Pipe cleaner people

About a month ago, I needed a creative idea to use in our Sunday School program. While looking through my ETC (Evangelizing Today's Child) files, I found a neat project that focuses on reviewing Bible verses.

A and I made pipe cleaner people that hold memory verse cards. This is how hers turned out:

All you need is two pipe cleaners, a dixie cup, tape, crayons, scissors, pen and paper. The pipe cleaners are twisted together to make the arms, legs, and a loop for the head. An adult can help the child make a face or they can do it themselves. This is cut out and taped to the pipe cleaner loop. Cut out a small card and write a favorite Bible verse on it. A few can be done so that they can be changed from time to time. The arms hold onto the card. Twist the body to sit on a dixie cup and reinforce with tape. That's all there is to it!

Because it happened to be Q's birthday on the day we did this, we decided to make one for him, too.

I think the resemblance is striking, don't you think?:)

Besides using these to review Scripture, they can also be used as reminders and sweet notes to the people in your family. Have fun!:)

Scripture for kids to memorize

I was excited to see a post at Katey's blog, Having Fun at Home. She shares a list of Scripture passages that have word pictures in them, which are easy for kids to memorize. (To find the post, go to her blog archive for April of this year, and you'll find it easily. I tried linking to it first, but was unable to do so).

I really like her list; here are a few of them:

Psalm 23--The Lord is my Shepherd; He leads me beside the still waters...

Ephesians 6--The armor of God is described.

Hebrews 4:12--God's Word is a sharp sword.

Psalm 51:10--Create in me a clean heart.

John 8:12--Jesus is the light of the world.

I've been thinking about beginning this list with A during our breakfast or lunch time. As she has become more knowledgeable about the Bible through our teachings at home and church, I think she is more ready to do this. The time she is with us is so valuable. We know that if she does leave us, than the things that have been taught will stay with her, including God's Word.

Check out that post today. I hope that it will be a help for you to teach your children, grandchildren, and even the children you work with at church and/or school.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

(This is another verse to put on your list(if it isn't on Katey's already--can't remember!:). It was one of the first verses I remember learning as a child because it was posted on my Christian school's hallway. It has stuck with me all of these years....)

Happy Friday!

Here's the last of my ideas from my teaching days...

It's Happy Friday, and do you know what that means?

"It means something fun and exciting is going to happen in class today!"

This is what I would tell my third grade students each Friday. They looked forward to what the day would bring. Here are some of the things that would surprise them...

extra 5-10 minutes at recess

home made goodies

pet the toads

sticker

candy

no home work pass (always a favorite!)

toad cash (money they could spend at my store)

extra credit on an assignment

a fun game or activity at the end of the day

Since moving here last fall, we've done some neat things on our Fridays. Because it is Q's day off, we've made it a Happy Friday each week by doing something fun together. We love thrift store shopping, playing putt-putt, going to the mountains, watching a movie, or going to a coffee shop. By the way, it's where we are right now, and it's been soooo relaxing and fun!

Do you have a special day that you set aside for just you and your family? What kinds of things do you all do?

Belly Button Bear

It's back to school week here in Boulder County! The kids in our neighborhood either started school yesterday or today. So, I thought it would be fun to write about a few things that I did when I taught in the classroom. Whether you are a teacher or a homeschooling parent, you may get some ideas here over the next few days....

First up--check out my little bear:

His name is Belly Button (do you see his button?). We all thought he was such a cute friend to have in the Kindergarten classroom.

Every morning, Belly Button would sit on my podium as we started off the school day. He was right there when we did the Pledge of Allegiance, our patriotic song and prayer. Then, the students would sit down and I would remind them of the expected behavior for the day. Belly Button loved them as much as they loved him, but he had to take turns spending time with each student.

I told them that he would be watching them for half the morning for great work and behavior. Then, sometime after morning recess, Belly Button would whisper in my ear who he wanted to sit with. He'd plop onto the child's desk and stay there all day. However, if Belly Button was caught talking or playing around (along with the student, of course), then he'd have to come back with me.

