Stoned!

To tell the story of Stephen in Acts 7, I used 3-D visuals. I printed out Bible people that I downloaded through this site. Then I glued them onto empty toilet paper rolls so they could stand up.

Rejection at Nazareth!

Jesus rejected in Nazareth, his home town from Luke 4:14-30 is a very easy story to re-enact. It requires little props, the only prep work was to make a scroll. I used old packing paper I had saved from Amazon boxes and taped it together to make a long scroll.

Pancakes and Missions

Kid's Mission's Breakfast from Joan Eppehimer on Vimeo.

They say that kids learn best when they are having fun. The first half of this event included "catching" your breakfast. Our cook flipped the pancakes and the kids caught them on their plates. The kids had a blast, but they also learned about the importance of Bible translation and smuggling and heard from a missionary. Parents were invited too, creating a family event at the same time.

Instructions for the Pin the Bible on the World game can be found in this post from November.

Explaining the Second Birth to Kids

A friend gave me an old teacher's book that had a great illustration for explaining the second birth to children. I made the illustration out of doubled sided poster board. I experimented until I found 2 different plate sizes to trace the concentric circles. I used a yardstick to draw the lines to divide the 2 circles into thirds.

Chalk Board Tables

Chalk Board Table from Joan Eppehimer on Vimeo.

We had some old tables hanging around the church. For about $10 you can get a quart of paint and convert many surfaces into a chalkboard. We bought our paint at Sherman Williams (with coupons of course.) Amazon and Target also carry it.

The surface is quite gritty, but I read you can sand it with 150 grit sandpaper. Since I already primed the table you see in this, I can't sand it...BUT I can try the one that is under the blue tablecloth.

In our case, this project was kind of a dud. The kids enjoyed painting the tables, but so far, no one enjoys coloring on them as a pre-class activity. I will have to think of some creative ways to incorporate these into class. The surface does not look as nice and black as I thought it would either. A little disappointing.

How to Play Pin the Bible

I read a banned book almost every day. In fact it is the most banned book in the world. Any guesses what it is?

If you guessed the Bible you are right.

We played a fun game in Sunday School to help our kids learn about the importance of the Bible translation and access to the Bible for Christians. It was called Pin the Bible.

In the Wilderness with Jesus - Learning to Overcome Temptation

Teaching Children to Overcome Temptation from Joan Eppehimer on Vimeo.

Even though I have taught this lesson on Jesus being tested by Satan before, I found it very difficult to present. I like to think of this as the game Battleship. When you make a hit on the enemy's ship in this game, they yell, "Hit!" When I am doing something for God and I encounter a lot of obstacles, it is the equivalent of that cry, "Hit!" In other words, I am making inroads into the enemy's territory, I have made a "hit." And that's a good thing.

Jesus' Great Big Family - Engaging Children with Jesus' Genealogy

Genealogy of Christ from Joan Eppehimer on Vimeo.

A few weeks ago we began the study of the New Testament in Sunday School. The first lesson called for the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. "Now how am I going to engage the children with this?" I thought. The curriculum suggested drawing a stick figure for each name on a board OR using post-its with the names on them. I had a better idea - how about printing stick figures with the names on card stock and using a pocket chart. You can access the printed sheets here.

King Solomon's Dream Magic Window

This makes a great craft for the story of King Solomon's dream. You need to separate the 2 pictures to make it.

DIY Polar Bear Cave

We made this really cute polar bear cave with crinkled up white paper (actually used same paper in 2 churches), cotton batting, "Buffalo Snow." ice chest ice blocks, blue cloth and lots of tape. You can watch the video below to see how it got put together.

Building Through Bowling

An important aspect of children's ministry is spending time with the kids outside of church. We took our Sunday School kids bowling over spring break.

Why are times like this important? Kids need adults in their lives - and 60 minutes on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night is not enough.