Anyone else tweak every event after each time? Anyone else just can’t do the same thing even if you repeat an event? Just a few weeks ago, we spent 3-5pm with 3rd-5th graders teaching them how use THEIR Bibles at an event we call American Ninja Warrior: Bible Edition. Cut strips of white, twin, flat sheet became our name tags so students tied them on their foreheads ninja-style and we got started.

The most important areas we wished to address were: Genesis 1:1 & John 1:1, Creation, Torah, 10 Commandments, Gospels, Disciples, Greatest Commandment, Paul & Timothy (letters), Lord’s Prayer/23 Psalm, Parables, Revelation, Shema.  Check it out!

Using a Rainbow Bookmark – As followers of Jesus, we are people of THE BOOK…the Bible. 2 sections, 66 books. Testament – covenant – promise. Asking the question: What is the Bible? We pre-made 1/4 inch ribbon bookmarks knotted at the top to be placed in different places in their bibles as a large group:

• black=Table of Contents;
• red=Genesis, the first book in the Old Testament;
• orange=Joshua, the first history book in the Old Testament;
• yellow=Psalms, the 2nd poetry book in our Bible;
• green=Isaiah, the first prophet book in our Bible;
• blue=Matthew, the first Gospel book in our Bible;
• purple=to mark Romans, the first letter book in our Bible.

1. Quintuple Steps

SAY – “How did the Bible come to be?”

PLAY – the Telephone Game = an example of the ‘oral tradition’

“The Bible is divided into 2 sections:  the Old and New Testaments.  It was written over a period of over 1600 years.  The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word biblia, which means “little books.” In all there are sixty-six “little books” in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament (old promise/covenant) and 27 in the New Testament (new promise/covenant).”

• Have one student look up Genesis 1:1 and read it aloud.
• In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
• Ask another student to look up John 1:1 and read it aloud.
• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

“We are SO fortunate to have the Bible and the words written down for us.  The early people had to memorize it.  Those who were young, memorized the Torah, the first five books of the Bible (show them).  Once they got to High School, they memorized up through the Psalms and if they were going to be a Spiritual leader or Rabbi, they had to memorize the entire Old Testament!”

Activity:

Have the students jump from one platform to the other, saying the Scriptures. Each student should go through twice so that they can recite each verse.  (It is probably best if the whole group says it together as each student goes through.  That way, they will memorize both verses.  Help be loud and lead the way, especially for the first few times.)

2. Agility Ladder– Creation – Have students find and mark Genesis 1:1

This verse tells us who the Bible is about.

We serve a God of order & systems. (solar system, patterns in pine cones, spring/summer/fall/winter, day/night/day/night, birth/getting old, etc.) Ask kids “what else?”

Make a creation trail mix to save for later for snack and used an agility ladder to run through the 7 days of creation in order.

Day1         God created the light and the dark (oreo cereal)

Day 2        God separated the water on the top from the water on the bottom. The top was sky, and the bottom was ground (Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal for the clouds and the ground)

Day 3        God made the green grass, the trees, and the flowers (stick pretzels). God also made the fruit and berries (raisins.) “God made food before he made animals that would need the food. Our God is SO WISE.”

Day 4        God created the sun and the moon and the stars (yellow M&M candies; Cheerios)

Day 5        God made the birds and the fish (Goldfish)

Day 6        God made man and woman and all the animals that walk on the ground (animal cookies)

Day 7        God rested on the seventh day (marshmallow pillows)

Joke: Where does the Bible talk about baseball? Genesis 1:1 “In the big-inning.” Then back to the bible study tables.

3. Flip the Tires:

The first five books of the Old Testament are called the Penteteuch. “Pente” means “five” and “teuch” means “books”.  The first five books of the Old Testament are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.  This is also call THE TORAH.

Was originally written on scrolls (rolled up paper) that were found in jars.

Activity:

Have half of the students on one side and half on the other. Have them flip each of the five tires, while saying the first five books of the Old Testament.

4. Stepping Stones

“The Ten Commandments are found in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Today, we are going to learn the Ten Commandments as we jump from stone to stone on one foot. Say the commandment as you go.  Remember that you have 10 fingers so you can transfer this to everyday life by looking down at your hands and reciting the Ten Commandments later.”

