Kamp Kindness

This week, our whole family is enrolled in Kamp Kindness! Sometime during the Spring I decided that we (that means the kids AND us parents!) needed an extra dose of kindness lessons! It seems as though so much of my energy during the day is exasperated on correcting unkind words, tones and behaviors - or, in essence, unkind hearts. But the kids are not alone in this. As I ask them, myself, and my God, "Why can't they be kind to each other?", I am immediately reminded of the sin and struggles in my own heart. If I am honest, I will admit that I have not mastered the character trait of kindness either and God has been patiently working on my heart for 30 years now! So, as a result of my weariness and desire for our family to reflect the love of Christ Jesus, we have begun our in-depth training in the art of kindness!!


This week, we are focusing on our words. Below are some of the Scriptures we are reading and talking through as well as some of the activities we are doing.


“Let the words of my mouth . . . be acceptable in your sight” Psalm 19:14
*Role play kind and unkind words (everybody work on one activity together for 30 minutes and try to go the whole time without using unkind words)
* Talk about encouraging one another
*Cut and paste pics from magazines with kids playing. Write captions with words you think they are using

“Keep your tongue from evil” – Psalm 34:13
*Read story and paint boards for us to hammer a nail into when we have unkind words. Next week we will take the nails out when we have shown kindness with our words and notice that our unkind words have left their mark .

*(they don't know this yet, because to tell them so would be bribery and not a heart change, but whoever has the least amount of nails in their board at the end of the week gets to go get a "sweet treat" with mom (or maybe dad if he has less nails than I do!)!!

“There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health”


"A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger." Prov. 15:1


“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” Prov. 16:24
*Discuss the difference between being cut with a sword or eating something sweet.
*Let kids feel the sharpness of a knife and then bake something sweet to eat
*write letters to each other with honeycomb words

Camp Bible verse and Song:

"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32