Mothers And Others
Hello Werb’s Kids and Parents!
Hope you are all okay.
Unfortunately, on Sunday I won’t be able to dance around with you and have lots of fun like we do in our church building most Sundays but I may make an appearance online instead so watch this space!
I still want you to have an amazing time and instead to do Werb’s Kids At Home. There are playlists on Spotify (Adults and Kids) and the same on Youtube (Adults and Kids) that you can listen to so that you can have some time singing and worshipping God. Some of these songs you may not know but you might find your new favourite Werb’s song! Other songs you may want to listen to are Alive by Hillsong , Up & Alive by Luke + Anna Hellebronth and You Are Good by Bethel
Kids, this is your chance to show your parents how much fun we have normally in our groups! Parents, get ready to have the time of your life!
Remember to keep connected so that we can see what you’re up to and how you’re doing Werb’s At Home by using the hashtag ⧣werbsathome and ⧣werbskids we’ll be able to see your posts on social media.
Love Amy
Mothers AND Others!
This Sunday is Mothers’ Day and we need to thank all our mums for everything they do for us. PLEASE show your mum some love if you can as well as all the women who are in your life who look after you or care for you in some way.
So…who do you need to say thank you to today? How can you best show how much you appreciate them and love them?
Why don’t you give someone a call? There may be someone you know who isn’t able to get out at the moment and your call could not only make their day but make their week! It might be worth making a little list of people to help. Just like those who care for and love us, using what they have to look after us, we should think about how we can not only love them back but share this love beyond our family and towards others!
There are loads of other people who may also be lonely or need a bit of encouragement at the moment. HERE is a link to a document that you can print off which has some blessing cards that you can colour in and send out but why not draw pictures or write kind things on cards for people who are scared. Continue to be a warrior of kindness and goodness! Post these encouragements through your neighbours’ doors or send them to elderly relatives who aren’t able to go out at the moment.
PARENTS: If you are in the position of being able to offer help to neighbours, why not write a short message on the back so that they know if they need help with shopping or posting letters or with something else, you are able to help. If you don’t feel like you are able to help physically, why not pray for a word for that neighbour and write something on the back that may encourage them in these uncertain times.
I think God wants to talk to us about what it means to share what we have, even if that means we don’t actually have a lot.
Look at this video clip below from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - what do you notice about what the Professor uses to fix the car?!
The Professor used what he had around him! At one point he even uses a wooden boat to help fix the car! We are going to look at the word ‘stewardship’ which is all about how we use what we have wisely and kindly.
We can be good stewards when we recycle to make new things, rather than throwing old stuff away and buying new, as well as sharing out what we have if we have too much and someone else has too little.
Can you think of a time when you have been good stewards – either by passing things on or by reusing something in a new way? Or maybe by sharing something that you no longer needed? Perhaps you have given something good to others or maybe you’ve shared a smile with someone who looked sad?
PARENTS: You may want to play this game that explains this theme of sharing. You’ll need at least 2 players but it works well with more if you are all willing to play! Give out pieces of paper unevenly. For example, one person gets 2 sheets and another gets 4 whilst another only gets half a sheet. Now tell them that the floor is lava and the only way they can cross to the other side of the room is by using the paper they have. Ask them how easy it was and how fair the game was? Now tell them to do it again but this time they are to share the paper and work together as a team! Then ask the same question again.
If your child is above the ages of 4 they may also want to play THIS online Curious George game all about sharing. This website has other games available too aimed at younger kids.
All ages:
In the Bible, there is an amazing story about a community of people who shared all that they had because they loved God and therefore wanted to love each other in a kind and fair way.
WATCH this video of the story of Peter and the followers of Jesus to find out more.
What are the main things you remember from this story? What did Peter and the other believers share?
You may wish to write down or draw what you remember! Is there anything you could share with someone at the moment that could help someone?
Isn’t it incredible that this community decided to sell EVERYTHING they had and share it all out equally?! It is amazing how much they cared for each other. As Christians, we need to set an example of how we share what we have. This does not necessarily mean that we sell everything we have but maybe it means we take a look at what we have and think about how we might then be able to help those who don’t have as much as us.
Have you seen or heard about what is happening in the shops at the moment? Because people are scared, they’re buying loads of stuff and keeping it all for themselves. This then means that those who are in need or don’t have enough are struggling. Is this fair? What would you do? How would you help?
Now read Mark 12:41-44 also found HERE (The Message Version)
Who was rich and who was poor? How did they give? What did their giving say about them as people?
NOW act out the story! DRESS UP and make your own props!
