February's Songs
If You Love God and You Know It
Jesus Hokey Pokey
God Watches Over Me
The Golden Rule
My God is So Great!
Beatitudes
Read: Matthew 5:1-12
Sing: The Beatitudes
Ask: Some people think that you have to have lots of money or lots of things to make you happy. Jesus taught us that we are really happy when we live the way God wants us to live. What makes you happy?
Play: Make a Happy Mural.
Draw the word happy in big bubble letters on a large sheet of paper. Color the letters with markers or crayons in colors that make you happy and decorate the paper with fun stickers. Remind children that Jesus gave us the beatitudes to help us learn what God wants us to do and be happy.
Serve: We feel happy when we care for others as God does.
Bring flowers to a neighbor to help them feel happy.
Pray: Dear God, Thank you for loving us so much. Thank you for caring for those who are sad or lonely or don’t feel important. Help us to care for others, too. Amen.
Birds in the Sky
Read: Matthew 6:25-34
Watch: Do Not Worry
Ask: What makes you feel worried or scared?
How does it feel to know that God is watching over you and caring for you?
Play: Jesus taught that we don’t have to worry because God is watching over us and takes care of us. We can talk to God about our worries using bubbles!
Give your child a bubble wand and help them dip it into the bubble solution and blow bubbles. As you blow bubbles, name things that you worry or scare you (the dark, thunder storms, strange noises, when someone is sick, etc.) and practice blowing the bubble worries to God.
Serve: Make tissue flowers and deliver them to someone who has lots of worries!
Remind them that God cares for the birds in the sky and the flowers of the field, and God cares for them, too!
Pray: Dear God, thank you for loving us and watching over us. We can share our worries with you, and we know that you will care for us. Amen.
The Golden Rule
Read: Matthew 7:12
Watch: The Golden Rule
Sing: The Golden Rule is Love
Ask: How do you feel when people are nice to you?
How do you feel when you are nice to others?
Play: Ask the kids to stand in the middle of the room. Name some ways that people treat each other.
If they are kind ways, ways that you would want to be treated, ask the kids to go to one side of the room. If they are ways that they would not want to be treated, have them go to the other side of the room. (You can have them hope, skip, crawl, walk backwards, etc. as they move.) Examples: sharing toys, saying mean words, pushing in front of the line, letting you have a turn, using gentle touches, pulling your hair, etc. Remind them that the Golden Rule says to treat others the way we want to be treated.
Serve: Look up Random Acts of Kindness for kids.
Pick a few items off the list and do them together! (Here's one source)
Pray: Thank you God, for helping us be kind to one another. Help us to follow the Golden Rule. Amen.