Happy New Year! Welcome back to the blog! If you subscribed to my blog during the holidays or rather, post-Truth in the Tinsel this may be your first post that’s been delivered to your inbox. And you might be looking for my ebook, Praying God’s Word for your Kids. You’ll find the free download link at the very bottom of this email. (And if you haven’t subscribed and got your free ebook, what are you waiting for?)
I’m super excited about this new series based on Proverbs, which I have affectionately titled, “Whoo’s Wise?” When I told the kids we were starting a new series like the Armor of God and How To Be a SuperHero, Lydia started jumping up and down. Asa was bummed because he wanted to do Armor of God again!
First of all, let me just preface this by reminding you that my kids are 5 and 8. I’m doing what works for them and what interests them. The activities and crafts may have to be adapted for your kiddos. Also, I am not a Bible scholar (I mean, I did go to Bible College, but that was many moons ago). There are hundreds of verses we could focus on, there are hundreds of ways we could discuss, dissect and understand them. I’m simply culling through the Scriptures I think will be helpful for me and my kids. And my main goal is to plant the seed of God’s Word in their hearts–and get them excited about learning God’s Word. So, as with everything I do, use your own discretion and God-given ability to parent your kids.
That being said, let’s get to our first Whoo’s Wise activity! Whooo’s ready? (It had to be said. I’ll try to keep the owl puns to a minimum. *grin*)
We started off by reading Proverbs 1:1-7 in the NIrV (see why we use this version). I so love how Proverbs begins because it tells you exactly how and why to use the book. It’s like a manual and not just a story!
These are the proverbs of Solomon. He was the son of David and the king of Israel.
2 Proverbs teach you wisdom and train you.
They help you understand wise sayings.3 They provide you with training and help you live wisely.
They lead to what is right and honest and fair.4 They give understanding to childish people.
They give knowledge and good sense to those who are young.5 Let wise people listen and add to what they have learned.
Let those who understand what is right get guidance.6 What I’m teaching also helps you understand proverbs and stories.
It helps you understand the sayings and riddles of those who are wise.7 If you really want to gain knowledge, you must begin by having respect for the Lord.
But foolish people hate wisdom and training.
After we read the chapter we went back through the Scripture and wrote down on pieces of construction paper all the benefits of wisdom. (Those are the words I highlighted above.) We semi-talked about each one (especially training as our puppy still needs lots of training and is incredibly annoying in areas he is not trained in!) and the kids seemed to recognize the benefit of all that wisdom! (They really liked the idea of being able to understand the riddles of wise adults!)
Then, I had the kids stand up and told them that as we read Proverbs we will hear about a few different people, especially foolish people and wise people. I let Lydia represent the foolish person and Asa, the wise. Then, I clipped every single one of those papers to Asa’s clothes with clothespins.
They giggled and laughed as Asa began to resemble a bird (owl?) with giant feathers! I asked which person they thought would be more prepared to be wise–and Asa definitely won! Lydia wasn’t too excited about being a plain, uncolorful foolish person.
So, we let her try on the wise words…
She loved it and, as always, my silly Asa loved posing as our foolish person! *sigh*
It was a simple activity to help them see the vast benefits of wisdom. Oh, they might not know what all the words mean or how it applies to their life yet. But their interest is peaked. They are excited to see how they can be surrounded, encouraged and uplifted by the wisdom God promises us!
So, what do you think? Fun? We had lots of fun doing this activity. If you do it with your kids, I’d love to see it! Leave a comment here or show us a picture on my Facebook page or use the hashtag #whooswise on Instagram or Twitter!
See the rest of the series here:
Proverbs 1:7 Memorization Craft
Paper Bead Necklace (Proverbs 1:8-9, 3:3-4, 21-22)
Popcorn & Diligence (Proverbs 13:4 + a free printable coloring sheet!)
