Honor Your Father and Mother

Creative "Honor Your Father and Mother" Activities for Kids | Children's Ministry Deals

Discover 5 creative children’s ministry activities for kids to express gratitude and honor their father and mother.  Children will learn to respect, value, and celebrate their parents.  These are easy to implement and fun to do!  

Parent Interviews – Making Them More Relatable

Objective: Help kids honor and respect their father and mother by conducting interviews to better understand their parents' love and sacrifices.

Materials Needed:

  • Interview sheets with questions
  • Pens or pencils

Instructions:

  1. Introduction:
    • Explain the purpose of the activity: to get to know their parents better and appreciate their efforts.
    • Demonstrate with a volunteer parent interviewed by an older child.
  2. Prepare the Interview Sheets:
    • Provide each child with an interview sheet containing questions like:
      • "How old were you when I was born?"
      • "What did you do before I was born (hobbies, work, etc.)?"
      • "How did your life change when you had kids?"
      • "What is your favorite thing about being a parent?"
      • "What is a challenging thing about being a parent?"
      • "What activities do you most enjoy doing with me?"
  3. Conducting the Interview:
    • Instruct kids to sit down with their parents and ask the questions from the sheet.
    • Leave space after each question for kids to write down their parent's answers.
  4. Reflective Questions:
    • Include a final question on the worksheet for the kids to answer, such as:
      • "What did you learn that you didn't know before?"
      • "What are you most grateful for about your parent?"
  5. Encourage Participation:
    • Suggest that kids take home two worksheets to interview both parents if possible.

This activity fosters family bonding and helps children gain a deeper appreciation for their parents' roles and experiences.

Family Tree Project

Objective: Create a family tree craft project that ties into the stories of Abraham's family or Moses' commandment to honor parents.

Materials Needed:

  • Popsicle sticks
  • Markers
  • Construction paper
  • Glue
  • Finger paint

Instructions:

  1. Introduction:
    • Ask the kids to think about their oldest living relative.
  2. Writing Names:
    • Give each child a popsicle stick and a marker.
    • Ask them to write the name they use for their grandparent, great-grandparent, or great-aunt on the stick.
    • Hand out more popsicle sticks for them to write the names of other family members, such as parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings.
  3. Building the Tree:
    • Give each child a piece of construction paper and glue.
    • Instruct them to start with the oldest relatives to form the tree trunk. They can glue several popsicle sticks side-by-side to make it thicker.
    • Create branches from the trunk for their parents, siblings, and themselves.
    • Add more branches for aunts, uncles, and cousins.
  4. Adding Leaves:
    • Once the tree is complete with popsicle sticks, give the kids finger paint to add leaves above the branches.
    • Remind them that every family tree is unique; some are small, and some are large.
  5. Discussion:
    • After completing the craft, have the kids look at their family tree.
    • Encourage them to think about their family history and the journey of their relatives.
    • Ask questions like:
      • "What do you think was challenging for your parents when they were kids?"
      • "What challenges do you face as a child?"
      • "Why is it important to respect and value our parents?"
      • "How can we show love and respect to our parents today?"

This activity helps kids understand their family heritage and the importance of honoring their father and mother, drawing connections to biblical stories and values.

God’s Family Skits – How to Treat One Another

Objective: Help kids understand and demonstrate the fruits of the spirit through short skits, fostering discussions on how to display these virtues in their families.

Materials Needed:

  • Slips of paper with different fruits of the spirit (e.g., love, peace, patience, kindness)
  • Ideas for skits

Instructions:

  1. Introduction:
    • Explain the activity's goal: to understand and demonstrate the fruits of the spirit.
    • Pair up the kids and give each pair a slip of paper with a fruit of the spirit written on it.
  2. Creating the Skits:
    • Provide a few ideas to help them start, such as:
      • Love: Helping someone in need.
      • Peace: Resolving a conflict peacefully.
      • Patience: Waiting without complaining.
      • Kindness: Doing something nice for someone.
    • Give the kids time to create and practice their skits.
  3. Performing the Skits:
    • Have each pair perform their skit for the group.
  4. Discussion:
    • After the performances, discuss the importance of displaying these fruits of the spirit in our lives.
    • Ask questions like:
      • "How can we show love to our parents?"
      • "How can we bring peace to our families?"
      • "How can we be patient with our siblings?"
      • "How can we show kindness in our families?"
      • "How are we honoring God and our parents by displaying these fruits of the spirit?"
      • "Who are we hurting when we act selfishly, hatefully, or impatiently?"
      • "Who do we need in our hearts to help us have the fruits of the spirit?"

