Father's Day

Father's Day in New Zealand is on the first Sunday in September. It can often be a tricky day to navigate: some of us haven't known our fathers; some were not good dads; some of us would love to have the experience of being a father, but life doesn't always go the way we'd planned. Getting the balance right to honour fathers in church as well as all the men in our church, whether they have children or not, is really important.  As a church we always want to include, not exclude. 

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Good Good Father - a song by Chris Tomlin which reminds us of the loving character of God. 
Slow Down, a lyric video to the Nichole Nordeman song, which tells reflects on just how quickly kids grow up! 
A video from Home for Good - a UK charity that has a vision to find a foster or adoptive home for all children who do not have their own family. This video highlights the importance of men in the lives of our children, particularly those who voluntarily step into a fatherly role. 

Thoughts

"A really good Father’s Day could be a day where we remember we all have different ways of viewing this day. All of us. We celebrate each other and our humanity when we recognise that. That doesn’t take away from the wonderful dads, they stay wonderful, we keep celebrating them – it just makes sure nobody is left behind."
Excerpt from an article on Emily Writes about the spectrum of Father's Day experiences

Resources

Make

Handkerchief Man's Shirt
This is a simple origami craft that turns a man's hankie into a wee man's shirt.  It looks great!  Here's how to fold a handkerchief shirt.  You'll need to press all your creases, so get out your iron.  I find it helpful to iron with each fold to keep creases sharp.

  1. Place the handkerchief face down.  Fold all four corners to the center. If your handkerchief isn't quite square, you can overlap the flaps to make nice corners and a square shape. Overlapping won't matter.
  2. Fold the left edge to the center, then the right edge.
  3. Turn the handkerchief over. Fold about one inch down from the top. 
  4. Turn the handkerchief over again. Fold each of the top corners diagonally inward to the center.  This is the collar.  Iron and then put a small weight to hold the collar in place.
  5. Lift each bottom flap and fold outward, making a crease that's roughly parallel to the collar fold above it. These are the sleeves.
  6. Fold the entire bottom half of the handkerchief upward toward the collar and tuck it under the collar flaps.
  7. You can add a ribbon tie, a bow tie or a drawn on pocket!
‘You’re Out of This World’ Father’s Day Gift
This is an easy craft for primary school aged kids. Create a fun alien creature holding a sign reading “You’re out of this world!”

What you’ll need:
  • An assortment of small boxes, cardboard tubes, milk bottle tops, etc- anything small that can be used for construction-jewellery & medicine boxes, pill containers (washed with labels removed) all work. 
  • Cardstock
  • Paint, crayons, felts
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Play doh or other clay (to help hold things alien arms and legs in place)
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Googly eyes (purchased in craft stores)
  • Cello tape
  • Toothpicks

How to make it:
  1. Choose your construction boxes and paint them your chosen colour.  Wait for the paint to dry.
  2. Make a junk construction alien- give it some kind of head (or heads), pipe cleaner legs, etc.  Be creative, but remember that you want it small enough to sit on a table. 
  3. Legs can be attached with a bit of clay or they can be poked through the box.
  4. Write or print out the words “You’re out of this world” on a small piece of card
  5. Tape or glue the sign to a toothpick
  6. Have one arm/leg bent upwards and wrap the end of the pipe cleaner around the toothpick so it looks like the alien is holding the sign.
  7. If your alien doesn’t sit well, use a bit of clay or play doh to attach it to a cardboard square to help keep it stable
Father's Day Trophy
 A Father’s Day Trophy for the ‘Best Dad’
This is a medium level craft for primary school aged kids. 

What you'll need:
  • 2 foam coffee cups (paper ones can be used)
  • Approx 10 cm square box (or one cut to size)
  • Masking tape
  • 1 gold pipe cleaner
  • Gold craft paint
  • Black construction paper, cut to fit on side of box
  • White paint pen
  • Scissors
  • Paintbrush
  • White school or craft glue

How to make it:
  1. Turn cups upside down.
  2. Glue the bottoms of the two cups together.
  3. Tape the square box shut by covering the entire box with masking tape.
  4. When glue on the cups have dried, wrap a piece of masking tape around the middle where the two cups meet.
  5. Cut the pipe cleaner in half and insert into each side of one of the cups as trophy handles.
  6. Cover cups completely with masking tape.
  7. Paint masking tape on both the trophy and the box gold. Let dry.
  8. Write "World's Best Dad" on the black construction paper with white paint pen. Glue to the front of the box.
  9. Pipe white glue onto the bottom of the cup that does not have the pipe cleaner handles. Press onto the top of the box and let glue dry completely.
  10. When finished you can fill the trophy cup with Dad's favourite lollies.
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