Most Helping Hands know the basics of being a friend, being kind to others, and using the golden rule. But we all need reminders on the whys and hows of being a good friend. The purpose of the Caring Friend award is to remind our kids of this basic life skill and to help them strengthen it. Although the Leader’s Guide places this award halfway through the year, I found this to be an excellent award to start the adventurer year. (It was our first award after we split into our levels.) This award is great at helping the kids get to know each other.
Class Discussion
Fulfills Requirement #1
- What is a friend?
- Is Jesus a caring friend?
Find, read, and memorize 1 Peter 5:7
Fulfills Requirement #2
I wrote the verse (1 Peter 5:7) on my little whiteboard and helped kids find the verse in their bibles. Once they found the verse, they put their finger on the verse number – so they didn’t lose it while they waited for the rest of the group. Once everyone has found the verse, we read it together. After we read the verse, we discuss it. What does the verse mean?
Memory Verse Game
I try to gamify our memory verses. The main “game” we play is super simple. My Adventurers love it. And my non-readers can play too! You’ll need a white board, white board marker, and at least one eraser. (We have the markers with an eraser attached so each kid has their own eraser.) Prep: Write the verse out on the board.
- Read the verse together.
- Pick one kid to erase one word.
- Read the verse again.
- Invite the next kid to erase one word.
We continue reading and erasing until the verse is completely erased or the kids can recite it without reading it. Some kids will get excited and try reciting long before it’s all erased. And others will need more time. I give the kids the option to recite the verse on their own or with someone. (Yes, I’m happy to be their memory verse buddy too.) Some kids find memorization easy, others will really struggle. My goal is that every kid feels successful and gets to know their bible just a little better.
Note about Non-Readers/New Readers
As long as the group is reading the verse together, it’s not super obvious which kids can read and which kids are repeating what they are hearing. Each time they hear it, they are able to get more involved in the recitation. Most Helping Hands are reading, but small clubs might combine multiple ages into one class. (My club’s helping hands class is for grades 1-4 this year.) And, as a parent with a brilliant sensitive kid with dyslexia, I beg you to be inclusive and do your best to not embarrass any kid who isn’t working at “grade level.”
Game: Get to Know You Beach Ball
Fulfills Requirement #3
I didn’t think the interview activity would work very well with my group this year, so I took all of the interview questions and wrote them on a beach ball. We threw the ball to each other. As an adventurer caught the ball, they would read the question facing them and answer it. The kids had so much fun with this game, they begged to play it again!
After the game, we took turns introducing each other to the class.
Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
Fulfills Requirement #1
We read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. I love how this explains why we need to be kind and how to be kind. Carol McCloud also does a great job explaining the consequences to ourselves when we are unkind to another person. This is popular book. Check your local library for it. (But, plan ahead – my larger library system has three copies, and they are usually all checked out.)
Discuss how to be a friend and how to fill the buckets of the people around us.
Game: Bucket Filler or Not?
This is a simple game and it gives the kids a chance to think about what we’re learning and also a little chance to run around. I posted two signs at the opposite ends of the room – a happy full bucket and a sad empty bucket. (This makes much more sense after you have read the book.) Listen to the scenario on a card and run to the appropriate sign. Cutting the cards apart makes it a little more game-like, but if you’re short on time, cutting the pages apart is quite unnecessary.
Discussion and Assignment
Fulfills Requirements #5, 6, 7
How can you be a caring person at home? What about at school?
Assignment 1: Tell a family member that Jesus loves you and that Jesus also loves them.
Assignment 2: Be a sneaky bucket filler! Do 3-5 caring acts for your parents or siblings. Be sneaky and try not to get caught! (Note: Being sneaky is not part of the requirement, but pretending you are a kindness ninja definitely ups the fun factor of doing extra chores! Besides, the bible is pretty clear about doing acts of goodness in secret.) Report back at the next meeting.
Random Act of Kindness for Someone Unable to Leave Their Home
Fulfills Requirement #4
We tweaked this requirement a bit. Taking a rowdy group of kids to an elderly person’s home wasn’t very practical for our group. If your church does a Sabbath afternoon service at a retirement community, you could include your adventurers one week for this requirement. We used our ongoing card-making community service project to fulfill this requirement. You can learn more about it here and here.
Disclaimer
You might be able to complete the entire award in one meeting. And…you might not. Every club is different! I find that most Helping Hand awards take more than one meeting for my club. However, we were able to do most of this award in one meeting. We made the cards weeks later and, of course, the post-kindness ninja chat happened at the beginning of the next meeting.
There are many bible verses to memorize as Helping Hands. What are your favorite ways to encourage learning memory verses? Please tell us in the comments.
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