Archive for June, 2010

Instant Games for Children’s Ministry: Book Review

By Lindsey | June 30, 2010 | Games, Resources, Reviews | 4 Comments

Instant Games for Children’s Ministry

I just picked up this book, because of it’s fabulous price on Amazon. When it arrived in the mail, I was a little disappointed at the size. I’m not sure why, but I expected it to be bigger, taller, thicker.. something! Of course, size doesn’t really matter. It’s what’s on the inside that counts (sounds like a great Children’s Ministry lesson, doesn’t it?)

I started browsing through the pages. The premise of this book is: gather 14 EVERYDAY items and you’ll be able to play 101 Children’s Ministry games at the drop of a hat. Most of the items were things you could easily have on hand except circular foam disks (where do I find these?) and a color cube (simple instructions are provided right at the beginning of the book for this). Okay, good start.

What’s Going On Around Here?

I read through the first few games and I got so bogged down in the instructions that I just skipped onto the next one. Not a good sign. If I, as an adult, cannot even read the instructions without getting all jumbled, how is a child supposed to actually play the game? Now, maybe I’m just a little dense, but these did not seem like “pick up and go” kind of games. Instead, they seemed a little overly complicated and too ambitious for a bunch of rowdy kids who are in need of some energy-burning activity. Also, the playing time seemed over-estimated. Many games were reported to last 15 minutes or so, but I could imagine kids getting tired of the game in 5 minutes or so.

There were a few winners: Fox and Hounds, Minefield, Pat the Cat, Hocus Pocus Hats, to name a few. However, you have to do a little searching. Certainly this book is worth the price if you’re paying 0.01 on Amazon like I did. But full price… I think I’ll pass.

What game books are you “go to” books? I just found a real gem in an unlikely place (more on that later!)

Other Curriculum Review Posts:
Bible in Life Early Elementary
Bible in Life Elementary
Voice of the Matrys: Kids of Courage
The Lads Preteen Curriculum
David C. Cook’s Rio
Group’s Faithweaver Parent

More Minute to Win It for Church

By Lindsey | June 28, 2010 | Games, Holidays and Events, Minute to Win It | 12 Comments

Recently, we did a Family Event using the Minute to Win It Games. To see how it went, check out the Original Post for tips and more! Also check out Free CM Stuff for helpful comments about running an event like this.

More Games

Our Minute to Win It Event was such a hit, we’re planning on doing it again in a few months. (Update: Check out our Back to School Bash, Minute to Win It style) I was browsing through a little book I found in my grandma’s attic (Great Games for All Ages), and found a few more games that would be perfect for the event.

Cotton Bowl

Set a large bowl (clear is best) on a small table. Sprinkle small cotton balls around the empty bowl. Blindfold the player and hand them a wooden spoon. At the signal, they must try to scoop cotton balls into the bowl (without being able to see!) Player must get at least 10 (or more for higher levels) into the bowl before a minute is up.

Bean on a Straw

I think they might have a game similiar to this on the Minute to Win it website, but if you wanted to mix things up a bit, here you go! A small pile of bean is placed on a table in front of contestant, who is given a straw. At the signal, he sucks a bean onto the end of the straw, runs a designated distance and deposits the bean in a glass. He must do this with 30 beans in a minute (more or less for different levels).

Washday

This is a little variation the Wash Day Relay Game found in “Games for All Ages”. A laundry basket is placed on one side of the playing arena and a clothes line at the other (can be strung up between two ladders or something). Player must take clothes out of the laundry basket and clothespin them up in a specific order (i.e. undershirt, shirt, shorts, pants, socks, pajamas, hat, shirt, skirt, nylons). He cannot bring the basket to the clothes line. He must run back and forth and only take one article of clothing at a time.

Feather, Feather

A feather is laid on the floor at one end of the playing arena. The contestant has to blow the feather, progressing on his hands and knees as he blow the feather to the goal line (and back if you want to make it really tough!) Check out the video below to see this game in action!

Fishing

A fish is cut out of tissue paper and contestant is given a piece of cardboard. Paper fish is laid on the ground and contestant must fan the fish (similar to Egg Roll) to the other side of the arena and get it inside the red box. This is funny because the “fish” flops in all kinds of unpredictable ways.

