BJU Press Blog

Megan

Homemade Christmas Gifts

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I always encourage my children to make gifts to give their grandparents and other extended family members for Christmas. My children enjoy making them, and other family members enjoy receiving them. Below are some of the gifts we made at our house this year.

Necklaces (recommended for children 4+)

These are very simple and inexpensive to make. Just purchase some large metal washers (from any store that sells home-improvement items), some inexpensive nail polish, and some narrow ribbon. Paint the metal washers with nail polish, and apply a clear top-coat once the paint dries. Cut an eighteen-inch piece of ribbon and thread it through.

painted metal washer with ribbon

Wooden Spoons (recommended for children 3+)

Purchase some wooden spoons. Wrap painter’s tape around each spoon, halfway up the handle. Allow young artists to paint a design on the handle with acrylic paint. (You can use washable tempera paints as well.) Allow the spoons to dry completely before removing the tape, and then cover the painted area with a nontoxic sealant.

painted wooden serving spoon and fork

Homemade Ornaments (recommended for children 2+)

This one was a little more time-consuming, but still inexpensive and fun. Start by making the dough (recipe below). I did this part during nap time since it involves constantly stirring a mixture on the stove.

Ornament Dough
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup + 1/8 cup water
Directions

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan (mixture will be thin). Heat on medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens enough to form a ball. Remove from heat and cover the pan with a wet paper towel to cool.

After the dough has cooled off, knead it several times and roll it into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Allow children to use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Young children may also enjoy molding the dough into their own shapes (my toddler did!). Place the shapes onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Use a drinking straw to cut out circles at the top. Let the ornaments air-dry overnight to harden, or bake them in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 250 degrees.

These ornaments are a pure-white color, especially if you allow them to air dry. (Baking them in  the oven may result in backs that are slightly browned). You can thread ribbon through them, and give them away as-is. Or you can decorate them with paint, glitter, and beads like my kindergartner did.
tree and bell Christmas ornaments

Did you make Christmas gifts with your family or class this year? Tell me about it in a comment.

Overwhelmed

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notes and magnets on a fridgeIt was one of those days. It wasn’t even ten o’clock in the morning, and I’d already had to mop a flooded laundry room, clean up bright blue paint that spilled during my kindergartner’s art project, sweep up the contents of the box of cereal that my toddler had spilled all over the kitchen floor in her attempt to help herself to a snack, and gather items from my recycling bin that had been strewn all over the first floor of my house.

I contemplated whether I should lock myself in the bathroom (the only way to obtain any privacy) and have a good cry or put my children back to bed and try to start the day over. I ended up choosing a third option—I loaded my children into their red wagon and headed to a nearby playground. There’s only so much they can do to damage the great outdoors. And I could momentarily ignore the fact that my house looked like a disaster zone.

As I sat on the park bench watching my children happily burn off energy and cover themselves in sand, I thought about a lot of things. About why my house never looked as spotless and organized as the houses featured in the monthly magazines I subscribe to. About why I never seemed to have time to make those cute owl cookies I saw on Pinterest. About how my toddler still wasn’t potty trained although most of her peers were. About how much I needed a vacation—or even a nap.

It’s moments like these that help me realize how much I need help—not a cleaning service or a babysitter or a caterer but Divine help. I desperately need the strength and grace that only God can give. I need the mind-renewal that only comes from reading His words. I need His help to view my children not as vandals or interrupters but as image-bearers that need my nurturing more than they need cute owl cookies or a perfectly organized playroom. They need God.  I need God—I cannot get through my day without Him.

Yet in the busyness of life with little people, it can be hard to focus on heavenly things. Children surprise you—sometimes getting up early and interrupting the time you set aside for Bible reading and prayer; sometimes keeping you awake at night so you struggle staying alert the next day. Even after a wonderful time with the Lord, circumstances continually fight for our attention. We can get so consumed with cleaning up messes and directing activities that we can easily go through an entire day without reflecting on God at all.

So when you are feeling overwhelmed, run to your Savior. Ask Him for wisdom, for strength, for help to make it through the next hour or even the next two minutes. Psalm 46:1 assures us that He “is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” He is all we need.

August activities

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August is here, and, for many of you, that means the beginning of a new school year is fast approaching. Although you might not be teaching yet, here are a few August-related ideas that you can use in your classroom throughout the year.

forsterite-olivine
Forsterite, Olivine by Rob Lavinsky/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA-3.0

Science:  August’s birthstone is the peridot, which is gemstone-quality olivine. If you’re studying gemstones in science class, you may want to have your students look up the color, crystal system, cleavage, fracture, luster, hardness, specific gravity, and streak of their birthstones. Before you begin, ask students the simple question, “Where do minerals (such as olivine) come from?” Christian students will likely answer, “God made them,” and that is certainly true. However, as the following text from Earth Science explains, the Flood had a huge impact on the location and variety of minerals in the earth:

The Flood completely transformed the earth’s surface. The catastrophic processes of the Flood broke apart the original materials that God had made during the creation week, both physically and chemically. New minerals and ores formed in different places. Though the Flood is a testimony of God’s judgment in the devastation of the earth, it is also a testimony of His grace in providing new minerals for man to use.

—Earth Science (4th ed.),  p. 194

Literature: August 6 is Alfred Lord Tennyson’s birthday. Elements of Literature includes one of his poems entitled “Lady Clare.” The poem explores the nature of true love. Encourage critical thinking in your students by asking them questions related to the poem’s theme. Below are some examples of critical-thinking questions from the Teacher’s Edition of Elements of Literature.

What does it mean to truly love someone? How does one demonstrate true love? What does true love look like in a person’s daily life? How does it manifest itself in the midst of difficult situations or obstacles? What does true love value most in a person?

—Elements of Literature Teacher’s Edition (2nd ed.), p. 311

Heritage Studies: August 6 is also the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima near the end of World War II. Help your students understand the devastation this bomb caused to the city by showing them pictures of the aftermath. Or search history.com for video footage of the atomic bomb being assembled, the Manhattan project, and more.

Do you know of any other teaching resources related to August? Let me know in a comment!