Brush up on your understanding of the roots of Thanksgiving Day. Does anything here surprise you? THE CAST, Major and Minor Roles King James I … he’d been persecuting the Separatists because they wanted to leave the Church of England. Separatists … not to be confused with the staid and drab Puritans, who didn’t arrive…
Posts Tagged: family activities
Teaching Children to Be Thankful (and a Conversation About Poop)
Thank You for the world so sweet, Thank You for the food we eat, Thank You for the birds that sing, Thank You, God, for everything. Do you remember learning this little rhyme? I do. And children still learn it and use it as a table grace. One of my pre-K grandsons recited it just…
Living a Godly Legacy—Part 4
In this series I’ve said that how we live every day becomes our legacy, that God instructs us to communicate faith in Him to the next generation, and that He tells us how. We’ve also looked at specific ways to help our kids and grandkids experience and grow in faith by how we bring God…
Living a Godly Legacy—Part 3
You want your children or grandchildren to know that God and faith are important parts of daily life, but sometimes it seems impossible, right? Getting everyone off to school or childcare and getting everyone to bed on time can seem like herding cats. How can you add one more activity to your family’s busy schedule?…
Free Printable Charts and Matching Game for I AM: 40 Reasons to Trust God
A quick trip to visit the out-of-town grandboys = time to use the I AM: 40 Reasons to Trust God free printables! The coloring pages occupied Asher while Solomon and I organized the I AM matching game. Sol cut out the squares with the meanings of all forty names in the book. Then he chose…
Jesus, Halloween, and a Little Book I Wrote
Do you find Halloween unsettling? Scanning e-mail one morning a couple of years ago, I saw a link to a roundup of viewpoints about observing Halloween in Christian families. In one of the entries I found a reference to my little book Let’s Shine Jesus’ Light on Halloween. Growing up, our family went from one…
5 Ways to Help Little Ones Learn to Talk
In the early months, your baby moves from crying as her main means of communication to vocalizing, smiling at you, and maybe even mimicking your facial expressions. It’s an exciting time! Here are 5 ideas you can use to keep your baby moving along that exciting path to acquiring language. 1. Talk, babble, sing, and…
Dads, You Matter!
Did you know Father’s Day spending in the US typically runs 40 percent less than Mother’s Day spending? That could suggest that dads are less important to kids than moms. But that just isn’t true. Young, old, or in between—dads, you matter! Last month I flew to Seattle to celebrate my dad’s 90th birthday! With…
Start Here: Why Reading Aloud to Children Matters & Tips to Make It Fun
If you want your children or grandchildren to be readers, you have a powerful tool to use to influence them in that direction. When artist and journalist Jim Trelease began turning his career toward education in 1979, he had been reading aloud to his two children each night, as his own father had once read…
How to Speak Blessing to Your Child
Do you know what your child wants from you more than anything else? Your blessing—your unconditional love and acceptance. Most of us see our children as the gifts from God they are. We enjoy each day as they grow and explore the world; we dream about their futures. Truly, we love and accept them even…