Because family is the world to our Little Lambs, I’m excited that we get to spend an entire meeting learning about families. My Family is one of the four main requirements to invest in Little Lambs. The requirements for investiture achievement patches are the same as the Little Lamb awards. Little Lambs earn one of the four puzzle patches instead of the normal award patches. (Stars in the NAD)
Story: Families by Ann Morris
Families come in so many different shapes and sizes, and when we teach about family we want to honor this. We also want each child to see their family represented in our meeting. I look for inclusive books and materials in an attempt to make sure that each kid sees their family as the amazing unique family that it is.
I like Ann Morris’ book, Families because it shows families in different cultures. At the back of the book, she even includes a world map showing where each picture was taken (in case adults/older kids are interested.) One tiny heads-up: A celebration picture of dia de los Muertos is included. If you/your families are unfamiliar with the tradition, you might not like the picture. If this is a concern for your club, this page could be easily skipped. As it’s a fairly common celebration in my area, we didn’t need to make any changes. Check your local library for this great book.
Activity: Family Fingerplay
The Leader’s Guide has a cute fingerplay. It’s very simple and sweet. If you have the Leader’s Guide, you might like to add it into your circle time, but it you don’t, you can easily skip this activity.
Craft: Family Tree
I love making family trees with my littles. This craft is a cooperative craft between parent and child. Little Lambs can pick out the leaves and glue them to the tree after their adult writes names on them.
Trees can be as detailed or simplified as your lambs’ attention spans. Some kids will just want to list the people who live in their home, and other kids will want to include every cousin they’ve met and a few they haven’t. One year I had a (older) kid include lots of empty leaves! (He wanted to have a fuller tree, and he wanted to leave plenty of room to add more people later – there is always room on our tree and in our lives for more love!) This is a great time for parents to remind their child about the family they don’t see very often.
I have a PDF of leaf shapes that can be printed on green paper and cut in advance. I have also included a Silhouette cut file for those who can use it. You’ll find both at the end of this post.
Activity: We Are Family Memory Game
I love how memory games can be modified for lots of different abilities. Your youngest kids can play the game with all the pictures faces up and take turns matching them. Your older kids will enjoy playing the regular memory game with the cards face down. There are also a few other suggestions in the game for modifying it.
Although you can play memory with all of the little lambs in one game, I prefer to set “competitive” games kid against parent. Parents can adjust the difficulty and competitiveness of the game to fit their child’s needs. Not only are playing games with your parent a wonderful bonding activity, it also significantly reduces the tears that often come from losing a game at this age.
I’m so excited about how this game turned out! There are two versions – one with rounded corners (mainly for people with cutting machines) and one with straight corners that will be easier to cut on a paper trimmer. (You’ll find the free printable at the end of this post.)
Play: Play House
This can be fairly simple or very complex! If you have access to lots of toys for playing house, you can make a wonderful area for imaginative play. This year, I chose the simple route. My Beginner’s Sabbath School class has babies, bottles, a small amount of play food, and some woodworking tools (I think the woodworking tools must be for a Jesus as a boy theme.) I pulled all of these things out for the kids to play with. (Make sure to get the Sabbath School teacher’s permission first!) I added a hammering activity that is always popular. (And great for eye-hand coordination.) I used cardboard boxes, wooden golf tees, and toy hammers.
Extra: Draw a picture of Your Family
Have some extra time to fill? Or need a craft that requires less prep? Draw a picture of your family. Please keep your expectations of this drawing low. Although some preschoolers will draw a sweet picture of their whole family, other preschoolers will give you scribbles. Both are fine, of course! There is a page (in both color and grayscale) to print for this activity or use plain printer paper. (See download below.) There is also a coloring activity in the Little Lambs activity book. This workbook is available at AdventSource or as a free download from clubministries.org.
Closing Circle Time
Story: Family Means by Matthew Ralph
Family Means… is a newer book. The text is simple and will be a fast read. The pictures are adorable drawings. Matthew Ralph does a wonderful job of drawing a variety of different types of families. Although many different families are represented, there is no explicit text about the families which leaves a lot of room for interpretation about who is pictured. I think this will help different kids see slightly different family make-ups in the same picture according to their own experiences of what makes a family. Although my library does not have this book, it was published in the last couple of years, so there is a high chance your library has it.
Song: Happy Happy Home
Most of you probably sang this song as a kid or to your kids. I have included lyrics just in case you need them. You can also hear the song sung here. Another way to sing the song is to include specific names in each verse including each child in the song.
Reminder
I chose these activities to fit my club’s meeting length and needs. Your club is different than mine! I have more activities here than are required to complete the award. If you have less time, prioritize a book, a game, a craft, and a song. Add more activities in to fit your time constraints. If you have extra time, you could repeat a fun activity or add in other family-related activities. Pinterest is a great resource!
Do you have a favorite book you like to share with your Little Lambs when you teach My Family? Please share with us in the comments!