Refresh your memory

Under each dinner plate or chair place an object, picture or a word that has to do with Holy Week.  For example, a coin, a picture of a donkey, a nail, a cross, a rock, and so on.  During dinner have family members discover what is under their chair and talk about what it represents.  Try to put the objects in order.  Afterward, reward each family member with a minute.  Give each person one or two minutes to talk about whatever is on their mind.  It's their turn.  Don't interupt.  This is a great practice for every night of the year.

To color spaghetti simply add food coloring to the boiling water and cook spaghetti as  you normally do. 

Why to color spaghetti:  To add the colors of the church year to your table and to have a little fun! 

Learn and live the colors of the church year

• Advent: Blue
• Christmas: White
• Epiphany: Green
• Lent: Purple
• Holy Week: Red except Black on Good Friday
• Easter: white (the day of Easter is gold)
• Pentecost: green (the day of Pentecost is red)

There are some red and white special days throughout the church year as well.

Add the colors to your Sunday meal as a reminder of the stories you heard in the sermon that day.  The colors are part of telling the story of God's love, each color having a meaning of its own related to the gospel lessons for the season. At first it may be enough to know that each season has a special color and to remember worship by adding the color to your meal.  For a deeper understanding, a recap of the colorful meanings that have been shared in worship this church year or for your own colorful Liturgical calendar while they last, e-mail btomasek@allsaintsphoenix.org

Vermicelli is the "food name" variation on the classic game of Botticelli.  Play a Bible version during dinnertime, car rides or waiting time.  There are several varations, but the common theme is that one person or team thinks of a Bible person, place, significant thing or event/story & reveals the initial letter and category, and then answers yes/no questions to allow other players to guess the identity.  You can play just like "Twenty Questions" or try these more challenging variations: 

Each guesser asks the chooser a yes/no question based on a guess. For example, if the letter is B then the guesser might think of Barabbas and ask, "Are you a criminal?" The chooser has 3 possible responses:

1. "No, I am not Barabbas." or "yes, but I am not Barabbas"— Even if the guesser was thinking of somebody other than Barabbas, this is an acceptable response, revealing the answer to the criminal question and providing somebody who fits that description but is not the answer. 
2. "No, and I don't know who you're thinking of." — The chooser can't think of a criminal.  Now the guesser tells who/what he was thinking of and gets to ask any basic yes/no questions until he gets a "no." Only here can the guesser directly ask question like "Are you Barabbas." (If the guesser was thinking of the chooser's person, then the guesser wins-for example: Barabbas was the correct answer but the chooser didn't know he was a criminal.)
3. "Yes, I am Barabbas." — The chooser could not think of another criminal. The guesser wins.

Stumping.  This variant is particularly useful as a pastime for long trips. The guesser must think of a trivia question in a different category which can be answered by a word beginning with the revealed letter, so in our example the guesser might ask, "Where was Jesus born", the answer being "Bethlehem." If the chooser answers correctly, the guesser must think of another question. If the chooser is stumped and cannot answer, the guesser may ask a yes-or-no question about the mystery word. Once the chooser answers the question, the guesser must stump the chooser again before asking another direct question.  You may choose to allow trivia questions from non-biblical sources, especially for beginners. Guessing the identity of the person or character counts as a yes/no question and can only be done after the chooser is stumped.

Additional Letters.  One variation rewards stumping the chooser with an additional letter revealed each time the chooser misses the trivia question.

Last Letter First. A quickie version:  Name the person/place/thing outright. Next player must name something else that starts with the last letter of the first word and so on until somebody is stumped.  This may have another name, but I've heard it referred to as Botticelli on occasion.

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A favorite meal activity for many families is "Praises & Bummers," also known by several other names.  It's easy.  If you don't already do this on a regular basis, give it a try tonight. Go around the dinner table (guests at the table are invited to do this, too) asking each person to share the best thing that happened this week and the worst thing. You'll be surprised how much wonderful, meaningful conversation will result.

The season of Pentecost, which spans the entire summer, represents the growth of the church after Jesus' ascension.  It is also a time when families sleep in, travel and escape for the weekends.  But you can still make summer a time of faith growth with fun and simple ideas for your whole family.

Family Game night
Nurturing faith is not just about lessons and prayer. It's about families spending a lot of time together building trusted relationships.  When families spend time together, faith is naturally shared.  Start a family game night.  Make it as frequent as you can.  Rotate choices, draw from a bag or play several each time you gather.

ReadyCLickGrow
This and other online resources available right here on our web site offer game, craft, discussion, snack and devotional materials.  Use these resources to enhance your family time.  

Family Meal Time
This is an absolutely essential part of family life. Don't let it slip through the cracks.  Eat as many meals as you can together.  Cook together, clean up together.  Take picnics, eat outside.  Even eating in the car together at Sonic is better than going your separate ways....again.  Make it a habit before school resumes.   

Green Dessert
How many green desserts can your family come up with.  The color green represents the season of Pentecost,  Remind your family every week that we are in a season of growth by having green dessert.  Choose a day, Sunday is great but any day will do just fine, and end your main meal with something green:

• green M & M's
• green jello with marshmallows
• mint ice cream
• grasshopper pie
• cake or cookies with green frosting
• pistachio pudding--or vanilla with green food coloring
• angel food cake with green food coloring--line half a mix of  angel food cake batter, colored green, in a stainless steel bowl.  mix mini chocolate chips into the rest of the batter and color it red.  fill in the bowl with the red.  Bake according to the package, right in the bowl, cool upside down. Release from the pan.  You have a watermelon cake! It's green and it's fun! 

Sidewalk chalk
Purchase a big bucket of sidewalk chalk, or any of the Crayola outdoor products.  Leave messages on your driveway, patio or walls.  Surprise your spouse or your children with a message from God-a blessing such as "God loves you" would be great.  Spell out an easy verse as a welcome to your front entry.  Let the kids go wild with scenes from favorite Bible stories.  How about dramatizing Jonah and the Whale with chalk, a few props and a hose.

Shells
If you go to the beach, don't forget to look for shells.  Shells are a symbol of baptism.  Use some of your found shells to scoop up some water and gently pour it over each family member as a reminder of their baptism, saying "God loves you and I love you."  Glue shells to a ribbon and hang it by your back door or pool gate as a reminder of your baptism each time you enter the water.

Reading Club
Choose a nice Christian fiction to read together as a family.  Read several chapters each week and discuss your opinions at a special family time, or Sunday dinner.  Younger kids will enjoy having stories read to them regularly all summer.  Check out the church library or any of the Christian stores for a huge variety of choices.

Movie Night
Once a week rent a movie, old or new, any genre.  Make popcorn or whatever you enjoy during a movie.  After the movie talk about some of the themes and how the Bible would deal with those themes.