Lesson Learned: You can choose your attitude.
Materials Needed: paper, marker, ruler, plain stickers, 2 pictures of your child: one happy and one sad, gluestick
Bible Verse:
Psalm 118:24
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Talking Points: God made the world. He made the mountains and all the animals. He made you, too! And He made every single day that you play with your toys or your friends. God wants us to be glad for every single day and not to pout, whine, or complain about things you may have to do today. You can choose your attitude whether good things or bad things are happening and it is good to choose to put on a joyful face.
Questions: Do you ever whine or pout? Why? What can you do instead? Are you going to choose to put on your happy face today?
Activity: Write the verse on top of a piece of paper. Draw a horizontal, straight line half way through the paper. Glue the happy picture of your child on top of the line. Place the sad picture of your child on the other side. On several of the stickers, draw happy faces. On several of the stickers, draw sad faces.
Explain to the child that whenever they pout or whine today, they will receive a sad sticker. If they show joy and thankfulness throughout the day, they will get happy stickers. If they get 10 sad stickers, a favorite toy will be taken away. If they get 10 happy stickers, they will get a prize (could be a new toy, one they haven’t seen in a while, or a piece of candy).
*My child is full of drama and we’ve been doing this to remind her that a) God made every day and He tells us to be joyful and b) to help prevent the constant pouty lips moping around our house. So far, we’ve seen positive feedback and she loved getting her first surprise toy!
Prayer: God, thank You so much for today. We want to rejoice and be glad for every moment that You give us. Please remind us not to grumble, whine, or complain today (and every day!) Amen!