Easter egg hunt planned There will be a Community Easter Egg Hunt for kids pre-K through fifth grade 11 a.m. Saturday at CW Resh Park in Indian Head. Free refreshments, prizes, crafts and a photo are part of the fun.… Continue Reading →
Read a lesson, do a craft, play a little game, say a prayer...and repeat. Over and over. Are you tired of sending home crafts with your littles that just end up in the trash? Are you feeling bored with what you've been teaching? Here are some fun, UNIQUE activities I created that you can use to spice up your Sunday mornings (or anytime!) with your littles! Change up your lesson by doing a short Escape room with them! Yes, littles can "escape" too! Here are 3 Escape rooms/Break out Boxes (and a bonus!) that I made that can be secular, or can be attached to a lesson that you are learning. 1. "Listening" Escape Room - this one would be great to do in conjunction with the Samuel story, Mary and Martha, or any other Bible story where "listening" is your theme. There are 3 activities your children must complete and all 3 require them to use their listening skills! This requires more set up by the teacher than the one below. It is geared towards kids ages prek-2nd grade. 2. "Lost" Break out box - This break out box is based on any of the "lost" parables - Parable of the Lost Coin, Lost Son, and Lost sheep (or any parable where you're searching for something or someone is lost). The children (ages prek-2nd grade) will be searching for the lost item just like in the story. This is an easy lesson with very little set up for the teacher - you just need a printer and painters tape (key lock with lock box is optional)! Depending on how many hints you give your kids, it could take them anywhere from 10 minutes to 20-30 minutes! Gauge their interest and energy level and give hints accordingly :) 3. Jonah/Temple Tax Escape Room - Here is a 10-20 minute escape room also geared towards prek-2nd graders :) This could be done anytime, but I had two stories in mind when writing it - Jonah and/or the temple tax (Matthew 17 when peter gets a coin from inside a fish). All four puzzles are finding objects inside of other objects. 4. I also created a short Paul and Silas escape room to use during VBS - this is a freebie and doesn't cost anything :) It was designed to be finished in 10-15 minutes. Another game I made for prek is Bible Zingo! It's Bingo with a twist! 5. Bible Zingo - Here are the basic rules... It’s just like BINGO, but fast paced. You could play it different ways - click the link to read two ways. Included in this powerpoint... There are 50 Zingo cards so 50 kids can play at one time. Each card has six pictures. There are 48 different pictures of Bible stories and church. If you’d rather play with 4 pics per cards, then just cut two off. Slides 5 and 6 have all the pictures miniature size so they’re easy for you to see. You can use those as the playing cards, or, if you’d rather have bigger ones, slides 7-14 also contain all 48 pictures. You can use those as playing cards and as Zingo cards (so print them out twice). I've also created 2 booklets that you can do over multiple Sundays with your kids, or all at once. 6. My 5 Senses Booklet - Bible Version - Using Scripture, teach your preschoolers (or kindergarteners) about their 5 senses! Samuel - "Hear" Psalms - "See" Last Supper - "Taste" Jacob and Esau - "Smell" Jesus heals - "Touch" Each page has a "sense" and a scripture verse. You can spend a Sunday morning/week on each page and read each story in its entirety in the Bible (and each page can be its own craft), or you can do it all in one sitting and just read the Scripture and not the entire story. Included at the end for the teacher is a page of instructions on how they can illustrate each page (or do something on your own!). 7. ABC Religious Christmas Booklet - This is a printable ABC Christmas story book. Each page has the letter, a word, a scripture (or explanation), and a picture to draw or color (or activity). The activities are age appropriate for prek/K...maybe first grade as well. For example, for "R" it says "Color in and decorate the bells. While you’re coloring, sing a Christmas song!" If you're looking for a curriculum or something to do for 4-6 weeks, I have started writing a "Little Books of the Bible Series". Each book contains one book of the Bible (or various if the books are short). Included are major stories from the book, verses to memorize, short stories, and songs we sing from that book! In addition, there is a little game to play at the end - although they require reading skills. Read the books together and illustrate them as a class or individually! 