All posts tagged Bible

Toddler Bible Review

By | February 29, 2012 | Parents, Resources | 3 Comments
toodler

As a new-ish mom, I’m checking out Bible resources for little ones with serious fervor.  That’s why I was thrilled to receive The Toddler’s Bible from David C. Cook.  We’ve been using the Read and Share Bible for our now 2-year old daughter, but I thought this new Bible might be a better fit.  Here’s the scoop:

The Good

  • The Table of Contents: I like the Scripture references next to the stories.  It would have been nice if those were on the actual pages as well.
  • Questions throughout the book.  This is a great way to keep little ones engaged.  Likewise, the little things like “Look at the walls” and “See the golden chest” are great for opening up conversations.
  • Good pacing:  I was glad to see a Bible that didn’t spend 5 pages on Creation and 5 more on the Plagues and then completely skip the New Testament.  This Bible seemed to give a good spread of Old Testament and New Testament stories.
  • Not too many details.  With a book as big as the Bible, it’s tough to condense all the stories down without losing the main things.  The Toddler Bible seemed to capture the main points without drowning a little one in too many details.
  • New Testament: It’s a pet peeve of mine when picture Bibles spend 300 pages on the Old Testament and then completely skip over the New Testament, ending the Bible right after the gospels.  This seems to do a good job of illustrating key points of Paul’s life and the early church.
  • The index of stories in the back.  This is a great way to teach kids about Cool Bible Tools early on.

The Bad

  • I liked the “Sight”, “Sound”, “Touch” suggestions on page 9, but I didn’t get the reference for “Life Issue” or “Spiritual Building Block”, and I don’t think most parents will either.
  • Transitions: Some of the openings of the stories seemed very abrupt and disconnected to the story before it.  For example page 62-63 ends with “Someday Jacob and Rachel will get married” and the next set of pages opens with “Oh no! No one would sell their own brother!”.  There’s a lot that happened between Jacob and Joseph!  I know you can’t include everything, but it seems like there could have been a smoother flow.

What I’d Change

  • The book is a bulky for little hands.  I might make the pages a little bigger and the book less thick.  I know parents will usually be reading the book to the child, but wouldn’t it be great if it were easy for them to pick it up on their own and read?
  • The Illustrations: While the illustrations were very good, I think they could have been a little more attention grabbing.  Although for ages 1-3 (which is who the Bible is designed for), they may be just right.  I know the books our 2-year old daughter really loves have bold colors, but clearly (based on my reading experiments), this doesn’t seem to be a major obstacle.    Also, the angels are a little girly for my taste.

Other Notes

  • I was reading this Bible today with a two-year old girl and it wasn’t until page 180 that she started to get fidgety.  I decided to close the book and take a break and she instantly asked for more. Good sign!

Get Yours Today!

You can pick up a copy either at David C. Cook’s website or on Amazon.

Make Your Own Matzo Bread

By | September 27, 2011 | Ministry Ideas | 1 Comment
Flickr by ShellyS

A few weeks ago, as we were making our way through the “Big Story” of the Bible, we covered the Passover with Jesus and his disciples.  I found a recipe in Veggie Tales Atlapedia for “Make Your Own Matzo Bread”, though I think they forgot an ingredient.  There was no flour in the original recipe.  We added some and the bread turned out great. It was a big hit with kids and adults alike.  Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try!

Preheat oven to 375.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2/3 cups buttermilk
  • 2 cups flour

Instructions:

  • Stir dough into ball and knead
  • Spread out very thin on floured board (use a rolling pin)
  • Place onto an ungreased baking sheet and prick with fork
  • Cut dough into 4 inch squares
  • Bake 10-12 minutes

Lesson Ideas for Judges

By | August 18, 2011 | Ministry Ideas | Comments Off
June and July 252

We’ve been making our way through the Bible, covering all the “Big Stories” this summer.  I wish we had time to cover all the great details in God’s Word, but we’ll do what we can!  I was talking with one of our regular attenders the other day and she had never heard the story of David and Goliath.  As a “raised-in-church” girl, sometimes I forget that not every kid knows the basics of the Bible.  So, hopefully by the end of summer, we’ll covered most of the “main characters” of the Bible. Stay tuned for lesson ideas based on the Big Story of God’s Word.

For the book of Judges, we covered three of the main judges during story time (Samson, Gideon, and Deborah) and then dove into the details of a few other judges during station time (I was dying to share this poem about Ehud with the kids, but I refrained!)

To help tell the story of Samson, we used a mop for Samson (old school style, no swiffers!) and a broom for Delilah (this idea came from Forget Me Not Bible Stories, I think!).  One my team members drew these great faces to attach to our props:

It was a big hit!

During Station time, we gave kids the following options:

  • Puppets Recreate Story: Kids would look up an account in the book of judges and then collaborate with a fellow class mate to write a script and perform it with puppets.
  • Make Gideon’s Torch
  • Use Cool Bible Tools for Hero Posters: Kids would look up one of the judges using our Cool Bible Tools and make a Hero poster.  They could write what the Judge was best known for, his strengths, his weaknesses, or a great quote from Scripture.  Of course, drawing pictures was encouraged!

What about you?  Got a great idea for teaching about Judges?  Leave me a comment and let me know (comments close automatically after two weeks). I’d love to hear your ideas!

 

     

    Got Your Bible Celebration!

    By | June 12, 2011 | My Thoughts | Comments Off
    Flickr by Seth Lemmons

    Well, I’m ashamed to admit, the adults demolished both the kid’s club and the youth group in our Got Bible Competition. Check out these pictures from our celebration.

    Eat Pie!

    Covered in Silly String and Cool Whip!

    Thirsty? Have some water!

    Nice looking group!

    Hope we can do better this month, kids!

     

    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!)

    What Bible is Best for my Child?

    By | May 18, 2011 | Bible Study, Parents, Resources, Reviews, Spiritual Milestones | 1 Comment
    Flickr by airgap

    Parents often want to know which Bible is the best to get for their children.  The short answer is, whatever one they will read!   Feel free to try out a few.  It’s worth the investment.  Here are some of my personal favorites:

    I recommend an easy to read translation Bible for your kids.  That’s top priority.  If it has some cool Bible tools in it such as devotionals, index, maps, etc – that’s a bonus.  Some easy to read translations include: NIV (New International Version), CEV (Contempary English Version), and TNIV (Today’s New International Version).    I would steer clear of “paraphrase” Bibles as your main Bible since it’s not a direct translation.  Paraphrase translations include NLT (New Living Translation) and the Message.

    Cool Bible Tools: What’s that all about?

    We’ve been learning about a lot of cool Bible tools in Kids for Christ.  The main ones are:

    • Atlases
    • Bible Translations
    • Concordances
    • Dictionaries

    There are lots of cool Bible tools out there, many of which are now being made just for kids! Here are some of my favorites:

    Most of these can be found on Amazon.  Be sure to leave a comment if you’ve found a great Bible or Bible tool!

     

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