Week Six

I can't believe we're already six weeks in. Are you still finding the curriculum helpful? Are you seeing excitement and new understanding in your kids? I sure hope so!

This week is all about Noah and his ark. Begin by reading the story of Noah. Since the biblical version is incredibly long for such little listeners, it is probably a good idea to choose one of the Noah books on the list to read instead.

Supplies Needed

blue jello

whipped cream

white paper plates

paints/crayons/markers

large glass bowl

small mirror

hole puncher

rainbow-colored construction paper

glue

q-tip

one roll of toilet paper

one bar of Ivory soap

1 box of white cake mix

1 tub frosting

food coloring in (at least) 4 colors

small food/cookie cutters

skewers/popsicle sticks/chopsticks

string/ribbon

Here is the permanent link to Week 6.

Hope you enjoy a week of learning about Noah!

Sin

Having trouble explaining sin to your kids? It may help to be confident that you understand sin yourself. Sin is not a behavior. Sin is not an attitude. Sin is not even a choice. Sin is in our very nature. It's in the fabric of who we are. Has your 13-month-old ever hit you out of anger even though you're certain they've never witnessed someone act like that before? It's because it is ingrained in them. Has your 2-year-old ever said something so catty and out of character, and you've tried and tried to figure out where exactly they learned that phrase? No one had to teach them - it's part of who they are. Despite our very best efforts, our daily prayer, surrounding ourselves with wholesome influences, and limiting exposure to harmful things, we cannot help but be sinful. It's part of our make-up - just like our eye color, heart rhythm, and shoe size. Because of the original Fall, sin nature is beyond our control.

So, how do we explain that to our kids without giving them an excuse to misbehave?

When I taught chapel, I used a visual to teach sin. Of course this topic is way more complex than this visual will allow. But it worked as an introduction and a conversation-starter. It helped to show that our nature is sinful, that we will continue to sin even with Christ in our lives, and that Jesus gives us tools we need to deal with our sinful hearts.

First, print a copy of the Sinful Heart and the Fruits of the Spirit. You can color them, have your kids decorate them, or just leave them black-and-white. Cut out the Heart and all of the rectangles.

Each rectangle represents a sinful thought or behavior. I provided plenty of blank ones to fill in with something appropriate and relatable for your child. Using an Exacto knife, cut along the top, left side, and bottom of the door. Fold it back along the "hinge" to create a door that swings open and closed.

Flip it over, and cut a triangle out of another piece of paper to tape on the back to make a pocket just like the grey triangle below. Tape only along the right and left sides leaving the top open.

Turn it back over, open the door, and fill it with the rectangles representing sin.

Now you're ready to get started. I think it may be helpful for me to provide a basic script that you can either read as you present this heart or use as a starting point for your lesson:

"Do you see this heart? This heart is just like ours. Want to see what's inside? Open the door. Wow! It's filled with lots of things. [Read a handful of the rectangles.] Gosh, those don't sound good at all. Did you know that we have things like this in our heart? In our Bible story, we talked about how Eve made a choice that went against what God told them. When Eve made that choice, sin entered our hearts. From then on, everyone is born with yucky sin. Sin is anything that sets us apart from God. It can be bad choices we make, mean things we say, or even things we think about. Sin is a part of us that we cannot get rid of on our own no matter how much we want to. God is holy and perfect, but we are not. God hates sin and cannot be near sin. So we cannot be near Him unless we can clean this sin out of our hearts. Since we can't do that, and since God loves us so, so much, He came up with a very special plan. He sent Jesus to clean out our hearts for us. The Bible tells us that Jesus stands at our heart's door and knocks quietly. He waits until we ask Him in to help us get rid of our awful sin. When we invite Him in, He gets to work right away getting rid of our sin. [At this point, have your child pretend to clean the heart with a wash cloth, and remove all of the sin rectangles together. Close the door, but secretly put a couple more of the sin rectangles back into the pocket.] The problem is that, since sin is a part of us, it just keeps coming back. [Open the door to reveal more sin.] But, since we've opened the door to Jesus, He promises to keep checking around and getting rid of our sin every single time it comes back forever and ever and ever. He will never leave us once we have invited Him in. So that means that every sin that has ever been in our heart and every sin that will come into our heart forever is already taken care of. Isn't that so amazing?" But, there's even more. The Bible tells us that Jesus wants to help us with special tools to do our best to keep the yucky sin out of our hearts. When Jesus is in our hearts, He brings the fruits of the spirit. [Place each of the fruits of the spirit into the heart pocket explaining each as you go.] These fruits wlil help us to act and think in a way that is pleasing to God. When a friend takes a toy away from us, we have been given self control to help us to not hit or push or grab the toy back roughly. When our moms and dads cannot help us right away, He has given us patience to help us to wait without whining or throwing a fit. So we not only have Jesus to clean up our sin right away, but we have been given special powers to keep us from sinning too! God is so, so good."

