Section Title

NEED TO KNOW: 

 “I Feel Happy When I’m Thankful”

  • The focus of this family time is to use five easy steps to teach our preschool children that God God wants to help you when you are feeling sad or mad. When you are feeling yucky, God will help you think about things you can be thankful for. When you start saying, “Thank you,” it can turn your feelings from yucky to happy.
  • Learn the NEED TO KNOW and motions together and say it throughout the week to help your family remember and apply what they have learned. 

I Feel Happy (point to smile)


When I’m Thankful (two thumbs up)



MEMORY VERSE: 


“But even if we don’t feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows everything.”

1 John 3:20

  • Practice the memory verse together as a family


STEP 1. GATHER!

Intentionally pick a place and time to gather your family together and use this activity to begin Family Worship Night.


Play a game of “I’m thankful for”

Parents, name things you are thankful for and after each things have your whole family say “Thank you God!” Thank God for your family, home, job, etc.



STEP 2. WORSHIP!

  • Sing and have fun while worshiping then pray. Take a moment here to thank God for your family and your time together!! Thank him for keeping his promise and sending Jesus to save us!


STEP 3. BIBLE!



Watch:


And reread last week’s Bible Story



Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19-20) 

This Story is about King Jehoshaphat. (Pronounced: Juh-ho-shuh-fat) He was a good king who did what was right. But there were some people who didn’t like the good things that King Jehoshaphat did. One time these enemies wanted to start a war against Jehoshaphat. Builder buddies, let me see you make a scared face! (Everyone will make scared faces) King Jehoshaphat was really scared, so he gathered all of the people in his kingdom to pray together and ask God for help. Let me see you pretend to pray, like the king and all the people. (Everyone will pretend to pray) King Jehoshaphat prayed and told God how great He is. The king asked God to help them, because they were scared and didn’t know what to do. Then one of the priests said, “Do not be afraid. You will not have to fight this battle. The Lord will save you.” King Jehoshaphat and all the people were surprised and began to tell God, “Thank you,” for hearing their prayers and promising to save them. Let me hear you tell God, “Thank you,” just like the king did. (Everyone will say, “Thank you,” together)

Now let me hear all of you pat your knees to make the sound of soldiers marching. (Everyone will pat knees) The next day, the king and his army marched to meet their enemies. Jehoshaphat put a special group of men in the front of the army. These men sang thankful songs to God, as the rest of the army followed behind them. 

When they arrived they didn’t find a strong army of soldiers to fight. Instead, they found that the battle had already been won! God had caused everyone in the enemy army to fight each other! Let’s clap and cheer for God, because God fought the battle and won it for them! (Everyone will clap and cheer) King Jehoshaphat and his army returned home praising God! They thanked God for answering their prayer and for helping them when they felt scared. No matter how we feel, we can be like King Jehoshaphat and find things that we can be thankful for. Because we feel happy when we’re thankful! Let me hear you say this after me (Pause to allow kids to repeat):

I Feel Happy (point to smile)


When I’m Thankful (two thumbs up)




STEP 4. DISCUSSION!

Use these questions and points to have a conversation with your children about Jesus.

  • What is one thing that you are thankful for? 
  • When your feelings are out of control, should you keep crying or start saying, “Thank you,” for what you have? (Start saying “thank you” for what you have) 
  • Does God say in His Blueprint that we will be mad or happy when we are thankful? (Happy) Yes! God knows that when we start saying, “Thank you,” for all that we have, we will feel happy.   


STEP 5. Pray!

  • Dear God, thank You for loving me no matter how I’m feeling. Please help me remember to be thankful all of the time! I love You! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.