God's Cake

 

            Today's Snack: Make a cake to go with today's activity, and enjoy it with a tall glass of milk.

 

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Supplies:

Cake mix and ingredients to make a cake | bowl, mixer, spatula, etc.

Frosting | clean craft sticks for each child to frost a piece of cake

 

 

To teach children that even when everything seems to be going all wrong, God is still in the mix and everything is going to be all right, all you have to do is make a cake from scratch.

 

            That's right - a cake!

 

            Say your child has just gotten a bad grade, or had a fight with a best friend, or got cut from a team, or found out someone was spreading a rumor about him or her. It can all pile up to be pretty depressing and distressing.

 

            But make a cake with your child, or with a group of children, and you can teach a good life lesson.

 

            If you're working with a group, go around the circle and have everyone share something bad that's going on right then. Then change the topic to cake.

            "You like cake, don't you?" you could ask. Of course! "Here, drink some cooking oil, then," you could say.

 

            "Yuck! WHAT?!?!?!" will be the children's predictable response.

            "How about a couple of raw eggs?" You could crack the eggs in a bowl and show how inedible they look, raw.

 

            "Gross!"

            "Would you like to eat a nice cup of flour, then? Or maybe some baking soda?"

 

            "Those are all yucky!"

            That's your cue to reply: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!"

            Stir the batter, pour into pans, and do something else as the wonderful cake aroma begins to come from the oven.

 

When the cake is done and has cooled a little, cut it into pieces and let the children each frost and eat a piece.

 

Discuss:

 

That's the answer for why we have to go through bad things. God makes them work together so that, in the long run, it turns out for our good. It says so in the Bible:

 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

-- Romans 8:28

 

            Bad grade? That should just make you resolve to study next time.

 

            Fight with best friend? Apologize!

 

            Cut from the team? Use the time off from the organized team to practice your skills and get better so you'll make it next time . . . or use that time to get into a new sport or hobby.

 

            Rumor mill? Ignore it. The quality people will know it isn't true.

 

            This activity will teach kids about patience, and recognizing that things in life that seem bad at first can actually work out to be wonderful.

 

Helping your child put life's little bumps in the road into perspective is . . . a piece of cake.