Provide some basic environmental awareness education for your children. Include the following concepts:

• When God created the world, He created the most wonderful symphony – a world of plants and animals functioning together in harmony.
• The sun provides light for plants to grow.
• Plants provide food for animals to eat.
• Some animals also eat each other, but they usually don’t kill more than they need. The delicate balance found in nature can easily be upset by human choices.

Next, discuss how God’s perfect design can be damaged by the actions people take:

• People litter, harm plants and animals, and destroy the beauty of nature.
• Factories put harmful chemicals into the environment that kill or hurt animals.
• People kill animals for sport or selfish gain, rather than for food, which adversely affects the balance in nature.

After reading about environmental awareness, explain that God designed families and friends to live together in harmony, but Satan is like the people who choose to litter and pollute the world. Satan tries to cause discord and upset the harmony that God intends to be present in relationships. Explain to your children that just as we can choose to litter or to put our garbage where it belongs, we can choose to ask God to send His Holy Spirit to enable us to live together peacefully when we feel like fighting and arguing. Close by praying one of the kids talk with God prayers together.

The busyness of our lives combined with a separation from nature can cause us to forget that there is incredible joy to be experienced in the quiet, beauty and fascination of nature. The goal of this activity is to create some time and space where you can help your children find awe in God’s creation. Suggestions include watching a summer storm, analyzing snowflakes, viewing a sunrise or a sunset, going for a quiet walk or observing a caterpillar go through metamorphosis.

Summer storm

Cozy up as a family and watch a summer storm from the safety of your living room. It seems as though people have one of two reactions to storms – either fear or fascination. When your children are thoroughly aware that God makes the thunder and lightning, it can be very calming for an otherwise fearful child. To add more excitement or drama, put on some suspense-filled classical music to listen to as you watch the “light show.” Read the verses listed below and thank God that He is in control of all aspects of the wind and weather.

Relevant Scripture

Job 37:2-5, 10-12 “Listen! Listen to the roar of His voice, to the rumbling that comes from His mouth. He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of His roar; He thunders with His majestic voice. When His voice resounds, He holds nothing back. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding… . The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them. At His direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever He commands them.”

Jeremiah 10:12-13 “But God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.”

Sunrise

Pack a breakfast picnic and find a quiet place to eat and watch the sunrise. Listen to the sounds of nature waking up around you. Take turns naming and identifying sounds. As the sun comes up, imagine that God is painting a picture in the sky for all to enjoy. Talk about how creative God is and how much fun He must have mixing the colours every day. Paint your own sunrise pictures at home and add a verse from below to the picture. You can also cut out black shapes, making silhouettes of your family, to add to the foreground of the paintings.

Relevant Scripture

Job 38:12 [The Lord said] “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place… ?”

Psalm 65:8 “Those living far away fear Your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades You call forth songs of joy.”

Snow

This activity is seasonal; however, you can use an ice shaver to make “fake” snow when there is no snow on the ground. Using a large plastic bowl, scoop up fresh snow and bring it indoors to play with. Seat your children around a table and place a cookie tray in front of each child. Have fun making and decorating mini-snowmen. As you read Psalm 147:16-18, have your children act it out using their snow piles. They can spread snow, hurl down hail and then breathe on the snow to melt it. Honour God as the One who owns the storehouses of hail and snow.

Relevant Scripture

Job 37:5-10 “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that all men He has made may know His work, He stops all men from their labor. The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.”

Psalm 147:16-18 “He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down His hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast? He sends His word and melts them; He stirs up His breezes, and the waters flow.”

Stargazing

On a clear night, go outside and lie on a blanket and look at the stars. This experience is intensified if you can view the stars in a rural, versus urban, setting. The darker your surroundings, the brighter the stars appear. A quieter setting also adds to the awe and magnificence of a starry night. Spend time praising God and talking about how amazing it is that He knows each star by name. Packing a bedtime snack and a story is a fun way to round out your family’s evening.

Relevant Scripture

Psalm 148:3-6 “Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars. Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; He gave a decree that will never pass away.”

Psalm 147:4 “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”

Jeremiah 31:35 “This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar – the Lord Almighty is His name.”

