All posts in Elementary Age

The Big Story: Lesson Ideas for Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph

By | June 21, 2011 | Bible Study, Elementary Age, Ministry Ideas, Preschoolers | 2 Comments

For our summer Wednesday night program, we’re doing a Story Time approach (check out all our summer plans here).   We will be covering the major stories in the Bible and showing how they are all one big part of God’s redeeming plan of love.  Sometimes I read out of the Read and Share Bible, sometimes the kids act out the story using the Big Action Bible Skits book, and sometimes leaders act it out for the kids.  After the story, the kids head to stations.

What are Stations?

Each night, kids can choose from between three and five stations, all of which relate to some part of the night’s story. For our most recent night, the focus was on the Isaac & Rebekah, Jacob & Esau, and Jacob & family. Here’s the stations we had available:

Logical: Ask the Pastor

For this, kids wrote down questions about our story to try to “Stump the Pastor”.  This was a great to use whenever kids asked a story during story time.  I would simply say, “That would be a great question to ask the Pastor!”  Pastor made a guest appearance and talked with the kids at this station about different aspects of the story.

Drama: Recreate the Story

I assembled a variety of props that related to the story and set them all out on the table.  I was hoping the kids would free play a little more, but they wanted me to read the story again (out of the Read and Share Bible) as they acted along. Either way, they are getting into the Bible, so it suits me fine!  Here’s some of the props we used:

  • Soup bowl and spoon
  • Gold Coins
  • Play mustaches and beards
  • Egypt head dress (left over from our Egypt VBS last year!)
  • Tulle
  • White sheets
  • Bathrobe of many colors
  • Rock

Cooking: Cookie Map of Egypt (from Forget Me Not Bible Stories, Group Publishing)

At this station, kids used an overhead projector to trace a map of Egypt onto a piece of wax paper.  Then they shaped some sugar cookie dough (we just used a roll, premade from the grocery store) to look like Egypt.  They baked it and then added details with frosting such as the Nile River, etc.

Art: Joseph’s Fancy Coat

A classic Bible craft, kids used a coloring page of Joseph and his coat to start.  After they colored Joseph, they cut out felt to design a coat for him.  They could also add little embellishments such as glitter, sequins, etc.  Needless to say, this was a popular station.  They don’t call them “old standbys” for no reason!

Piecing the Story All Together

Next week, I think I’ll help the kids put together a family tree based on the stories we’ve heard so far.  I want them see how the Bible is connected throughout the Old and New Testament, and this might help solidify the continuity between stories.  We’ve also been working on the Bible Timeline for the same reason.

What About You?

Got a great idea for these Bible accounts?  Send me an email and let me know!

 

 

 

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The Big Story: Babel, Abraham, Isaac

By | June 10, 2011 | Elementary Age, Ministry Ideas, Preschoolers, Preteens | Comments Off
Flickr by Josh Liba

For our summer Wednesday night program, we’re doing a Story Time approach (check out all our summer plans here).   We will be covering the major stories in the Bible and showing how they are all one big part of God’s redeeming plan of love.  Sometimes I read out of the Read and Share Bible, sometimes the kids act out the story using the Big Action Bible Skits book, and sometimes leaders act it out for the kids.  After the story, the kids head to stations.

What are the Stations?

I’m so glad you asked!  Each night, kids can choose from between three and five stations, all of which relate to some part of the night’s story.  For our most recent night, the focus was on the Tower of Babel, Abraham, and Isaac.  Here’s the stations we had available:

  • Build a Tower of Babel out of legos, duplos, blocks, etc (I was quite surprised at how popular this was!)  Kids can work together or compete to see who can build the tallest tower.
  • Just like God had a plan for Abraham, God has a plan for us.  Kids traced each other’s bodies on a piece of butcher paper and then wrote their name inside the body frame.  For each letter of their name, they thought of a way they could serve God.  If they got stuck, they were encouraged to check a Bible dictionary or other cool Bible tool for ideas.
  • Bible Timeline: this idea I got from Ministry to Children and it fits perfectly into “The Big Story” theme.  Check out the details here. The Veggie Tales Atlapediais a huge help for piecing this together as well.
  • Coloring Station: Kids were invited to color pictures from the story using My Bible Coloring Book.  You can also find lots of free Bible coloring pages online, but you have to dig a bit!
  • We didn’t use this, but a fun idea might have been a water relay game to give the servant’s camels something to drink.  Or to measure how much a camel would drink in a sitting to see how hard Rebekah worked for a man she didn’t even know.

