We bought small Christmas trees for each of our kids to put in their bedrooms. Each year we make different types of ornaments that they can decorate their trees with. This year I decided to have them decorate paper ornaments to go along with the 12 Days of Service idea that I came up with. Last Monday for family home evening we had a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas. We read Mosiah 2:17 from the Book of Mormon: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” We discussed how doing kind acts of service for others is the best gift we can give to the Savior. After the kids finished decorating their ornaments we let them hang them on their trees. Each morning when they wake up the first thing they do is pick an ornament off of their tree. It has been fun to watch them get excited to serve. I think this will be a new tradition in our family.
To make the ornaments I used a 3" craft punch to cut out different colored card stock. I punched holes in the tops and strung ribbon through them. You could also use a cricut machine or trace cookie cutters for different shapes. I printed out a list of 12 service ideas, cut them out and used double sided tape to attach them to the back of the ornaments. I let them use foam Christmas stickers, glitter glue and markers to decorate them with.
Here is a list of the 12 service ideas that I came up with:
1- Make a Christmas card for your primary teacher.
2- Make a Christmas card for your school teacher.
3- Do something nice for your sister/brother
4- Find a chore to do without being asked.
5- Call a relative to tell them that you love them.
6- Write a letter or draw a picture for a cousin and mail it to them.
7- Make Christmas cards for your Grandparents.
8- Make a Christmas card for the Bishop.
9- Deliver a gift to a friend.
10- Deliver a gift to a neighbor.
11- Do something nice for your mom.
12- Do something nice for your dad.
