Hidden Treasure

Buy a small treat (food, candy, small trinkets, stickers, etc.) and put in a box and hide it in the back yard. Make a map or just stand outside and give your kids directions to find a treasure.
****NOTE: Don’t just write off an idea because you don’t have what you need. Take the idea and adapt it to fit your family or what you have on hand. You don’t even have to have a treasure. Hide a small toy you already have and see if they can follow your instructions to find it. Let them hide the toy and give instructions to their siblings on how they should walk to find it.

If you make a map, include statements like these and draw the steps (five giant footsteps, arrow to right, ten small footsteps, etc):
•    Walk five giant steps and turn right
•    Take ten small steps straight ahead, then turn left
•    Walk backwards six steps
•    Stop and look under the bush to find a treat.

If you just speak the commands, tell them the way to walk (giant, medium, or baby steps), the direction to go, and how many steps to take.

Say something like this after the treasure has been found and enjoyed:
The Bible tells you the way to walk. Oh, it doesn’t tell you to take five giant steps or ten baby steps, but it tells you how to live. It tells you what not to do and what to do to please God and live a good

What Doesn’t Belong?

Play the “What doesn’t belong here” game. (Remember Sesame Street?) Collect a few items that are similar and one item that doesn’t fit. This is especially good if you have younger kids.
Put out three kitchen items (spoon, knife, fork) and a shoe.
Put out a crayon, marker, pencil, and a hat.
Put out three stuffed animals and a cookie.

Let them pick out what doesn’t belong with the others.

Then read the following lists to let them find out what doesn’t belong in the life of one who followers Christ:

•    sharing, forgiving, helping, saying bad words
•    loving others, being patient, working together, losing your temper
•    being kind, obeying, stealing, respecting others

God wants His children to be like Jesus–to be holy–to stay away from sin.

Walking Like Jesus

Take a walk with your kids and as you walk, give each child a different challenge. 
Walk like a: duck, queen, drum major, tightrope walker, cat, cowboy, Miss America, etc.

Ask:
How should a Christian (Christ follower) walk? Explain that by “walk” you mean the way they should live.

What should be a part of the way they live? What shouldn’t be a part of the way they live?
Ephesians 4:25-32 gives you several ideas. If they are old enough to read, let them look in these verses to find things that should or shouldn’t be part of the way they live (or you could read a verse and let them listen for what to do and what not to do). For example: Ephesians 4:25 says to put off lying and speak the truth to one another.

If you have an older child, he could write these on a white board. Put a line down the middle and write what not to do on the left side and what to do on the right side.

The fruit of the Spirit for this week is self-control. It means just what it says–controlling yourself. It means closing your mouth and not saying mean words if you are mad. It means not losing your temper when you don’t get your way. It means obeying when you would rather do something else. God will help you to have self-control if you do what is right (what He has told you in the Bible) instead of just doing whatever you want to do.

Sticks and Rulers

Send your kids out to the yard and ask them to bring back a stick.

Hold up a ruler (which is completely straight). Allow the kids to compare their sticks to the ruler. Which one is the straightest? Even a stick that looks straight may not really be straight when compared to the ruler.

 Ask:

• How is God’s Word, the Bible, like a ruler? (The Bible is the standard that helps you know right from wrong.)
• What is holiness? (Holiness is thinking and acting the right way—according to God’s standard.)

Take things you hear or learn and compare them to God’s Word to know if they are right and true. For example: You may hear that the world came about as a result of a Big Bang. Compare that thought to what the Bible says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). 

Your friend may tell you it’s okay to steal a pack of gum. Compare that statement to what the Bible says, “Let him who stole, steal no longer” (Ephesians 4:28a).

TV and Truth

Watch 30 minutes of TV with your children. Teach them how to discern truth. Tell them to take what is said and compare it to the Bible. (Pay attention to wrong attitudes, also.)

