Easter ~ Simple Ideas to Teach Kids About The Resurrection

I will never forget the first time I heard my son recite that verse...he was 3 and had learned it at preschool. It melted my heart. Teaching our kids to love Jesus is so rewarding and worth every minute of preparation.
I LOVE EASTER...and PREPARING for EASTER. To me, it's as exciting as preparing for Christmas, especially since there's less clean up to do afterwards!

Here are some simple ideas for celebrating the Lent Season in your family. It is the season in which we anticipate the Great Rescue Plan of God coming to fruition...

1. Make a Grace Garden ... I got this idea from Ann Voskamp's A Holy Experience blog. How to Make an Easter Garden

Ann Voskamp writes:

How to Make an Easter Garden {Christian Easter Activity}

Our beginning, and our mortal fall, began in a garden.

Christ’s beginning to right that fall began in a garden.

So children and I, we make an Easter garden.

A miniature remembering of the grief of the first beginning, the resurrecting wondering of the all-things new beginning.

We gathered

a basket, some dirt,

some plants at the nursery, a beginning too,

three tramped to the woods for just the perfect moss
while one found a wee glass for the pond, a few shells too

and a visionary carved a hole in a stone grotto of his making.

They planted a garden, filled their pond with water, laid the flattest, the smallest (they were sure) stones from our lane, as a winding path to the Great Emancipation.

And come Palm Sunday, we’ll plant some seeds, resurrection hope in the dark of the earth, and line the path with smalls candles, miniature garden torches, for the Light is coming. And we’ll begin the path and each day light another wick… until Good Friday, when all went dark.

And in the evening of Good Friday, the children will shape a caterpillar out of modeling wax, swath it in small square of silk, tuck it in the moss outside the grotto with stone over the entrance….

On Saturday, we’ll remember and we’ll wait.

And come Sunday, Easter morn early, in first light dawning, we’ll roll back the tomb, see only the husk of silk left behind, a butterfly a light in the branches of tree over the Tomb and we too will ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Lk. 24:5) He is alive!

So this is the path we walk from Lent to Easter, from dark to Light, from cocoon confinement to conquering in Christ and the Easter garden will unfold, a parable, a living visual of the metamorphosis of all the cosmos…

Us again with HIm in the garden in the cool of the evening.....by Ann Voskamp

Here is my version of the Garden:

I sculpted the tomb out of air dry clay and I added Grace Stones, little clear stones with one side smooth, to which I glued pictures of miracles and events in the life of Jesus. We add one a day until Easter, the path to the cross. The broken one at the top is the Body of Christ. The Lord gave me this idea last January. I was feeling discouraged after the holidays, and I was feeling hopeless about the state of pain my body was in, that it would never go away. When He gave this to me, it was like JOY, welling up inside, that I then poured out into this project.

And this was it on Easter morning, the day I left for Mayo Clinic. I left my husband, who could not walk from his recent gunshot injury. The pastors had prayed over me the night before. I left with tears, uncertainty, and much fear. I left in search of answers. But God promised me a new thing. See I am doing a new thing! I am making a way through the wilderness. Isaiah 43:19....and He did! It has been a year...and all this time He has been bringing me closer, deeper into fellowship with Him.

2. Act out the stories in the life of Jesus. A lot of these stories I learned on a deeper level from Bible Study Fellowship, a non-denominational group that meets on Wednesday mornings in South Huntsville. I cannot imagine my life without the LORD showing me His truth through a deep study of His word. Check It Out!

John the Baptist wore scratchy clothes & ate locusts & honey.

Lowering the paralyzed man on the mat was easy to portray with legos...

As was the Sermon on the Mount!

Lazarus...

Lazarus, Come out! was a particularly fun story to act out!!

You can print out this super cute set over at Catholic Icing when you subscribe to her emails. You wrap the paper characters around toilet paper rolls, and the tomb is an empty Kleenex box. These stayed on our table the whole season last year!

 If you have to pick one, this is one of the most fun...sprinkle "palm" branches on the floor and ride into town on a "donkey" while the crowd shouts "Hosanna!" and "Son of David!"

 Jesus clears the temple. It's never hard to get him to make this face for the camera!

 Celebrating the Passover Meal...walking stick in hand, belt around waist, eating flat bread standing up...just as Moses told the people...in case we have to leave in a hurry!

3. Make Resurrection Rolls together!

 4. Celebrate the Lord's Supper as a family!

We will wait until our son professes his faith in Jesus to let him take part in the Eucharist publicly, but at home, we talk about what it stands for. If you're a WORD GIRL like me, see koinonia (communion) & eucharisteo (thanksgiving) - It's why we do communion -- To thank HIM and to be IN communion - IN His Presence!

5. Celebrate LIFE!

 

On Easter morning, we like to really bring the DEATH comes to LIFE message home...He loves playing Jesus and breaking free from his cocoon of death!

6. Celebrate LIFE...have a shaving cream fight, just because!

7. Make homemade Resurrection Eggs. This is just the most ingenious idea, not mine of course. But the little eggs with an object lesson inside. We have a set, but we also have found other things over time that can be used to represent something from the life of Jesus, one of His miracles, or a parable. There are so many different ways to make them, a lot of information about these online. Here are some of the pieces I've collected.