#1       God first

#2       Don’t bow down to idols

#3       Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain (misuse the Lord’s name)

#4       Remember the Sabbath & keep it holy

#5       Honor your Father & Mother

#6       Don’t murder/kill

#7       Don’t commit adultery (keep your marriage promises)

#8       Don’t steal (don’t take what is not yours)

#9       Don’t bear false witness (don’t speak ugly about others)

#10     Don’t covet (don’t want what is not meant for you)

5. TIps: Share the Good News

The Gospels are the first 4 books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Gospel = good news

Ask, “What is the good news?” That Jesus came from heaven to save us and reconcile (make us right) with God.

Get in pairs and throw a ball back and forth. Do this four times, saying the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

6. Hula Hoops:

Have a student find & read: Matthew 10:2-4 (NIV)

^“ These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

Set up four hoola hoops and ask each student hula hoop to hula hoop while saying as many names as possible.

Ask: What did Jesus do before He called/decided on these guys? (He prayed)

Simon Peter

Andrew

James

John

Philip

Bartholomew

Thomas, the twin

Matthew

James, the lesser

Judas Iscariot

Thaddaeus

Simon, the zealot

Matthias (replaced Judas Iscariot)

7. Cornhole: The Great Commandment

Have the students look up:  Mathew 22:36-40

“You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. YOU shall love the Lord with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself, UMPH!” (We chant it like a cheer).

8. Pass the Torch: Paul and Timothy

Have the students look up and read aloud: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so ^so that the servant of God^[a]may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Create two lines and have a relay, carrying a pool noodle with a plastic cup taped to top of pool noodle filled with marshmallows.  If they spill it, they must pick up the marshmallows and start over from the starting line.

9. Balance Beams – Walk the Plank

Look up Luke 11:1-4  The Lord’s Prayer

Look up Psalm 23  A Prayer of David

Discuss the many aspects of prayer (music, journaling, WITH, breath prayers, hand prayers, and silence.)

Activity: Walk the Plank in silence….everyone is silent…silent prayer walk.

Examples of how to pray…

WITH = What makes you want to tell God, “WOW!”

What do you wish to tell God, “I’m sorry.”

What do you want to THANK God for?

What do you need HELP with?

In between each one, repeat, “Thank you, Lord, that you are with me.”

Take a deep breath before each one.

Breath Prayer = Jesus, Be My Rock

Jesus (breathe in), Be my rock (breathe out)

Hand Prayers for Intercession (prayer for people)

Thumb – Those closest to me

Index  finger – those who teach me

Middle finger – those who are “over’ me (in authority)

Ring finger – those who are sick (weakest finger that can’t stay up on it’s own.)

Pinkie – yourself

10. Drag a Tire – Parables

Parables=stories that did not really happen, but that best tell a point Jesus wants us to know.

Have students look up Luke 10:25-37: Parable of the Good Samaritan

Discussion:   Who is your neighbor?

God wants us to help others, even if it’s a heavy load.

Pull the heavy tires across a long space.

11. Stack the tires – How does it end? With a new beginning!

Have the students look up Revelation 22:1-5

Say, “Jesus is coming back.”

Ask, “What would Jesus find you doing?” “Where would Jesus find you?”

Discuss: We are supposed to be growing in our knowledge of God and more and more like Jesus, though in this world. Once we learn one thing, we learn the next, and the next. Our growing in wisdom and knowledge of God stacks like these tires.

Ask, “How do we do we grow in the knowledge of god and more like Jesus?”

Stack the remaining tires one on top of another.

12. Medals: The Shema and Spiritual Discipline of taking 5 minutes each day to read the Bible and 5 minutes in prayer every day (even Sundays!) TAKE 5

Have everyone find and read:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NIV)

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Ask: How will you plan to Take 5 every day? 5 minutes reading the Bible and 5 minutes in silent prayer.

The first event looked like this. Each time, we tweak to make the experience better for the students and better for the leaders. And each time we offer this event I remember why I LOVE it!

“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16

Of all my years in elementary school, few memories are more special than of fourth grade when my teacher read aloud to us after lunch every single day. Every. Single. Day. Placing my weary 10-year-old head on my desk after lunch, I listened as she took my classmates and I to far off lands and into the heads of crazy characters. It was an absolute delight.

I carry on this read-aloud tradition for our closing activity each Sunday in Children’s Church. Armed with a fabulous local library, homeschool families, and my own personal library, I’ve been able to find a children’s book that relates to our weekly theme or point of the day of our Sunday school curriculum. The Read Aloud Revival podcast is a fabulous resource for classics and more recent, developmentally-appropriate read-alouds.