8. Mark 9. Matthew 10. Luke 11. Genesis 12. Exodus to Deuteronomy Are you looking for a fun activity to put in your worship bags? You could also do these during Sunday school as a group. These are 5 dice games where each number helps you complete a drawing. I am not an artist so they are basic figures/shapes - but the kids will enjoy filling them in. And the cool thing is, if each child is doing it on their own, they will all look different! 13. 5 Bible Dice Games 14. Journaling! - Have you ever thought about journaling with your prek or K classes? Here are some fun journal prompts! Here is a craft idea I put together called the "Blessing Jar". You use it before mealtimes to say a blessing for the food. You can use it all year and can make it anytime as well (although Thanksgiving is a good time to start it :) 15. Meal Blessing Jar - print out the blessings, glue them onto popsicles sticks and pull one out before each meal. My kids LOVED doing this and we did it for almost 10 years as a family! Lastly, I made some games that can be projected up on the wall that you can all play together! They are called "Reveal the Picture". As you review one of the following stories, you click on part of the picture to reveal. See if they can guess the story you are revealing before it's completely done! (please watch the instructional video so you know how to make the questions appear and disappear) 16. Beatitudes, 10 Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer 17. Joseph and King David 18. Spot the Item - Have you played the game Spot it! before? All they have to do is spot the same item on both cards. I made one that has items from the Bible. Each slide has one object that is the same. See if they can spot it! And then, we they do, talk about the object and where it is mentioned in the Bible. There is also a character version that is not Biblical. Hopefully one of these ideas will help you get out of any rut you may be in :) Good luck and God bless! Thank you for all you do for your church and the littles you work with!
If you want your church to grow, it’s crucial that the adults who teach children are equipped and trained. Here are 8 tips for how leaders can start increasing their children’s min
Here is a great Community Outreach Idea for your small church. It's free. It's relational. And it's a pure gift to your community.
The Bible tells us that Jesus went to the synagogue on Sabbath. In many locations He always made the effort. There was something special about gathering together on Sabbath. However, it’s so easy to fall into believing that the church building is “church”. It’s not! People are the church!Click to read more… The first Christians ... Read more
Visuals & Instructional Materials Although these materials were designed with children with disabilities in mind, many children can benefit from visual supports and accommodations. All of the following resources are available as free downloads in my TeachersPayTeachers store. Church Visual Cue Cards Children’s Ministry Visual Schedule Bible Alphabet Cards Resources & Articles Vanderbilt Kennedy Center […]
These 11 simple tips will make your Sundays easier and help kids behave in church so you can worship God with a full heart!
Teaching children about God and His Word should begin as early as possible. You won't teach your youngest students the same way you would older...
Discover 33 different ways to partner with your local schools to make a positive impact in your community!
If you're looking for a community service for kids, these ideas should help spark some ideas that you can incorporate into your plans for community service.
Cross Timbers Church, Argyle TX
WASHINGTON, INDIANA Pastor Luke Bean called our office to talk about a new building project they were starting. He chatted with our Project Manager for a bit and the two of them looked over the floor plans and some pictures of various areas, brainstorming about what the spaces could look like and what it might … Bethany Christian Church Read More »
ELCA World Hunger's new Vacation Bible School for 2019 is here! Download or order "Who Is My Neighbor?" for free, and follow the link to learn more!
We created a renovated and expanded space for Waypoint that serves their ministry by putting their goals and mission first.
Community Helpers activities and centers for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. Plus FREE community signs & fire finger painting printable.
Children’s ministry areas naturally become one of the most important and strategic factors in designing a church building. The intentionality of creating a space to reach and raise the next generation is crucial in the planning. Safety and...
Did you know that studies show that kids and teenagers who serve in their local church are far less likely to walk away from their faith as they get older? And there are great ways kids can serve at church.
How can your small group engage in effective community outreach?
