Building Character: Courtesy

Our recent Wednesday night family lesson was on the topic of courtesy.  I found so many great ideas for this lesson and it turned out being very fun. 

We talked about courtesy and what that looks like in our lives.  We looked up some verses related to using courteous words and this verse in I John 3:18--"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."   Another point we talked about was thinking before speaking to make sure what we say is appropriate and courteous.

For the activity we did an activity I found on the Kids of Integrity site. 

I mixed up chocolate pudding and put it into two bags. 

Then I cut a tiny hole in the bottom corner of each bag.  I gave my husband and son both a bag and a plate and told them to decorate the plate with the pudding. 

One of their creations

Once the pudding was out of the bag, I told them now they needed to put it back into their bag.  My husband turned his bag inside out and using it as a glove tried to pick up the pudding so it would be in the bag.  Then my son tried this too.  It made quite the mess!   

I made the point that it was easy and fun to squirt the pudding out of the bag and make designs and then quite difficult to get all the pudding back into the bag.  It is the same with our words. If we say things without thinking, those words are out and we can't take them back again or "unsay" them.  Once they are out they are out.  Sometimes people will remember the words we say forever, long after they are spoken and maybe even forgotten by the speaker.  We need to make sure our words are uplifting and courteous to others.   

This was a fun lesson and serves as a great reminder to all of us to be courteous in our words and actions. 

Have a day of blessings!