Canadian Animals: The Perky Puffin (For All Ages)

One thing that a lot of our kids have in common with us is that they love animals! Whether it's a wild animal they have near their homes or a pet animal such as a cat, dog, or even a pet chicken or pet cow, a lot of our kids are super interested in animals and love learning about new ones!

I got a lot of great responses from my kids when I wrote about beavers. Some kids said they had never heard of them before, but all agreed, the busy beaver is an amazing little critter!

So in keeping with the "Canadian Animals" theme, I decided to write about puffins next. I found a whole passel of perky and playful puffin printables! (Pronounce that five times fast!)

As always, feel feel to copy the letter text to send to your sponsored children! You can edit the parts in bold to fit you and your child's circumstances!

Hello my friend (Name)!

Today I am going to tell you about another animal that we have here in Canada... the Puffin! A Puffin is a small water bird. They are about 25 cm or about 10 inches long. They are very common on the island of Newfoundland, where I live (obviously you can leave this part out if you're not from Newfoundland!)

A Puffin is very easy to recognize. They have black backs and white bellies, with bright orange feet that are webbed like a duck's feet. This helps them to swim very well. They are also excellent divers and can swim a long way under water! A Puffin's most interesting feature is its beak, which is big and brightly coloured.

A Puffin's beak helps it to catch tiny fish, which it eats. I am including a photo of a puffin holding several fish in it's mouth! Puffins are sea birds, so they never travel very far from the ocean! Puffins also have waterproof feathers, which protect them as they swim in the freezing cold ocean.

Puffins can live for up to 20 years, and a male and female Puffin couple will usually stay together their whole lives!

Puffins are very interesting because they don't build nests like regular birds. Instead, they dig holes in the ground! A Puffin may dig its own hole, or it may take over an empty rabbit burrow or a hole dug by another animal. Female Puffins lay only one egg at a time. After 36-45 days, the egg hatches and a little baby Puffin called a "Puffling" comes out! Both the mother and father Puffin work together to take care of the egg and the baby Puffling.

Puffins are very funny birds. Their eyes and brightly coloured beaks often look as if they are smiling. Puffins love to eat fish and sometimes, they are greedy and will eat so many fish that they get too heavy to fly! Then they must sit and wait a little while until they can fly again.

I am sending you some Puffin pictures and activities... I hope you have a lot of fun with them!

I hope you enjoyed learning about these cute and funny birds! What kind of birds do you have in your country?

Your friend, (Your name)

If you're looking for photos to include with your letter, there are some great pictures on Wikimedia Commons! Check out their Puffin entry!

Pixabay also has tons of gorgeous Puffin photos that are free to use!

With my letter, I included this gorgeous Puffin Maze from Paul M. Woodruff!

At SuperColoring, you can find a pile of neat Puffin coloring sheets!

How about a Puffin worksheet? This is great for kids that are old enough to write on their own and make a list of everything they've learned about puffins!

If you have kids that speak English, they might enjoy this Puffin word worksheet! How many words can you make from "Atlantic Puffin"?

Now this is super cool! How about a Puffin paper bag puppet? (Make sure to check the mailing guidelines of the organization you sponsor through to see if these can be sent!)

Coloring.ws has a neat color-by-number Puffin!

Last but not least, Connect the Dots 101 has a big selection of Puffin connect-the-dots!

Have fun writing to your kids!

The Fruit Of The Spirit: PATIENCE (For Younger Kids)

We are continuing with our series on The Fruits of The Spirit for younger kids! If you missed the other posts, follow the links on the "Index" page or click on the "Bible Lessons" or "Fruit Of The Spirit" label in the right-hand sidebar.

Remember, you can copy and paste all of the letters on this blog to send to your children! They are free for you to use!

You can change the bold letter text to customize the letter to you/your child's needs!

Dear (Name),

Hello little Prince/Princess! It gives me so much joy to write you another letter!

In my past few letters, I have been talking to you about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today, I want to talk about the fourth Fruit of the Spirit, which is PATIENCE! Patience is not just waiting for things, but it means having a good attitude while you wait. It means waiting without getting worried, excited, or anxious about having to wait. It is learning to wait without complaining. This is one of the hardest Fruits for me to learn. I don't like waiting for things!

One of the verses in the Bible that talks about PATIENCE is James 5:7. It says, "Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield a valuable crop, patiently waiting for the seasonal rains."

This is a good example of patience. When you plant seeds in the ground, you don't expect them to grow in one day! You have to pull up the weeds, keep the insects and wild animals away, and pray for rain; but mostly, you have to wait patiently for the crop to grow. Good things often take time.

Patience is something that we get lots of chances to practice! Whether it is taking turns on the playground, patiently waiting for a teacher to help you at school, waiting for a smaller sibling who walks much slower than you do, standing in line, waiting for your parents to finish speaking before you ask them a question, waiting to receive a letter, and even waiting to grow up... these are all times when we can practice waiting without complaining!

Did you know that God is also very patient? 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, like some people think He is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost." It's so good to know that even though we make mistakes and do wrong things in our lives, God is always patiently waiting for us to seek Him so He can forgive us and help us.

Do you like puzzles? Putting a puzzle together sometimes requires a lot of patience! I am sending you a puzzle that shows all the Fruits of the Spirit. Ask one of your teachers or leaders at your Compassion project to let you use a pair of scissors. Ask them to help you carefully cut along the grey lines, until you have 20 squares. Mix the squares all up, and then try to put them together again! You can turn it into a game with your family and friends... see who can put the puzzle together the fastest!

I love you so much (Name)... let's pray for each other that God will help us to be patient! I will write again soon.

Love, (Your Name)

Along with this letter, I included the Fruits of the Spirit puzzle found at Christian Preschool Printables! It comes with a color and black & white version. I used the colored version, but you could also send the black & white version so your kiddos can color it however they want to!

I also included this juicy Orange/Patience coloring page from the same site!

Have fun writing to your kids!