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Gearing Up for Grandparent's Day: A Big Day in Sunday School Class
by Denise Oliveri Celebrating Grandparent's Day is not only a fun holiday that children get to give cards and gifts to their grandparents. It is also a day of recognizing how special grandparents are, and how long they have been around to experience history. Grandparents can tell so many stories of the "good ole days," and children can have a personal glimpse of what life was really like for folks growing up in the early to mid-1900s. Make this day extra nice in your Sunday school class with these holiday-oriented ideas. Cards for Grandparents Of course, giving gifts and cards to grandparents is fun on this special day. As a class activity, why not bring in an assortment of scrapbooking materials and let children make handmade cards. You can encourage your students to bring in pictures from home to personalize the cards even more. Supply scissors, glue sticks, stickers, ribbons, and other materials to help the cards come to life. This is great for classes of any age or grade. Make a Family Tree This activity is especially fun for older children who understand how a family is made. Print out a tree coloring page from any website. Make apples for the tree using green and red construction paper. Have children write the names of family members on the apples and glue them onto the tree in proper order. Have the grandparents on each side of the family on the top, move down to mom and dad, and then to the kids. Let kids put their pets on the tree, too! Done right, this would make a fantastic gift to give to grandparents. Bake a Treat Consider baking a special treat for kids to give to their grandparents, such as muffins, cookies, or some other home-baked item, just like "Grandma used to make." Store baked treats in ziplock bags with a special note or poem stapled to the outside of the bag. If you do not have access to a big kitchen at your church, bake the treats ahead of time, and have children decorate the bags in class. Class Grandparent Adoption Take a field trip on this Sunday to a local nursing home that allows children to adopt a grandparent. You can adopt one lady or man to be your class grandparent. Some people in nursing homes rarely get visitors or gifts, and as a class you can be sure to fill a void in a person's life. What a great way to start such a project than on Grandparent's Day! But, do not forget this special person throughout the year. Remember to visit them often (perhaps families of students taking turns each week), and send goodies for all special occasions. These ideas have probably sparked many other ideas for what you can teach in Sunday school this week. Great lessons for this week include Abraham in old age (Genesis 24-25) or a lesson in the book of Timothy. Encourage your students to spend time with their grandparents this day, and to take time to appreciate who they are and all the wonderful knowledge they hold. God bless each and every grandparent! Denise Oliveri is the owner of Preschool Sunday School Central (http://www.psscentral.com). The site provides preschool Sunday School teachers wtih valuable resources to help with Bible lesson planning. Join our eBook Club today for a new eBook each month. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |