas that i made the LEILA JAR and the MACY JAR.
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after i made them, i put a bowl (conveniently shaped in the shape of a heart - get it? God is Love!) full of colored marbles (which they picked out at the store) and i told them that these were all the characteristics of God and that He wants us to show these characteristics, too. and then we talked about some of these characteristics based on some bible verses that they've learned at wednesday night church. (Colossians 3:12 - compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness; Matthew 22: 37-39 - love the Lord and love your neighbor; Galatians 5:22 - fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peaceful, patient, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, gentleness; etc.)
so after i told them some of the characteristics of God, i then explained that when i or their daddy or their sister or their grandparents saw them do something that "looked like Jesus" they would get to choose a marble and place it in their jar. and, as they filled themselves up with God's characteristics, He would bless them and we would celebrate with something fun/big when their jar was full. (maybe chuck e cheese, day at the beach, sleep in a tent in the backyard/living room [<- the latter was Dallas' gem], etc.)
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macy is 2.5 years old and leila is 3.75 years old, and they IMMEDIATELY got this and wanted to do something that looked like Jesus. i told them that i would watch their actions and that i'm sure they would soon be doing something that looked like Jesus. sure enough, leila immediately picked up a marker and gave it to macy and said, "mommy, i shared with macy. can i put a stone in my jar?!" and of course i let her. ;) but i started catching them looking like Jesus without them asking for a stone and i quickly pointed it out to them so they'd understand the concept better. (i.e., i asked leila to do something, and she did it immediately without whining or straying from the task (which doesn't always happen!), and i told her that she looked like Jesus because she had a good attitude and she did what the Bible instructs when it says, "children obey your parents." and for macy, she stopped whining when i told her that it wasn't her turn to chose the story to listen to in the car, and i told her that she looked like Jesus because she had self-control over her anger and was being patient.)
and YOU'LL be amazed at how you can relate their good behavior BACK TO GOD! i found myself even bringing going to the potty (macy is not potty-trained yet) back to God (i.e., God wants you to take care of your body because He made you, and you show self-control when you choose to go in the potty instead of in your diaper...). it may be a stretch, but moms are good at making things up on the fly! ;)
AND i'm amazed at how much they DO look like Jesus. they teach me and remind me about Jesus while i'm trying to teach them. I LOVE IT!
i love this craft/activity because it was super duper easy smeasy, and it is parenting-focused, but more importantly, it is God-focused. i don't want my children to obey me JUST because i'm their parent and i love them. i also want my children to obey me in response to God because they've received Him in their lives! and, it's never too early to plant the seeds of God's love in their hearts!!!!
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(yes, i just totally threw another craft at the bottom of a craft - but it fit in with what i had just said. ;) that's a flat canvas with the girls' hands traced with permanent marker and their inked fingerprints as leaves. they are supposed to be handprint trees. i gave this to our children's minister with a thank you note on the back.)
i know i just posted a couple hours ago why i've been so absent (i didn't mention spring break, a death in the family with a funeral out of town, or other "jobs" keeping me busy). but, in light that i am leaving in less than a week, and the fact that i'm sure i will not get a non-mission-trip post in after my travels, i figured i'd just go ahead and kiddo post now!
so, this month's kiddo kraft was inspired by two of my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) friends Eva and Dallas. on a facebook MOPS group post about curbing bad behavior, both of them mentioned remembering to focus on positive reinforcement of good behaviors through the use of a jar to collect stones/marbles/something and then the child gets rewarded when it's full.
another inspiration came to me from the teacher of my Apples of Gold bible study yesterday who was discussing parenting specifically by teaching our children to receive and respond to God. what really rang with me was using kingdom-verbaige in discipline: i.e., "did XXXX (lying, hitting, whining, disobeying, etc.) reflect God's nature." - but she said in the affirmative: "when you did XXXX (shared, waited your turn patiently, let your brother go first without whining, gave your old toys to children without them, held your sister's hand when she was scared, were kind to that animal, etc.), you showed God's nature."
so...dadadada! this month's kiddo kraft is: (INSERT YOUR CHILD'S NAME HERE) JAR
i'll tell you how to make it (cause it's less than 30 seconds) first and then tell you what it's for after. and, at first i was going to let them completely cover and decorate them with stickers and then modpodge it, but then i realized, wait - this jar is supposed to reflect that it's THEM, so it should just have a picture of THEM on it.