So, how did it go?

Our first night (Creation, Fall, Flood) was paired with the Got Bible celebration, so we didn’t get to try out stations.  However, this week, we did use the stations and it went really well.  The kids weren’t on a strict rotational schedule.  They were encouraged to spend about 10 minutes per station, but in reality they had about 30 minutes to pick and choose as they pleased.  The kids were all engaged and really seemed to enjoy the activities.  Of course, I have to let you know our numbers are always way down in the summer, so we only had about 15 kids.  This type of set up might not work for a larger group, but it seems to be perfect for us!

Stay posted for other lesson and station ideas!

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Children’s Ministry Music Giveaway!

By | June 9, 2011 | Elementary Age, Resources | Comments Off
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From June into August 2011, God’s Kids Worship will be giving away free kids ministry music every day starting June 15th. “Like” their Facebook page, and get automatically entered into the daily drawings. Here’s the link to our Facebook page:

God’s Kids Worship Facebook page for free music.

They will  be giving away CDs, DVDs and downloads during our “Free Music Summer” program. “Like” them and win some great music and resources for your kids ministry.

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Kids Devotional Bible

By | May 19, 2011 | Bible Study, Elementary Age, Resources, Reviews, Spiritual Milestones | Comments Off
devotional bible

There’s been a big push in our kids programs lately to get kids to bring and use their Bible at church (we’ve even started a Got Bible competition!).  However, we don’t want to stop there.  We want kids to begin to form a habit of daily Bible reading at home as well.  In order to do that, they need a Bible they can connect with and easily understand.  As a result, we’re constantly on a search for age-appropriate Bibles to recommend for parents.

In the process, we’ve come across some great Bibles and some great Bible tools.  One Bible I’m especially impressed with is the The Kids’ Devotional Bible by ZonderKidz.  Here’s some of the things I love about it:

  • Introductions to books are short and easy.  They usually tell the author of the book and some of the major stories.  Just enough to give kids a bit of background without bogging them down.
  • Daily Devotionals: Obviously, this was one of the big features in this Bible.  I like that each day has its own devotional, and kids have a place to check off when they have read/completed that day’s reading and thinking.   Usually there’s some kind of personal reflection included in the devotional and sometimes a follow-up action.
  • The Pictures: The graphics in this Bible are appealing to elementary kids and maybe even a bit older.  They are somewhat realistic and somewhat cartoony – a perfect mix for kids.  Most of the graphics are pictures of other kids (a pretty diverse bunch at that).  It would have been nice to see a few illustrations of the Bible stories along the way as well.   The length of the devotionals is just about perfect, especially when you consider the time it will take the kids to read the Scripture passage as well.
  • The Translation: I didn’t have any real experience with  NIrV  (New International Reader’s Version), but it seems to be pretty close to the NIV (accurate translation) and easy to understand for kids.
  • Got It! Section: At the end of some of the books is a Got It! Section that highlights an important theme in the book such as staying away from the occult, trusting in God when life doesn’t make sense, and repentance.  It’s a good way to cement in some crucial theology in a quick, concise way.
  • Real Life Stuff:  Some of the devotionals deal with some hard-hitting stuff such as abuse in the family, evil in the world, evangelism and persecution.  It’s presented in an age-appropriate way and seems like and effective way for kids to start thinking seriously about the role of God in their lives.  It also gives comfort and advice in hard to manage situations.
  • Cool Bible Tools: Of course, after our latest unit, I’m a pretty big sucker for Cool Bible Tools and this Bible has plenty of them!  They include: the Dictionary, Subject Guide (with page references to corresponding devotionals), and a place to take notes at the end.  Kids seem to love those Bible maps, so it would have been nice to see a few of those thrown in, but its certainly not worth complaining about.

