Super Fun Gem Activity

Here's an activity to teach about finding the "good stuff" that's inside us all, or any other similar theme that you can use as an excuse to do it.  We did this at our GIFT Lent session, and the kids really "dug" it!

First, I bought cheap but sparkly "gem" beads at JoAnn ETC.  I also purchased Crayola air dry clay in both terracotta and white.  The basic idea to prepare this activity is to "bury" one or two gems in a "rock" made from the clay.  I found that mixing the two colors of clay made it look more like rocks, because the color was less uniform/more natural.  Then, I experimented with how long to let them dry.  2 days out in the open air was too long; the clay got too hard to dig into.  One day was not enough; it was still too clay-like and too quick and easy to get the gems out.  I found that the best was to let them dry about 1 1/2 days in the open air, and then I could store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days more without the clay getting too hard.  Each child got 1 clay "rock" with 2 gems inside, a pie tin to catch the mess, and a spoon (got them at the dollar store).  They loved this activity!

We turned our gems into a craft, stringing the beads on black cord through a pencil-top eraser to make a pencil topper.  You could do anything with them.  Some kids chose to just take them home to put in their "treasure box."  It was a lot of work to prepare, but I would definitely do this activity again!

Forms of Prayer Game

Here is a fun game we played in February to learn about different types of prayers:

Each table got a foam die from Oriental Trading Company.  These are a great size, very colorful, and very quiet.  I had written on the white board:

1 = Thank you, God, for...
2 = Please forgive me when I...
3 = God, please bless...
4 = God, one thing that makes you so great is...
5 = God, please help me to be more...
6 = God, please help me to be less...

The game is simple: You pass the die around the table, and each person takes a turn (or two) rolling the die.  Whatever number comes up, that's how you start a one-sentence prayer.  This was a great way for kids (and parents, too) to practice some types of prayers and (hopefully) encourage everyone to add some variety to their personal prayer time.