Weekly Fun Plan: Grow in Kindness

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Welcome to this week’s Weekly Fun Plan: Grow in Kindness! If you haven’t already I highly recommend you read my introductory blog post “Faith-filled Fun: What Is It? And Why I Started It”. That post will give you some background into this blog and a little more in-depth explanation of my Weekly Fun Plans and how to use them.

This Week’s Theme: Grow in Kindness (Sunflowers)

One of my all-time favorite flowers is one we see often this time of year in lots of Fall decor, the sunflower. I’ve always loved how beautiful sunflowers are but I’m also amazed every time I see one growing at how big they can get! The other day my husband brought me home a bouquet of sunflowers and looking at them on my kitchen table got me thinking about all the ways we can grow when we’re connected to God. So this week we’re going to focus on one of those ways and learn a lesson I think our world needs more of these days, a lesson in kindness. Our Bible lesson will focus on answering the question “Who should I be kind to?”, and all our craft, snack, and activity ideas are going to be “sunflower” themed. If you try anything in this week’s plan don’t forget to share your experiences on social media! Tag us @faithfilledfun on Instagram or use #faithfilledfun. New Weekly Fun Plans drop each Monday so stay up to date with the blog each week by subscribing to my email list!

Bible Lesson: What to Read or Watch this week

Since this week we are focusing on learning how we can grow in kindness with God, here are some great resources to read/watch:

If you have young children (ages 0-8):

Read these verses together: Luke 10:25-37 (The Good Samaritan)
Watch “What the Bible says about KINDNESS | Minno Day Show” by Minno – Bible Stories for Kids on YouTube. This is a fun 22-minute video that teaches your young children what the Bible says about kindness through Bible stories and songs.

If you have older children/teens (ages 9-18):

Read or have them read the story of The Good Samaritan in their own personal study time: Luke 10:25-37
If your children are older you can also have them look up these other Bible verses about kindness:
- Matthew 5:40-43
- Luke 6:27
- Matthew 7:12
- Galatians 6:9-10
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11
- Philippians 2:4

Bible Lesson: Questions to Ask Your Kids/Discuss this week

If you read the recommended Bible verses or watched the YouTube video your kids should be able to answer this week’s question:

“Who should I be kind to?” And the answer is “Everyone!”

If you have little ones (ages 0-8): I would focus on that one question this week, and work on having them memorize the answer. Ask them that same question every morning or evening and see if they can remember the answer.

If you have older children (ages 9-18): here are some additional questions you can discuss with them throughout the week:

What is something kind I can do for someone this week?
Why should I be kind?
How am I supposed to react/respond when someone is not kind to me?

Bible Lesson: Memory Verse

Memorizing scripture is such a vital skill to teach our children at a young age. Recalling and reciting scripture that they’ve memorized will help them as they grow and go through trials in life. It will also encourage them, equip them to go out and be little disciples of Jesus, and it will strengthen their own faith as they get older.

This week let’s have your kids work on memorizing Ephesians 4:32. Memorizing scripture is so much easier for kids if you can find a way to make it fun. Here are some different ideas to try as a family to help memorize this week’s verse:

Come up with some simple motions for each word of the verse and make a cheer or dance out of it.
Come up with your own melody and create a song out of it.
Make it a game. Start by saying one word or phrase of the verse at a time and have your kids repeat after you until you’ve gotten through the whole verse. Then repeat the process saying the words differently every time. Examples: slow, fast, in a silly voice, quiet, loud, etc.

Once your child/children have got it, I recommend practicing reciting the verse each morning over breakfast or before they leave for school and maybe even again before bed. Make it a part of your routine and you’ll be amazed at how fast they will begin to pick it up.

Supplies needed for this week’s activities

Here is a quick list of all the supplies that you will need in order to complete all the suggested crafts, activities, and snacks for this week’s plan. For a list of my most used craft supplies, and things I will be utilizing often in future Weekly Fun Plans be sure to check out my Links page.

Snack: Sunflower “Charcuterie Board”

After practicing your memory verse or going over the discussion questions, have some fun as a family making this Sunflower “Charcuterie Board”. It’s a super simple and healthy snack that both you and your kids will enjoy.

Sunflower “Charcuterie Board” Instructions:

Cut your desired type of cheese slices into small triangles and arrange them in a circle.
Wash some red grapes or take your raisins and place them inside the circle of cheese triangles until the space is filled up.
Take a celery stick and place it beneath your flower head as a stem.
Arrange your favorite crackers at the bottom of the celery stick to be your dirt. See the picture as a guide.

Crafts:

For this week’s crafts, we are making Tissue Paper Sunflowers and Kindness Sunflowers. Both crafts are relatively simple and turn out super cute.

Tissue Paper Sunflowers:

The technique of tissue paper scrunching in these Tissue Paper Sunflowers is a fun sensory type craft for your little ones and makes a really cool 3D type picture. Follow the link for easy step-by-step instructions for this craft.

Kindness Sunflower:

For our second craft this week, we have these super sweet Kindness Sunflowers. This craft is a great way to have a further discussion with your kids about this week’s lesson and allows them to reflect on the different ways that they can show kindness to others. Follow the link for an easy step-by-step guide.

Activities:

With our theme this week “Grow in Kindness” here are a few extra ideas for activities to do with your children. Feel free to come up with your own ideas too:

Brainstorm and find a way to do something kind for someone this week.
Create a sunflower sensory bin to play with (sunflower seeds, fake sunflowers, scoops, etc.)

Parenting Tip of the Week:

One easy way we can help our children build a strong foundation of faith is through the music we listen to in our homes and in the car. It can be such a passive activity having music on in the background while we cook dinner, while they play with their toys, or while we drive them to school or practice, but it can make such an impact. Fill your home with praise and worship music whenever possible. You’ll see the greatest effects of this when you suddenly hear your children singing along to the words of your favorite worship song. Check out my Spotify for playlists I’ve created specifically with Christian Songs for Kids and My Current Worship Favs to play in our home!

christian songs for kids spotify playlist

Prayers:

Lastly, I like to end each Weekly Fun Plan with some example prayers for your week. One is to pray with your kids, maybe before they get on the bus in the morning, before a meal, or before bed, and the other prayer is for you, the parent, to pray over your kids throughout the week.

Prayer to say with your kids this week:

Dear God, help me to grow in kindness every day. I want to find ways to show kindness to everyone and be Your light in the world. Amen.

Prayer to pray over your kids this week:

Dear God, thank you for my child, and their willingness to learn. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that helps me to grow in kindness all the time. Give me wisdom as I teach and guide my child/children and help me to be an example of kindness to them daily. I pray that my child will know you and your spirit and build a personal relationship with you. Help them grow in kindness by growing closer to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Have an amazing week and don’t forget to subscribe to my email list and follow me on Instagram @faithfilledfun to stay up to date with the blog!