Nature walk

Take a walk with your children and encourage them to look for living things. Whenever you do find a living creature, ask it some questions such as, “Who made you?” and “Who made the world?” Your children can answer for the wild creatures saying, “God did!” Ideally, walk somewhere that will have a few wild animals to see. If you do not have easy access to the country, even in city parks there is a multitude of creatures to see if you walk slowly and watch for them. Be sure to observe the respect rule: If God made it, we don’t hurt it. Children find bugs and other creepy crawlies just as cool as larger living organisms.

Relevant Scripture

Job 12:7-10 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”

Butterflies ’n’ bugs

Many observatories and museums have bug and butterfly exhibits that you can visit. If you are adventurous, you can even purchase a caterpillar and watch it go through metamorphosis in your home. The Painted Lady butterfly is an easy one to care for. One potential source is Educationalscience.com. For a video version of the process of metamorphosis, search online or check out your local library. Talk about how amazing it is that God made so many different creatures.

Relevant Scripture

Genesis 1:24-25 “And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

One of the best illustrations of kindness that we see in nature is animals grooming each other. If you can, take a walk or a drive in the country. It is common to see cows, horses and cats licking each other. This is true kindness because the animal is being kind without expecting anything in return.

A way that we can show this kind of kindness is by giving back rubs to family members. To allow this activity to be enjoyed by the whole family, begin by assembling in a circle. If you have the adults sit while the children stand, it is possible for everyone rub the back of the person in front of him or her at the same time.

After a few minutes, have everyone turn around and rub the person’s back who was rubbing his or her back. If you have a child who really likes animals and nature, consider getting a book out of the library on the kindness of animals.

Go outside and try to dig up all the dandelions (or other weeds) in your yard, or in a nearby green belt. While you are working, talk about how persistent the weeds are in coming back. Draw a parallel with sins that are “persistent” and seem to keep coming up again and again.

Explain to your children that they need to keep coming back again and again to God, persevering in prayer, asking Him to help them overcome the temptation to ________(name a particular sin).

Have your children pray “in Jesus’ name” and assure them that Jesus has already won the victory over any sin Satan might send their way to tempt them.

Relevant Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 John 5:3-5 “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Play this game of “What Would Happen?” with your kids while you are driving or taking a walk outside. Introduce the game by telling your children that all nature “obeys” God and listens to His directions. Begin by using any of the first six discussion questions to stimulate thought and provide examples as to how the game is played. Take turns asking questions and providing answers. After everyone has had sufficient turns, use the remaining questions to promote further conversation.

Questions for discussion

• What would happen to a caterpillar if it didn’t listen to God and form a cocoon before winter?
• What would happen if a flower didn’t bloom as God planned?
• What would happen if the bees didn’t bother to store up honey?
• If a beaver didn’t build a dam, what would happen?
• If a coyote chose to sleep all day and night instead of hunting, what would happen to it?
• What would happen to a bird that chose not to fly south for the winter?
• Do you think God gives animals and plants a choice about following His will?
• What do you think having “free will” means?
• Did you know that people are the only creations that God gave a “free will”?
• What actions in life might seem “right” to us, but God would consider wrong?

Key concepts

If animals and plants did not do what God designed them to do, they would die. In a physical sense, we all eat and drink and sleep in order to live, just as the animals do. People are different than animals though, because God gave people a spirit and we can choose to live or die in a spiritual sense. The only creature in nature to have a “free will” is man. Free will means that people are free to choose to live life in their own way or free to choose to live life as God wants us to live.

Choosing to follow God’s way means that we accept God’s plan for our lives. God’s plan includes believing that Jesus is the Son of God. It also means admitting that we are sinful and believing that, through Jesus’ death on the cross, we can have forgiveness of sin. When we ask God to forgive our sins and be the leader of our lives, we give up our right to be the boss of our own lives. If we say we don’t need God to forgive our sins and choose to please ourselves rather than God, we are choosing spiritual death. On the other hand, accepting God’s gift of forgiveness and choosing to live to honour Him, through obeying His commands, is choosing life.

Relevant Scripture

Psalm 104:10-14 “He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of His work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth…”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.”

Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

Deuteronomy 30:15-16, 19-20 “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. …This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”