The Christmas morning scene is the same in households the world over. The presents have been opened and the family dog is happily making confetti out of the gift wrap, Mom is thinking about brunch, knowing that her brood will be bored after the novelty of the new toys wears off and all of Aunt Minnie’s knitted sweaters have been tried on for size.
No better time to encourage the small fry to try out their artistic hand with the crayons and paintboxes and art supplies thoughtfully tucked into their Christmas stockings.
There is no doubt that kids and crayons bring peace to the adults, but this Christmas could be the one when some children go to bed after the Big Day with visions of more than sugar plums dancing in their heads.
For starters, their Christmas creations on paper could go beyond decorating refrigerator doors to find permanence on an online storybook Bible.
The artwork and writing they do over Christmas break could also win them a vacation with their family at a dude ranch next summer.
Children the world over, ages 5-12 are eligible to join the online International Arts Festival. Young festival participants go online to answer Bible questions by creating original art to illustrate their answers.
One festival question with an eternal Christmas theme is “How do you know Jesus is the Messiah?”
“Art is an international language, and the festival organizers are hoping even kids with no english skills will still enter by drawing art to illustrate the answer,” says a media release from
KidsTalkAboutGod.org.
This is a Christmas dream that inspires imaginations and one that continues on well into the New Year.
This year’s Christmas dreams will go back to school with them as they wait for March, envisioning their Moms, Dads getting and siblings as cowboys and cowgirls in the great outdoors by the time the grass turns green and the leaves are on the trees.
“This past summer, four children won dude ranch vacations for their families,” said festival organizer Carey Kinsolving. “Eight more vacations will be awarded for 2009.”
The winners and their families will spend the vacation of a lifetime being cowboys and cowgirls in some of the most pristine landscapes the great American West has to offer. To view videos and photos of winners and their families in the saddle, visit [url=http://www.kidstalkaboutgod.org/winners]http://www.kidstalkaboutgod.org/winners[/url].
KidsTalkAboutGod.org is a non-denominational, Christian ministry that empowers children by publishing their faith expressions and making them available without charge to website visitors. Visitors may download art and Bible lessons for free. As a newspaper column, Kids Talk About God has been in syndication for more than seven years.
Imagine the confidence boost youngsters experience by finding their artwork and writings online. Kinsolving plans to publish the best in an online storybook Bible patterned after the popular Kids Color Me Bible, also available for free downloading.
Art festival instructions, entry forms and questions can be downloaded at KidsTalkAboutGod.org. There is no entry fee. Although entires will be accepted through March 31, 2009, Kinsolving urges Christmas action, as he plans to announce some of the eight winners before the March deadline.
Meanwhile, with the fertile imaginations owned only by the crayon brigade, youngsters will dress their Moms and Dads and siblings in the cowboy cowgirl hats and spurs and have them roaming the range on real horses.
Judi McLeod——
Bio and Archives
-- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
