Another Craft Idea with the Grands

Looking for another fun craft idea to do with your grandkids? How about making prayer jars.

I saw this one on Pinterest and thought it was a great idea. And just like doing any craft at any time with your grandchildren, it really turns out to be a quiet, sharing time with them. In fact, my 5-year-old grandson was heard to mutter, "I love craft time with you." Now really....it doesn't get any better than that. And quite often those "teachable moments" come up as well.

As you can imagine, it's really a straight-up task. I don't think you need any instruction from me. It's basically a jar or cup, and the craft sticks for writing the names of the people you are praying for. The jars I saw on Pinterest were glass--I decided to forego that--didn't want anything that would break and cause an injury. In fact, it looks to me like the ones on Pinterest were created by recycling baby food jars, and we have none of those at our house. So it was off to the craft store to see what I could find.

We used these paper craft cups rather than glass jars. We tossed the lids.

Craft stores are always a good idea!

You can see we found some plain yet sturdy paper cups. They turned out to be fine for gluing on all our embellishments. You could paint them as well. And several came in a package so there was enough for all the grandkids and for any adults helping with the craft. 

My grandson was at school, so I shopped alone. But if you can, have your grandkids join you so they can pick out exactly what they want on their cup/jar. Here are some things I found:

I got some sparkly letters for putting our names on our prayer cups.

Look for other embellishments that might appeal to children and could represent their interests on the jar.

I prefer washi tape rather than painting. Painting's simply too messy for my taste.

Appropriate items for a prayer jar. They would require a hot glue gun.

Craft sticks for writing the names of people you want to include in your prayers.

And there's more!

​Of course my grandson went to get all his art supplies. He got out his markers which were great for adding names to the craft sticks. 

You'll want to get out the art supplies you already have at your house.

Let the craft project begin!

Of course we had to brainstorm a list of all the people he wanted to include in his prayers each night. I made a list so he could copy the names on his craft sticks. And we were set to go!

You're also working on your young grandchildren's fine motor skills. Peeling off stickers and placing them on the jar is good practice in this regard.

I made one for myself.

I helped my grandson make one for his Poppa.

Writing the name on each craft stick. I got the larger size sticks so a 5-year-old would have plenty of room for writing.

Completed project.

This is the one I saw on Pinterest. Really great ones for older kids. I've included the website at the end of my blog.

​I really recommend doing crafts with your grandkids. 

It just seems to lend itself to sweet and meaningful conversations with your grandchild. More so than other activities like playing games or watching PBS Kids together.

Here is that blog with the cute prayer jars:

​www.ssww.com/blog/how-to-make-prayer-jars-religious-craft-activity-lesson/

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I leave you this week with these scriptures:

Matthew 19:14

Philippians 4:6-7