Safety Commandments

This year, I bundled a safety lesson into our session on the Ten Commandments, and I presented families with "10 Commandments of Safety."

After handing out the posters, we talked through each rule and gave examples of real-life situations that kids might face.  For example, we talked about following your parents' rules, even if you're not at your parents' house, using the example of a friend who wants to watch a movie or show you wouldn't be allowed to watch at home.  With parents, we talked about how too much "hovering" can actually make a child less confident and more vulnerable, so I offered simple ways to let them feel some independence, such as using a changing room alone at the store, with the parent just outside the door.  Then, families had a few minutes to discuss where they were doing well and where they could improve.

Click here for a link to the poster.

God's Big Ten

In November, we had a session on the 10 Commandments.  First, I presented the actual commandments; each was printed on a poster board "stone tablet," and 10 kids came up at each session to hold up the posters while I explained the meaning of each Commandment.  Because some of the Commandments are rather adult-oriented (i.e. adultery!), I broke down the basic, core message of each one (i.e. keeping promises).
Our theme this year is "Catch the Spirit," a sports/sports fan theme.  So, for our art project, I got creative with Big Ten sports logos.  The kids colored these 17x11 place mats, and we ran them through the laminator before they took them home:

This project was a big hit, even if a lot of the kids didn't know all of the logos.  They did all recognize the Minnesota Gophers, of course!  Obviously, I made it clear that these are not the actual 10 Commandments, but rather a breakdown of the basic messages of them.  It's also worth noting that these are based on the "Catholic" 10 Commandments, which are numbered a bit differently than other versions.  You could also skip the laminating and call it a poster, but I like to make things that can be used at home as much as possible.  Click here for a link to the place mat.