Solomon Builds the Temple

This past Sunday, our Pre-School classroom listened to the story of how King Solomon built the Temple. Inspired by today's rain and most children's love of building, I thought I'd share an indoor activity today. 

The next time you and your little one are building with blocks, why not try making different church buildings. As you work, you can talk about how church buildings can be very different from one another. Share with your little one that Solomon prayed to God, and God told Solomon how to build the Temple. You could even try to build what you imagine the Temple looked like, including the two very important rooms: the "inner holy place" with an altar, and the "most holy place" which contained the ark of the covenant.

BIG & little

Throughout October, our toddlers have been learning the story of David and Goliath. Part of the lesson yesterday in our Sunday School class was a sorting game. The poster pictured Goliath on one side, and David on the other. The objective was to sort the picture cards of small things onto David's side, and pictures of very large things onto Goliath's side. 
Today I'd like to share an even more active game for playtime. You will need two tubs, baskets, boxes... some sort of container. One should be much larger than the other. You will also need some toys and stuffed animals, or pictures printed onto cardstock. Young children are pretty concrete thinkers, so if you are using printed pictures, try to print them so that naturally large items print larger on the page than naturally small items.

Ask your kiddo to sort the large items into the large tub, and the small items into the small tub. It might be easier to hold up the two items you are comparing at the same time. For example, hold up a large firetruck and a small car while asking which one is a giant like Goliath, and which toy is small like David. 
As your little one cleans up, remind him/ her that even though David was little, he knew God would help him defeat the giant Goliath.

a bag of prayers

Have you ever found something that's just so neat, you want to share it with everyone? I discovered a book called Paper Bag Prayers by Bernadette McCarver Snyder. In the book she explains how she used to put small, everyday items into a paper bag to help children learn that they can talk to God about anything, anytime. I have enjoyed reading the book so much, and it has helped me to spend some of my "idle" moments focusing on God in my daily life. It's been interesting to see the prayer path that one simple item can inspire. I am putting together a paper bag to keep in the minivan for some of those waiting times with my littles.

I think my favorite part about the concept behind Paper Bag Prayers, is that there is no age limit. It's a great exercise for anyone! I prepared these bags for our staff meeting this week, and I hope that everyone finds the challenge as wonderful as I did. 

Dear Lord - 
Thank you for everything you've given us, even the little things. We are humbled by everything you've created, and we thank you for giving us the curiosity and knowledge to create our own trinkets, toys, and devices. Please help us to use that curiosity and knowledge for good, and to help spread your word.     Amen

a Prayer Walk

So yesterday was Columbus Day, which for my darlings meant a day off from school. I brought them with me to work for about as long as two active boys can entertain themselves "quietly." Then we enjoyed a late lunch with family. After that I really needed to go grocery shopping, but walking to the park for an impromptu playtime was much more appealing. (Hmmmm... dragging them through the store while they ask for everything... OR... trying to touch the clouds with our toes by swinging as high as we can... tough decision!) 
For our walk home, we tried a Prayer Walk, and it was a wonderful experience! In addition to the bug-studying, stick-finding, and flower-picking, we stopped on the sidewalk in front of each house we passed on our street, held hands, and said a short prayer for each neighbor. We started with "repeat-after-me," and then after 2 or 3 houses, they were able to say the prayer along with me. 

Now, I didn't have any milk, so we couldn't have cereal this morning... and while I'd decided to serve toast instead, we didn't have any bread either. So... toaster pastries for breakfast, a sandwich on a burger bun for lunch... it's all ok. This ended up being a great way to add more prayer time as a family, and an excellent way for active children to pray. I encourage you to give it a try with your little ones!

Fall Family Festival

S'mores??? Count me in!!   ;)  
You KNOW you want to come... bring your friends, kids, co-workers, and neighbors too! 

God loves me

Here's a simple song we are learning in our Nursery room... you remember the tune to The Farmer in the Dell, don't you? 

To keep your child's interest as you repeat the verse, clap your hands to the beat as you sing it the first time, then dance in a circle the second time through, sing very softly the third time, etc. Have fun!!

Psalm 23:6

Wow... it's October already! And that means we will be working on a new Bible verse. 

We will be listening to several Bible stories and working on a variety of activities, all to teach the littles that God's love is with them every day.

Sweet Hour of Prayer

This Sunday's sermon and music all really helped me. I've often wondered if I'm praying the right way... using the right words... do I pray enough? ... why do I struggle to pray out loud?
And then there's that nagging question in the back of my mind...  "am I doing an ok job teaching my children how to pray." Well, now I feel better... more open, less worried, ready to "cast on Him my every care." There's always room for improvement, but after some quality family time this weekend and the message from Sunday, I think it's all ok.
During my boys' Cub Scout camping trip this weekend, I sat with my youngest son for lunch at a picnic table. He asked if we could pray together before our meal... wow. He pressed his hands together and squeezed his little eyes shut so tight. I think it's the most I've ever seen him concentrate! I have no idea what his prayer was about, but my short prayer was one of thanks for this amazing little boy. 
Because I would like to offer my boys some guidance during their prayer time, I thought we would make Prayer Calendars. 

Each child worked on their own calendar (I wrote the names for my youngest as he told them to me). I asked them to choose someone that they could pray for by name each day... yes, there are a few dogs on their lists.  :}  It was a good activity to work on together, and I know this will help them begin to understand how important prayer is.

One of our hymns on Sunday was Sweet Hour of Prayer. It's such a beautiful hymn, with powerful words. If you are not familiar with this hymn, a search online will give you oodles of choices. I found several options in iTunes and on YouTube. If you would like to see just one recording I found lovely to the ears, this link will take you to it.  Enjoy  :}

Serve with LOVE

Samuel says twice in chapter 12 of 1 Samuel that we should serve the Lord with all our hearts. I thought an activity to reinforce this concept for Pre-Schoolers would be fun. So today I have two printables for you. 
Print one "Cover Page" and as many copies of the "Inside Page" as you would like. It can certainly be printed onto regular, white printer paper... but if you would like to "bump up" the craftiness, print onto single-sided scrapbook paper. (You can often find 8-1/2 x 11" single-sided scrapbook paper sold in single sheets at your local craft store.) That way the space for your littles to color will be white, but the back of each page will be fancy!  :} 

When your child is finished, help him / her cut out the hearts. Punch a small hole through each of the little gray circles in the upper-left of each heart, stack your pages together with the cover on top, and hook your booklet together with a brad or small notebook ring. 
It would be a good idea to work on this project over several days... weeks... a month? As you know, little bitties have short attention spans.  :} 
Once finished,  this would be a nice, light-weight "time-filler" to carry in your purse. Won't the other mommies think you are clever and smart when they see you pull out your child's sweet little booklet the next time your doctor's office is running behind??? Feel free to share this activity with others!  :}

Prayer Partner

I found the neatest idea in our Pre-School Sunday School guide - giving children "Prayer Partners." I thought it would be a great idea to make into an activity and share with you today.
Arrange ahead of time with the parents of one of your child's friends for the two children to become "Prayer Partners." Then each child will make a special effort to pray for his/ her partner every day. 
I even created a simple printable activity for you! After printing the page, cut in half on the dotted line, help the children write each others' names on the solid line, color and decorate as desired, then fold in half to make two little table tents. Place your child's Prayer Partner reminder is a special place, such as on the nightstand in his/ her bedroom. 

It might be a good idea to lead your child in the prayer the first few times. A simple example would be, "God, please bless my prayer partner, (child's name), and take care of him/ her today. Amen." 

I'd love to hear how this worked for your family if you gave it a try. Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion.   :}