This is a great project for helping children identify and share their strengths.

Children must be able to print or have an adult/buddy to print for them.  I have included some ideas for general use, children just meeting each other (ice breaker), Sunday school, younger children and families to participate in the project.

Materials:

• printer,
• paper,
• scissors,
• glue,
• something to print with

Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice.
• Cut out the template piece in one large rectangle.
• Color the pieces (B&W version) and cut them out.
• Fold the recipe card in half and glue it to make it double sided.
• Fill out the recipe card with your "ingredients" (things like "a beautiful smile", "strong legs for soccer" and "a good sense of humor") on the front of the card.  There is room for 6 main ingredients which is plenty for children to think about and fill out.
• For older children, use the back of the card to print a paragraph expanding on some or all of the ingredients -- you can provide a theme for this paragraph -- such as "how did you use your ingredients this week?" or "what ingredient do you find most useful when dealing with friends" (or family or siblings, etc).

Ideas for Use:

1. Ice Breaker:
    
   • If you're in a very big group, divide the larger group into smaller groups of 10 or less children - each with one adult or older child as "leader"
   • Have each child complete the "ingredients" with 3 physical characteristics and 3 personality characteristics
     (ex:  blue eyes, brown hair, freckles, a good sense of humor, a loving family and a love of reading).
   • Have each child include a paragraph on the back of the recipe card that talks about why they're excited about the new group and what new "ingredients" they hope to get from it (ex:  "new friendships", "learning about computers", etc).
   • Have the leader read the recipe card to the group and let everyone guess who the card describes
     OR
   • Have each child read their card to the group.
   • Optional:  Have the leader graph the ingredients on the white board to see how many things the children have in common.
2. Sunday School:
    
   • Combine the "recipe for me" cards with a lesson about the special traits God has given each of us.  Lesson plans this could go with include "God made me", "God loves me" or "Samson and Delilah"
   • Have the children complete the "ingredients" with traits they identify in themselves as gifts God has given them.
   • Have the children include a paragraph on the back of the recipe card that begins with "Thank you God for making me special, especially for ..."
3. Younger Children:
    
   • Have an adult or older child print the ingredients for the younger child.
   • Glue your recipe card to the top of a piece of white paper.
   • Have the child draw a picture on the bottom of the paper illustrating one of their special ingredients
4. Families:
    
   • Have the family each fill out one or two blanks on the recipe card for each member of the family.
   • This is a nice way to support each other and show what you admire about each other.

Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

"God's recipe for me" Template   (color)   or   (B&W)

"A recipe for me" Template           (color)   or   (B&W)

"God's recipe for me" Template   (color)   or   (B&W)

"The recipe for me" Template       (color)   or   (B&W)

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