A twist on role playing is turning what we want our children to learn into a game. This came in handy when we were getting together with some other children and wanted to enforce the characteristics spoken of in I Cor. 13. We took the list given in this “love chapter” and created a game we called “LOVE IS…” The game is a rewrite of Duck, Duck, Goose (Grey Duck). Each child picks a love characteristic. It could be love is: not rude, or never boasts, or is always patient. Around the circle they pat, “love, love, love,” and finally “love is kind” and the race begins.
Reading is also a big part of our lives. We are very picky about what we read. Not everything we read is “Christian” but everything must be encouraging and uplifting. We own stacks of good character theme books that illustrate a trait like sharing. A story is told that demonstrates how to share. We also have books that tell a story showing how to live out a Bible verse; these I feel really help our children understand how God’s word applies to our everyday lives.
Another way we pour our beliefs and standards into our children’s lives is through song. Now I’m somewhat of an anti-noise person so I rarely play music or radio in our home. Tapes are a regular occurrence in the car though. We enjoy singing along as well as carrying the songs home with us. We have quite a repertoire of songs written just for and by us as well. Each of our children has their own verse to “Old McDonald” such as: “There is a Mommy has a girl and Sammy is her name-o, S-A-M-M-Y …” you get the idea. There is also the verse to another tune that says, “She’s as sweet as candy, that’s my Andie….” They will often come up to me and request, “Mommy, sing a J.T. song” so it is time for, “Thank you Jesus, thank you, thank you Jesus for J.T.” What cherished moments.