Recently, a few friends and I planned a day camp for the kids in my church. The theme was: God Is Everywhere. Each of us were tasked to come up with an activity based on the theme. For me, I decided to design an activity that focuses on God’s words and promises in our lives but make it more personal and relatable to children. I wanted the children to feel like God is speaking directly to them, no matter where they are. I titled it, ‘What is God saying to Me Everyday?’. The children really enjoyed it. Below, I share it with you. You may want to try it out for your Sunday School children too or as a home activity. It is suitable for children age 7 to 12. For children who are not proficient at reading yet, I paired them with an adult facilitator to read the quotes for them.
Objectives and Key Messages
- To help children understand that God is talking to us all the time. He speaks to us through the bible, family, friends, and through his still soft voice if we ask Him to speak to us.
- God wants to build a relationship with us. He is curious to know everything about us.
- God loves us. Thus, he encourages, admonishes, disciplines, comforts, and strengthens us depending on what we need at that moment.
Set-Up and Guide
I printed out 30 quotes from God using the first person voice. You can download my list by clicking here. I then spread the quotes all around the hall space– walls, windows, in between different pews. Having the whole space peppered with God’s words represents his omnipresence.
The children then went around the hall and read all the quotes. As they read, they were instructed to draw a star on the quote that impacted them- surprised/ touched/ shocked/ intrigued them. They were also given a sheet of paper to write down 3 favourite quotes.
After the children came out of the church hall, they sat in groups of 4 or 5. Each group had a facilitator who invited the children to share:
a) what their 3 favourite quotes were
b) their reasons for choosing those quotes
c) something about the character of God they learnt from the things he is saying to us everyday.
The facilitators also build on the children’s responses and reinforced the 3 key messages.
Response from the Children
The children were really engaged and went around the hall several times, reading and re-reading the words God is saying to them every day. They found some amusing, some surprising and some touching. Other than stars (to show likes) a few cheeky kids even wrote responses to the quotes.
Eg. “Yoo hoo, why didn’t you just ask me for help? I’m right here.”
Response: “I forgot”.
Here are a few favourite quotes from the children.
- “I love you so much.”
- “Nah, I’m not busy. I’ve got time to listen to you.
- “I know your parents stress you out. They are still learning from me too.”
- “When is Jesus coming back? Shhhh. It’s no fun if I give the surprise away. You’ve just got to be prepared for the big prize when He comes back.”
What they learnt about God:
Many children shared that the quotes made them feel that God loves them very much. They appreciated how God wants to help them and be there for them when they face difficulties.
Reflection
I was glad to have the chance to design and try out the activity with the kids. Another activity to teach God’s omnipresence is a Science experiment, courtesy of Little Shoots Deep Roots. For the rest of the day, we played ice-breaker games, memory verse games and went on a hike to end the day. After the long pandemic where the children didn’t see each other physically for 2 years, the camp helped them rekindle friendships.
It was wonderful working with like-minded friends who cared about the spiritual development of children as well as their sense of belonging to church and initiate a day camp for them. I was reminded again that it takes a village to raise a child.