Want fun ideas for parenting with Scripture through Valentine’s & President’s Day?  

Consider these for upcoming
–  dinner discussions
–  weekend activities
–  family devotions
OR
–  holiday family time!

CLICK HERE & SCROLL DOWN through multiple Valentine’s ideas. 

CLICK HERE for a President’s Day idea. 

I’m also pleased to share that I am a contributor for a fabulous new website called ChristianParenting.org.   They have advice broken down by age and by topic!  I encourage you to take a look around this wonderful resource.

Here’s a fun and easy Valentine’s idea that can be nice decoration AND provide meaningful, parenting with Scripture style, teachable moments throughout the month of February!

LOVE TREE DIRECTIONS:
Assembling –
*Gather several bare branches and put them in a pitcher or vase.
*Cut out 16 hearts big enough to write a few words on.
*Punch holes in the tops of one of the sides.
*Use any type of ribbon or string to tie loops on them for hanging.
*Go ahead and hang all 16 hearts on the tree.

I used a cheap, but cute, plastic container, gathered the branches from outside, stuck them in floral foam in anchor them, then covered them in glass beads for a pretty way to weight them down.  (Use something other than the glass beads if you have little ones that put things in their mouths!)

Teachable Moments How-To:
*Each day, create teachable moment at your family meal time or family devotional time.
*Write one of the snippets of 1 Corinthians 13 (broken down below into 16 parts/days)
*Discuss it.  Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments is a good resource to help you with the discussion.  Look up applicable topics and see the “Discussion” portion. 

Modification for young children:
Make it your “Love is Kind” tree.  (1 Cor. 13:4)
*Each day, ask your child who God wants her to be kind to.
*Write that name on the heart.
*Discuss ways your child can be kind and loving toward that person.
OR…
*Each day, ask your child a way she can show kindness.
*Write that kindness attribute on the heart.
*As teachable moments come up throughout the 16 days, refer back to the “ways to be kind” that are on the hearts.

16 teachable moments for 16 days
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a 
Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails.

For more Scripturally meaningful Valentine ideas, scroll down through these past blog posts.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S!

Happy Valentine’s Week! 
Here’s a sweet idea for your heart day family devotional time –

Scripture Heart Puzzle (see pictures below)- 
(Customize the ease or difficulty to your child’s age and ability using the options below and how the puzzle pieces at cut.)
Cut a big heart out of a piece of construction paper.
Option 1 – Write one verse inside the heart and cut puzzle pieces
Option 2 – Draw and puzzle pieces (making it as easy or challenging as fits your child’s ability) and write a love verse word or entire verse inside each piece.
Option 3 – Draw puzzle pieces (making it as easy or challenging as fits your child’s ability) and write a Bible reference on each section to look up.

“Love” verse lists:
See “Love” section of your copy of Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments (order by clicking here.)
Or, use this online list – http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/love-bible-verses/

Hide the puzzle  pieces and let your child find and put them together.  Discuss the meaning. 

Add music to the hunt!  During the hunting and putting together of the puzzle, you might consider playing the following songs related to the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. 
*Preschool-  http://www.worshiphousekids.com/mini-movies/31369/Freddies-Friendly-Farm-1-Corinthians-13-48,
*Early elementary – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LuJuwILL0g
*Older kids, tweens, teens – “Let My Life be the Proof” by For King and Country (a current personal fave of mine!)

Puzzle Hearts by 1st – 5th Graders:

For more Valentine’s ideas, see –
http://www.parentingwithscripture.com/category/holidays/valentines/

Did you read last week’s post and have good intentions, but then didn’t do anything?  Well, here’s an idea that may jumpstart you!  Forget the chocolate and flowers and give something new this year for Valentine’s.  Ummm…actually, chocolate would still be good.   But seriously, what about giving the gift of love through memorizing and reciting a verse or verses about love for a loved one?  This is something the kids could do for grandparents, a spouse could do for his/her beloved, families could learn together for each other, etc.  The entire chapter is below and I’ve bolded the most commonly quoted sections (verses 4-8a and 13).  Children of any age could make or help decorate a cut-out heart or card with the verse(s) on it to serve as a memory reminder and/or part of the gift.  Older children or teens might enjoy making their own version of the words in heart form, as seen below. 

Above is a sample of the type of “Take Action” ideas in Parenting with Scripture, paraphrased from the topic, Love. 

1 Corinthians 13 – The Love Passage

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.   It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

A fun family devotional time or dinner table discussion for Valentine’s Day:
(Take Action ideas for young and old included.)

See how many verses you can think of that have to do with love.  
Tip:  If your children are little or your family is not familiar enough with God’s Word to think of these verses from memory, write the verses below on paper hearts.  Put them in a bag, pass the bag around, and let each family member pick a heart and share the verse as the bag goes around the table. 

A few that might come to mind are…

God is love.  1 John 4:16b

We love because he first loved us.  1 John 4:19

The entire law is summed up in a single command:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Galatians 5:14

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  1 John 4:19

The Love Chapter – 1 Corinthians 13

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Is love a noun or a verb?
Hint: Consider 1 John 4:19 and John 3:16. 

What are some ways you can show love?
Infinite ways.  If your child(ren) needs prompting for ideas, ask him to think about ways at home, ways with friends, etc.
Parents, be share ways applicable to your lives too and remind your child(ren) that God’s word is for ALL ages…we never outgrow it!

Can you think of any Bible stories that have to do with showing love?
Good Samaritan, God sending Jesus, the Miracles of Jesus, etc…

Take Action Ideas: 
– Each family member could pick a way to show love the next day and then share it at dinner that day.
– Child could add a favorite “Love” Scripture to a Valentine’s craft to give to someone he loves.
– Child could add a favorite verse to Valentine cards for friends. 
– Family or child could memorize a “Love” Scripture together for Valentine’s week.  Child could write and/or decorate the verse to hang on the fridge as a reminder.

*More verses, discussion questions, and Take Action ideas under the topic of Love in Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Love this idea from my ever creative friend, Elizabeth!

“I purchased the little tin mailboxes years ago in the dollar bin at Target.  The kids decorated their own box with pictures, stickers, and gems.  All family members are encouraged to leave each other little love notes and treats too. We put the little flags up when we have left something for someone to find.  My oldest has already been having LOTS of fun with this.  He even left me cash the other morning!   I try to have lots of little papers/notes they can use to create “mail.”     A bonus is that this helps with writing skills!  But more importantly, it teaches about thoughtfulness and what it means to do small things to make someone else smile.  Closer to Valentine’s Day, I plan to write “love notes” from God to them along with some sweet treats.  I will pick verses about love and substitute their names in them.”