This activity helps children understand the fruits of the spirit and encourages them to practice these virtues within their families and everyday lives.

Practice Acts of Kindness Challenge

Objective: Encourage kids to practice random acts of kindness at home, reflect on the impact of their actions on others, and understand the importance of kindness as taught by Jesus.

Materials Needed:

  • Take-home sheet with a list of random acts of kindness

Take-Home Sheet:

Random Acts of Kindness Ideas:

  1. Fill or empty the dishwasher.
  2. Take out the trash.
  3. Sweep up the kitchen.
  4. Write an encouraging note to a parent.
  5. Water the plants.
  6. Feed the dog.
  7. Clean up after the dog outside.
  8. Vacuum the house.
  9. Read a story to a younger sibling.
  10. Call your grandparent on the phone or write them a letter.

Instructions:

  • Encourage kids to use the list to inspire them to do as many acts of kindness as possible in the upcoming week.

Follow-Up Discussion:

  1. Reflection Questions:
    • Ask the kids how their acts of kindness impacted their families:
      • "How do you think it made your parents feel to have your help?"
      • "Did anyone notice the kind thing you did?"
      • "Who always knows, even when other people don’t notice?"
      • "How did Jesus treat other people?"
      • "Why is it important to live like Jesus?"
      • "How were these acts of kindness an expression of love for your parents?"
      • "Did anyone do something kind for you this past week?"
  2. Closing Thought:
    • Share this message with the kids:
      • "We do acts of kindness for others because Jesus was first loving and kind to us. We can love others because of Jesus’ love for us. We do not do it to earn love but because we were first loved by Him! Kindness is a gift from God, and we can give it to others."

This activity helps children practice kindness in their daily lives, understand the importance of living like Jesus, and reflect on their actions' positive impact on others.

Create a Family Gratitude Journal

Objective: Encourage families to practice gratitude by creating and maintaining a family gratitude journal. This will help them recognize and appreciate their blessings and each other.

Materials Needed:

  • Blank journals
  • Stickers
  • Markers and colored pencils

Instructions:

  1. Decorating the Journal:
    • Allow the children to decorate the outside cover of their journals with stickers, drawings, and any other decorations they like.
    • Encourage creativity to make the journal feel special and personal.
  2. First Journal Entry:
    • Ask each child to write the first journal entry. They should include:
      • One thing they are grateful to their parents for.
      • One thing they are grateful to God for.
  3. Instructions for Using the Journal:

Family Gratitude Journal Instructions:

  1. Purpose:
    • This is your family gratitude journal. The only things that can be written in this journal are things you are thankful for.
  2. What to Write:
    • You can thank God for your blessings.
    • You can thank one another for acts of kindness, advice, or help.
    • Any display of gratitude is welcome.
  3. Sharing Gratitude:
    • Every time you write in the journal, leave it open so everyone in the family can read what was written.
    • It is important to take notice when others have been a blessing to us.
    • Thank God for His blessings and show your gratitude openly.
  4. Reading Entries:
    • Once everyone has had a chance to read the most recent journal entry, close the journal until the next time.
    • This ensures the family always takes notice when there is something new to read.
  5. Continuing the Practice:
    • See how long it takes to fill up the journal.
    • If your family enjoys this activity, keep it going with a new journal!
    • This is a wonderful way to reflect on the many blessings your family has received and see how you have overcome hardships by supporting each other and leaning on God.

By encouraging children to start the gratitude journal and involve their families, this activity promotes a culture of thankfulness, appreciation, and recognition of blessings, fostering stronger family bonds and a deeper connection with God.

Building Relationships

These activities promote an opportunity for children to see the value their parents have to them. As they notice this value, they will see a reason to honor, respect, appreciate, and show love to their parents. God has given us many gifts, and our parents are a very special gift. It’s much easier for kids to honor their father and mother when they take the time to build their relationship with them!

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