He was a great incentive to have each day. The kids absolutely loved it! Perhaps you have a special friend your students or children could have as a treat for doing a great job with school work and behavior. Maybe, you have a unique game or item they can play with during free time. While it's essential to have consequences for disobedience, it is also necessary to praise diligence and obedience with students.

So where is Belly Button now? Well, he's here at home. He's taking a break from all those years with the kiddos, but he sure does miss them. Perhaps some day he'll be at church with the Sunday School kids, back in a classroom, or maybe with some kids at home. He is an awesome friend to have and I love having him around....

Garden-themed story time

I enjoyed presenting a garden-themed story time to my two groups at the rec. center preschool. We had a great time together learning about seeds, flowers and tomatoes!

After our opening song, "When ducks get up in the morning," I read the book, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming. The story is about a gardener who is excited to see his plants grow, except to learn that three bunnies keep invading his space. He does everything he can to protect his vegetable garden.

I introduced a special friend to them...

...Benjamin Bunny! He helped me as I read the following poem to the kids:

Here's a Rabbit

Oh, here's a fluffy rabbit

With two ears so very long

See him hop, hop, hop about

On legs so very strong.

He nibbles, nibbles carrots

For his dinner every day

And as soon as he has had enough

He hops, hops, hops away.

The next book I read was Flower Garden by Eve Bunting. With it's colorful pictures and simple narration, this book is perfect for preschoolers. The story is about a girl and her father who put together a special surprise for her Mom's birthday.

I taught the following finger play to the kids. They joined in the second time around.

My Garden

This is my garden (extend palm)

I rake it with care, ("rake" with three fingers)

And then I plant flower seeds in there. (pretend to plant)

The sun will shine, (hold arms in circle over head)

And the rain will fall, ("rain" fingers)

And my garden will blossom, (cup hands)

And grow straight and tall. (stretch arms and hands slowly)

The last book I read was One Little Seed by Elaine Greenstein. It's a simple story of how a seed grows into a sunflower. To go along with that, I read one last poem:

In the Heart of a Seed (by Kate Brown)

In the heart of a seed,

Buried deep, so deep,

A dear little plant lay fast asleep.

"Wake," said the sunshine, "and creep to the light."

"Wake," said the voice of the raindrops bright."

The little plant heard;

And it rose to see

What a wonderful outside world might be.

At the end of our time together, I pulled out a packet of tomato seeds from my bag. I went around the circle making sure each kid got to see them. Then, I pulled out one of my dixie cups with the tomato seedlings we've started at home. One girl asked if she could keep it. I told her that her teachers could keep it for all of them to enjoy.

The last thing I pulled out was a roma tomato. I wanted them to see the progression from seed to fruit (or veggie). We talked about what kinds of things are made from tomatoes, too. 

Benjamin Bunny reappeared and he helped me sing the "Good-bye Song." Just to refresh your memory, here are the words that are sung to the tune of the "Mickey Mouse Club Song."

Now it's time to say good-bye, 

Good-bye to all of you...

Have a great day, read some good books,

And I'll see you real soon.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how you can present a garden-themed story time to your children, grand children or students. Have fun!

Spring decorations for our children's ministry

This week, the other children's Sunday School teacher and I got together to change the wall decorations in the fellowship hall. With the new season, it was time to change things up a bit. We took everything off the walls, then began looking around for things we could use to decorate with. I brought over my bulletin board/visuals box that I saved from when I taught to use, too.

The first thing we put up were the visuals for this bulletin board. I cut out the letters and put them up today to finish it.

We combined visuals from two bulletin board sets to make this one. I chose the words, All things bright and beautiful...the Lord God made them all because they go to a song we'll be teaching the kids soon.

