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Think and Thanks

Purpose:

How often do we remember to say "thanks" for the prayers God has answered?  This craft will help kids to pray and to remember to say "Thanks" to God.

Materials Needed:

A folded cardboard sign with "Thanks" and underneath "Think" written on it.
Z-folded sign made up of eight A4 sheets of thin card taped together with "Thanks", "Saving Me", "Clothes", "Food", "Protection", "Answered Prayers", "Friends" and "Family" written on them respectively.

For each child:
A5 or A6 sheets of thin card, Sellotape, pens, koki's and crayons.

 
Underneath Thanks is a good Think!

Effect:

The "Thank" sign is displayed first and then the "Think" at the bottom, because underneath every "Thank" is a "Think".  The children are asked what they can thank God about, and then the foldout "Thank" list is shown as a sample of what they can make.

Age Group:

Grades 3 - 7 (9 to 13 years).

 

Shopping Lists:

We often pray to God with a shopping list of things we need, or what we want God to do for us.  Long ago there were ten lepers who came to Jesus one day and He healed them all.  But, only one returned to say "Thanks" for his healing.  There were nine unthankful lepers!  God doesn't want us to be like them.  King David tells us in Psalm 136:1 why we should be thankful:

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His love endures forever."

What to be Thankful For:

If we think about this, we have to say, "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!"  1 Chronicles 16:8-23 gives us a list of things that we need to be thankful for:

  1.  Give thanks to the Lord.
  2.  Call on His name (for your needs).
  3.  Make it known what He has done among the nations.
  4.  Sing to Him, sing praises to Him.
  5.  Tell of all His wonderful acts.
  6.  Give glory in His holy name.
  7.  Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
  8.  Look to the Lord and His strength and seek His face always.
  9.  Remember the wonders He has done and His miracles.

Think and Thanks:

What about saying thank-you to God for all these wonderful things that He does for you.  You don't know what to thank God for?  Let's look at my "Thanks" card ( Show the children the front of the folded "Thanks" card ).  If I lift it up you will see that it says "Think" underneath ( Open up the card to show "Think" underneath ).  What does this mean?  Simply it means that underneath every "Thank" there is a "Think" first.  All you have to do is to stop and think of all the blessings that God has given to you.   Think of the food that you had today.  Think of your nice soft bed and the lovely sleep that you had last night.  Think of how God kept you safe last night, while His angels kept watch over you while you were sleeping!

The Thanks Card:

I have another "Thanks" card to show you ( Display the front of the Z-folded "Thanks" card ).  It's got many things that we can thank God for.  Let's unfold it and see what is on it ( Unfold the card section by section so that you can discuss each item ).  You can thank God for:

  1.  Saving me.
  2.  Clothes that I wear.
  3.  Food I had today.
  4.  Protection every day.
  5.  Answered prayers.
  6.  My friends.
  7.  My family.

Thanks Lists:

I want you to put your thinking caps on, and tell me things that we can be thankful for ( Let the children respond ).  Let's close our eyes and each one of you can pray one thing that you are thankful for.

Now, I want you to make your own foldout "Thanks" lists ( Help the children sellotape their A5 or A6 sheets of card together ).  I want you to write things you want to thank God for on each sheet.  This will remind you of what you can thank God for each day.  You can use it when you go to bed at night and say your prayers.

God bless!

 

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