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Thankfulness in a Box

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I am excited to share a fun lesson, Thankfulness in a Box, with you today that comes from Mary Kate Warner from Christianity Cove! If you haven’t checked out all of her resources, be sure to click on the link at the end of the page. Enjoy!!

Thanksgiving Household Object Lesson: Thankfulness in a Box

We often forget to give thanks and approach God only when we want something. You can help break kids of this habit by bringing in a box filled with opportunities to feel gratitude. That is…a box filled with anything at all! Follow our model or make up your own. You will put kids in a great position to feel thankful in ways they have never felt before.

Household object:

Cardboard box with a lid

Other Materials:

These are materials that another teacher used, but you can use your own. Just make sure you know five ways to be thankful for each object.

• Empty Coca Cola can

• Dirty Shoelace

• Used Battery

• Garlic Salt in a spice container

• Empty Tupperware Container


Preparations:

Put all items into the cardboard box and put it on the table.

Thankfulness Lesson:

One day, a teacher didn’t have a lesson for her class. She didn’t know what to do! No ideas were coming. She finally decided, “Being thankful is always a great lesson. But what do I say about thankfulness that I haven’t already said?” So she grabbed a bunch of random things and put them in a box.

“I bet I can get my class to feel thankful for these things in the box! I think. I hope!”

She found nearly 30 reasons to be thankful for those items. And the teacher had merely grabbed them and put them in a box, with a hope and a prayer!

This should show us that we can feel thankful for even the littlest things, and there are great reasons to do that!

But first…here are the items. Let’s see how many reasons we can think of to be thankful for them.

thankfulness

Pull out the used Coca Cola can. Here are some prompts.

1. It’s empty! We can be thankful someone got to drink the soda

2. It’s round and smooth. Thanks for the development of the soda can.

3. It has a nice top. Thanks for the invention of the soda flip top.

4. It is here and not on the ground; thank God nobody littered with this can!

5. It could get rusty and hurt somebody if we left it out; thank God for trash men!

6. Bet it tasted good; thank God for Coca Cola itself!

7. Bet it was cold; Thank God for refrigerators and freezers!

8. We would recognize that red can be anywhere; thank God for the color red

9. It costs money. Thank God for the money to buy yummy drinks.

10. If you put your ear up to it, you can hear an echo. Thank God for cool tricks like “hearing the ocean” in an empty tin can.

Bring out the dirty shoelace. Here are some prompts:

1. Where would we be without shoelaces? We’d still be wearing sandals. Thank God for the very concept of shoelaces.

2. These used to be in a shoe that took a kid somewhere for a long time. Thank God for sneakers.

3. This shoelace is pretty dirty. Thank God for detergent and bleach.

4. This shoelace needed to be tied. Thank God for fingers that can work shoelaces.

5. Shoelaces are hard to tie. Thank God for moms and dads to teach us.

6. Shoelaces can be a pain in the neck sometimes because they keep coming undone. Thank God for Velcro!

7. Shoelaces can be fun to lace, especially if your sneaker has lots of those little metal-rimmed holes. Thank God for the invention of metal rimmed holes.

8. This shoelace was new and pretty once. Thank God someone had the money to buy it.

9. This shoelace is a dirty disgrace. Thank God for the ability to rhyme — it’s fun!

10. This shoe lace helped keep a sock snugly in place. Thank God for socks in the cold November weather.

Bring out the used battery.

1. This battery may have lit something like a flashlight for a long time. Thank God for that light.

2. This battery may have made a toy move back and forth across the floor. Thanks, God, for making a little kid happy.

3. This battery was invented! Thanks, God, or what would we do in storms when the electricity goes out?

4. This battery was invented! Thanks, God, for inventors to whom you whisper what we need to make life easier.

5. This battery has beautiful paint on the EverReady logo—silver and red. Thank God for colors.

6. This battery contains battery acid, which is really dangerous if swallowed. Thank God for doctors who can help us when something accidentally goes in our mouths.

7. This battery works with other batteries in things like music stations. Than God for teamwork!

8. This battery is a little outdated now—Thanks, God, for rechargeable batteries, like those in our cell phones.

9. This battery is a little outdated now—Thanks, God, that we can now recharge certain batteries in our cars!

10. This battery is smooth and cylindrical. Thank you, God, for shapes that make things work well.

thankfulness

 

Bring out the empty Tupperware container.

1. Last time I used this Tupperware, I stored meatballs in it. Thank God for leftovers as a lot of food tastes better the second time it is heated.

2. This Tupperware is made of plastic. What a great invention! Thanks, God!

3. This Tupperware container has a lid. Thanks, God, for ways to keep our food fresh and safe!

4. This Tupperware could carry part of my lunch to school. Thanks, God, that I don’t have to eat cafeteria food every day!

5. This Tupperware container could go in the microwave. Thanks, God, for microwaves to make things cook fast!

6. This Tupperware came in a package with other Tupperwares that were different sizes. Thank God that we have choices.

7. This Tupperware held a piece of my birthday cake. Thanks, God, for birthdays.

8. This Tupperware was stepped on by my little brother. Thanks, God, for great substances that don’t crack and break.

9. My dog licked this Tupperware container because my dog likes meatball tastes. Thank God for dish soap!

10. This Tupperware container has a lifetime guarantee on it. Thank God for things that last a long time!

Thankfulness Conclusion:

We each probably have a hundred things in our living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms which we could be thankful for—if we just stopped to think of what they are. When you go in your room today after Sunday school, I want you all to look around and start thanking God for those things.

Why is being thankful a great idea? It can shift our mood from bad to good; it can make us happier; it makes God happy when we appreciate Him; like anyone, God likes to do more for people who are grateful; we won’t be as upset when things go wrong, because we will feel that we have so many blessings.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The best way to give thanks in all circumstances is to learn how to be thankful for lots during the good times. Then, when the bad times come, you have a great skill developed of always seeing the bright side.

With Thanksgiving approaching, let’s remember to be thankful more often and for even the smallest of things. It will make God very happy, and that’s the name of the game on planet earth!

Guest Post by:

Mary Kate Warner

Mary-Kate is a regular blogger at Christianity Covehttp://www.christianitycove.com/. You can often find her writing about Christian Motherhood, Homeschool Teaching, Bible Study and Sunday School Activities, Faith and inspiring children to love God.

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