Family Faith and Fun Friday: Hidden Treasure

Welcome to Family Faith and Fun Fridays. As the week winds down and I anticipate more family time over the weekend, I often ask God for one good idea that will enable me to bring the Word to life and bring our family together. Usually, the activity overflows out of something the Lord has been teaching me through His word during the week. I’d like to invite you to join me and my family in the adventure. Sometimes I’ll post things we’ve tried; other times I’ll post an idea in the works. If you’ve got thoughts to add or suggestions on how to adapt or improve the suggested activity, please don’t hesitate to post a comment. Enjoy!

My littlest ones spent lots of time in the sandbox this week.  Okay, so it’s not quite like a beach, but it’s the best we’ve got in the land-locked Midwest.  We were able to pretend we had an ocean nearby when a few choice rains added the delightful dimension of MOIST sand to our play.  The soggy sand was perfect for building an entire city of lopsided structures, for baking delicious mud-and-sand pies, and for digging deep walls that didn’t cave instantly. Joshua learned how to tip a bucket to create a castle, Maggie figured out how to dig holes with a stick, and Hannah found a dingy old dime as she stirred up a pot of stone-and-sand stew.   The dime jogged her memory and sent her racing to find me.

“Mom, remember when we mined for silver in our sandbox last year?”

“Yes?”

“I found more treasure! Can you believe it? It’s been buried for like.. FOREVER!!” my drama queen declared.

And so this week’s exciting find reminded me of a simple little activity that we have enjoyed countless times over the years.  It’s an easy way to communicate a basic truth about God’s Word. It’s also a marvelous “time filler” for any mom who could use a few moments to sit in a lawn chair and put her feet up while her miniature miners fill their pockets wwith treasure. 

Here’s the basic idea: 

1.  Get several rolls of pennies, nickels, or dimes. I like to have at least 100 coins.  (When my kids were little and had no sense of monetary value, we used pennies. Now that I have some pre-teens in the mix, I use a mix of nickels, dimes, and quarters.  Ten dollars worth of change is plenty.)  I’ve also done this with little toys, wrapped candy (NOT CHOCOLATE– the sun and sand create a melty mess by the time the kids find it) and brightly-colored beads or rocks that look like jewels. If your kids aren’t “wowed” by money, think of something else they’d be delighted to discover. When we used beads once, I let them trade the beads in for little dollar-store trinkets, like trading tickets for prizes at Chuck. E. Cheese.

2.  Hide the coins in the sandbox. If you don’t have a sandbox, a dirt pile would work, so would a beach or a local park with a sandbox.

3.  Gather the kids and read Proverbs 2:1-6. Explain that reading God’s Word is like digging for hidden treasure. God has jewels of wisdom and nuggets of hope packed into the Bible, but we need to dig in the scriptures to find them. If we never open our Bible and read, we’ll miss the treasure He has for us.  Explain that having a Bible but never reading it is like being a miner who lives next to a treasure-filled quarry but never digs for the gold. 

4. Next  walk out to the sandbox. Make sure none of the treasure is visible. Ask the kids what they see.  They should respond, “sand, shovels, etc.” Then say, “There’s treasure buried in the sand that you can’t see. You’ll have to dig for it.”  Hand each child a digging tool- a shovel, a kitchen spoon, whatever works and set whatever parameters you need to make the activity fun for your entire crew. I have the kids stop digging when they’ve found 20 coins so that the “finds” are even. Later, we let the kids dig all they want in search of the left-overs. 

We’ve also adapted this activity to be a nighttime event. I purchased little “headband flashlights”- check the flashlight aisle of any discount store- and we’ve headed out to the sandbox in the dark with only the headlamps to light the dig.  That adds a fun twist for my older kids. Then we talk about how the Holy Spirit is like the lamp that leads us to treasure as we dig in God’s Word.  Let me know how you modify this idea to fit your family. I’d love to try a new twist on an old favorite!

5. HAVE FUN!  And don’t forget to remind the kids when they are done that finding treasure in God’s Word takes some digging, but it’s worth it.

                          Today’s Treasure:  Proverbs 2: 1-6

                                                       My son, if you accept my words
                                                       and store up my commands within you,
                                                       turning your ear to wisdom
                                                       and applying your heart to understanding,
                                                       and if you call out for insight
                                                       and cry aloud for understanding,
                                                       and if you look for it as for silver
                                                       and search for it as for hidden treasure
                                                       then you will understand the fear of the LORD
                                                      and find the knowledge of God.
                                                      For the LORD gives 
                                                     and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.