This is a short list of the books I’ve used so far over the last several months:

God wants us to tell the world about Jesus – Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson – Evangelism, Disciples, Missions
God wants what’s best for us – It Could Have Been Worse by A. H. Benjamin & Tim Warnes – Parting of the Red Sea & The Passover
God has a plan for Joseph – My Many Colored Days by Dr. Suess – Joseph and his life of ups and downs
God helps us make things right – Lettuce by Diana Kizlauskas – Jacob & Esau
God promises Sarah a son – Whatever You Grow Up To Be by Karen Kingsbury – Sarah
God keeps His promises – All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil Francis Alexander – Abraham
God gives us do-overs – Will You Forgive Me? By Sally Grindley & Penny Dann – Noah’s Ark
God wants us to listen – Listen Buddy by Helen Lester
God wants us to talk to Him – The Lord’s Prayer: Words of Hope and Happiness by Rick Warren – Prayer
God created us for a reason – You’re Here For A Reason by Nancy Tillman; The One, The Only Magnificent Me! By Dan Haseltine, A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester – Adam & Eve
God made us and Jesus loves us – Maybe God Is Like That Too by Jennifer Grant, When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner – Fruit of the Spirit, Made in the image of God,
God created the world – This Is The Earth That God Made by Lynn Downey; Let There Be Light by Archbishop Desmond Tutu – Creation
Jesus loves us – I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt – All things Jesus
Jesus hears us – I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman – Prayer
Jesus shows us how to serve – The Scarecrow’s Dance by Jane Yolen – Mary & Martha
Jesus wants us to be with children – God Loves Me More Than That by Dandi Daley Mackall
Jesus washes His disciple’s feet – Bloom by Doreen Cronin – dirt can be a holy thing
Easter – Easter Love Letters From God by Glenys Nellist – Lent
Easter – The Best Thing About Easter by Christine Harder Tangvald – Lent
Easter – God Gave Us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren
New Year’s – There’s Sno Gift Like Jesus by Michael Hupp – Jesus
Epiphany – Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer – Wise men and camels
Christmas – Christmas Love Letters From God by Glenys Nellist – Advent
Christmas – Legend Of The Christmas Cookie by Dandi Daley Mackall – Advent
Christmas – The Grumpy Shepherd by Paddie Devon – Advent
Jesus deserves our thanks – The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet by Carmen Agra Deedy – Thanksgiving
Books for children grieving loss – Someday Heaven by Larry Libby, Someone I Love Died by Christine Harder Tangvald
Questions about God “What does God look like?” – Someone Awesome by Larry Libby – concrete thinking kid-friendly answers to all things about God; Tell Me The Stories by Max Lucado; Tell Me The Secrets by Max Lucado

What’s on your shelf?

“Whoever has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 11:15

When do kids and their families learn the whys and whats of the sacred space they call ‘home church’? At the Faith Milestone: I Love My Church! Every local church has beautiful history (original MM sanctuary was built in 1932 and used in the movie Smokie and the Bandit among other films) and a fabulous traditional church space (MM built in 1990, narthex, vestibule, massive communion table, two levels of sanctuary pews) that little people just have to run in. I want them to have those memories AND have the vocabulary to share their own stories in their own home-church when they become teens and adults

Supplies:

The Year of Our Lord liturgical color calendar – discussing differences between our house calendar and the church calendar, colors to look for throughout campus, and remembrances of Jesus’ life. (color copy in packet)

Heart Stickers
Scavenger Hunt
“What We Do In Church” by Anne E. Kitch (color sheets on prayer stances and vocabulary)
The Beginner’s Bible: All About Jesus Sticker & Activity Book
Orange caution cones (Dollar Tree)

We begin with an ice breaker: Say your name and something interesting about yourself. Open in prayer.

Start discussing the church calendar and how the colors the students will see represent certain events of Jesus’ life.
Vocabulary: Lent, Liturgical, Advent, Pentecost, Epiphany, Christmas season, Ascension, Holy Trinity, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week. Then we set out with our sticker sheets looking for orange caution cones.

Earlier in the day we set up stations throughout campus with heart stickers (we LOVE our church!) in a clear bucket. Orange caution cones advised us where to go…think: Amazing Race has the red and yellow boxes, we use caution cones found at Dollar Tree. Students are ready with their sticker sheets to place stickers beside vocabulary describing different locations in the church.
Vocabulary:
Chapel (built in 1931)
Narthex (porch of a church)
Sanctuary (built in 1990)
Vestibule (space near outer door)
Pew (long bench with a back placed in rows)
Pulpit (raised platform where preacher delivers a message)
Choir Loft (space where choir sings together)
Communion Table (table where all are welcome to remember Jesus!)