All in all, a great buy and a two-thumbs up recommendation for the elementary age!

 

Other Posts You Might Like:

Helping Your Child Get Into the Bible

Read and Share Bible

Help Your Kid Love the Bible

What Bible is Best for My Child?

Bible.com – what’s this all about? (It’s actually a Bible, not a website!)

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Our Big Summer Plans!

By | May 14, 2011 | Elementary Age, Ministry Ideas, Parents, Preschoolers, Vacation Bible School | Comments Off
Flickr by Chester Races

It’s hard to believe that Summer is just around the corner.  In case you haven’t heard, we’ll be taking a break from Vacation Bible School this year and focusing on some new outreach methods.  We want to have activities the whole family can participate in and we’d like to get out in the community a bit more.  If you’re in the Erie, PA area, be sure to join us! Here’s the plan:

Five Fabulous Family Movie Nights: July (Dusk-11PM)

Pack your snacks, lawn chairs and blankets and bring the whole family for an outdoor movie fun on our “big screen”. The movies are free and guaranteed family friendly! It’s a terrific way to enjoy some family summertime fun! Movies begin at dusk. In case of inclement weather, movies will be held indoors in the gym.

Monday Morning Storytime in the Park: June, July, and August

Parents and kids, join us for storytime at Whitford Park this summer! Every Monday Morning at 10:30AM (except July 4th). Listen to a fun story geared towards ages 4-6, have a snack, and enjoy a craft together. Children must be accompanied by an adult. All ages welcome. No cost. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday Night: The BIG STORY

There is a lot of stuff in the pages of the Bible, but believe it or not, it’s all one Big Story about God’s love and his plan for us and the world.  This summer, in Kids’ Club at East Lake Road Alliance,  we’ll explore the major stories in the Bible and how they are all connected.  After hearing the story, the kids will head to stations to explore parts of the story in fun, hands-on ways. Stations may include things like cooking, drama, puppets, art, math, science, games, history, prayer, nature, wood-working, or computer.  Program runs from 6:30PM – 7:30PM. Every week will be something new and different!

What about You?

What are your big ministry or family plans this year?

 

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Simple Idea: Get that Lesson to Stick!

By | May 11, 2011 | Elementary Age, Ministry Ideas, Preschoolers | 1 Comment
Flickr by Reagan's Travels

This week in Children’s Church, we were studying Saul’s Damascus Road experience from Acts 9.  The curriculum (Promiseland) had a great skit to go along with the lesson, but I wanted to make sure we read the text straight out of Scripture.  We’ve been learning how to use our Bibles in Wednesday night Kids’ Club and we try to always give the kids an opportunity to be able to follow along with the day’s Bible account.  Of course, we wanted to add a little excitement to the lesson, so after I read the text, I had the kids act it out.  Normally, we launch straight into the kids acting out the story AS I read the text, but this little revision had a lot of benefits:

  1. It gave kids some practice reading their Bibles and confirmed that the lesson did indeed come from Scripture.
  2. It gave the acting kids some direction for the skit portion of the lesson.  Normally, I do a lot of redirecting, and feeding line-by-line sort of thing because the kids are totally unfamiliar with the story.  Since they had just heard the story, some of the older kids were able to improvise and the younger kids followed along MUCH easier.
  3. It gave the audience a purpose.  Of course, every kid wants to be an actor, but that doesn’t always work out.  So, for this lesson, I told the audience they were like the directors.  If something was wrong in the story, they were to say “Cut, cut, cut!”  Then, I threw in a few silly lines that didn’t fit into the story, such as “Saul loved all the Christians and often played checkers with them”.  The audience payed close attention after that, looking for another opportunity to yell “Cut!” and correct the misinformed action.
  4. It cemented the story even further.  Since the kids got to hear the Bible account twice, and all took some form of ownership in it, I have a feeling this lesson is really going to stick.  We’ll check next week when we do a review, but the kids seemed really engaged.

What about you?  Have you learned any little teaching tips lately?  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know (comments are usually closed after 2 weeks).

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