to one day go to Heaven to be with Him, it was the greatest gift that could ... you got in your game to a parent and let
Get a Gift, Give a Gift This is a fun project using your spelling words to practice the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a wonderful time. We remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is important to remember that when God gave us His Son, so that we would be able to one day go to Heaven to be with Him, it was the greatest gift that could ever be given. Did you ever stop to think that the greatest gift that was ever given did not come from a store and it did not cost money to give? It was a gift of love. Jesus told us that it was important to do things to help others so that we could show His love for them by what we do. Let’s give some very special gifts this Christmas—gifts that do not cost money, but allow us to give our time and our love to others. Look at the spelling words that you are studying for the current week. Copy each of your spelling words in the boxes on the next page, one word to each box. You can print as many boxes as a parent says is okay, so if you want to include some extra words, that is fine.
After you have written your spelling words in the boxes, cut out the boxes to make spelling cards. Next, ask a parent to mix up the cards and turn them upside down. The parent can draw a card and ask you to spell the word. If you spell the word correctly, you get the card. Try to get all of the cards. These cards are your “gifts” because knowledge is a gift. The Bible tells us, “Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.” Proverbs 8:10 (KJV). For every card that you were given as a “gift” for spelling the word correctly, you need to give a gift back. You are not going to go shopping at the store for this gift, and you do not need to spend any money. The gift that you will give will be something that you can do for someone. Some examples of gifts that you can give would be to draw a special picture for someone, to help clear the dishes from the table after dinner, to pick up your things that you may have left out when you hurried off to do something else (and to do it without being asked), or to make your bed without being reminded. Older students may want to offer to babysit younger siblings, shovel snow for their family or for a neighbor that may need the help. You can do anything that you can think of that would be helpful and show someone how much you love and appreciate them. Before you do anything for someone, be certain to take one of the cards that you got in your game to a parent and let them know what it is you want to do, so that they can say it is okay for you to do that. Then give the card to the person with your gift. You will get to do as many special things as gifts for others as the number of cards you have. Just remember, gifts are very special all year long, and you do not have to have cards to give back to have a reason for doing nice things. Try to remember to do nice things for people whenever you have the chance and a parent says it is okay. That is part of the message Jesus gave us about the way He wants us to live.
Variations for Younger Students As a variation to let the youngest children take part in the game, a parent can write letters or numbers on the cards and ask the child to identify what the letter or number is. Another option is to draw a shape on the card or make different color circles and ask the child to identify the shape or the color. If the above options do not work for your student, put pictures on the cards and ask the child to identify the pictures or put the same pictures on two cards and ask the child to match the pictures that are the same. Try anything that the child is able to do to get the “gift” so they can take part in giving gifts. It is also helpful with very young children to tell the child different things that they can do for family or friends and let the child choose the gifts they would like to give. It can also help to alert the older children that the youngers may want to “help” them with something that the older ones could do more quickly themselves. This way, the older children can be aware and not spoil the “gift” the little ones are trying to give. Be certain to reinforce the idea with little ones that giving the gifts at Christmas is a special way of celebrating, but Jesus wants us to be helpful all year long.
