PBJs for Kids- Praised Be Jesus

PBJ- Peanut Butter Jelly, right?

Does it make you think of this?

I am still on the fence if I hate this song or if I stand in amazement at how it can get kids moving and dancing and silly...

In this post, PBJ stands for Praised Be Jesus, but I am not above pulling in a little cutsy symbolism and matching decoration to go along with it.

How do we teach kids to pray?  Mostly by modeling prayer, exposing them to prayer, and giving them the time and resources to pray.  Here is a resource to promote kids praising God in all things.

Start with a clear plastic jar, washed nice and clean.  (It could be an empty peanut butter jar, but I would be careful with using it in a classroom- peanut allergies are nothing to mess with.)

 Decorate the jar with a cute "Praised Be Jesus:Prayer Starters" label.  (Printable below)

Cut out the 45 prayer starters, preferably printed on peanut butter and jelly colored paper.  Each card gives a time when we can praise God and a matching Scripture Verse.

 

 Toss in the jar and make readily available for kids in your home or classroom.

 How could these be used? Here are a few ideas:

• Have each child take one PBJ card and individually use for a quick silent prayer.
• Have each child take one, read aloud, and share with the class a connection.
• Pull one out at read to the class. Have students share petitions/thankgivings/connections to that PBJ card.  Pray together for all as a class.
• During adoration or a chapel visit, pass out PBJ cards to students as meditation starters.
• If an individual student is feeling down, send them to the jar to find a card that reminds them about praising Jesus in all things.
• After a child makes a poor choice or shows negativity, have them pull a PBJ card and spend a few quiet moments in prayer.
• Keep on the dinner table and use to foster family prayer before or after mealtime.
• Keep near a child's bedside and use to spur ideas for prayers before bedtime.
• Choose a PBJ card and look up the Scripture reference.  Read before and after the specific verse to get the context.  Talk about what we can learn about God from this part of the Bible.

All this started because I found these super cute PBJ cutout at the Dollar Tree.  I snapped them up (how can you not for $1- that place is a both a teacher's gift and a teacher's curse...)
They made me think of the acronym PBJ also standing for Praised Be Jesus, and I made this little mini book for our prayer center in my classroom:

 The pages alternate with peanut butter and jelly, and each contains a time to praise God and a Scripture reference.

 Part of the Scripture text is on the back of the page,

... and the book is put together with binder rings, so it can easily be taken apart to pass out to individuals and then put back together.

 I have seen these PBJ cutouts still at our local Dollar Tree, but unfortunately they are not available on the online store.  So to share this activity with you, I made some printables (hence the jar above). They could be bound together in a mini book, also.

Click here for your own set of PBJ cards: