Weekly Fun Plan: The First Christmas Gift
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Welcome to this week’s Weekly Fun Plan: The First Christmas Gift! If you haven’t already I 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: The First Christmas Gift!
Christmas is such a special time of year, my favorite time of year in fact. The decorations, the food, the music, gift exchanges, spending time with friends and family, but in all the holiday hustle and bustle we can easily forget the real reason for this season. Children especially get excited about the idea of Santa and getting presents under the tree, but let’s help our kids learn and focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas with some fun Christ-centered activities.
This week we will go over the birth of Jesus and answer the questions ”What was the 1st Christmas gift?” and “Why do we give?”. We will do all this through fun Christmas gift-themed crafts, snacks, and activities.
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 on Mondays 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
If you have younger children and haven’t already, I highly recommend downloading the “Bible for Kids” app from the App Store. This is a FREE app for children that uses fun moving graphics and sounds to tell them stories in the Bible. Read the stories yourself or use the audio to have them read aloud to you.
Since this week we are learning about the first Christmas gift, here are some great resources to read/watch:
If you have young children (ages 0-8):
- Read the following Bible verses or follow along on the Bible for Kids app under “The First Christmas Gift” story:
- Watch “The First Christmas Gift: Jesus is Born | BIBLE ADVENTURE | LifeKids” on YouTube. Bible Adventure is a kids-based YouTube show created by LifeKids and LifeChurch. These are the creators of the popular “YouVersion Bible” app for adults and the “Bible for Kids” app I mentioned earlier, so the episodes coordinate perfectly.
If you have older children/teens (ages 9-18):
- Read the same verses listed above and take notes on what they’ve learned. Then have them answer the discussion questions for this week’s lesson.
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:
What was the 1st Christmas gift? Answer: Jesus!
If you have little ones (ages 0-8):
I would focus on that one question first. Ask them the same question every morning or evening and see if they can remember the answer. Once they understand and remember that answer, move on to the additional discussion questions below.
If you have older children (ages 9-18):
Here are some additional questions you can discuss with them throughout the week:
- Why do we celebrate Christmas?
- Why do we give?
- Why did God give us Jesus?
Bible Lesson: Memory Verse
Memorizing scripture is vital to teaching 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 strengthen their faith as they age.
This week let’s have your kids work on memorizing John 3:16
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 a melody and create a song or listen to The Rizers – John 3:16 (For God So Loved The World) song on YouTube.
- 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 it, I recommend practicing reciting the verse each morning over breakfast, before they leave for school, and maybe even 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 you will need 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.
- Scissors
- Construction Paper
- Pipe Cleaners
- Ribbon
- Contact Paper
- Christmas Wrapping Paper
- Beads
- Hole Punch
- Hot Glue
- Photo of your Child
- Pretzels
- Mini Peanut Butter Cups
- Christmas M&Ms
- Muddy Buddies
Recipe: Christmas Snack Mix
This week’s snack idea is a fun & sweet Christmas-themed snack mix. Enjoy it at home as you discuss this week’s lesson or consider packaging this Christmas Snack Mix in a cute jar or bag and give it out as a gift to friends & family!
Crafts:
This week, we are making “Beaded Christmas Gift Ornaments” and “Kids Photo Christmas Present Ornaments”. Both these crafts are simple, fun, and can even be given to family as gifts themselves!
Beaded Christmas Gift Ornaments:
Our first craft this week is a quick and easy beaded project your kids will love! Follow the link for easy step-by-step instructions on how to make this Beaded Christmas Gift Ornament.
Kids Photo Christmas Present Ornaments:
Next up we have another fun craft perfect for preserving the memories of this Christmas with these Kids Photo Christmas Present Ornaments. Follow the link for an easy step-by-step guide.
Activities:
With our theme this week, “The First Christmas Gift”, here are a few extra ideas for activities to do with your children:
- Bag up your Christmas Snack Mix and gift it to others.
- Wrap Christmas presents together as a family.
- Give the ornaments you made this week as a gift to someone you love.
- Find an organization where you can donate gently used items, or buy some new needed items for Christmas.
- Sing Christmas carols together.
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! New songs are added frequently.
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, Thank you for all the fun and excitement that comes with Christmas. Help us to show generosity and love to others as we remember Your love and generosity to us by sending us your son, Jesus. Amen.
Prayer to pray over your kids this week:
Dear Heavenly Father, I lift up my children to you. Thank you for the joy and excitement they get to experience during this Christmas season. Thank you for your Son, Jesus, and the gift of your love. Help us as a family to never lose sight of the real reason we celebrate this time of year. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I hope you have a wonderful 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!
