
Christ died on a cross to save us of our sins. After we turn our lives over to him, the Bible instructs us that we should do our best and give our best to God. Honoring God by giving him not just part of our skills or part of our time or things, but to give the best of everything, is a sign of our devotion to him. As we grow in our Christian faith and in our love with God, we will naturally grow more selfless and excited about giving to God and others. When God sees a willing and generous heart, his rewards are far greater than what we have sacrificed and he repays us many times over for our gifts. Explain to children that there are many ways to give to God and help children understand the concept of giving to God and others through crafts.
Giving Our Things to God
Giving to those less fortunate is a way to give to God. Get a large cardboard box and have children help decorate it with markers, wrapping paper and fabric scraps, jewels, magazine clippings and other craft items. Add a paper sign that reads, "God loves a Cheerful Giver" to the outside of the box. Send a note to parents telling them about your giving box and invite their family to participate in giving to others by donating gently used toys, clothes or shoes. You can also use small jars as a place to save coins to give to a missionary. Decorate the jars with paint or stickers and tell children they can use the jar to save money to give to others.
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Giving Our Time to God
God wants our time. He loves the time we spend with him in prayer and praise. Create a clock craft out of a paper plate as a means to remind children to spend time with God. Help children write the numbers on the clock and add paper arrows that move and are attached by a brad. Children may want to add a picture of praying hands or add the phrase, "Make Time for God." Another way to give God our time is to help others. Ask parents to supply old T-shirts. Use paint to create hand prints on the T-shirt and tell children to wear the shirt as a reminder to help parents with chores around the house.
Giving Our Talents to God
God wants us to use the gifts he has given us back to him and to others. Tell children that using their artistic abilities to create a gift for someone is one way of giving their talent back to God. Provide construction paper and other art supplies and help children create greeting cards to give to others. Ask the kids to give their cards to an elderly neighbor, a sick friend or someone who could use some encouragement. Help them to understand that giving to others is a form of giving to God. Help children choose a song to perform in a Sunday service. Giving of the talent of singing in praise to God is one way of giving your best gift to God.
Other Ways to Give to God
There are many ways to give to God. Help children brainstorm on ways they can give. Whether it's sharing a cookie with a friend or letting a little brother go first in a game, giving to others is giving to God. Ask children to think of ways they can give to God and to write them on small slips of paper throughout the week. Younger children can draw pictures. Help children create a box where they can store their ideas. One way of creating an "Gift to God Ideas Box" is by pasting a light bulb image to a decorated shoe box. Ask the children to bring their box the next Sunday and share some of their ideas. Another way to help children to understand giving their best to God is to have them draw a picture of something they really love or a talent they possess and have them put it into a wrapped gift box. Wrap a large cardboard box in gift wrap. Add a decorative bow on the top and cut an opening where children can deposit their pictures. Have children draw a picture of something they are good at or something they love and ask them to give the picture to God by depositing it into the box.