Five Senses Praise: A Pre-K/Kindergarten Thanksgiving Prayer

Lead preschoolers in this fun action play right before snack time.

• For eyes that see (point to eyes)
• And hands that touch, (rub hands together)
• Lord, I thank you very much. (fold hands)
• For ears that hear (cup hands around ears)
• And a nose to smell. (wiggle nose)
• Lord, you have done all things well. (thumb up)
• And for taste buds (stick out tongue)
• When I eat, (pretend to eat)
• Lord, your work is super neat. (clap and cheer)

The Real Meaning of Christmas: Five-Minute Message for Primary Grades

GRADES: PRESCHOOL-GRADE 1

Theme: Real meaning of Christmas

Text: Luke 2:1-20

Preparation: Take a sack filled with small unbreakable Christmas decorations. Include Santa ornaments, elves, nativity scenes, Rudolph, and presents. Have mangers and several figures of baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

The Message: (Have children take turns taking decorations from the sack. Then have them put the decorations in two separate piles—one pile for the real meaning of Christmas and the other pile for things that aren’t the real meaning.)

Let’s put away the Santas, reindeer, elves, and all those things that are fun but aren’t really what Christmas is all about. Now I’ like you to tell me the real story of Christmas using these decorations.

(After kids tell the story, read the Scripture.)

Close in prayer, thanking God for sending the greatest gift of all—his son Jesus.

Thankful Wheels

Make these Thankful Wheels for the toddlers in your class to take home to share with their families.

For each toddler, you’ll need a sturdy orange or yellow paper plate, and a fine-tipped permanent marker. Draw six pie-piece sections on the plate using a fine-tipped permanent marker. Write one thing to be thankful for in each pie section, such as church, Jesus, family, friends, food, and the Bible. Below the words, draw simple illustrations depicting each word.

Talk with toddlers about being thankful for everything on the wheel, and then take turns closing your eyes and pointing to a section on the wheel. Say something you’re grateful for that relates to the corresponding item.

Send a note home with the wheels explaining how parents can play the game with their children for Thanksgiving.