I hope you and your family find this illustration helpful. I am praying over this post (which, by the way has been the most technically-challenging blog I have ever written - literally everything has gone wrong, so clearly this is an important message) - that it would touch lives and hearts as you explain the absolute most important message we can share with our kids. Please feel free to contact me with any questions at all along the way. I do not know all of the answers, but I would love to learn and search alongside you.

Happy teaching!!

House Rules

I have come across several really cute tutorials for a family rules canvas that would be a great way to preserve the "House Rules" you and your kids establish during Week 5's activities. If you're looking to dive in further with the crafts, here are some great tutorials.

The Pleated Poppy's Family Rules Canvas

Lil Blue Boo's Subway Art

Multiple Frames by Next 2 Heaven

Vintage, Hand-painted Subway Art Version from Mossy Mossy

Scrap Wood Last Name Version from Love Affair with my Brother (as in the sewing machine!)

I hope these inspire you to get crafty!

Week Five

With creation behind us, now we are going to set the stage for Christ's coming at Christmastime. It is my goal to establish that we are sinners and are in need of a Savior. Between now and Christmas, we'll learn about The Fall of Man, God's promise of a savior, why we need Him, and others who have followed Him.

This week's topic, sin, can be a tricky one. But, the fact of the matter is that we all sin. (Romans 3:23) The definition of sin, in kid terms, is anything that separates us from God. (Here's the link to a great article regarding sin for kids.) All of us have seen behaviors and attitudes in our children that are not holy and perfect. As a parent this can be incredibly hard to grasp because our kids are perfect in our eyes. Instead of calling sin by its Biblically-defined name, we want to re-define things and excuse them away to protect our precious children from such horrible accusations. Some believe that there is an age-of-accountability before which kids will not be held responsible in God's eyes by their sin. But, regardless of your beliefs, the Bible lays it out clearly - even if it cuts to the core of our hearts. Our children are sinners, just as we are. The amazing news is that God did not settle for the fact that we are sinners and are therefore forever set apart from Him. He sent a Savior to bridge that gap. (Mark 2:17) In order for our kids (and us!) to understand our need for salvation, we have to understand that we make choices that set us apart from our holy and perfect Creator. You can approach this topic all on your own, skip it altogether, or use some of the ideas I'll provide. So, for the purpose of such a wide age-range, wide belief-system, and just merely the fact that this is a personal topic that lesson plans can't fully contain, I've focused the majority of this week on listening to God and obeying Him, something Eve chose not to do. And we all know how that worked out.

Stay tuned for a separate post with an idea for a visual to help with introducing sin to our kids.

Begin this week's lessons by reading the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis. The key points are that God created Adam from dust and Eve from one of Adam's ribs. He gave them a beautiful garden filled with amazing things to use as their home. He gave one specific instruction - that they were not to eat the fruit from a specific tree. A serpent came to talk to Eve tempting her to go ahead and taste the fruit - that God just didn't want her to be able to be all-knowing like Himself setting up His command as a selfish move. Eve decided to go ahead and take a bite to see what happened. Adam followed suit. God was very sad because He is perfect. They chose not to obey him, so this set them apart from God. They were ashamed of what they did, and so they hid from God when he came to talk with them. Their bad choices resulted in consequences. Their actions created sin, and sin lives in everyone's hearts since then.

Supplies Needed

A poster and crayons/markers/paints for House Rules

A CD/Internet search/cassette tape of different sounds to identify

A variety of music of different moods

Cookie-baking supplies

2 empty soup cans, cleaned

1 5-ft rope

Something to use as a drum (bowl, oatmeal canister, etc.)

A handful of ordinary household items to use as instruments

Here is the permanent link to Week 5's lesson plans. Happy teaching! And, please feel free to contact me with any questions, advice for implementing this lesson, or feedback!

Week Four

This is our fourth and final week about creation. God made people, and God made me focuses on the unique characteristics God has given us. We'll spend this week celebrating our differences, features, and quirks that make us special.

Let's start this week by reading Genesis 1:26-31 and Psalm 139:13-14. Talk about how God make us in His image and that we are His children. This is a good place to introduce the concept of God as our "Father." It's also great to include in your conversation that God created each and every one of us intentionally just as we are and that He has a special purpose for us all. Our specific talents and skills are like gifts from Him. We have a responsibility to use those gifts wisely and with purpose. So talk about how He gave us hands for helping His people, feet for going to His people to share love, lips for speaking truth and for using loving words, etc.

