Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control, who wouldn’t want their kids to exhibit these attributes? It’s a beautiful thing to watch our kids show love to others, but sometimes life looks messier than how facebook portrays. It’s a daily, purposeful quest to live focused and free. So when I can make a craft that helps encourage attributes that I am aiming for, I am all in. I wanted to share a simple little craft about the fruits of the Spirit that I used to help encourage a spark in my kids to do the right things, and hopefully you will also find value in it too!

Crafts are a great way to engage kids in learning. For me, I have a craft cabinet to keep everything for their crafting needs. It doesn’t always look pretty! But it is everything in one spot. I was teaching the kids about Elisha and the Shunamite women the other day, and couldn’t find the specific craft I was looking for, so I made up this simple craft to help remind my kids of this historical event. Hopefully you will be able to get some use out of it too!

Hello everyone, I had to share my new victory: chores for kids that they actually enjoy doing. It’s a magnetic chore chart, that they call a “game”, and voluntarily ask for… No, really! I’ve seen this concept on other websites; my biggest inspiration was from a website called A Spotted Pony. I gathered what worked for our family, omitted what didn’t and added my own twist on the subject. I’m a huge proponent of anything that keeps my sanity in tact.

God is faithful to all His promises (Psalm 145:13). So when God makes one we should stop and listen. Do you look for a rainbow after a rainfall? Sometimes I do. Perhaps it’s the beauty, perhaps the wonder? My four year old listed the colors to me today :) I am not sure I know too many four year olds who actually list indigo in there, but if you knew my Timmy it wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

Investing in kids is a great honor, whether your own or someone elses. They want to be guided and loved, they just need people to take the time and invest in them. Sitting around with my children, we reviewed the story of Elijah after he ran from Jezebel.

Because most toddler’s attention span is all of a nanosecond, I find the simpler the craft the better. Age and personality type also play a factor when finding applicable crafts for your sweethearts. My children have two very different personalities. Even by age 2, my son could stay on a task for quite a while, whereas my daughter is just like me, “blessed”, with a very small attention span. We both start a hundred things at once and don’t finish them.

Kids are like sponges, absorbing everything we teach them and observing the priorities we set. As I watch these precious little children mimic my actions, it has made me conscience of who I was as a person and what I strive to be. What are my priorities, and what do I feel is the most important values I want to instill in my children?