Egg Run

Player is given a spoon to hold in his mouth. A egg is placed on the ground (hard boiled) in front of him. He must stoop down, get the egg onto his spoon without using his hands, stand up, travel to the other side of the arena, return to the starting place and return the egg to its starting position.

More Minute to Win it Resources from Other Churches:

Video of Balloon Games Being Played

Video of Eat the Cookie (Youth Ministry)

Downloadable Minute to Win It Activity Guide

The Hole in our Gospel: Book Review

By Lindsey | June 28, 2010 | Reviews | 4 Comments

The Hole in Our Gospel

What does God expect of us? That’s the tagline of the front cover of this book, written by World Vision president Richard Stearns. In this book, Stearns explores poverty around the world and the injustice we commit as Christians when we are aware of such situations and do nothing about it. Well written and insightful, this book gives a new glimpse into worlds far away and calls us to action in order to bring the “whole gospel” to the world around us. Stearns proposes that when we ignore the rampant sickness, disease, poverty, and war in the world that we present a gospel with a hole in it — we conveniently forget about the parts where we are commanded to do good, to help our neighbor, to clothe the naked, and feed the hungry.

The personal accounts from the field are both inspirational and touching. I was particularly drawn to the story of a Zambian couple who were given a microloan through World Vision and were able to start and sustain 13 businesses! The book is filled with stories such as these — where all a person or a family needs is a little help in order to thrive.

Stearns challenges Christians to view themselves properly in light of the rest of the world. He urges us to to be honest about our wealth and to share with others in need. He details his own struggle to give us a prosperous position with Lenox in order to become World Vision’s president.

Though the book is well-written and filled with a number of captivating stories, I felt somewhat “bogged down” by it. Perhaps because it was so long. Stearns had one main point — do justice — and he reiterated it in a number of different ways, drawing from different Bible passages and real life examples in order to drive the point home. Perhaps this singular point emphasized in many different ways gave the book the feeling of being overly lengthy.

I greatly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in matters of social justice and helping others. I particularly liked the section at the end which gave ideas on how to help right now. Certainly the book ended with a feeling of empowerment and determination, despite the heart-breaking statistics it enclosed. Worth the read!

Egypt VBS: Follow Up Idea (for preteens)

By Lindsey | June 26, 2010 | Preteens, Resources | 5 Comments

Our preteen ministry coordinator was browsing around looking for mission-oriented curriculum for our Sunday morning class and she found a Kid section on the of the Voice of the Martyr website. It’s called Kids of Courage and has a number of different lesson books all available for free download.

I took a look at the Bold Believers in Egypt (naturally, considering our VBS theme!). It’s 57 pages! Impressive. The first 20 pages are facts about Egypt, and after that are stories and people in Egypt and their life situations, particularly how they are persecuted for their Christian faith. Reading through a few, I think the kids would really get a lot of out them.

I was reading a story about a man named Mark who was put in a cell with a big dog. The police wanted the dog to attack, but Mark prayed and the dog sat still and quiet — sounds a lot like Daniel, huh? Pretty cool, considering we’re just finishing up the Dare to Be A Daniel Series. After each story is a related lesson (Christianity vs Islam for Mark’s story), a puzzle, skits, food, a game, etc. It looks great and very complete. Also included is a monthly prayer calendar. This particular lesson book has a bunch of Egyptian crafts that I haven’t seen anywhere else — like how to mummify an apple! Another one of the activities is making Papyrus out of cucumbers!

I think it would be a great resource. And it’s free! An excellent way to either introduce EGYPT VBS or follow-up with it.

You can download The Egypt Book by clicking the link.

Let me know what you think!

Check out today’s post or some of my most recent reviews while you’re here!

Egyptian Celebration: Motions and Costuming

By Lindsey | June 25, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7JRjLPqLIc

Love the costuming and decorations in this one. The motions aren’t what we’re going to go with, and I would have liked to see a little more smiling and enthusiasm, but they do make a great first impression.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_jmgg2qEgo&feature=related

The Plans I Have For You Video. Good motions and good energy!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkc_IqH_ZkY&feature=related

Official video of One True God. We’ll be doing different motions for the first part, but this is a good demonstration of the slower part (Lord, your mercy is unending…)

Check out other Videos we Might Use!

Archive for June, 2010