Think Happy

Editor's note: See the PDF for the accompanying pictures and activities. 

The Apostle Paul was in prison when he wrote a letter to his friends in Philippi. His life was tough, and he knew he didn’t have long to live. But he managed to stay positive and hopeful in spite of the challenges.

At the end of his letter, in Philippians 4, Paul shares some of his happiness secrets. Let’s discover what they are so that we can stay hopeful and happy when our life gets tough.

 POSITIVE PAUL

Search for Paul’s happiness secrets in Philippians 4, and write down the Bible verse where each secret is found. 

IN GOD’S HANDS

Put your worries in God’s hands:

• Fold a piece of typing paper in half.
• Place your left hand on the paper with your little finger against the fold.
• Draw around your hand and cut it out to make a hand-shaped card.
• Open the card and write your worries inside so that they are placed in God’s hands.
• When you feel worried again, remember that you gave your worries to God; ask Him to help you.
• Share your worries with an adult. Tell your parent, teacher, or caregiver what you are worried about. They may be able to help you.
• Think about possible solutions. List some different things you could do to help make things better.
• Get busy! Find something you enjoy doing— something fun, something creative, or something active. When we’re busy doing something interesting or fun, it helps us to forget our worries for a while.

Peace--Be Still

• Read John 14:27 in your favorite Bible.
• Make a poster to remind your family of the peace that Jesus gives us. You could write the words of this verse in blue wavy lines across the bottom of the paper so they look like water, and then draw Jesus in a boat. Or write the words on a white paper dove, or on a picture of the world.
• As you work on your peace poster, learn the words of the Bible verse so you can repeat them in your mind whenever you feel troubled.
• Put the poster where it will help you and your family to feel peaceful.
• Which other Bible verses help you to feel the peace of Jesus?

Happy People

Some people are like Paul. They know how to stay positive and close to God in every situation.

• Ask the people in your family and your church about the things that helped them through the tough times in their lives.
• How did their faith, friends, and positive attitude help them to stay strong? What Bible verses comforted and strengthened them?
• What can you and your friends learn from these people

The  Love Sign

• People who use sign language have a special hand sign that means “love.” Find out how to make the hand sign for love.
• Try making different heart shapes with your hands and see how many you can make.
• Create a secret sign with your family that means “I love you!” Then create another sign for the special love that Jesus has for us

Calm Down

Sometimes we can feel very frustrated, annoyed, or upset. That’s normal, because we live in a world where lots of hurtful things happen.

List some things that help you to calm down when you feel frustrated or angry. Here are some simple activities that help children and grown-ups to calm down. Try a few and see which ones work best for you.

• Pray. Put the whole mess in God’s hands and ask Him to help you sort it out.
• Drink a glass of cool water.
• Blow bubbles. The slow blowing helps you to calm down. No bubbles? Just pretend to blow the biggest bubbles ever, and it will really calm you down. Maybe it will make you smile too!
• Find someone to talk to, someone who really listens well.
• Ask someone for a hug.
• Do something energetic, such as bouncing on a trampoline or running around the park.
• Have a warm bubble bath.
• Watch something funny.
• Distract yourself by working on a hobby or doing something fun or challenging.
• Read a good book.

MAKE AN EMOTIONAL PIE 

Sometimes life is complicated or sad, and our feelings are all mixed up inside. When this happens, make an emotional pie to help you think about what you are feeling and let other people know how they can help you.  

• Draw a big circle on a piece of paper. Imagine it’s like a pie, and each slice is a different feeling and a different size.
• Think about how much sadness, happiness, fear, worry, anger, or whatever you are feeling right now. If you are very sad, make that slice bigger. One girl even made a slice for all the feelings she had that she didn’t have words for yet.
• Write the name of the feeling on the pie slice or next to it.
• Color the slices to match your feelings.
• Next to each pie slice write what you would like other people to do to support you when you have that feeling.
• Show your pie to a parent or caregiver and talk about your pie with them.

THANKS!

When we say thank-you to God and others, it usually helps us to feel happier too! Try one of these:

• Sit in your bedroom and make a list of everything in your room that you’re grateful for: clothes, books, toys, furniture, heating, etc.  See if you can hit 100!
• Walk down a street or in a park with your family. Take turns finding things along your way to be thankful for. Speak them out loud: “Thank You, God, for the tree that gives us shade.” “Thank You for the ambulance going by to help someone.” “Thank You for the birds singing in the trees. Help me to notice their music.”
• Keep a gratitude journal and write down three things you are thankful for every night before you go to bed—then you will go to bed feeling happier!
• Make a thank-you card to leave in a restaurant with a generous tip.

A KINDNESS A DAY

Have you heard the expression “A kindness a day keeps the gloomies away”? It’s true! One of the best ways to be happy is to do something kind for someone else.

• Ask an adult to print off a calendar page with a month of days.
• Ask God to show you where you can be kind each day—in school, at home, with your friends, in your neighborhood, or at church. Write or draw your ideas on the calendar.
• Try to do one kind thing every day, even a small thing, and see how happy it makes you.
• Why not get your whole family involved? It’s a great way to make friends and show people how much God loves them!

A GOOD THOUGHT

• Cut some paper into lots of thought-bubble shapes. Write each word of Philippians 4:8 on a different shape.
• Shuffle them up and see if you can put them in the right order to make the Bible verse.
• Now cut a very large thought bubble from the biggest piece of paper you can find to make a poster.
• Fill your thought-bubble poster with lots of things that are good to think about, such as encouraging Bible vers-es, positive messages, answered prayers, happy memo-ries, your special hopes, and beautiful photos of nature.
• Whenever your mind is troubled by sad and unhelpful thoughts, stop and think about the things on your “good thought” poster.