The Staycation Jar Cutouts

Faith Like A Child, Inc
When we found out we were going to be first time parents, we knew above all else we
desired to instill in our children to love God and love others. As one-way of teaching
these principles to our children, we have developed a tradition in our family called Love
Projects, where we intentionally look for ways we can serve others, in hopes of reflecting
the love of Jesus that lives within us. As our daughter Jordyn prepared for first grade this
year, we asked her to think of a big Love Project she could do that we could incorporate
into her schooling for the year.
Now, when we made this suggestion, Todd and I were thinking along the lines of
gathering and filling boxes for Operation Christmas Child, or providing Christmas gifts
for a family in need. However, Jordyn came to us with way BIGGER dreams of what she
wanted to do. In fact, the first big Love Project she came up with was to send a family to
Disney World after their fifteen-year old daughter finishes chemotherapy for brain
cancer. (I'm going to go ahead and thank Ty Pennington and Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition for that one!)
We admit it took everything in us not to try and get her to think smaller. However,
for some reason we stopped, and instead of immediately saying "no", "that's too big", or
"honey, that's just not practical" (as we have in the past, like when she wanted to invite
herself to Bethany Hamilton’s house so Bethany could teach her how to surf), we asked
her how she would make this dream happen. Her big green eyes got even bigger, and she
immediately rambled off eleven different ways she could raise money, the people she
wanted to talk to, and how she wanted to make this happen. We were stunned and had a
decision to make.
Were we going to allow her to proceed, or were we going to sway her in a
different direction, a more "reasonable" direction?
We realized as parents, we needed to stop putting our own limitations of what we
think is and isn't possible on our children because we have lost our ability to think and
dream big. Due to our life circumstances, and the struggles we have faced, we have set up
our own personal boundaries of what we think is or isn't doable. But, these are our issues,
not theirs. Why not let our children dream big, then come alongside them, support their
ideas, and their precious hearts?
In saying, "YES" to Jordyn, we are experiencing the pure beauty in her child-like
faith, because she has absolutely no limitations, no boundaries, no financial concerns (or
concept of money), and no idea of what is or isn't possible. She simply wants to do
something special for families and therefore she is finding ways to make them happen, in
a way only a child could do. In fact, me writing this book was one of her original
fundraising ideas to help turn her dreams into reality.
Faith Like A Child, Inc. has been created as Jordyn's way of helping others. Big
or small, the ideas are all hers. We are simply supporting our daughter, and helping her
implement her ideas. We'd love for you to follow her journey and learn along with us.
FAITH of a child
HOPE for families
LOVE for Jesus
Website: http://www.faithlikeachildinc.com
All proceeds from The Staycation Jar will go directly to Faith Like A Child, Inc.
CREATIVE MEALS
Ice Cream for Breakfast
Crazy Dinner
Breakfast for dinner
Enjoy a Family Picnic
Backwards meal day
Cheese and Chocolate Fondue night
Make your own pizzas
All food starts with the same letter
Each person pick a color and create a
meal that incorporates all of the colors
Pigs in a Blanket & Mac and Cheese
Taco or Nacho Bar
Snack night for dinner
Eat Spaghetti while watching
Lady and the Tramp
Eat Sweet and Sour Chicken and Fried
Rice while watching Mulan
Eat Gulasch and Apfelstrudel while
watching The Sound of Music
Eat Pizza while watching Toy Story
Eat Tropical Snack Mix, and watch
The Jungle Book
Decorate bug cookies, and watch
The Lion King
Eat Candy Apples while watching
Snow White
Eat Meatballs while watching Cloudy
with a Chance of Meatballs
Eat Orange-Honey Chicken and watch
Winnie the Pooh
Eat Pulled Pork & upside down pineapple
cake, while watching Lilo & Stitch
Eat Spaghetti with maple syrup,
and watch Elf
Eat Spider Dogs and S’mores while
watching The Parent Trap
Eat Goldfish crackers while watching
Finding Nemo
Eat Dirt in a Cup while watching Tangled
Eat Carnival food, & watch Mary Poppins
Eat a fancy meal on your best dishes,
and watch Cinderella
Eat Paninis on baguettes while watching
Beauty and the Beast
Eat Bangers and Mash while watching
Robin Hood
Eat dehydrated or space food while
watching Wall-E
Eat Bubbas Jambalaya while watching
The Princess and the Frog
Eat Ratatouille and watch Ratatouille
Eat Chicken Strips while watching
Chicken Little
Eat your favorite seafood, and watch
The Little Mermaid
Eat fresh Fruit Salad and Ants on a Log
while watching Tarzan
Eat Gyros, and watch Hercules
Eat Hot Dogs, Popcorn, and Cotton
Candy, and watch Angels in the Outfield
Eat Peach Pie, and watch
James and the Giant Peach
Make & eat frozen Popsicle Smoothies,
and watch The Mighty Ducks
Eat miniature appetizers, and watch
Honey, I Blew up the Kids
Eat over-sized appetizers, and watch
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Eat an Apple-Themed Dinner, and watch
The Apple Dumpling Gang
Eat BBQ chicken, Corn on the Cob, and
Cornbread, and watch Castaway Cowboy
Eat fancy Cheeses, Bread, & a Fruit
while watching Sleeping Beauty
Make and decorate Mickey Mouse or
Alphabet pancakes for dinner
Create a dessert pizza
Make all of your food into hearts or the
shape of your choice
Make and decorate a Cake or Cupcakes
that say, “Happy Un-Birthday to Us”
Have a kabob night, with both regular
chicken/beef kabobs, & dessert kabobs
MAIN EVENTS
Go canoeing or kayaking
Go to a local campsite for the night
Movie marathon and game night
Amusement Park/Outdoor Water Park
