All posts tagged music

Easter Songs We’re Singing!

By Lindsey | March 22, 2013 | Easter, Holidays and Events, Music, Reviews | No comments

Is your church planning a big Easter Egg Hunt this year?

Last year, we did a station-based event and this year, we’re planning on using an idea from Ministry to Children. With this plan, kids will work together with their parents to complete a resurrection booklet and make their own set of resurrection eggs. To finish off their experience, they will be visiting Miss Lindsey’s Moving Picture and Song Station (that’s me!) where they’ll watch this cool Easter Video and sing some songs before being showered with candy.

Easter Egg Hunt

Here’s what’s on our playlist for the big day!

Hosanna Rock from Yancy’s Little Praise Party

O Happy Day from Radio the World (Tru Curriculum)

I’ve Got The Joy by Go Fish Guys

Ain’t No Rock

Big House by Uncle Charlie

1,2,3 Jesus is Alive by Yancy (found a cool video at Worship House Kids to go along with this)

What’s on YOUR playlist?

Leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Looking for a Great Gift? Try K5 Kids!

By Lindsey | December 15, 2012 | Music, Parents, Reviews | No comments

Recently I stumbled upon the K5 Kids through their twitter account. I’m always on the lookout for great Christian kids music, so I wrote to all the K5 Kids and asked for a review copy of their CD. I quickly got an e-mail back from Mr. Jon who graciously agreed to not only send me a review copy but also give away copies for some of the parents in our ministry. I received both the Toby Mac CD and the Newsboys CD.

K5 Kids Vol1 (TobyMac)

The Basics:

Each CD contains hot songs from popular Christian artists sung by the K5 Kids. For example , the Toby Mac CD contains tracks like “Lose my Soul”, and “City on our knees” as well as 10 original tracks.

The Good:

Good variety of upbeat and slower songs
Great quality of music
Appealing to a wide age group. My 2 year old liked the sound of these CD’s and it was easy for me to listen to as well. I know elementary kids and preteens would dig it too.
Popular songs and originals. I like that the first tracks on the CD’s are popular songs that kids have probably heard on the radio — gets them engaged right away. Then later, there are some new songs for them to learn.
Easy to listen to — I had these CD’s playing for a whole day when I first got them and they didn’t get on my nerves at all. If you’ve ever listened to kids music, you know this is not always the case!
Positive, Christ-centered message
Perfect mix for a ride in the car

The Bad

First Impression: I started with the Newsboys CD and the first track is Shine. Now, personally I’m a fan of both Newsboys and the Shine song, but I don’t know if kids singing about “vegetarian barbecuing hamster” is really appropriate. It suddenly reminded me of the Kidz Bop CDs… just because you have kids sing the song does not make the song appropriate for kids. Maybe this track was chosen because it is so widely known, but I think a little more thought could have gone into the song choices.
Auto Tune: There’s a LOT of this going on. Again, I’m a fan of auto tune, even when used with adults, but I know many people are not. Even I got a little tired of the metallic sounding voices after a little while.
Not good for Children’s Ministry — because many of these songs are popular songs designed for the radio, they aren’t really conducive for congregational or kids’ church singing. Now, they are perfect for families to play at home or in the car, but I was hoping for something a little simpler so I could use it in my ministry.

Conclusion

If you’re a parent looking for a last-minute gift for your elementary age or preteen kid, this just may be the ticket. It would also be great for all those nieces or nephews.. you know the ones that you don’t really know what to buy for! All kids love music and this music is easy for anyone to get into — whether they are a Christian or not. What a perfect way to sneak the love of of Jesus into their life. :) The Christmas album is only $4.99, so head on over to the K5 website and order yours today!

Check it Out for Yourself!

K5 Website

K5 Commercial on Vimeo

Summer Blast Music List

By Lindsey | July 5, 2012 | Holidays and Events, Resources, Summer, Vacation Bible School | 2 Comments

This summer, instead of doing a traditional VBS, we’re using our current curriculum (252Basics), amping up the fun, and hosting the event for four Wednesdays, starting July 11th. For complete details on our VBS-Alternative, stay tuned for Friday’s post. I wanted some great upbeat tunes, so I selected some favorites and added some new songs to the line-up. Here’s what is on the schedule:

Love the Lord, Your God (Uncle Charlie Video)
Go (Little Praise Party CD)
Love One Another (Little Praise Party)
Hosanna (Little Praise Party)
God’s Love is Always There (Group Publishing)
No Greater Gift (Group)
God is Always with Us (Group)
No Greater Love (Group)
Love and Pray (Group)
His Great Love (Video from Group)
Crazy Love (Amber Sky Records)
This Love (Amber Sky)
I’m So Glad He Loves Me (Amber Sky)
Better than the Best Thing (Amber Sky)
Turn it Up (Amber Sky Records)

In case you haven’t figured it out, the theme for our Summer Blast is LOVE. In particular, God’s EPIC love. We’ll be learning all about God’s love and how we can share it with others. I can’t wait! If you’re in the Erie, PA area, come on out to East Lake Road Alliance Church and join us! Summer Blast starts July 11th and you can find the details on our website!

