All posts tagged Crafts

Truth in Tinsel E-book: Great Resource!

By | November 25, 2011 | Christmas, Holidays and Events, Parents, Resources | 2 Comments
Truth in Tinsel

I’ve been following a blog called Impress Your Kids for some time now, and have admired the creative ways the author Amanda uses to teach her kids about God and Scripture.  When she announced she had written an e-book called Truth and Tinsel, and was looking for bloggers to review it, I nearly lunged out of my chair in an attempt to send her an email.   I just finished browsing through the book, and I can tell you, I am not disappointed.  Not one bit.

In her introduction, she shares the history of the book, which goes like this:

When my daughter was just a year old, I bought her an Advent Calendar book. Each day, she’d open a tiny flap in the back and then we’d read the corresponding page in the book. The first day the book instructed us to make a Christmas ornament to go along with the story. We did (I think it was made out of construction paper and had some stickers slapped on it) and my daughter was in love! Every single day of December she wanted to make an ornament. However, the book didn’t continue with ornaments each day, so we made some up ourselves! They were mainly made from paper, glue, markers and maybe a ribbon if I could scrounge one up.

We had so much fun making a little craft together during that Christmas season. What was even more fun is that my little bitty girl started understanding the Christmas story. She’d talk (or babble) about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

Amanda goes on to tell how she tried a few new things over the next few years, but she and her daughter always returned to the Christmas ornaments, because of their story value.  My daughter is just about to turn two, so I am especially interested in ways to make Christmas meaningful for her this year.

Won’t Break the Bank!

As I opened up Truth in Tinsel, I was so impressed with all the super cute and easy ideas.  I especially love that most people will already have most of the supplies on hand already.  Even if you had to go out and buy things, the cost for making everything in this book would probably be under $10 and you would have some truly wonderful memories.

Up for a Challenge?

We’re really into crafting right now (I have another girl that comes to my house for child care).  I’m always browsing around on Pinterest trying to gather up ideas.  With Amanda’s book, I now have 24 simple crafts that all tie into the Christmas story and I couldn’t be more excited about it!  She also issued a challenge to “give” December to your kids by participating in the crafts and Scripture every day.  I’ll take the challenge!  Stay tuned for more posts and pictures of all the fun.  Check out the list of days at the bottom of this post!

Good for Kidmin Too!

Another great way to use this book is in your Children’s Ministry during the down time of the Christmas play practice.  If you’re in kidmin, you know this problem all too well.  What do you do with the kids who aren’t actively practicing?  Or with guests for that matter?  You want something that’s going to be engaging, but isn’t going to suck up too much man-power, or require a ton of set-up or clean-up. Truth in Tinsel is a perfect solution!  kids will be engaging in the Christmas story, but will also be readily available to practice when their part comes up.  Fabulous.

My Favorite Parts

Okay, want to hear my favorite parts about the book?  I’ll tell you a few, but I don’t want to give it all away!  Of course, I love the fact that each craft has a corresponding Scripture passage or story.  I also love the “do more together” feature.  This is perfect if you’ve a few extra minutes one day and want to make a really good memory with your kids.  I also love that the crafts are designed for the younger set, and there are parts of each ornament that even a toddler can participate in.

Some of my favorite crafts?

  • Mary and Elizabeth who have pop-dots for their pregnant bellies!
  • The city of Bethlehem made out of an egg carton.
  • The temple made out of an old Christmas card
  • The scented ornament made out of homemade dough.

Does it all seem like too much?

Don’t think you have enough time to do it all?  Amanda has a “just the basics” schedule with only 6 of the most important ornaments!

Get Yours Today!

So what are you waiting for?  Head on over to Impress Your Kids. and snag your copy today!  They are currently $4.99 and will be on sale for $2.99 on Black Friday! You’ll be glad you did!

Got Questions:

Check out the FAQ page or contact Amanda through her blog.

Our Adventure

How’s Your Summer Going?