As a group, we then follow the signage proceeding to the above locations and we run! All over the place. When we’ve met at each location, we enjoy a ‘work as a team because Jesus always sent out His disciples 2 or 3 at a time’ Scavenger Hunt:
What is the name of one of our pastors?
What color are the church’s front doors?
What color is the parament on the Communion Table?
How many black keys are on the piano played by the accompanist?
What is the big book opened on the Communion Table?
How many exit signs are in the Sanctuary and the Narthex? (Why would we need to know where the exits are?)
How many pews are in the Sanctuary?
How many crosses are in the Sanctuary?
What colors are the chairs in the choir loft?

Upon completion, I share a very abbreviated story of Jesus going to church with His family and affirm their parent’s heart for them to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Everyone gets an All About Jesus Sticker & Activity book to take home! Close in prayer. Precious face time with 2nd graders and their families…sacred memories of sacred spaces and special kids. Kiss on the cheek from the Lord? Three students in attendance came to Sunday school the following weekend for the first time!

What would your I Love My Church Faith Milestone look like?

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.'” Psalm 122:1

 

Our 3-year-old granddaughter is petite, but mighty. She was born on the side of the road during rush-hour traffic in south Florida, has a 10-foot personality, and has been talking since she could open her eyes. Communication is her gift and it will get her far in life. She is patient and will rephrase her sentences until you understand what she’s trying to tell you. She isn’t as articulate as a 13-year-old, but she seeks to be understood so she will keep talking until you get it and rarely gets frustrated.

Most kids have difficulty finding the words to explain what they are feeling, what they have seen, what they understand, and how their precious, little minds are processing their worlds. Just as there are building blocks to cognitive skills like academics, there are also building blocks for their emotional development. Children without emotional vocabulary struggle to find perspective and have difficulty in regulating their emotions. Meltdowns are often and grow in intensity.

In Are My Kids On Track: The 12 Emotional, Social and Spiritual Milestones Your Child Needs to Reach the three authors (Christian counselors) write, “Emotional literacy is a prerequisite to regulation, practiced empathy, resourcefulness, and healthy interpersonal relationships.” It’s in the first chapter of this amazing resource because ‘we believe it’s where the other milestones begin.’ (pg 38)

In the back of the chapter, the authors shared several practical ideas for building an emotional vocabulary: post a feelings chart on the fridge, choose books and movies rich in emotional content, reflect back feelings statements (“It seems you are feeling…”), role-play, use art, and play games. I particularly like using art. “If your child is having trouble expressing their emotions, hand them a sheet of paper and have them draw what they’re feeling.” (pg 41)

I am constantly fascinated with the way kids communicate. If given the opportunity, they’ll share with you their dreams, their hopes, their fears, and what their parents did last night that made them late for church. (grin) Using art and symbols is one of the easiest ways to engage in communication with a child. They can’t be wrong.

In the local church, we teach, but do we ask the best questions? Do we give kids a chance to engage in conversation face-to-face? Share testimony? Do we go deep into the minds and hearts of the little people we serve? I admit, not enough. Let’s take it a step further: How do we have conversations with kids who are lost, sad, grieve, or are angry?  What if you had a tool to do just that? According to the founder of Holy Listening Stones, Rev. Dr. Leanne Hadley, the practice of using the Holy Listening Stones symbols is to help people share how they feel. Symbol, especially to children, is their “native language”.

The North Georgia United Methodist Church Conference will be offering a practical, hands-on training with Holy Listening Stones. We’ll create a partial set of stones and practice how to engage children in prayer, begin conversations, offering emotional and sacred vocabulary in a safe place. I know plenty of tweeners who have just as much difficulty in explaining themselves. These tools are helpful in a whole host of ways and for all ages. Join us for an evening of sharing at https://www.ngumc.org/doneinaday. Six locations on the same evening across North Georgia on Monday, March 19, 2018 at 6:15pm. Childcare is provided.

Anyone who works with children or even has children (grandparents, you too!) would benefit to learn the art of holy listening. Little Miss helped make my set of holy listening stones armed with modpodge and a foam brush. Our children need to feel loved and heard. Using holy listening stones is one of the ways we can encourage children to share their dreams, their fears, their prayers, and their hearts when they don’t have the vocabulary to do so. As it reads on the flier, “When we interact in this way with a child, we are living into the familiar scripture, ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m with them.’ Matthew 18:20 CEB”  Register today!