Valentine's Day with some gifts and red, heart-shaped pancakes!
This past week we celebrated the Fourth of July. We grilled out hot dogs, played games, dressed in red, white, and blue, and made this patriotic candy house...
Using our Candy Cottage to make a Fourth of July house
While some days are all about the fun, I like to point my little ones to Jesus as much as possible. After all, He's the reason we celebrate pretty much everything! We celebrate His birth at Christmas. We celebrate His resurrection at Easter. We celebrate the blessings He's given us at Thanksgiving. We celebrate the life He's given us on our birthdays. We celebrate the country He has blessed us with on the Fourth of July. It all leads back to Him.
Using our Homemade Play Dough to talk about Jesus!
Sometimes our celebrations coincide with a specific holiday, and sometimes they just happen while we are learning about Jesus. After all, ANY DAY is a good day to celebrate Jesus!!!
Studying about Jesus feeding the five thousand
Making a Storm In A Bottle -
Learning about how Jesus calmed the storm
Using our Homemade Play Dough to cut out footprints.
Talking about how Jesus washed His disciples' feet.
Making a tree from pretzel sticks and marshmallows -
Learning about Zacchaeus and Jesus!
Making a "Stained Glass" Cross for Easter
And celebrations don't have to be huge or expensive. Some crayons and a simple white piece of paper cut into the shape of a heart can be used to celebrate how much Jesus loves us!
Talking about how much Jesus loves us!
Another thing I love to do for our celebrations is make playlists on my iPod. If we are talking about how much Jesus loves us, all of the songs will have to do with Jesus' love. If we are talking about how Jesus saved us from our sins, all of the songs will have to do with salvation. If we are talking about how awesome God is, all of the songs will have to do with God's great power! Then we will listen to that playlist while we eat breakfast, do some crafts, or even do our daily chores. There's lots of dancing and singing. Often the chores take a bit longer because of the dancing, but that's what celebrating is all about!!!
Making a cross with our sins on it. -
Talking about how our sins are PAID IN FULL!!!
So what's my point? Every day is a CELEBRATION!!!! Every day is amazing because its a new day that God has made!!! Celebrations don't have to be long or expensive. They don't necessarily have to be "homemade." You may not be very "crafty." That's OK. Find the strengths that God has given you and use those to create celebrations for your family. Use music. Use books. Use crafts. Use food. Use whatever you have and celebrate!!! Every family is different. And every mom is different. But you have the ability to make celebrations for your family that they will remember for years to come. So celebrate holidays. Celebrate special days. Celebrate achievements. And CELEBRATE JESUS!!!
I love your ornaments with the names of Christ. I might have to steal that.
ReplyDeleteYou are right; we need to celebrate every day, and we definitely need to teach our little ones to do that as well.