Counting blessings
As you look forward to the year ahead, look back too and say thank you to God for all the blessings he gave you last year. These very simple ideas help you do that with young children.
Blessing stars
Write on the back of star-shaped gift tags to remind you of some of the blessings of last year – family, friends, health, time together – then hang them somewhere visible; perhaps even create a mini ‘tree’ to hang them on by collecting twigs and standing them up in a plant pot.
Thank you for food
Even if you don’t normally ‘say grace’ before a meal, why not try this simple prayer at a mealtime:
For this food, and for each other,
and for every gift and blessing,
we thank you, God. Amen.
Make a blessings table mat:
- Decorate a piece of A4 card or paper with things that remind you of the good things in your family’s life. This is a great activity to do with a small child while they wait for the meal to start.
- If you want to keep it for more than one meal, you’ll need to laminate it.
- Your child can use it as a table mat for the special meal – a reminder to everyone of all the things to be thankful for.
Decorate a blessings jar:
- Take an old jam jar or other container, and make sure it’s nice and clean.
- Decorate the outside with pictures, photos, handprints, stickers – everything that reminds you of the good things in your family’s life.
- If you use PVA glue you can add an extra layer of glue at the end to act as a varnish.
- Put the decorated jar somewhere you’ll see it throughout the year, and keep some sticky notes and a pen close by.
- Whenever something good happens, jot it down and put the sticky note in the jar.
- If you’re having a tough day, or feeling down, get the papers out of the jar and read through them to remind you of the good things.