We found the cutest "children of the world" cut-outs for the attendance sheet wall. I put them up in the shape of a heart because the attendance sheets say, Jesus loves the little children of the world. Each week the kids get to put up a child sticker on their chart.

This "Fishers of Men" bulletin board set is really cute! We'll put the kids' names on the fish in the weeks ahead.

We found these pictures from an old calendar that feature animals and a Bible verse. We glued them onto construction paper. Both of us put a few in our Sunday School classrooms. We also put up one or two Bible verses that the kids are currently learning for the spring semester. 

When summer rolls around, we'll be changing things again. I hope these visuals encourage the children as they come each week to learn about the Lord.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

For our Kids' Bible Club this past Wednesday night, we had a birthday party for Jesus. In this day and age when we're swarmed with other things to look at and do at this time of year, it's nice to keep the focus on why we celebrate Christmas.

I used my Nativity set from home to tell the story of Jesus coming to earth as a baby. I read from Luke 2:1-20 in my Bible. I put out the characters as they were introduced in the story. Because the wise men came later, I pulled them out last, explaining to the kids when and how they came. We sang, "Silent Night" as part of our Bible lesson, too.

The memory verse I taught the kids was Luke 2:11--"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." I found another neat review game in my stash of CEF materials. This one is called, "Letter Stand Up." To prep for this activity, you are to write the beginning letter of each word of the memory verse on construction paper. I used Scrabble tiles instead. You can use a container that fits with your theme or holiday. I used a stocking and placed all the tiles inside. I had Mieka and Sklar take turns drawing out a letter. We said the verse together, but when a word that started with that drawn letter was said, we had to stand up.

After the game, I sang "The Little Drummer Boy" to them, using a children's book of the same title (illustrations by Kristina Rodanas). They loved the beautiful pictures and hearing the story in song. I explained to them afterward how fiction was woven into a real life story. I asked them what they would have given to Baby Jesus if they were there. If you have a chance to swing by the library before Christmas, check out this book. Your kids will really enjoy it.

Then, I gave them their gifts--the Christmas Star ornaments I made. They gave me a gift, too, along with a card. It was a Precious Moments bell ornament that now hangs on my little tree.

I combined our craft and snack time together by having them decorate 4-inch chocolate cakes. After spreading frosting on them, they got to put cinnamon candies, sprinkles and crushed peppermint candies on their cakes. I also decorated one myself, and used my decorator tool on it to show them how they could use it. They really enjoyed putting on star flowers with green frosting to add extra embellishment on their tiny cakes. 

They came out so cute, so I had to show them to you. Here's Skylar's cake....

We put candles on them so that we could sing, "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, then blow them out. Here's Mieka's cake...

Did you see faces in each of their cakes? After blowing out the candles, I cut out small pieces for them to enjoy for our snack. We wrapped up the rest so that they could take it home.

We loved our time celebrating Jesus' birthday. What have you done (or are going to do) this year to keep the real meaning of Christmas alive? I would love to hear your stories.:)

G is for Goliath and David

Last night at our Kids' Bible Club, our theme was "G is for Goliath and David." It's the familiar story of how David used a stone and a slingshot to kill Goliath, the Philistine. God helped David conquer his foe!

Bible Time: After singing a couple songs including, "Only a boy named David," I told the story using the flannel graph set. We did a neat worksheet activity where we had to measure the pictures of David and Goliath using different objects.

We used a ruler, crayon, button and paperclip as our measurement guides. Goliath seemed to be about double the amount to that of David!

Our memory verse was part of I Samuel 17:45 which says, "Thou comest to me with a sword...but I come to thee in the name of the Lord." The game we played is another one from Child Evangelism Fellowship. It's called, "Fold the Page." I wrote the verse on a large sheet of construction paper. Then, after we practiced the verse a few times, I folded up a corner one at a time until there was nothing left to be seen!