More diligence & a great Proverbs DVD (Proverbs 6:6)
Madonna says
Looks like it is going to be an awesome series Amanda!
oh amanda says
Thanks, friend! The only problem is there are so many great Proverbs it could take us 2 years to finish. 😉
a
Brooke McGlothlin (@BrookeWrites) says
Love it, love it, LOVE IT! In Praying for Boys, I talk about training our boys to think in terms of there being two kinds of men in the world—foolish and wise. This is such a big part of our parenting. Gonna do it with our boys!
ohAmanda says
I mean, that’s it, isn’t it? Just don’t be foolish! Thanks, Brooke! 🙂
a
liana says
We just started reading proverbs as a family with our 4 yr old (and2 1/2 mo) and was so needing some activities to help explain and keep her interest ….this looks great and cant wait for more!
Cindy says
So excited about this series, Amanda, and so grateful to you for sharing it!! My three kiddos (8, 6, and 3) and I will definitely be joining you in this journey!!
Kourtney says
Great idea! Reminded me of the wise man and foolish man parable, so we read that in our children’s Bible this morning and sang the song. Had to teach my preschooler what ‘wise’ and ‘foolish’ meant. We will do this activity in a few days to reinforce the concept. 🙂 thank you!
Aubrey Hunt says
Haha! Oh, how wonderful! That owl is a GREAT way to teach wise/foolish to your kids! I have always had a special place in my heart for the Proverbs, but you’re right — it’s hard to teach some of them to kids conceptually. I can’t wait to see what else you have in store, and maybe do a few activities with my kids (ages 4 and 1), too. 🙂
Becky Daye says
I love how memorable this will be! Looking forward to doing it with the kids. Need to get some clothespins…
Excited for this series! Thank you for all of your hard work, Amanda. What a blessing you are!
tster says
Wow that is a really a neat way for the kids to learn.
jennifer says
Thank you! I have been so excited for this since you first mentioned it on your blog/Facebook. My 4YO daughter and I spent time on this today and she had great fun learning and practicing listening and writing skills when we wrote the benefits on her “owl feathers.” She was super excited to show my husband when he returned home from work today. Very thankful to God for you and the blessing this is to a mom like me, who wants my babies to know and love Jesus, but struggles with how to bring the message down to their level.
April says
We had fun doing this today with the kids. They weren’t real sure about it at first but both liked having the papers pinned to them. I do have a question. It’s a little trivial but I’ll ask anyway. Wondered if we needed to keep these paper/words for later activities? Was going to let the kids use them in their open art table but not if I need them for later. Thanks.
ohAmanda says
Nope! You won’t need ’em. Unless you just want to keep them to remember–they could be fun to hang up somewhere!
a
Heather says
Aaaaack… That’s super cute and so powerful. I want to come over and do the next one with you. Our boys could make silly faces together and Lydia would be treated like royalty. {We’ve been working on chivalry again over here…}
Alas, I guess I’ll settle for doing these with my kiddos in my home all the way across the country. 🙂
Susan @ RaisingDeepRoots says
Yay! I love your series like these. Thank you!
Jessica says
Thank you for making this so fun! My children and I enjoyed the first installment of Whoo’s Wise last night. So that we will remember to hide Proverbs 1:7 in our hearts, I wrote each word of the verse on a paper feather and strung them across our back door. I plan to remove one feather at a time until we can recite the entire verse from memory.
Andrea says
Hey Amanda!
Is it possible for me to follow your super-hero guide based on Timothy 4:12?
I saw it referenced in your proverbs teaching and I think my kids would really love that.
Where do I pick up that week-long teaching?
Thanks so much!! Andrea
oh amanda says
Here’s all the super hero activities, Andrea! http://ohamanda.com/how-to-be-a-super-hero-series/
lauren says
Thank you! We just started a study over Proverbs and I can’t wait to do this activity with the kids tomorrow! : )
Kelsey Hart says
Just wanted to thank you for the great resources you provide. I’m a Children’s Pastor, and find your website to be so helpful. Thanks for the time and energy you put into all you do; it’s making a HUGE impact!
oh amanda says
Thank you, Kelsey!! 🙂
a