Lent for Little Ones: Days 8-14

Day 8     3/1        Luke 20:9-26            Parable of the Vine-Growers

Talk about what this scripture means by, “give to God the things that are God’s.”  Make round yellow circles out of paper and write on each “coin” something that belongs to God, and how we can GIVE those things to Him.  What does that giving look like?

Day 9         3/2             Luke 20:27-40            Is There a Resurrection

Talk about God being God of the living, and about how we will all live in Him.

Talk about heaven and those who lived in Christ and have gone to be with God            in heaven.  Draw pictures together about what your child thinks heaven might look like.

Day 10    3/3        Matthew 22:34-40      Two Greatest Commandments

Make a poster collage of the two greatest commandments using only pictures. 

 Find images together that your child believes capture loving God, and others.   Find another person for your child to explain the pictures to. 

Day 11     3/5        Matthew 23:1-39      Woe to You!

Ahead of time, paint a plastic or paper cup black.  With your child, talk about how our badness makes us black as night, but that Jesus can help us do what is right.  Paint the outside of the cup white with the child.  Now, talk about how important it is for Jesus to make clean the INSIDE of us, too…paint the inside together.  Talk about how Jesus can make us beautiful on the outside AND on the inside.

Day 12     3/6       Mark 12:41-44         The Widow’s Offering

Grab the bank you and your children made on Day 4.  Give one child 10 pennies, and show how these rich people put one or two pennies in the church money box.  Then, give another child (or a stuffed animal, or a Dad!) only 2 pennies, and talk about how the poor woman put in both of her pennies…all that she had!  Talk about the joy that God gets when we give Him everything, and when we give with a happy and humble heart.

           

Day 13      3/7      Mark 13:1-13       Signs of the Close of the Age

Talk about how, just like in Noah’s day, that today in the world there are many people who do not thing about or love or obey God.  Share with your child how important it is to hold tightly to God in our lives, even though there may be times that others will be unkind to us. 

                        Draw a picture of a large tree, our God, and your child underneath.  Talk to the child about standing close to God.  Draw the sun beating down, and ask whether when it is hot and uncomfortable if it is time to run from the tree or to run close to the tree.  Draw rain, and ask the same question.

 Troubles may come, but when they do, we can draw closer to Him!

Day 14     3/8       Matthew 24:15-35        The Coming of the Son of Man

 “How do you know when it’s almost Christmas?” ask your little one, and talk about all the ways.  “What about your birthday?”  Well, one day, Jesus, who is in heaven with God and all the people we talked about a few days ago, is going to come back to get all of us and to gather us up!  We know He is coming, just like we know your birthday and Christmas is coming!

                        Draw or paint a picture together of Jesus and his angels “gathering His elect” from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.  Talk about how happy we can be to finally be with Jesus, have no sickness and no pain, no crying and no sadness.

the point

Sofie has this one little pointy finger that does ALL her work for her.  

In the morning, when she is ready to get up, it scratch-scrath-scrathes at her crib sheets.

  When you lay on the floor with her, it prods your eyes, picks your nose and claws at your lips.  

But best, when she's about to stick it in the electric socket or crawl off a step, if you say, "Sofie!  Ah-ah-ah!" she whips that baby finger out, points at you and grins...cause she knows. 

every single time.

it is just too cute.

Lent for Little Ones

When I couldn't find any daily kind of Lent program for little ones out there, I pulled forty passages of Scripture,  in chronological order, out of the New Testament, detailing Jesus' final days and the Easter story.  Some of the stories that are repeated throughout the New Testament are also repeated here, and if your toddler is anything like mine, repetition is a good thing :)

Each day, I am reading her the passage from my Bible, and then if her toddler picture Bible also has the story, we read it again from her Bible.  Next, we are doing the activity or conversation times detailed below.  My toddler loves to act out stories and movies, turn her stuffed animals into Bible characters and do crafts.  Therefore, the activities and conversations are aimed toward those interests.

Be creative!  If your toddler is into LEGOs, use LEGOs.  If you don't have a shoebox, use a cereal box.  It doesn't matter.  The point is sharing these stories in a way that conveys the meaning in a way your dear one can understand and remember.  Encourage your kids to share what they are learning with others or when Dad comes home.  

Take Sundays off, and you'll find the first 7 days below.  I'll add the next 33 days over the next week!

By the time Easter comes, you won't be popping the significance of the season on your children, trying to make it an inch wide and a mile deep.  My hope is that by Easter, the meaning of the season and His gift, great love and new life will be a part of who Lily is, seeping into her thirsty mind and dripping from her daily chatter.  

If we don't bind the Truth around their sweet necks

And write His words upon their moldable hearts...

who will? 

Day 1      2/22       Matthew 21:1-11       Triumphal Entry

Make big palm branch  from green construction paper.  Talk about all of the names that the child has, and write one on each frond.  This is the same  with Jesus!  Talk about all of the names he has, just like “King” from the story.  Write a name of Jesus on each frond.

