Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho: Craft Idea

As you know in this story they march around the walls of Jericho sounding trumpets/horns and shouting for seven days.  A good craft for pre-school aged children is to make a horn for them to use at the parts in the story where a horn is mentioned. 


Supplies Needed:

- Markers
- Scissors 
- Tape 
- "Gold" (Yellow) paper 




First:

Allow the kids to decorate their trumpet any which way they choose to, or if you want you can have them make it really look like a trumpet.


Next:

Roll up into a cone shape and place a piece of tape on the bottom part to hold it together.  Also, it is good to put take around the mouth part to keep the kids from getting the end wet and soggy from spit.  (I didn't think it would be a problem, but some of my kids really liked to put the whole end in their mouths). 


Then I used our carpets as the edges of the walls of Jericho and had half of my kids line up as the wall, while the other half marched around and blew their trumpet at the appropriate times.  Then I switched so everyone got a turn.  


They LOVED it! 




Please feel free to comment with any questions or concerns! (: 

What should we teach?

"Then, what exactly are we supposed to teach children? What is important for them to learn? The answers to these questions differ based on one’s context, faith tradition, and cognitive abilities. But I believe that, in general, children ought to learn about the great texts of the Christian faith (with a particular focus on the life and teachings of Jesus), the Christian tradition or denomination in which they participate, and current events and issues that affect the life of the church and the world."

- David M. Csinos

Guevara, Matt (2012-03-11). Nexus: Central Themes in Children's Ministry (Kindle Locations 94-97). What Matters Now. Kindle Edition.




This book can be found at:
http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Central-Childrens-Ministry-ebook/dp/B007JL627I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340325037&sr=8-1&keywords=nexus+central+themes


I completely agree. Often we focus more on the Old Testament because the stories can be made into simplistic ideas that seem appealing to children (i.e - Noah's Ark, Moses and the Red Sea). But really, the concepts that are most important for kids and teens to grasp and understand are often the ones that come from the New Testament and center around the life and teachings of Jesus. What I am not saying is that the Old testament is less important than the New Testament to teach to kids because they should know ALL of the bible, but when it comes to the hard stuff, the concepts children struggle with understanding and personalizing, often they are found in the New Testament, which means more time needs to be spend learning and teaching there.


I think another important thing to teach the children you minister to is Church history, both the history of the church you attend and the Churches of Christianity in general.  This does not mean that they should know who did what, where they did it, and why.  What it does mean is that they understand through the connections you make that the church they see in the New Testament, is linked to the church they are in now.  They need to personalize the concept that the Jesus in the bible is the same Jesus we know today, and that the concepts are still true.  


We need to not be afraid to approach the hard topics in the Bible, because they are the most important for children to understand. Things like, death and sex are really tough to talk out with kids. What should they know about these topics? What is age appropriate for them? How much information is too much? 
These are all genuine questions when we come to these topics that require discernment of maturity and understanding.  






If you have any thoughts or concerns, please feel free to leave a comment! 

A Book Worth Reading: Your Daughter Needs a Hero

Your Daughter Needs a Hero 

By: Maria C. Furlough

I was recently blog searching and came across a post for this book.  In that post featured on epicparent.tv, Maria talked about how she was insecure as a teen and how her parents could have helped with the issue. (post found at  http://www.epicparent.tv/young-women-insecurity-and-a-book-give-away/#more-5264)

The reason this book is worth reading is because ALL girls struggle with this issue in some way at some point and MOST parents do not know how they can help with the issue.   It is not that parents do not want to help or try to help, its simply that they often do not know what the right and wrong things to do and say are with this issue.

Thanks Maria for writing a book that tackles a major issue with Children, Preteens, and Teens today!


You can purchase this book at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Daughter-Needs-Maria-Furlough/dp/161346794X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Also, Check out Maria's Ministry Site:
http://www.trueworthministries.org/

Jesus is the light - John 14:6

This craft would be for older aged children to go along with a story about how Jesus is the light.  


*I have not done this yet to be able to post my own pictures because I work with younger kids and this would be too complex for them in a large group (may work as an at home project with little ones) * 


The story would consist of the verse "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 


After they have heard that story and no the verse, you can walk them through this craft as a good reminder "night light" to keep.  


Supplies:
-Hammer

-Nails 

-empty cans (Pre-frozen with water) *

*in preparing, to avoid the bottom of the can bubbling out, you can place about 1/4 to 1/2 an  inch of sand first

Preparation: 

Peel the label off of a can, fill with water and freeze in the freezer (sand first to avoid the bulge) . After you freeze, you can write Jesus on the can, with whatever design in crayon or washable marker (you will want to be able to wash it off basically so afterwards you don't see the design).

Then you can help the children (or choose to do so in advance) to nail holes in the design.  After that, you can thaw the can in hot water and dry off.  Once this is done, you can let them decorate the outside with stickers or markers so that in the daylight it has a design as well. Then give each child a tea light to put in the bottom of the can so the light can penetrate through the holes and light up the surrounding area.  

I found this idea and adapted it from this website: http://www.charlottehupfieldceramics.com/2011/05/30/diy-tin-lanterns/, who found it from Sophie’s blog – Trinket Box, who originally found the idea from Gem Fatale’s Style Blog. 

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to comment! 

Moses Parting the Red Sea: Object Lesson

After getting the idea to put paint in bags from Pinterest, I decided to take the idea to a new level to make a ministry lesson from it: Moses parting the red sea.


Supplies:
-baggies with double lock protection (cannot be the zipper kind)
-paint (for this specific lesson red)
-thick masking or paint tape


Start by making the paint bags. 

after filling with about 1/4 cup paint spread the paint out evenly, getting all the air out of the bag before zipping it up. If low on paint, you can add water to your mixture to make the paint last longer. Just make sure that you do not put too much paint or water because then the mixture will separate easily but come back together just as fast. 
I used about one 12oz. bottle for 6 gallon bags. 


Next:
Tape all for sides to the table, adding an extra strip of tape to the top of the bag just in case the top of the bag opens. 



Last: 
For the lesson have the children use a marker or a flat, non sharp marker and press down the middle to "part" the sea.  Make sure that they do not use their fingernails or anything sharp or you will get a hole in the bag.  


Note: If the kids can read you can place a piece of paper on the other side reading "Isrealites" or even "Moses" so that when they part the sea they can see who was able to cross it.  



After you are done with the object lesson, the children can write or doodle by pressing their finger on the bag. When you are done, you can simply remove the tape and store the paint bags until you need them again or want to bring them out for a fun play idea later, or you can just use the paint in the bags for finger painting by cutting a corner and squeezing out its contents back into the bottle.  


Hope this works as well as it did for me for everyone else! (:


- Ally <3