Thanksgiving-themed night at Kids' Bible Club

Because of a special Thanksgiving service at church coming up, we won't have a regular Kids' Bible Club next Wednesday night. So, I decided to do some Thanksgiving activities with Mieka and Skyler last night. 

Bible time:  After our regular prayer time, I opened up the night with an object lesson. The idea for this came from Child Evangelism Fellowship. It's called, "Thank you, Lord, for...." 

Materials: bag containing a small wastebasket, clothes hangers tied together, different dishes taped together, a pair of slacks with pockets pulled out.

As I showed each object, we talked about what they are used for. Then, there was a reminder for each thing. Wastebaskets remind us of all the things God has given us to make our lives comfortable and fun. Clothes hangers remind us that we have clothes that we should thank the Lord for. Dishes remind us that God gives us food each day. A pair of slacks reminds us that God has given us money (to go in the pockets) to be used for the things we need.

The memory verse that went along with this was Psalm 107:1--"O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever."

After learning the verse and a new song, I read them the book called, Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas. It is the true story of a slave and how God used him later in life to be a help to the Pilgrims. The story is well-written and the pictures are beautiful. Check out Christian Book Distributors if you'd like to buy a copy.

Craft time: We had fun doing two crafts. The first was to make Thanksgiving cards using construction paper, markers, ribbon, stickers and hole punches. Skyler and Mieka spent a lot of time making their colorful cards.

Skyler made this card for his mom. Isn't his turkey adorable? Inside he wrote, "I love you, Mom."

For our second craft, we made these cute turkey magnets using craft foam, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. I will be doing a separate post on how we made these. 

Snack time: Since our night was so full of activity, I didn't think we'd be able to enjoy these turkey cut-out cookies. But, at the very end of our time together, the kids enjoyed eating one of these. They are the same sugar cookies with buttercream frosting that we used for one of our other nights.

I found out that things are a bit rough for Skylar and Mieka at home right now. I was encouraged to hear that their dad (who is struggling in his relationship with God), has been helping them learn their verse each week. Their grandma who brings them each week has been encouraged by all the things they are learning in our Kids' Bible Club. We never know how much of an impact we're making sometimes. It is truly a blessing to have these kids each week and to show them Christ's love.