Family Faith and Fun Fridays:
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. -Hebrews 4:12
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 activity, please don’t hesitate to comment. Enjoy!
The Balloon Hunt:
Simple Poppin’ Fun
Not long ago I orchestrated a simple activity for my little ones. They love treasure hunts of
any kind, so I invited them to try out this one…
I printed out some simple clip art pictures that represented items we could find in our house.Then I rolled up those pictures, slipped them into balloons and blew up the balloons.
Next, I gave each child six balloons and these instructions: Inside every balloon is a picture of something you need to find in our house.
You must pop the balloon, look at the picture, and go find that item. Once you’ve found what you’re hunting for, bring it back to me and move on to another balloon.
The first person to find all six of their items and bring them back to me is the winner!
Josh and Maggie had a blast popping their hunting orders and racing around the house searching for what they needed.
When our hunt was finished and each participant had enjoyed a piece of candy as a “prize,” I followed up the activity with this question:
If God played this game with us and He gave us a balloon filled with a picture of the ONE THING He most wanted us to seek and find, what would that picture from God be?Josh suggested a tractor, “since He knows I love them so much…”
And Maggie thought God’s balloon might have a picture of Heaven inside of it.
Then, I brought out one last balloon and asked the kids to pop it.
Inside, I had a picture of Jesus and this verse:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
-Matthew 6:33
We talked about how seeking God’s kingdom is really just an invitation to seek Jesus, since Jesus was the one God chose to bring His kingdom to earth.
When we seek Jesus, we find truth and righteousness and peace and hope and joy and wisdom– all those gifts that come with being Kingdom Dwellers, children of the King of Kings.When we were finished, we hung a balloon on the shelf that holds our Bibles as a visual invitation to seek Him first in the days to come.
How about you, friends? Do you have time to hunt for some truth this weekend? All you need is a few balloons and some willing seekers!
I love this activity! I think this would be a fun one to do with my kiddos. Thanks for sharing!
Okay, friend, I totally miss our face to face chats and idea creating. Your sweet words here always make me smile. Thanks for who you are!
This is a brilliant activity for all moms…who need to buy themselves a few minutes of peace, or time to do the dishes! You have always be the Queen Bee at creating special ways to help your kids feel completely loved while you keep the rest of your house perfect! 🙂 It’s quite the talent Alicia!
Your also able to turn everything into a life lesson, about How the kids can turn their life over to Jesus! NOW THATS A TALENT!!!!!
Love and Miss you!
I adore this idea…my boys would LOVE IT!! I like how you tied into seeking the Lord. So true and so good to teach our family that and to be reminded ourselves. Blessing to you!