Stewardship Activities - Building Character in your Children

10 Activities about STEWARDSHIP:


1. HEALTHY EATING – Help your children establish healthy eating at a young age. Explain that this body is our vehicle while on earth and we need to keep it in tiptop shape! Here are some tips that I have found helpful.
a) Serve dessert occasionally, maybe a couple times a week.
b) Don’t make your children clean their plate. Allow them to serve themselves to choose their portions. They should have a little of each of the healthy choices you provide.
c) No foods are “bad” and YOU LIKE EVERYTHING! Teach them about anytime foods (veggies and fruit) and once in awhile foods (chips, fried foods, processed meat, sweets)
d) If you are picky, if you snack all day, if you eat junk, if you overeat, your children will model your behavior. OUCH!

2. TRAINING THE BODY – Kids need to know that they can train their body to accomplish things. If they dribble a soccer ball every day, their body will learn to react quicker and be more efficient…and they will become proficient! Same with basketball or ballet or video games or playing an instrument. Our bodies need to be trained to become good at something. It takes persistent effort. To illustrate this, you could time your child holding their breath. Do it a few times a day for a week and show them how they “trained their body”. Explain that this works with other activities. Then help your child pick an activity to do every day for 15 minutes.

3. SLEEP NEEDS – Many kids are walking around with sleep debts. Make it a priority for your whole family to get enough sleep. You will be amazed at the results.

4. NERF (Nutrition, Exercise, Rest, Fun) – All of these are needed for optimal health. We’ve discussed the first three. Encourage your children to create their own fun. Get away from the need to be entertained and help them use their imagination. Put on plays or skits about a Bible story; put on a circus; play “And Then”.

5. 10 MINUTE TIDY – God calls us to be good stewards of all he has given us…and that includes our toys. Toys that are left out lose their pieces or get stepped on and broken. Make a game out of clean up. Set a timer and play some music.

6. INSPECTION – Work with you child to create an age appropriate check list for inspection. Items that might be on it are: finger nails, hands, closet floor, behind the ears, under the bed, bathroom sink area…etc. You can have scheduled inspections or surprise ones. Give them a score and reward them for having a good inspection.

7. MONEY IS A TOOL – Show your children some tools (hammer, screwdriver, level, saw). Ask them what each one does. How silly would it be for someone to cling to a saw when they don’t ever cut anything? Money is a tool. We don’t cling to tools, we use them. As believers, money is a tool that God gives us to do His work.

8. BE A BLESSING – Remind your children daily that we are to be a blessing wherever we go. Give them ideas on how to “bless” others (holding doors, smiling, using manners, cleaning up a mess you didn’t make).

9. WASTE NOT WANT NOT – Take your kids to tour the large transfer station in Seville. They will be amazed at the volume of garbage processed there! They will also give you tips on how to dispose of the garbage so that they can recycle. Discuss recycling with your kids and make a family plan.

10. NUMBER YOUR DAYS – Figure out how many days your child has been alive, figure out how many days you have been alive. Tell your children that each day is a special gift from God for them to use. What will they do with it? Give tomorrow a “number” and plan a special day.