What about you?

What’s your favorite summer song? Know any great songs about God’s love?

This moment brought to you by SANDSTORM!

By Lindsey | April 30, 2012 | Ministry Ideas | No comments

This month, we’ve been talking about how life is like a puzzle — we only see one piece, but God’s got the BIG PICTURE. Naturally, in order to make the theme come alive, we had to do a few puzzle games. One game was having two kids race to put together their own 24 piece puzzle. They had a minute to do it, and they were blindfolded. This week, I decided to go out on a limb and use some music to liven things up a bit.

As I called up two volunteers, I started playing the Sandstorm track (which, by the way, I got for FREE on Freegal — more on that later!). It starts out quiet and just as I announced the participants would blindfolded, the music picked up, throwing all the kids into a frenzy.

The timing was perfect. I couldn’t have planned it better if I planned it. Which I didn’t.

Then, the gamers got to work putting together their puzzles. Of course, neither of them got a single piece put in place, but it was still super exciting because of the music. Kids were hyped and involved and it was a great intro to the lesson.

Normally, I avoid using music and sound effects because it is just too much work (and too many potential glitches!), but once in awhile, it really amps up the program. I was watching the Orange Conference live last night as a guy told the Big God Story in 6 time periods. In each time period, he had a little song or a ditty and it really gave the performance an edge.

So this week, step out an add a little something extra to your lesson time and let me know how it goes!

(Comments will be closed after 2 weeks, but you can always contact me here.)

Little Praise Party is a Big Hit!!

By Lindsey | March 26, 2012 | Resources | No comments

I received Yancy’s new CD “Little Praise Party” a few weeks ago and have been so busy jamming to it that I forgot to write a review! Which is a total shame because the CD is AMAZING! I had listened to Yancy’s “Stars, Guitars, and Megaphone Dreams” when it came a year or so ago and wasn’t especially impressed. The music itself was good, but I couldn’t see it being used in our Children’s Ministry program or even with my own kids. Just a little too complicated. It was designed for preteens, but even that seemed like a bit of a stretch to me.

Little Praise Party, however, is catchy, fun and easy to pick up after listening only a few times. My two year old was singing a few of the words after listening a few days and I had the songs stuck in my head (in a good way) for a weeks! We sang “One, Two, Three (Jesus is Alive)” in our Wednesday Night kids’ club the other day and the kids jumped right in. Even the leaders commented on how much they liked the song.

I was desperately searching for some fun music we could all listen to together as a family (please, no more Lion King!) that wouldn’t be annoying after the second song. Though nursery rhymes are fun at times, I wanted something with a little more substance and meaning. Little Praise Party fit the bill perfectly and I am so glad I had a chance to look it over. It is going to be our go-to CD for awhile.

Want your own? Head on over to Yancy Not Nancy and use the coupon code growingkidsministryyancy for 25% your total purchase. Got your own favorite Yancy song? Let me know about it in the comments!

Morning Worship CD

By Lindsey | September 26, 2011 | Bible Study, My Thoughts, Prayer | 5 Comments

I’ve been working on “maximizing my mornings” based on a recent e-book I discovered (check out how my first week went). Based on Kat’s suggestion (and some of the songs she mentioned) I made a Morning Worship CD. I connect well with God through music, so I can’t believe I never thought of using this tool at home. Music has always been one of my favorite parts of summer camp or church, and now it will be part of my daily quiet times as well.

Here are the songs I added to the CD:

Invade by Watermark
I Lift by Hands by Chris Tomlin
Indescribable by Chris Tomlin
Here I Am to Worship by Hillsong Live
Carry Me by Jenny and Tyler
Take Me In by Kutless (my fave)
The Power of Your Name by Lincoln Brewster (another fave)
Saved the Day by Phillips, Craig, and Dean
Faithful by Chris Tomlin
When the Saints by Sara Groves
Captivate Us by Watermark

I’ve been listening to it almost every morning, as soon as I get up and as I read my Bible and it has really helped to set a mood of worship in the house. It gives us a calmer start and helps me to focus on the importance of connecting with God, taking care of my family, and reaching out to those around me. I would encourage you to do the same!

If you were going to make a Morning CD — what songs would you put on it?