By | July 6, 2011 | Elementary Age, Preschoolers, Vacation Bible School | Comments Off
KFC Storytime (2)

This year, we decided to take a break from Vacation Bible School, and here’s our letter to the church explaining why:

We’re Taking a Break from Vacation Bible School

We love seeing all those kid faces flood into the church on VBS week.  The singing, the crafts, the games, and the costumes – what could be better, right?  We asked ourselves that same question — could we make a program that’s even better than VBS?  Something that might keep kids with us longer or something that might draw families as a whole in more?  As a Christian Education committee, we decided to give it a try.  These were our priorities:

  • Design a program the whole family could participate in.  Even though VBS was designed to be a family-friendly affair, it still seemed pretty kid-oriented.  We wanted something parents would feel comfortable attending as well.
  • Create a program that engages the community more.  So often when we create events, we hold them inside the four walls of our church.  We wanted something that stretches us out a bit more.  Maybe some kind of outdoor event?  Maybe something in the local neighborhoods? We wanted to be out where people simply passing by would see that the church cares for the people around it.
  • Build a program that is longer-lasting.  Because VBS is so often seen as “an event”, kids often swoop in for the week, and then swoop out at the end, never to be seen again.  Certainly, there’s value in the things they learned while they were with us.  Some of you may have even been saved during a Vacation Bible School program.  Praise God!  We want to see kids saved, and we also want to see them grow in Christ.  We wanted to build a program that encourage growing relationships – with church members, other kids, and of course with God.

So, with all that to consider, here’s what the Lord brought to our minds:

  • Monday Morning Story Time at Whitford Park, 10:30AM (Story, craft, snack)  (All summer)
  • Five Fabulous Friday Family Movie Nights, Dusk -11PM (July)
  • Wednesday Night “The Big Story” at ELRAC, 6:30PM (Story, hands-on activities, snack)

Good News for Volunteers

We know VBS was intense and exhausting.  Now, you have an opportunity to serve once a week for a few weeks, once or twice the whole summer, or become a big part of one program.  There’s a lot more flexibility for you!  Check out this Sunday’s bulletin for job descriptions (also on the Kids Ministry bulletin board) or give me a call to learn more!  Please pray about being a part of this exciting new step we’re taking to be a light to the world.  We’d love to have you on the team.

So, How’s it Going?

I’m so glad you asked!  We’ve done one movie night and a month of story time.  I’ve seen a number of story-time families out and about in the community, and it’s been fun being able to say hi and connect with them as a normal person!  I’m really excited about the connections we’re building and the relationships that are forming. Though I must say, volunteer power is SERIOUSLY low on this front.  Final report still in the works!

How About You?

What is your church doing this summer? Traditional VBS?  Sports Camp?  Backyard parties?  I’d love to hear how it’s going!  Leave a comment and let me know!

TV Free: Crafty Corner

By | April 20, 2011 | Elementary Age, Parents, Preschoolers, Preteens | 1 Comment
Flickr by saganaga

If you’ve made it to today in the TV-free week, you’re half-way there!  How’s it going so far?

Hopefully you’ve gotten a chance to get a few of those “put-off projects” started and spent some quality time with the family.   Today, we’ve got some crafts for the young and old alike.  If you haven’t done your Easter Eggs yet, you’re in luck — there’s some great links for ideas in this post.  Read on!

Infants and Toddlers

Book: Story S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s(r) for Infants, Toddlers: Experiences, Activities, and Games…

Kids Craft Ideas: Organized by Nursery Rhymes, Letters, and Holiday (crafts for older ones too)

Summer Crafts for Infants and Toddlers

Book:Wonderplay

Book:The Encyclopedia of Infant and Toddler Activities: Written by Teachers for Teachers

No Time for Flashcards: Ideas by ages (a whole section for infants!)

Here’s a few favorites I found while surfing around today:

Preschoolers

Easter Egg Decorating Ideas: Tons of great ideas on this site!

Enchanted Learning: Lots of categories to choose from

The Happy Housewife Homeschooling: Great activity ideas, scroll around and find them!

Little Learner’s Lounge: Grouped by month, there are activities and crafts on this blog.

Totally Tots: Great for a range of ages.  Lots of ideas.

 

Elementary

In addition to the link above, check out these Easter Egg ideas too!