Craft time: For our craft, we made "David's pouch of stones." At home, I made felt stones by putting a bit of fiberfill in each one and stitching around them with my sewing machine. I also cut out a piece of yarn and a 12x 12 inch piece of fabric for both Mieka and Skylar. On each stone they wrote a word to spell out the phrase, "The battle is the Lord's."

The kids put their stones on the fabric and tied it up with the yarn. I told them that they could share the story of David and Goliath with friends using their special pouch.

Snack time: I made a GIANT chocolate chip cookie to enjoy together. It went along with our Goliath theme. When we started our time together, I found out that it was Mieka's birthday. So, I found some candles in the kitchen and placed them on the "cookie cake." Unfortunately, I could not find any matches for her to blow out. We sang the birthday song to her and she pretended to blow out the candles. Lots of fun!!!

Come back next week for another exciting time at Kids' Bible Club!

F is for Fish and Loaves

Mika, Skylar and I had another great time at Kid's Bible Club last night. For those of you who are new to my blog, I've been using a book called, Bible Stories from A to Z, published by Teacher Created Materials for our weekly lessons on Wednesday nights. Our lesson was "F is for Fish and Loaves."

Bible Time: I used the Betty Lukens flannel graph set to tell the story of how a boy gave his lunch to Jesus to be used so that five thousand people could be fed. Jesus performed a miracle by multiplying the five loaves and two fish the boy had to more than enough food. There were twelve baskets full after all the people were fed.

Our memory verse was the first part of Luke 6:38 which says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you;" For the review game, we played a game called, "Stop and Go" (a CEF idea), using the sign visuals from the song, "Stop and let me tell you..." Holding the go sign, I said a few words from the verse until I showed the stop sign. I pointed to one of the kids and they said the next word. Each time we did this I stopped at a different word. It was a great way to review this new verse.

Craft time: I cut out a small fish and loaf shape from a sponge for our painting activity. The kids stamped fish and loaves on a sheet of paper using different colors of paint.

To prep the craft, I folded down the two corners of the paper so that they met together in the middle and left a border on the bottom. On the bottom portion, the kids stamped five loaves and two fish. When they opened up the flaps, they stamped more fish and loaves. I helped them sprinkle glitter on their shapes before the paint dried. 

When the flaps are down, it looks like this. I wrote "Jesus performed a miracle!!" on the top of the paper. The kids are to use this craft as a way to share the story. When they get to the part when Jesus multiplied the food, they are to open up the flaps to show all the other fish and loaves.

Snack time: For our snack, we started off by having just two fish (goldfish crackers) and five loaves (pretzel sticks). But then when I said that Jesus performed a miracle and multiplied the food, the kids got to fill their cups full of snacks! 

Next week....the letter G! And the story with it is a BIG ONE! Come back to find out who we'll learn about.

Thanksgiving-themed night at Kids' Bible Club

Because of a special Thanksgiving service at church coming up, we won't have a regular Kids' Bible Club next Wednesday night. So, I decided to do some Thanksgiving activities with Mieka and Skyler last night. 

Bible time:  After our regular prayer time, I opened up the night with an object lesson. The idea for this came from Child Evangelism Fellowship. It's called, "Thank you, Lord, for...." 

Materials: bag containing a small wastebasket, clothes hangers tied together, different dishes taped together, a pair of slacks with pockets pulled out.

As I showed each object, we talked about what they are used for. Then, there was a reminder for each thing. Wastebaskets remind us of all the things God has given us to make our lives comfortable and fun. Clothes hangers remind us that we have clothes that we should thank the Lord for. Dishes remind us that God gives us food each day. A pair of slacks reminds us that God has given us money (to go in the pockets) to be used for the things we need.

The memory verse that went along with this was Psalm 107:1--"O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever."

After learning the verse and a new song, I read them the book called, Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas. It is the true story of a slave and how God used him later in life to be a help to the Pilgrims. The story is well-written and the pictures are beautiful. Check out Christian Book Distributors if you'd like to buy a copy.