Supplies Needed:

butcher paper

crayons/markers/paint

copy of All About Me

camera and copies of pictures taken throughout the week

play dough ingredients: flour, salt, Kool-Aid powder, oil

unflavored popcorn & seasonings (seasoned salt, cinnamon, sugar, garlic powder, parmesan cheese)

a bag or a box for the sensory kit plus a handful of household items of different textures

supplies for your Child's Favorite party - decor in your child's favorite colors, their favorite meal/snacks

white paper plate

scraps of yarn in your child's hair color

I hope you all have a great week getting to know your children even better as the unique little kids God created in His image!

I would love to hear your stories of how things are going with your kids. As I'm preparing this post, we're just finishing up the first week, and we have had a ball. I was amazed at how quickly my daughter memorized the verse, and it blesses my socks off to hear her recite it as she's falling to sleep, recall it at appropriate times throughout the day, and refer to it while reading other Bible stories. This new plan has been such a huge bright spot in our week, and I pray it has been for you too!

Here's the direct link for Week 4's lesson plans, and here is the link for the All About Me booklet.

Week Three

Continuing the thread of creation, this week is all about animals. The scripture reference is Genesis 1:24-25. As always, make sure to begin the week by reading the scripture and explaining it thoroughly.

I've found that there's no need to paraphrase the scripture into "kid-friendly" language during the first run-through. I think it's important to read straight from the text, then to sum up what we've just read. I am amazed at how much my 3-year-old understands before we've even discussed the meanings. I find that the times that I read straight from the text offer more opportunities for adding vocabulary words to her arsenal too which is a win-win educationally. What ways have you found to be helpful to introduce the text to your kids? I'd love to hear your ideas too!

Supplies List

animal crackers for snack

washable paint, markers, pens

crayons and a copy of the animals on the lesson plan

shoebox

popsicle sticks

plastic animals

Get ready to moo, bark, slither, and gallop your way through this week!

10 Boredom Busters - 12-18 Month Olds

Even with a plan in place for lots of activities surrounding our weekly theme, we still have plenty of time on our hands. While we have no set TV limitations, I just can't stand for it to be on all day. My kids watch one 15-minute show (Curious George and The Cat in the Hat both are hits around here) before naptime and before bedtime to settle down before a bedtime story. But, in the times when we have nothing planned and the kids have had enough playtime (and I've had enough of them arguing over toys!), it's really easy to turn on a show to put them in that child-TV-coma phase. I love researching ideas for boredom busters to have in my back pocket for moments like these. I thought it would be a great blog topic too. So, from time to time, I'll do boredom buster lists focusing on a specific age group. Of course, most of these activities can be adapted to be something any kids will enjoy. I hope you find these helpful!

Boredom Busters (12-18 months old)

1) Give your child a magazine, newspaper, or a pile of junk mail to rip and tear to shreds.

2) Using a galvanized pail or an empty and clean paint can, cover the outside with child-safe magnets (ABC refrigerator magnets work well for this). Have them remove the magnet from the outside, and put it in the bucket. When they're finished, lead them to take each one out and put it back on the outside. Repeat as long as they will.

via

3) Make a colander/pipe cleaner sculpture. Give your toddler a colander and a handful of pipe cleaners, and show them how to string the pipe cleaner through the holes.

4) Finger paint with yogurt and a little food coloring. Stir 1 or 2 drops of food coloring into a canister of yogurt, and let your toddler go to town finger painting. You can stick them in a high chair and allow them to paint the tray, or allow them to paint the inside of the dishwasher door. This way you can just close it up and run a cycle - easy clean-up!

via

5)l Dance to music with ribbon twirlers. Easy-to-make, new-sew ribbon twirlers make great additions to grooving to your favorite music. If you don't have satin ribbon and wooden handles on-hand, this can also be done easily with curling ribbon tied around the end of a wooden spoon.

6) Ragamuffin band. Gather a handful of pots, pans, wire whisks, and wooden spoons, and go to town banging and scraping to make loud, toddler-friendly music. Going even further - tap out a rhythm for your toddler to copy.

7) Water painting. Give your toddler several containers of water and a paintbrush. If it's nice outside, they can "paint" the driveway, garage door, house, mailbox, etc. In not-so-great weather, move the party indoors, and "paint" the shower/bathtub walls.

8) Wash dishes. Fill up the sink/bathtub with an inch or two of water, and dump in some dish soap, a dish scrubber brush, and an assortment of plastic dinnerware, and let your toddler scrub away.

9) Mix, measure, and pour. Fill an under-the-bed tub with rice, beans, or sand. Add some measuring cups and spoons, plastic funnels, a whisk, shovels, and bowls. Demonstrate measuring and pouring. [Make sure to supervise carefully - especially if your toddler is still prone to eating art/activity supplies. =)]

10) Indoor basketball. Grab a laundry basket and a bunch of balled-up socks, and let these substitute basketballs and a basketball goal as an indoor-friendly game of hoops, toddler-style.