Our community theme is one of my favorites because there are so many fun things we can do. I could probably spend a month on this theme exploring lots of jobs, places and community helpers. Here were our plans for our community theme: And here are the details for each activity: Making Inferences: Madelynn loves […]
Here is a great blog post from Laurie's Little Monkeys with some good suggestions for service projects that children can actually do (rather than collecting food, toys, whatever...). There are suggestions for animals (have someone from the animal shelter visit church and talk about animal care, then make dog treats or toys -- great for a creation stewardship mission workshop), caring for shut-ins and people in hospitals, projects to recognize community helpers, and more.
Church Colors Activity Page for Pre-K to Gr. 1This whole class activity will help the children to learn the names of various church items as they color them together.To follow us click on the Follow button next to our picture at the top of the page. When you follow us you will be notified of FREE i...
Whether you’re part of a big church or a small church, here are some great church outreach ideas to inspire you and energize your planning for the year.
Thanks to my parents and church community, working to make a difference was always important to me. My kids became involved in service projects when they were growing up, too. I like to think
5 free templates for young children to help them discover and share with others how God made them SPECIAL! Print yours off today!
Play Through The Bible - A Toddler's Introduction to God's Story - 25 weeks of bible study created just for toddlers
A planned week of preschool activities to play, learn and create for the theme of our community featuring the book All Are Welcome.
Religious education ideas for Catholic teachers, homeschoolers, and catechists- crafts, lessons, and printables on Sacraments, Scripture and Prayer.
Here are some garden, plant, and seeds songs for preschool to kindergarten kids. Play these while learning a Plant Theme. These are You Tube videos. You
15 Family-Friendly Service Project Ideas for Kids l Service project ideas for kids of all ages l Some quick and some more lengthy, all fun!
To send the message of God's care for the "least of these," use this checklist to get everything in place before any child steps into your church nursery.
Are you creating an environment where people encounter the Living God?
Looking for a fun community building activity? I {Kayla} teach a preschool class at church and, following a lesson on friendship, my kiddos and I created this friendship quilt to display on our wall. Not only is it an esteem booster - the kids loved reading nice things about themselves - it was a fun way to talk about how each of us is unique and how we all have a special part to play in the classroom, in our homes, and in the community! By themselves, each square is beautiful, but together they create a masterpiece! "I like my friend because..." Not only is it great for students to read nice things about themselves, it's also important for your kiddos to practice saying nice things about others. To make sure no one was left out, I assigned each child a classmate to write about. I admit, for some, the peer assigned to them was not their 'best friend' in class, but rather an acquaintance and to start, it was a bit difficult to get them going. But with a bit of encouragement, they all caught on pretty quickly. First, we discussed what it means to be a good friend {i.e. good friends share their toys, take turns, use kind words, etc.} and then each child completed the prompt, "I like my friend because...", using various graphic art tools to illustrate their quilt square. {I even got to complete a square since numbers were low! :]} Example quilt square [NOTE: I knew my kiddos would need help writing out their ideas, so I created stickers ahead of time for each student... ex. "I like my friend Marissa because..."] Friendship Quilt When your kiddos are finished with their quilt squares, use a hole punch and yarn to tie them all together! I decided to create a title for the display using the center quilt square. Example title quilt square Since we were talking about friendship, I used our focus Bible verse {"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17}, but you could also find a quote about friendship or simply entitle the display, "Our Friendship Quilt"! Supplies for this bulletin board... 12" x 12" scrapbook paper in various colors Graphic art tools Single hole punch Yarn As always, we love hearing your thoughts so be sure to leave us a comment below or catch up with us on Facebook!
Are you promoting your business/non-profit? Use storytelling with video, 3D animation, interviews, and high-impact graphics to share your vision.
Elevate Life Church - Fleming Island Campus
We play a lot of Children’s Church games. We always have one or two games at the beginning of the class, and a few at the end. Why so many? We strategically do them at the beginning to help get some of the wiggles out, and to make our Children’s Church more high energy. We […]