Day 2      2/23      John 12:1-11       Mary Anoints Jesus

 Act out Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with water by washing child’s feet with waterand drying them with a towel.  Talk about how this act showed Mary’s love forJesus.  Talk about ways that the child can love others around him/her like this.

Day 3      2/24       John 12:12-19         Triumphant Entry

Act out ‘the Triumphal Entry’ with a stuffed animal “donkey”, paper palms from Day 1 and coats or blankets.  Act it out several times, letting the child play each role.

Day 4       2/25       Mark 11:12-26       Driving out Money Changers

Make a piggie bank from a tissue box or oatmeal container.  Talk about what the vendors were doing and why it upset Jesus, and talk about how important it is that we give of what we have to God to use.  Write on the box:  “Believe, Pray, Forgive” based on the Scripture.  Use this bank for putting money in this Lent season, and let child give the money to God or others as he/she chooses throughout Lent, or at the end.

Day 5      2/27       Matthew 21:23-32        Authority Challenged, Parable of Two Sons

Make puppets of the two sons on popsicle sticks, act out the parable using thepuppets.  Do it once for the child and then let the child do the same.

Day 6      2/28      Mark 12:1-12        Parable of the Vine-Growers

Paint many stones different colors.  Use a Sharpie to write names of different things that are important in the child’s life…Mommy, Daddy, friends, foods, toys.  Paint the largest stone white and write Jesus’ name on it.  Built the stones together into a house or wall with “Jesus” as the foundation.  Talk about the importance of Jesus being the chief cornerstone.

Day 7      2/29       Matthew 22:1-14       Parable of the Marriage Feast

 Build a “kingdom” from blocks, books, boxes, whatever, and gather many figurines, Barbies, action figures.  Act out the parable, and talk about what it means.

Chicos

Mommy:  Jesus, thank you for our friends today.  Thank you for Junior and Leandre to play with.  Thank you for our friends at Shayla's house today.  Thank you for Dodo and...


Lily: AND thank you that Shayla gave me Chicos.  (Haitian version of Cheetos chips)


Mommy:  Yes, and thank you for the Chicos.  And please help us be nice to...


Lily: AND Jesus?  Thank you, Please bring me Chicos again tomorrow. 


Mommy: Yes, and please help us be nice when...


Lily:  LOTS of Chicos, so I can eat them all day.  1-2-3-4-5-6-7.  Thank you.  AMEN.

our valentines

I might kill our bandwidth, but here's a bunch of pictures of my two favorite girls...

We finally found some great kid "microphones" for Lily, and she is LOVING sitting and listening to the CDs that came with her Bible.  She will listen for like 10 minutes without turning a page, and then say, "MOM!  Where's Jonah?"  Of course, she won't take them off so I can hear and help her follow along, because "my microphones are just for kids.  It's a secret.  For kids."

 Both girls had a blast playing house today...they are starting to have more and more fun together.

 ah, Lily looks SO OLD here!

 Valentine fun and a dozen hilarious Lily faces

 Sofie is standing up on everything, and now will pop up and down so you can make her laugh with "peek-a-boos."

While we were finishing dinner, Lily very sweetly shared one of her valentine stickers with Sofie, and made extra sure to rub it in really well so it wouldn't fall off.  

that was fun

Are everyone's kids this fun?  Are all parents so hopelessly biased about how wonderful their kids are?  Does everyone think they got the best kids in the world?

  

Probably.  We can agree to disagree :)

lapli

you say "la plee".

it means "rain".

there's a lot of it.

it makes two little girls

very happy.

 These are Lily's "Baby Mango Family", complete with Grandpa Mango, Mommy Mango, Aunt Lisa Mango, Uncle Casey Mango, Lily Mango and Sofie Mango (in front.)

our girl

This photo is to prove that there are times when Lily is wearing an entire outfit.

She loved watching the "prince and princess" get married today!

Playing with "pink mud" (cornstarch :)

"doin' dishes", one of her very favorite things to do...drowning my kitchen.

found this picture the other day from a few months ago and just love it.

best friend's birthday

getting bigger

"Mom, LOOK!" Lily exuded when I came home from work today, clinging to her ear lobe.  She had noticed a small freckle on her ear for the first time.

"I'm getting bigger!  See?  Soon I can wear earrings!"

She is totally convinced that one of the highlights of growing bigger is that your ears naturally get holes for earrings :)  It was so cute!

Meanwhile, Sofie is sporting her "bel ti-chinet" (beautiful little tooth-gap) ...a cultural beauty mark, along with her now SIX teeth.  We've been told that people with gaps between their front two teeth are at a high level of beauty, and that Haitians with money have even been known to have their front teeth filed away to create this gap!  So, as long as Sofie has it, we'll be staying in Haiti :)

beach bums

The girls continue to adore the beach!

Sofie sat in this thing forever, singing to her barbie and actually falling asleep at one point, totally content (which if you know Sofie, is a rarity)

We quickly decided that Sofie's 1 inch swim skirt was not enough coverage for these thunder thighs :) 

 Sofie ate lots of sand...

and Lily ate all the seafood she could :)

So thankful for my little family, for good friends, and for a few days away!