Kids Who Care - Making Blankets

At our monthly Kids Who Care meeting today, the children tied fleece blankets to donate to our local Birthright.  The Pro-life group at my church donated the fabric for the children.  My husband graciously volunteered to cut the fleece to size and then I snipped all the way around so that they were ready for the children at our meeting.  This prep work is necessary.  Don't wait to do it with all the children waiting to tie a blanket together. There are oodles of tutorials on how to make fleece-tied blankets, so I won't go into that.  A simple Google or YouTube search will give you all the information you need to get started.

We made 6 blankets and it took the children and moms less than an hour to get them all tied together and eat a cupcake.  It was a nice project that children of multiple ages could work on together.  I would highly recommend this activity.  We tried to make it somewhat prayerful and have the children pray over the blankets to ask God's blessing on the mother and child who would receive this blanket.

Team work makes it more fun!

We had a good sized crew on hand to help.

A "Welcome Baby" note was attached with pretty ribbon and they were ready for delivery.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Kids Who Care - Fetal Development Meeting

Our pro-life children's group had their monthly meeting this afternoon.  Because this month is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and much attention is on the issue of abortion, I decided to talk about fetal development.  The word "abortion" never came up, but rather we looked at pictures of babies at varying stages of development and marveled at how a single cell can can divide, multiply, and finally grow into an easily recognizably human so quickly.  I put together some posters from magazines that I had and the children hung them on the wall in order from conception to birth.  It worked out really well and we had some good discussion about how babies grow and prepare for life outside of the womb. 

With all 9 months of development hanging on the wall behind them, the children munch on their cookies and prepare to listen to a story.

I also read the group one of my very favorite books.  Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman is a fabulously written story about a baby, his development within the womb, and his voyage into life on the outside.

We all drove over to the local Birthright which is just a block away from our church for a quick tour.  I wanted the children to know that there is a place right in our town that helps moms.  They have formula, diapers, clothing (maternity and infant), blankets, and various other resources to support mothers.  At next month's meeting, we are making blankets to donate to Birthright.

I feel like the meeting went well and the children learned a few new things about how babies develop.  I'm really trying to stay focused on the quality of our group and not the quantity of members as it was just the standard three families who were there today.  I started this group because I wanted there to be something for the entire family to attend.  So many groups, clubs, and meetings are age or gender specific which makes it difficult for large families to join.  Every time I talk to people about joining us, they sound supportive, but the conversation always ends with something to the effect of, "We're just so busy we couldn't possibly add one more thing."  It is sad that there are countless hours devoted to sporting events and groups and clubs of all sorts, but when it comes to adding something at church, there just aren't enough hours in the day to make it work.  Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now...sorry, I just had to get that off my chest!

Our family plans to attend the Mass for Life at the Cathedral of St. Paul next weekend for the Mass marking the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  Winter has descended upon the Land of 10,000 Lakes with a vengeance, but if it warms up a bit, we'll also attend the rally at the capital in the afternoon.  Most likely, though, we'll be heading home after Mass.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Kids Who Care - Pizza Party Edition

Our Pro-life Children's Group (Kids Who Care) had a pizza party and movie night last week.  It was a fabulous night!  We had our regular 3 families and were joined by 2 more for the evening.  We started the festivities with pizza....lots of pizza...and some fruits and veggies thrown in for balance!

The children segregated themselves into the "boy table" and....

the (mostly) "girl table".  Funny how that always happens, isn't it?

We have been talking about the Corporal Works of Mercy all year and thought it would be fitting to live out "feed the hungry" while we were having our party.  Each family brought a donation for the local food shelf and here is what we ended up collecting.

Not bad!

The children spread out their blankets, grabbed their pillows, and got comfy on the floor.  We watched Horton Hears a Who which is a lovely movie with a fabulous pro-life message and a good measure of humor.

It doesn't get much better than watching a movie on the big screen with your friends!

Of course we had to take an intermission for some cookies and treats.  After all, it was a party!  At the conclusion of the movie, we cleaned up and headed home.  My children are already looking forward to doing this again in the spring. 

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Raising Pro-life Children

As a family, we participated in the 40 Days for Life campaign at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.  The children made signs that they carried while we prayed outside of the hospital for an hour.  I had brought the older girls last year, but this year the whole Kraft clan went.  It was a great family activity to give of our time to pray for the children at risk of abortion, the mothers contemplating abortion, and the doctors who perform this horrible procedure.

I strongly believe that the key to being a pro-life adult is having a solid background as a child.  We started a children's group just for this purpose at our church this past fall.  We begin with 20-30 minutes of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and then gather for pro-life crafts and activities.  It is open to children of all ages and their parents.

At our first meeting, the children all made t-shirts that they could wear to our meetings.  I forgot to take pictures, but here is the shirt that I made.  I took ideas from Catholic Icing and we used fabric paint and markers.  The kids had a great time and their shirts all turned out remarkably well.

At our second meeting, we discussed the Corporal Works of Mercy.  I read from Mathew 25 so that the children would understand it is Jesus telling us that how we live our lives matter.  It makes a difference how we treat others and how we respond to their needs.  Here are some boys doing a matching activity with the Corporal Works of Mercy.

 To live out one of the works, I chose to make Christmas cards to send to soldiers who are stationed overseas.  I had a stack of old Christmas cards that the children cut up and remade into new cards with a Christmas blessing and personal message to a soldier.  Each child made a few cards and we had a good collection to send off by the end of our time together.

Here they are all displaying their craftiness.  They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and put a lot of effort into making something special that would bring some holiday cheer to a soldier away from his/her family at Christmas time.

I am genuinely excited about this group and the possible projects we can do.  I would appreciate your prayers for the growth of our group and that the children will be able to touch hearts in ways that adults are not able to.

God Bless!

Heather :-)