so here's how you make a picture into a sticker: get your handy dandy Xyron sticker maker (i used the permanent cartridge), run your cut-out picture of your kiddo through it, stick it on your jar. your child could stick their picture on it if you want them to...or you can be anal like me and let them watch you align it "perfectly" for them. if you don't have a sticker maker, i HIGHLY recommend it. i use it for all sorts of projects! love it love it love it love it. use your 40% off coupon and buy one or put it on your bday/christmas/mother's day gift list.
i bought my jars at Michael's for 3.99 each. before i let the girls pick which color they wanted, i made sure that the stones/marbles i picked out would fit through the opening of the jar first! lol. and they got to pick out the stones' color too (i bought a big bag at the same store for $6.99 before my 40% coupon). with the picture sticker on, i think the jars look so cute - they look like they're laughing together at something. ;) maybe at me?!
anyhow, the crafty part is done! i was also thinking of writing a Bible verse on it (see the verses mentioned below), but i have stalled that idea for now. maybe i'll come back to it after they fill up their jar...as a way of seeing that they have been "filled" X number of times? i'm still brainstorming on that part. :)
now on to what these jars are for!
in the Bible, there is a story that demonstrates the idea of God being the potter and man being the jar. God crafted the jar of clay, molded it, poured his love into His creation. well, you and i (and your child) were made by God. we are jars of clay, and we get to choose what we fill ourselves with - good God stuff or not good stuff. the thing is that God blesses us when we choose the good God stuff. so it is with these ideas that i made the LEILA JAR and the MACY JAR.
after i made them, i put a bowl (conveniently shaped in the shape of a heart - get it? God is Love!) full of colored marbles (which they picked out at the store) and i told them that these were all the characteristics of God and that He wants us to show these characteristics, too. and then we talked about some of these characteristics based on some bible verses that they've learned at wednesday night church. (Colossians 3:12 - compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness; Matthew 22: 37-39 - love the Lord and love your neighbor; Galatians 5:22 - fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peaceful, patient, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, gentleness; etc.)
so after i told them some of the characteristics of God, i then explained that when i or their daddy or their sister or their grandparents saw them do something that "looked like Jesus" they would get to choose a marble and place it in their jar. and, as they filled themselves up with God's characteristics, He would bless them and we would celebrate with something fun/big when their jar was full. (maybe chuck e cheese, day at the beach, sleep in a tent in the backyard/living room [<- the latter was Dallas' gem], etc.)
macy is 2.5 years old and leila is 3.75 years old, and they IMMEDIATELY got this and wanted to do something that looked like Jesus. i told them that i would watch their actions and that i'm sure they would soon be doing something that looked like Jesus. sure enough, leila immediately picked up a marker and gave it to macy and said, "mommy, i shared with macy. can i put a stone in my jar?!" and of course i let her. ;) but i started catching them looking like Jesus without them asking for a stone and i quickly pointed it out to them so they'd understand the concept better. (i.e., i asked leila to do something, and she did it immediately without whining or straying from the task (which doesn't always happen!), and i told her that she looked like Jesus because she had a good attitude and she did what the Bible instructs when it says, "children obey your parents." and for macy, she stopped whining when i told her that it wasn't her turn to chose the story to listen to in the car, and i told her that she looked like Jesus because she had self-control over her anger and was being patient.)
and YOU'LL be amazed at how you can relate their good behavior BACK TO GOD! i found myself even bringing going to the potty (macy is not potty-trained yet) back to God (i.e., God wants you to take care of your body because He made you, and you show self-control when you choose to go in the potty instead of in your diaper...). it may be a stretch, but moms are good at making things up on the fly! ;)
AND i'm amazed at how much they DO look like Jesus. they teach me and remind me about Jesus while i'm trying to teach them. I LOVE IT!
i love this craft/activity because it was super duper easy smeasy, and it is parenting-focused, but more importantly, it is God-focused. i don't want my children to obey me JUST because i'm their parent and i love them. i also want my children to obey me in response to God because they've received Him in their lives! and, it's never too early to plant the seeds of God's love in their hearts!!!!
(yes, i just totally threw another craft at the bottom of a craft - but it fit in with what i had just said. ;) that's a flat canvas with the girls' hands traced with permanent marker and their inked fingerprints as leaves. they are supposed to be handprint trees. i gave this to our children's minister with a thank you note on the back.)