DO you that Mother’s Day will be celebrated on 8 May, 2011 in the Philippines, Singapore and in the USA? So dont forget to greet your mothers who are in the Philippines and other parts of the world. In Ireland we will celebrate Mother’s Day on March 18.Worldwide Celebration Dates on May 8, 2011
The following countries celebrate Mother’s Day on May 8:
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(a special children’s church lesson for mother’s day)
Introduction / Hook: Ask the children to close their eyes and try to picture the person you describe. Say, “Think of a woman in your life that has spent more time helping you than any other person.”
“Today, we are going to learn what kind of attitude God wants us to have toward our parents. This is true for moms and dads, or foster parents, or grandparents who take care of you. But we are going to talk a lot about moms today because it is mother’s day.”
Active Listening: Say, “In just a minute we are going to read a Bible verse that teaches us how God wants us to treat our parents. While we read it, I want you to listen for any action words (verbs) that you hear. Then we’ll review to see how many you could find.”
Bible Passage: Display Ephesians 6:1-3 or have the children look it up in their Bibles. Read the Bible verses to the class; be sure to emphasize the action words discussed below. Then read it a second time to give the children a “second chance” to hear the action words. Ask the children to repeat the Bible verse after you several times or you may use the SKETCHY TECHNIQUE.
Review Action Words: Ask volunteers to explain which action words they heard in the passage. For each response, ask the children to explain what the word means. They may need help from the class. After each word, clarify what the word means. Here are the words they should have heard, with meaning in italics.
- Obey – Doing what a person wants you to do
- Honor – Heart attitude about a person’s importance
- Go well – Living a good life
- Live (NIV says “enjoy long life”) – Staying alive a long time
{Objective #1} Is This Honoring Your Mother? Say, “Honoring means having a right attitude about someone and showing their importance in how you act.” Read the following statements, and have the children agree or disagree. If the statement is something that honors your mother, the children should stand up. If the statement is not honoring, the children should sit with arms crossed.
- Doing what mom says right away {True}
- Throwing a fit if you don’t get what you want {False}
- Eating your dinner with thankfulness {True}
- Complaining about what mom cooked for dinner {False}
- Telling your mom that you love her {True}
- Praying for your mom {True}
- Telling other people your mom is not nice {False}
{Objective #2} What I like about you . . . Have the children write and decorate a letter to their mother (or caretaker) that answers this question. If you have many younger children present, they will need help writing. Encourage them to draw a picture that goes along with what they like. It may be helpful to write common words or phrases on a marker board to help the children write their letters. Some possible examples:
- I like the way you read to me
- I like the way you help me when I’m hurt
- I like it when you pray for me at bedtime
- I like it when you hug me
- I like it when you take me shopping
Share It: Ask for several volunteers to share what they wrote to their mother.
Optional: You can add a picture of the child to the card using a Polaroid camera or digital camera.
Optional: Show the Ruth Story video clip from Jelly Telly and talk about how it relates to mothers.
Closing: Lead the children in prayer …
Happy Mother’s Day!
(Resource: Ministry to Children by Tony Kummer)