Craft time: We had fun doing two crafts. The first was to make Thanksgiving cards using construction paper, markers, ribbon, stickers and hole punches. Skyler and Mieka spent a lot of time making their colorful cards.

Skyler made this card for his mom. Isn't his turkey adorable? Inside he wrote, "I love you, Mom."

For our second craft, we made these cute turkey magnets using craft foam, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. I will be doing a separate post on how we made these. 

Snack time: Since our night was so full of activity, I didn't think we'd be able to enjoy these turkey cut-out cookies. But, at the very end of our time together, the kids enjoyed eating one of these. They are the same sugar cookies with buttercream frosting that we used for one of our other nights.

I found out that things are a bit rough for Skylar and Mieka at home right now. I was encouraged to hear that their dad (who is struggling in his relationship with God), has been helping them learn their verse each week. Their grandma who brings them each week has been encouraged by all the things they are learning in our Kids' Bible Club. We never know how much of an impact we're making sometimes. It is truly a blessing to have these kids each week and to show them Christ's love.

E is for Elijah

We had another great night at Kids' Bible Club. This week we did "E is for Elijah." I learned something new about the kids yesterday--I've been spelling their names wrong! So, you'll notice the new spellings of Mieka and Skylar from now on.

Bible Time: After singing a couple songs, I told the story of Elijah. The kids learned how God took care of him during the famine and how he was able to help a widow and her son. With God's help, Elijah was able to raise the widow's son back to life! For the memory verse, they learned the second part of Matthew 6:8 which says, "For your Father knows what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." To review this verse, we played the game called "Popcorn." Between them and me we took turns saying just one word of the verse until we finished it. Each time we said a word we had to pop up high like piece of popcorn popping.

Craft time: After doing a fun worksheet, Skylar and Mieka loved putting clothes on their "person." I gathered some scrap fabric and buttons and they glued them on their papers.

They did really well with this project. I had to help them a bit in cutting out some of the clothing. When they were done, they were to draw pictures of things that God provides for them. On each paper I wrote, "God made me and takes care of me." Skylar drew pictures of wind and a turkey, but Mieka decided to just put Thanksgiving stickers on her paper.

Snack time: I cubed some cheddar cheese and homemade bread into cubes. Then, I put a bird sticker on a couple toothpicks. They enjoyed poking the bread and cheese and pretending that the bird was feeding them--just like Elijah was fed! You could also add some cubed meat to the mix, if you'd like.

Next week....we'll skip letter F and do some Thanksgiving things instead. Stay tuned....

D is for Daniel

Last night we resumed our Kids Bible Club after missing last week due to the snow storm. This week we did "D is for Daniel." 

Bible Time: I told the story of how Daniel was thrown into the den of lions. He continued to pray despite the law that said he couldn't. He remained courageous and steadfast in his love for God. To go along with the story, we learned Luke 18:1, "Men ought always to pray and not to faint."

Memory Verse Time: For a memory verse review game, we played the game where you hide something under a cup then move the three cups around the table. They had to keep their eyes on them to see where the sea creature toy was hidden. If they could say the verse, then they could guess where the toy was and keep it!

Craft time: We made these small magnet clocks as a reminder that "it's always time to pray!" I wrote that on one of the clock hands, and on the other was written the reference to the verse they learned. I prepped this craft by gluing a card stock circle shape onto a magnetic sheet and cutting around it. I did the same for the clock hands. I added another small magnet to the back of the hands for extra magnetic force. The kids decorated their clocks with markers. They enjoyed seeing where their clocks would stick. Here, it's shown sticking to a metal folding chair.

Snack time: Using rice cakes, peanut butter, shredded coconut, and chocolate chips, the kids made lion faces. Neither of them made it to look like a real lion, so I made one to show you all:

Isn't he cute? Oh, and he tasted great, too! Peanut butter and chocolate are a win-win combination!

