Sunday Stations

I think I mentioned this one a while ago, but it is such a good idea and has become such a tradition, I wanted to do another post on it. My friend Tina had this brilliant idea. On Sundays, in our church, we try to keep the Sabbath Day holy and avoid things like watching TV, going shopping, going to movies, playing sports, etc. Not because they are bad - it's kind of a day to take a break from the world and focus on our family and create an atmosphere that welcomes deeper thought and reflection on what matters most. This can be hard for kids who just want to watch Sponge Bob, play their DS games or jump on the trampoline outside. And I'll be the first one to tell you we aren't perfect at this - I don't think we've ever missed a Super Bowl game. Anyway, it is tricky to get the girls excited for Sundays. But Tina had a great idea called Sunday Stations and we totally copied it and love it. It is set up similar to the way we used to do preschool with "discovery stations". I set up 5 or more little stations with an activity - some are religious (like looking up a scripture, solving a book of Mormon puzzle or figuring out how much tithing you would pay for different amounts of money) and others are art, nature, etc. Most of them tie into church topics somehow. (Building a temple with Legos was a big hit.) The girls love this so much and ask every week, "Are we doing Sunday Stations"? It is great because now they don't dread Sundays. Plus, I'm getting to use some of my preschool kits still! We don't have time to do them every week. Some weeks we are visiting family instead, but we do it about twice a month. The picture above was one where I told the girls to draw a picture of the first presidency. I thought it might be too hard, but they all did such a cute job I'm tempted to send them to The Friend magazine. (a kid's church magazine)