PARENTS: This could be a fun opportunity to let your kids wear some of your clothes! I would love to see this so if you are able to, please put it on social media and use the hashtag ⧣werbsathome or tag us @stwderby
Giving and generosity is a reflection of our hearts. It is not limited by how much or how little we have available to give. The widow gave more because it cost her more to give it. It is super important to us as a church that Werb’s is generous and kind in the ways that we give but this isn’t just about money or things we have, it can also be about how much time we give to people.
For Those Aged 0-7:
Think about what toys you have that you absolutely love. Can you name them? How good are you at sharing them with people in your family? How hard would it be to let these toys live with someone else for a while?
How good are you at sharing food or sweets?
Get a piece of paper and draw everything you love. Do a tick or a cross next to the things you think you could give away and share. Or… you could go round the house and collect up the things that you love. Are you able to make a pile of things you could share and give away? How easy is it to make this decision?
Once you’ve finished, remember the kindest thing to do would be to return everything you love to where you got it from and not leave it out in a mess!
Think about the woman in the story in Mark. This woman gave everything. Sometimes, to be the kindest and most loving person, it can cost us and be really difficult to give but it can also be the most rewarding thing we can do in the long run.
PARENTS: Here is a fun activity you could try today at lunchtime to build on the theme of “being a good steward”. Get your child/children to make lunch for you and for one another. This works best with making sandwiches but this may depend on what you have in your fridge. As they make lunch, tell them that they need to be wise and to make sure that they don’t put too much in it when making the sandwiches. Alternatively, you could do the same with snacks or puddings. This is a great opportunity to practice sharing and looking out for the needs of others rather than your own. When you start to eat, remind them about what it means to share. To share is to care for others and to think about what they need before ourselves.
For Those Aged 8 And Above:
You may want to read Acts 2v42-47. Acts is found in the New Testament (second half of the bible) and it’s the next book after the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
Click HERE to read the Message translation.
Now think about the other passage with the woman who gave everything. She was a widow which means her husband had died. This probably meant she had no one to look after her or help her earn money to live on and help buy food or other essentials. So when we see that she gave everything she had, this is a very big deal! Why do you think she gave everything? What would make you want to give generously?
We can also be generous with our attention and show that we care by being great listeners and friends.
Make a list of the things you could give. This could include real items like toys you own or it could be things like time. Now put them in order from easiest to hardest to give away. Which things would be hard to share and why? What makes something precious? How would you feel if someone gave you something that you knew was their favourite or meant a lot to them?
CRAFT IDEAS!
Make a Foil Bookmark. Instructions HERE along with other crafts you may wish to do!
Instead of using foil duct tape (Yep, I’ve never heard of it either!) just use aluminium foil and make sure you add glue to one side. I would also ignore step 4…
Make a Heart Bag/Purse. Follow this video!
To make this easier - you don’t need to have specific sizes of circles as long as they are the same size and, instead of hole punching, you can just tape the ribbon or string on instead.
Make a picture using coin rubbings.
Tape some coins to the back of a piece of paper and use crayons to rub over them. Try to then make these rubbings into people!Don’t forget to make and send out the blessing cards mentioned at the beginning of this session!
Let’s pray!
In our last session I suggested making a prayer journal. Keep this going. For those who missed it, here it is again: You may want to write or maybe draw but each day ask the following 2 questions:
What do I want to tell God today? What does God want to tell me today?
Every member of the family should do this together, this is not just an activity for the children!
PARENTS: This may be out of the comfort zone for some of us but give your child the opportunity to pray in this way. Hearing from God is a skill that we need to grow and most of us aren’t used to it or we easily write it off believing that God won’t speak to us when He actually may have spoken to us but we’ve just ignored Him! The point of this is to remember that prayer is a conversation not a one way rant! Trust your children and write down whatever they say. Children are very open to the Spirit, often far more than we realise. Just as Jesus said “Let the little children come!”, have faith that something incredible can come from this time.
In times when we are worried or have other things taking up all of the space in our minds, we often forget to say thank you to God. Take this opportunity to thank God for all the good gifts He has given you! (Don’t forget to say thank you for your mummys!) You might want to do popcorn prayers where you shout out like a big “POP!” something that you are thankful for. Others of us might instead want to write God a letter thanking Him for all He’s given us. There is always lots for us to be thankful for.
Put something into action: Every member of the family needs to think of 1 gift they can give this week. It might be lending a friend or neighbour a DVD or going to the shops and buying some chocolates for your neighbours. What can you do to bring joy to someone who you don’t live with?
Edited and adapted by Amy Farrar from several sources including energize.com