Beach Day
Hotel with an Indoor Waterpark
Drive-In Movie or IMAX Theatre
Spend a day at the Zoo
Pack a Picnic
Bowling
Local art museum
Sporting event
Musical or ballet
Farmers Market
Air or Water Show
Plant a family garden
Family bike ride
Spa day
Miniature Golfing
History Museum
Spend the day at an Aquarium
Rent a boat and
go tubing or water skiing
Find a Children’s Museum
Go to a local community pool
City walking or history tour
Family Fun Center
Botanical Garden
Balloon Ride
Circus or Cirque de Soleil
Science Center
Dinner Show
Nature Preserve
Horseback Riding
Spend the day walking Downtown
Family Concert
Art or Craft Show
Become your own tour guide
Go fishing
Cultural Center
Go to an observatory
Join a race as a family: 5K Walk/Run
Find a Puppet Theatre
Go to a local farm
Check out your city’s local landmarks
Trampoline Center or Bounce House
State Fair or Rodeo
Harvest, Jazz, or Community Festival
Go berry or apple picking
Learn how to snow ski
Hike a Nature trail and look for
waterfalls
SILLINESS
Have a water fight
Build a fort with pillows and blankets
Sleepover in tents
Water balloon toss or water fight
Do a sidewalk chalk art contest
Make a scavenger hunt
Have a watermelon seed spitting
contest
Tie-dye t-shirts or socks
Play freeze tag
Play hide and seek
Have a pillow or tickle fight
Use robot voices for 15 minutes
Dollar store
Make a music band with items from home
Buy glow in the dark bracelets
Finger paint a portrait together
Have a dance party
Make a hat/jewelry out of toilet paper
Have lego creation contests
Sing karaoke
Have everyone play dress up
Write a story together
Have a Wii tournament
Make and decorate paper airplanes
Act out a favorite movie
Walk backwards everywhere
Talk through how you would raise an
elephant or catch a shark
Go to a pet store & play with the pets
Make sock puppets and put on a show
Open up a hair shop
Put on fake tattoos
Send secret messages to each other
with invisible ink
Tell knock-knock jokes
Make a silly family video
Play a song and do an interpretive dance
Make a house out of cards
Paint a pet rock
Play charades
Play balloon volleyball or soccer
Make faces out of fruit
Decorate cookies
Blow and chase bubbles
Wear your clothes backwards
Write a letter to the future family who
will someday live in your home
Count how many times you laugh today
Carry a small stuffed animal or toy
around all day long
Put on a talent show
Make a treasure box
Have a blindfolded taste test
Take family pictures of everyone
making silly faces
LOVE PROJECTS
Go through the drive thru just to buy
lunch for the person behind you
Go to a thrift store and see if you can
help sort donations
Buy a couple of stuffed animals and
get-well cards
Write a letter to someone
Bake cookies or brownies and bring
them over to a friend/Police/Fire Dept
Cook dinner for someone else
Make no-sew fleece blankets for the
Cancer-Wing at your hospital
Randomly give someone $20
Buy a bouquet of flowers and give away
each flower one at a time
Put away all the carts in a
grocery parking lot
Tape quarters to gumball machines
Leave a thank you note in a public
bathroom for the person who cleans it
Bring flowers and balloons to a
children’s hospital
Buy coloring books and crayons for your
local Preschool
Fill Easter Eggs and leave an Easter Egg
hunt for someone
Go to a Dollar Store and leave dollar
bills on some of the items
Give out silly bandz one by one to kids
Make get-well cards and combine them
with a small bottle of lotion
Drop off stuffed animals to your local
Fire or Police Dept
Bring a meal to a local widow
Invite a family over for dinner
Make small bags with a sweet snack
and a note saying,
“thank you for serving me today!”
Put together a care package
for the homeless
Write and send a note to a military
member who is deployed
Put a care package together for a
military member who is deployed
Leave an extra large tip for your waiter
or waitress at a restaurant
Let someone go in front of you in line
Help someone bring out their groceries
and take their cart back
Call your local church and find out how
you can meet a need
Write a love note
Wake up early, go to a friend’s house,
and take their kids out for breakfast
while everyone is still in their jammies
Call some friends and see if you can
take them out for lunch, or bring a meal
for them to their office or home
Bring food and needed supplies to a
local food bank
Purchase gift certificates for DVD
rentals and bring them to a hospital
Buy a gift for a friend
Make cupcakes and surprise someone
Write a note or call your child’s
teacher or your pastor
Bring a pack or two of diapers to your
local pregnancy center
Purchase a small gift card and
give it to someone
Have a lemonade stand or garage sale to
raise money for your favorite charity
Use your talents to help someone else
Hand out cold water bottles to people
working outside on a hot day
Find and meet a volunteer opportunity
in your community
Pick up garbage you see on the ground
Go through your items at home and put
together a donation pile
Ask your neighbor if you can mow their
yard or meet another need
Call one of your local foster care
social workers
Find out what mentoring opportunities
there are in your community
Bring flowers and cards to
a nursing home
Go to the store as a family to purchase
items and fill a box or two for
Operation Christmas Child
THANK YOU!
We hope your family finds these ideas helpful as you plan your own Family
Staycations, and we’d love to hear how they go. Please feel free to send us your
stories, ideas, and experiences. In the next few months, we will look to post other
family adventures on our website!
Thank you so much for supporting our family in this adventure of loving other
families. We would love for you to help spread the word about The Staycation Jar and
Faith Like A Child, Inc.
Please consider leaving a review on Amazon for The Staycation Jar, and join our
Faith Like A Child, Inc. Facebook Page.