Free Spring Crafts and Fun from Motherhood Your Way (ebook)

Frugal Family Fun Blog: Packed with ideas for all ages

 

Teens and Adults

Egg Coloring: Martha Stewart style (for those willing to work a little!)

3-D Home Kit: A bit of investment, but I think teens would love it!

Bonus: 20 Tips for Screen Free Week

 

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!

The Thrifty Egyptian: Other sites to Check Out

By | June 15, 2010 | Holidays and Events | 3 Comments

I was browsing around today and found a few other sites with Egypt VBS ideas (decorations, crafts, etc):

VBS Tips: Decorating Ideas

Craft: Joseph’s Wristbands

Lots of homemade costume ideas

Check them out!!

The Thrifty Egyptian: Books have arrived!

By | June 9, 2010 | Holidays and Events, Resources, Reviews, Vacation Bible School | 15 Comments
egypt_joseph--s_journey

The book, Great Anicient Egypt Projects (You Can Build Yourself), has arrived!  I quickly dove in and can certainly say that this was worth the investment.  It is filled with historical facts, an introduction to housing, agriculture, transportation, Egyptian crafts and projects, and lots more.  I’ve only gotten about half-way through, but I can’t wait to share some of the ideas I’ve gleaned.

Decorations

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but Egypt is FULL of sand.  It would be fun to have a few of those kiddie pools hanging around (indoors on tarp or outdoors) filled with sand and a few fake scorpions or frogs.  Kids could dig through them and find the little creatures!

Wall Paintings were everywhere. I was thinking of using the brown paper (5 feet tall) I got from Uline to line the hallways and then decorate the paper with wall paintings.  I’m hoping to get someone to draw Egyptian-like depictions of people in the church.  That would be a hoot!

Egyptians generally got their water from a well (or the Nile).  You could build your own well by covering shoe-boxes with brown paper, arranging them in a circle (several layers high) and gluing them together.  Then put a clean bucket of water inside and have your snack people ladle up a drink for the kids at snack time!

The book is full of great pictures that could be enlarged and used as decorations and to illustrate what Ancient Egyptian life was like.  Speaking of pictures, cats and dogs were very popular with the Egyptians, and I thought I could ask for pet pictures from our congregation and put them up as decoration.  Encourage your shop keepers to bring in pictures of their pets to display in the shop.  Maybe have a few hung up and have the kids try to guess which pet belongs to who (an interactive display!).

Games


Tug-a-war and leap frog were both popular in Ancient Egypt.  These would be great “back burner” games if you need to fill a few extra minutes.

We all know Senet was a big hit with young and old alike. Mancala was also very popular as well as Mehen. I’ll have to do some more research on Mehen, but Mancala is still a popular game today. In fact, I Just picked up two sets at Wal-mart for $4.97 each. There are instructions on how to make your own Senet game and two sets of rules to play by (p44-45). Email me and I’d be happy to send them along!

Crafts

Admittedly, I haven’t look real well at Group’s materials yet, so they might already suggest this.  The book suggests using milk or juice cartons to make your mud bricks in (p31).  That’s something that will be easy to collect from the congregation.  Now, where to find enough dirt?

Snacks

Here’s a few ideas I gleaned from, the book: Bread (beer bread, bread with parsley or coriande in it, etc), grapes, and even a recipe to make your own date candy in 10 minutes (email me- I’m happy to send it out!).

Costumes

Who knew making an Egyptian headdress was so simple? It’s called a Nemes and all you need to make your own is a piece of striped fabric (1 yard x 1 yard), a safety pin and 5 minutes.

Here’s the instructions to make your own Egyptian headdress (found on page 52):

1. Place the material flat against your forehead
2. Pull the material behind your head (over your ears) and secure with a safety pin. Now just let the rest of the materials fall on your shoulders.
SIMPLE!

Well, that’s all for now. Pick up your own copy or stay tuned for more great ideas!

Check out the Whole Thrifty Egyptian Series:

Thrifty Egyptian Marketplace

Thrifty Egyptian Crafts

Thrifty Egyptian General Supplies

Other Egyptian Sites to Check Out

What I Bought From Group Publishing

Great Egyptian Books to Use

More Ideas from Egyptian Books

Talking with Group Publishing

Music Videos to use with Egypt VBS