Families
Week 93
God has given us something wonderful—our family!
The complete family unit is found only among human beings. Very few animals have strong parent/child or male/female relationships, but none have the complete family unit for life that man has. Some animals have strong social relationships, mostly based on instincts and hierarchy.
Genesis 1:28 says, “And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” The family unit with father, mother, and children was instituted by God. Since this thought is under severe attack in our society, we felt we must address the truth of families with the youngest among us. This will instill the simple truth into them so that as they grow, they can remain firm in this truth.
Note to the serving ones: While we faithfully present God’s view of a family, we recognize that some of our children’s families may not relate to what is being presented in these topics due to different types of situations. (For example, there may be children whose parents have passed away, children whose parents are not involved in the family/church life, children who are adopted, children who were raised by step-parents/grandparents, etc.) The serving ones need to be careful/sensitive in how they address these matters so that the children don’t come away from the story feeling bad because they may not have a mom and a dad to do the things that we are presenting. We don’t want them to feel like their families aren’t “real” families, but rather, we want to give them an appreciation for the complete family unit from God’s view. In your time with the children, please be sensitive to their personal circumstances. Be careful that no child feels that his or her family is wrong or worse than the others.
Point to emphasize
God gave me my family!
Sample content and conversation with children
- Today we are going to talk about some of the things that God created for us. Who can tell me what this is? [Show picture #1.] Yes, fruits! God created all these fruits for us. And, what is this? [Show picture #2.] Yes, waterfalls! God created waterfalls for us. What’s in this picture? [Show picture #3.] Yes, rain! God created the rain for us! This is a… [Show picture #4.] Yes, a rainbow! God created rainbows for us. How about this one? [Show picture #5.] God created the sunshine for us. And lastly, what is this? [Show pictures #6 and #7.] Yes, animals!! God even created the animals for us.
- Our God gives us so many good things. But one of the most wonderful things He gives us is our family! [Show pictures of families in your locality; eg, pictures #8 and #9.] Point out each family as you describe it.] Look at these families! Here you have a daddy, a mommy, a brother, and a younger sister. In this next picture, we see a _____, a ______, 2 sisters, and an older _______. Now, does this older brother belong to this family? [Point to another family] NO!!!! He belongs to this family. God gave him this dad and mom and these two sisters. God gave him a wonderful family. [Pointing to another picture, ask-does this little sister belong to this family? Use this idea with a few pictures.] NO!! God gave her a wonderful family right here! So, we can all say, “Thank You, God for my family!” You gave me a wonderful family!
- Animals don’t have families like we do. How many of you have pets? Raise your hand if you have a dog. [Show picture #10.] Now, how about if you have a cat? [Show picture #11.] Raise your hand if you have a bird. [Show picture #12.] In my house, mostly we had dogs. [Show picture #13 of your pet.] Though they lived with my family, they were not part of our family like my children were. When our daughter got her first dog, it was a puppy. A friend of our family had a male dog and a female dog that had a litter (the group of young animals born to an animal at one time) of eight puppies. When they turned eight weeks old, the lady who owned the dogs brought the whole litter to our house. The mother dog only feeds her puppies for about eight weeks. After that, she no longer takes care of them. The puppies spent the day playing with my daughter and by the end of the day she knew which one she wanted. And that dog stayed with us from that day on. It never saw its mother or father again! Dogs do not live their whole life together with their litter. That’s because animals are not like us. We stay close to our moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and cousins for the rest of our lives. [Serving one can tell their own personal story of a pet they had.] I’m so glad that our mom and dad always take care of us and of everything we need from the time we are born until we grow up! I love my family! Let’s all say this together: “I love my family! Thank you God for my family!”
- God is the BEST giver! He gave us the stars, moon, and sun, the earth, the plants, the animals. BUT, best of all, He gave us our families.
Song
God loves me, yes indeed.
God gave me every star and tree.
God loves me, yes, indeed.
God gave me the best family.
God gave me water, and flowers too.
God gave me sunshine and sky so blue.
God gave me fish and whales in the sea.
God gave me the best family.
[Tune: God made me]
Suggested activity
My family origami house craft [Picture #14]
- The origami house is simple to make, requiring just five folds, but children will often require assistance with making the folds. Be guided by the age and fine motor skills of the child to determine how much support they need.
- You will need:
- One sheet of paper for each house
- Marker pens
- Instructions:
- Start with the paper in a portrait position. Fold the top of the paper all the way down to the bottom edge, creasing across the middle [Picture #15].
- Fold each side into the middle so that each of the outside edges is in line with the center of the paper. Make sure you have a really good crease on each side [Picture #16].
- Finally, you will need to make two squash folds to form the roof section of the house. Start on one side, opening the flap formed in step 2. Make a triangle shape by aligning the crease down the center of the triangle with the crease underneath. Smooth down and crease firmly. Repeat on the other side [Picture #17].
- Now your origami house is ready to decorate [Pictures #18 and #19].
Pictures
#1: Fruits
#2: Waterfall
#3: Girl with umbrella in rain
#4: Rainbow
#5: Sunshine
#6: Dogs
#7: Kittens
#8: Family of four
#9: Family of five
#10: Dog
#11: Siamese cat
#12: Parakeet bird
#13: Dog
#14: Origami house craft instructions (1)
#15: Origami house craft instructions (2)
#16: Origami house craft instructions (3)
#17: Origami house craft instructions (4)
#18: Origami house craft instructions (5)
#19: Origami house craft instructions (6)