Next week we'll learn about a man in the Bible whose name begins with the letter "E." Can you guess who he is? Hint: Think ravens.....

C is for Creation

We had another great time in our Wednesday night kids' club learning a story from God's Word. This week we did "C is for Creation."

Bible Time: Little Folk Visuals have these awesome flannel graph circles to tell the Creation story. We talked about what God made each day, then I taught the kids Genesis 1:1 which says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." I did the simple game where you erase one or two words at a time on the board, then repeat the verse to learn it. Because they said last week's verse word perfect, I gave them each a "high-five" pencil.

Table time: We are loving the fun reproducible worksheets that go along with the lessons. Schuyler and Mika both enjoyed using the pencils I gave them to write their names on their papers. Then, they were to only color the things on the sheet that God made.

Craft time: To go along with the theme of things God made, we made these cute caterpillars using egg cartons. I painted them before we met, then we put googly eyes and sparkly pipe cleaners for antennae. We used markers to decorate the rest of the body. 

Snack time: We made a "creation salad" using some fruit. You could also do a veggie salad, but I thought that the kids would enjoy putting together one with fruit. I put apple chunks, banana slices, mandarin oranges and shredded coconut each in its own bowl. If you want to get more elaborate, just add more fruit like grapes, mango, and pineapple.

The salad was sweet, but oh, so good! 

Next week is the letter D. Can you think of a Bible character that has a name that begins with that letter? There's more than one, so take a guess!

B is for Baptism of Jesus

At our Wednesday night Kids' club, our Bible lesson for the night was "B is for Baptism of Jesus." If you're new to my blog, I mentioned last week that the book I'm using for this program is Bible Stories from A to Z from Teacher Created Materials, Inc. We are enjoying this immensely. The kids are now trying to guess what the next week's lesson is going to be. Last week Schuyler said, "I know what "G" is going to be about--God." :) Well, the letter g isn't going to be for a few weeks yet, and he and sister, Mika, will have to wait to find out.

Here's what we did last night:

Bible story time: The story of Jesus' baptism is found in Luke 3:1-22. I used the Betty Lukens flannel graph set as I told the story. I shared with them the importance of following the Lord in baptism if they know the Lord as their Savior. We sang a couple songs, then I asked them if they knew the verse from last week. They did, so I gave them a little prize for saying it word-perfect! Each week, I have been writing out the new verse as well as the title of the lesson on the white board. You can see below that I like to embellish a bit. I thought the boat was fitting as there are Bible stories of Jesus and his disciples in a boat.

Memory verse time: The verse for this week was Acts 16:31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Do you remember the memory verse cube I used in VBS this past summer? I've been using it with Schuyler and Mika these last couple weeks and they love it! After we say the verse a few times and I explain what it means, I let them roll the cube and have them do what it says. This great tool idea comes from Child Evangelism Fellowship. All you do is decorate a cardboard box (I used an empty Kleenex box) with construction paper. On each side, write a way that the child can say the verse. You can use the ideas from the picture below or come up with some on your own. The arrows are used if you're doing it in a large group of children. They stand (or sit) in a circle and someone rolls the cube. Whoever has the arrow pointed to them has to say the verse in the way that the top of the cube says, then gets to roll the cube.

Craft time: I had them do the "B" coloring page first, then we had a special craft. We decorated doves. In the Bible story, a dove came from Heaven after Jesus was baptized.

The directions say to use cardboard to cut out the dove, but I chose to use white foam board. Using some white tissue paper and glue, the kids decorated their doves. They also put on some "feathers." I didn't have any craft feathers, so I painted some leaves white. We punched a hole at the top and put some yarn through. I think they did a great job on these.

Snack time:  In the story, we learned about John the Baptist. He lived in the wilderness and feasted on locusts and honey. Since we didn't like the idea of eating locusts, we chose to eat some pretzel sticks dipped in honey. It was delicious!

Next week:  C is for......can you take a guess?:)