Instruct them to listen carefully for anything that is against God’s standard of what is right and wrong. (For example: If the child in a TV show tells a lie to his parent, ask: “What does God (the Bible) say about lying?”

Explain that not everything on TV is true, but God’s Word can be counted on to give you truth. If you’d like additional help making good media choices, go to www.pluggedinonline.com

Honoring Dad

Since Sunday is Father’s Day, plan a special meal to honor Dad. Let the kids make an invitation for Dad to come to a meal in his honor. Make his favorite foods (including dessert). Make or secure a Burger King crown and crown him the “King of the House” when he enters the dining room on Sunday. Ask each child to make a picture or note saying what they like about dad. (You are really good at _________, I like it when you and I ________, I love you because _________, etc.)

(Today’s culture is sending a wrong message about dads. For example: they are stupid idiots who need to be rescued. Lift up the dad in your home—he needs encouragement; his wife and kids need to respect him. If no dad is present in the family, find a godly male to honor.)

Strong as a Water Balloon

Items needed:

Two balloons, not inflated (two paper/plastic cups will also work)

Candle or matches

Water

• Inflate one of the balloons and tie it.

• Put about ¼ cup of water in the other balloon, inflate and tie it.

• Light the candle (or light a match) and hold it under the balloon WITHOUT the water. It’s okay if the flame even touches the balloon.

• Hold the balloon WITH water over the candle or match.

Why does one balloon pop and one doesn’t? Why does the balloon with no water break in the flame? The flame heats whatever is placed in it so it heats both balloons. The rubber of the balloon without water becomes so hot that it becomes too weak to resist the pressure of the air inside the balloon and pops.

Why doesn’t the balloon with water in it resisting popping when heated by the flame? The water absorbs most of the heat from the flame, so the rubber of the balloon does not become very hot. Since the rubber doesn’t become hot, it doesn’t weaken, and the balloon does not break.

Ask:

How did filling the balloon with something (water) make it stronger?

How can you be stronger if you are filled with the Holy Spirit?

After Jesus died and came alive again, He told His disciples that He would send someone to help them, to comfort them, and to guide them. That someone is the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that when a person becomes a Christian, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live inside. (“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19.)

Every person was born with a desire to sin, but the Holy Spirit can help fight against sin. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible and He can use that to help you know the right way to live. Every time you say no to your own selfish way and yes to the Holy Spirit, you become stronger. He will help you to be more loving, peaceful, joyful, gentle, humble, and self-controlled (Galatians 5:22-23). Ask for His help every day.

Eat Out of the Garbage Can?!

When it's time for lunch or dinner, pull the trash can to the table and start looking through it for something to eat. Offer this to the kids and look puzzled when they reject it.

Ask:

Why don't you want to eat out of the garbage can?

Why is it just as important to be careful about what you put into your mind?

Say something like:

If we do not put bad things (garbage) into our bodies, we must be careful not to let bad things into our minds. What you put into your mind stays there and will affect what you do.

What are some things we shouldn't let into our minds?

Run Away

Items needed:

Bowl (cereal bowl is fine) with water covering the bottom

Pepper

Liquid dishwashing detergent

Toothpick or matchstick

• Sprinkle some pepper over the water.

• Dip the toothpick into the detergent and place a drop of detergent in the middle of the water.

• What does the pepper do? (runs away)

Why does the pepper run away?

Water molecules are strongly attracted to each other and this creates surface tension. (This is what allowed the pepper to float on top of the water.) When you put the detergent in the water, it makes the surface tension weak. The water’s surface tension force is stronger than the detergent’s surface tension force, so the water pulls away from the soap and carries the pepper with it.

Just like the pepper “ran away” from the detergent, Christians should “run away” from sin. First Thessalonians 5:22 says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (Abstain comes from a Middle English word that means to avoid.) You should try to avoid temptation to do wrong.

Ask:

What are some ways you can avoid (stay away from) evil?

If someone asks you to do something you know is not right, what can you do?