For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
God gave us the perfect example of what LOVE truly is. How can we emmulate that example in our lives and for our children? I love to tell you this, our kids already know a LOT about loving others – even at an early age! I believe we are born with the capacity and the desire to show love. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from our Discovery Days classes with children demonstrating their love for others.
It’s incredible how much oure teachers love “their” kids. It is that example and of course the love and care you have shown your children from the moment they were born that children base their understanding of what love means. As with all aspects of children’s growth, they flourish when wonderful examples of love and care surrounds them!
We can of course offer activities that support the idea of loving others as well. I hope these ideas might work with your kids.
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Cut out three simple heart shapes from different colored papers. Write the words “I”, “love”, “you” on each heart. For younger children you could also draw a simple pictures: an eye, a heart, and the letter U. Take turns hiding and finding the hearts to tell each other “I love you.” (By the way, this game encourages emergent literacy skills.)
- Write family and friends names on paper or popsycle sticks. Dependant on your child’s age and skills, you could ask them to draw a picture of the people or glue a picture of them onto the paper or stick. Place the items in a special container (a child decorated jar would be great!) and plan to implement a “loving others” time in your day – perhaps at dinner time? Draw out a person from the container each day. At this time have everyone say, “I love ___________ because ___________.” You could finish by saying a prayer for your special person of the day.
- Make an “I love” board. On a large piece of paper make two, three or four sections. Write in each section something like “People I love” “Food I love” “Toys I love” etc. Have the children find ways to depict the things they love in each section. Newspaper ads, magazines, child’s art, photos will all provide some ways for this to happen.
- Cut out two large hearts. Prepare a special snack for your child. Have him or her start some distance away from the kitchen. They place a heart on the floor and stand on it. The other heart goes on the floor in front of them and they can step to it. Now they move the first heart from behind them to in front of them and step on it. Continue with this until your child makes it all the way to the special snack. You could add to this by saying something you love about them every time they step onto the next heart.
I send loving thoughts and wishes to each of you on this Valentine’s Day! A.A. Milne through her lovable character, Winne the Pooh, shares some wonderful thoughts about loving others. From one of my favorite quotes, I created a printable that you are welcome to download. I hope this will find a spot in your home that will encourage thoughts and conversation about how we show our love for others.
Happy Valentines Day everyone!
How Do You Spell Love?
Aldersgate Preschool 