Archive for 2010

Get Moving! (More Christmas Break Fun)

By | December 28, 2010 | Elementary Age, Games, Parents, Preschoolers | 1 Comment

Here’s some fun activities to get your kids up and moving (I’m sure you’ve watched all your Christmas movies at least once by now!).  Ideas are taken from The Activity Book.  Get yourself  a copy for hours of fun!

  • Find that Sound (8 months+): For this game, hide a musical toy while your child isn’t looking and then let her use her ears to discover the toy.
  • Pillow Walk: Throughout the room, pile bed pillows and sofa cushions around the floor.  Have your child jump from pillow to pillow to cross the room.  Have them rearrange the pillows and do it again.
  • Under and Over (18mo+): Play follow the leader (you!) throughout the house, taking care to climb over and under things to help develop large muscle coordination.

Stay tuned for more fun!

Christmas Break Fun

By | December 27, 2010 | Elementary Age, Games, Parents, Preschoolers | Comments Off
Flickr by osullivanstudios

Looking for some activities to do with the little ones while they are on Christmas break?  Here’s some great ideas from The Activity Book.

  • My Life Story: Gather photos of your child and important people in her life.  Put the photos in a sturdy photo album, writing captions and names if you’d like.  This a great way for kids to learn the names of distant relatives.  You could also have your child make up a story as they turn the pages of their book, incorporating each person into the story as they go!
  • Dinner Party: Use one of the gift boxes as a table for this pretend game.  Children can make menus out of construction paper and cut pictures from magazines for illustrations.  Serve pretend or real food.
  • Picture Match:  Collect and cut out a number of magazine pictures that can be grouped.  For example, cut out two pictures of dogs, babies, food, houses, cars, etc.  Glue each picture onto an index card and have your child play the game by finding matches of like items.
  • Trace Me: Use a giant sheet of paper (butcher paper or something similiar).  Have your child lie down and then trace his outline.  Have your child color in his face and outfit.  Cut out the form and hang it on his bedroom door. You could also draw a giant Christmas tree and have them decorate it.
  • Butterfly Wings: Fold a piece of white paper in half and then unfold it and place it on the table.  Have your child put a few drops of paint on various colors on the paper (one side of the crease only).  While the paint is still wet, refold the paper and press the two halves together.  Open again and let dry.  Once draw, cut into the shape of wings for a beautiful butterfly!
  • Paper Snowflakes – decorate the house in style, no matter what climate you live in!

Be sure to check out this post for more ideas:

Tuesday: Get Moving!

Making Choices: Piercings in the Ministry

By | December 23, 2010 | My Thoughts | 6 Comments
Flickr by Aaron Dieppa

This week, we are very saddened by the resignation of our Youth Leader and  his wife.   Our youth group kids are trying to process their loss and cope with suddenly being leaderless again (twice in the last year).  Certainly, we have endured a bit of hardship in trying to grow the youth group.

So what was behind this decision?  A difference of opinion it seems.  Our youth leader’s wife recently got her lip pierced and the pastor asked that it be removed.

The youth leader’s take?  Piercing is not sinful, thus his wife should be able to exercise Christian liberty and keep it in.  If the church can’t accept that, then they cannot continue to worship in a place that passes judgement on people because of piercings and tattoos.

The pastor’s take?  Though many things are permissible, not all are beneficial (1 Corinthians 10:23). As a ministry leader, there is no benefit to facial piercings.  It could be stumbling block to youth, a cause of division between parents and youth, and is certainly not professional looking.  Many secular organizations don’t allow facial piercings, why should it be allowed in the church?

What’s your take?  Is the request too much?  What constitutes being judgmental?

Resources to Check Out:

It’s Only a Tattoo

Battle Cry for a Generation: The Fight To Save America’s Youth

Timeless Youth Ministry: A Handbook for Successfully Reaching Todays Youth

Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View

Girls on the Run: Get Involved!

By | December 22, 2010 | Parents, Preteens, Resources | 2 Comments

Flickr by esbjorn2

Looking for some motivation to jump start the fitness program in the New Year?  Why not combine fitness with mentoring in this great program?

Girls on the Run, a popular running and self-esteem program for girls ages 8-13 pairs physical fitness with life-lessons about body-image, peer pressure, gossip, and bullying to help bring a positive impact to preteen girls.  The program follows a 12 week curriculum with a 5-K fun run as the big final event.

To begin, this program was only designed for girls in 3rd through 5th grades.  However, a new program called Girls on Track has also been developed for girls in grades 6 through 8.

Their objective (taken from the website) are as follows:

The objective of Girls on the Run is to educate and empower girls at an early age in order to prevent the display of at-risk activities in the future. At risk activities include substance/alcohol use, eating disorders, early onset of sexual activity, sedentary lifestyle, depression, suicide attempts and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.

There seems to be a bit of new-age philosophy seeping into the curriculum, but I suppose that’s to be expected in a secular program.  Certainly, it’s worth a look for both parents and Children’s Ministry directors.   It would be a great preteen mentoring program to get involved in (gather up your preteens from church and tell them to bring friends!).  Or it could be a perfect opportunity for some quality time between moms and daughters.  Check out the website to see if there is a program in your area!

Build a Better Blog: Let the Reviews Begin!

By | December 21, 2010 | 31DBBB | 7 Comments

Hey Everyone!  Sorry for the late post, I was out of town yesterday visiting a friend from college.  This week’s blogger challenge task is to develop an editorial calendar for your blog.  The idea is to brainstorm ideas at the beginning of the week so you don’t have to come up with posts throughout the week.  Instead, you can concentrate on writing.

While Darren (Problogger) suggests coming up with ideas on Sunday or Monday, I’ve found it’s super helpful for me to actually slam out a rough draft of all my posts for the week on Sunday or Monday.  Usually when I start writing, I end up on a roll, making it easier to write five posts at once rather than one post every single day.   What about you?  What’s your best strategy for staying on top of things?

I’ve also realized it’s time for the Blog Review to begin.  If you’d like your blog to be reviewed/evaluated by the other Challenge Bloggers, leave a comment below and we’ll start scheduling.  Next week, we’ll pick a “blog of the week” and post some questions for others to answer about your blog.  If there’s a particular question you’d like addressed, be sure to leave that in the comments as well.  Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas!

Other Posts You May Like:

Come up with 10 Posts Ideas in 10 Minutes

Join a Forum, Gain Some Readers

Interlink Old Posts: Keep Your Reader Engaged!

Party Pictures

By | December 17, 2010 | Christmas, Games | Comments Off

Here are some pictures from our recent “Birthday Party for Jesus”.

Kids helped read the Bible Story

Decorating Cupcakes

Playing some Party Games

What kinds of things did your church do to bring this holiday home for the kids?

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