1. Ninja/Guard for the tomb

2. Fur from a donkey (our pillow pet lost his tail; it came in handy for our object lesson!

3. Pieces of fabric in the shape of coats (they threw their cloaks on the ground during the Triumphal Entry)

4. A tiny broom for Jesus' cleansing of the Temple

5. Some leaves for palm branches - Triumphal Entry

6. A tiny scroll for the Teachers of the Law (rolled up cardstock)

7. Tiny piece of a washcloth & piece of soap  for the Washing of the Feet

8. Ephod - Worn by the Chief Priests, I made this out of felt and glued little crystal jewels to it for the 12 tribes

9. 3 black pom poms or beads - 3 hours of darkness that followed Jesus' death

10. The cross and white cloth - crucifixion and burial shrouds

11. Piece of crate paper - I let my son tear it to represent how the curtain tore in the Holy of Holies after Jesus gave up His Spirit

12. Angel wings - the angel in the tomb

13. Piece of straw from the manger - this is part of the Benjamin's Box story

14. Sponge - Jesus was offered bitter gall to drink while on the cross

15. Black felt covering the earth - Darkness when Jesus was crucified

16. White cloth with Jesus' face drawn in - the cloth he borrowed from a woman on his journey to the cross to wipe the sweat from his face while carrying his cross

17. Sack of silver aluminum balls - 30 coins Judas received for betraying Jesus

18. Lips (or Hershey kiss) - Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss

19. Rope - Jesus was bound

20. Sign - King of the Jews was made by Pilate and hung over his cross

21. Cloth with red dot - Praying in the Garden, his sweat turned to blood.

22. Silk Flower - Garden of Gethsemane where he asked his Disciples to keep watch but they kept falling asleep

23. Band Aid -when Jesus fell on his way to the cross

24. Eyes - For the parable of the Faithful Servant/Wise & Foolish Virgins: Keep Watch & be ready for the Day of Reckoning

25. One-piece white garment: Jewish Moms made their sons a one-piece garment when they became a young man. See Living a One-Piece Life. This is the same garment Jesus was wearing when He was crucified for which the soldiers cast lots. See Ann Voskamp's One-Piece Life. 

26. Helping Hand - When Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carried His cross because He was too weak from the beatings

27. Passover lamb - A lamb had to be slaughtered each year at Passover to make up for the family's sins. Jesus serves as the last Passover Lamb to be slaughtered for all sins of the past, present, and future. Hallelujah!

28. Lady & perfume - The sinful woman at Bethany who anointed Jesus' feet with perfume

29. Die/Dice - When the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothing on the cross

30. Cup & cracker/crouton or Place setting - The Last Supper in the Upper Room

31. Stone - That blocked the opening of the Tomb where Jesus lay

32. Stick/Spear/Toothpick - Pierced Jesus' side on the cross

33. Jar of Spices- Used as a burial ritual by the Women who loved Jesus

34. Feather - Jesus said that when the Rooster crowed 3 times, Peter had denied Jesus 3 times.

35. Dove/cloud/cotton ball - Represents the Holy Spirit. Descended like dove when Jesus was Baptized. God's Spirit was represented by a cloud by day in the Old Testament.

36. Metal Hard - Represents the hard hearts of the people who crucified Jesus, but the Great Power and Love of Jesus, who died for even them and broke the curse of Death.

37. Purple bag - We use this to wrap around Jesus to represent the purple robe they mockingly put around Jesus as He carried His cross. Purple is the color of royalty.
38. Tissue - for the tears of the women at the cross
39. A mask with eyes cut out - for the thief at the cross
40. A gardening tool - When Jesus appeared to Mary after the Resurrection, she thought he was the gardener!
41. Fish - Jesus cooked fish on the beach for the disciples after the Resurrection
42. Fire (orange/red crate paper or lego fire) - Holy Spirit came at Pentecost
43. Ghost or Skeleton - when the guards saw the tomb empty, they were like "dead men"!
44. Walking Stick - Jesus appeared to Disciples on the Road to Emmaeus
45. Large Rock - Child can throw it down on concrete or hit with hammer to signify the Earthquake that took place after the death of Jesus

(You could use one object lesson every day during Lent!)

I am making these for my son's preschool for his birthday and for the kids at Project Abundant Life. We are very excited!

8. Read Benjamin's Box. It is a super cute story that tells about a boy who lived during Jesus' time and it goes hand in hand with the Resurrection Eggs. 
 
I also like Miss Patty Cake's Resurrection DVD and book. It goes nicely with the Resurrection eggs as well.

9. Give up something for Lent....to show you want to share in the suffering of Jesus. We are called to fast so that the emptiness might make room for the Spirit.

10. Remember, we are the Easter People, as Ann Voskamp says. We are the believers who are called to tell the world about His glorious grace! We can start in our own home. 
What a privilege and an  honor.

Link to an Easter Tree and Lent Devotional by Ann Voskamp -Free Printable

OH Amanda has a ton of great ideas on teaching kids, from Super Heros to Fruit of the Spirit (some of my favorites) but HERE is a link to an idea for an Easter object lesson. We tried it last year. :)

2014 ~ The Year of YES and LESS

I name my years, like this blogger. This year, I chose the Year of YES and LESS. 

Yes because as a Mom, I feel I am always the No. Too messy, too late, too much sugar, too much gluten, too dirty, too wet, too complicated, too much planning. NO. But wouldn't it be nice to surprise my child sometimes with a YES? And wouldn't it feel good too? And to put off the busy-ness and just BE in the moment. What if I was present in the play, the learning, the reading, the teaching...the everyday intentional moments. Then maybe I would never miss the grace, the blessings. 
                                                                                                       I don't want to miss even one.


And Less, because my stuff is getting in the way of my WALK. More than that. My stuff is strangling me. Entrapping me. I know it. And yet, I keep obtaining MORE. Keep wanting more. The product of a hoarder, I grew up keeping. Never purging. You could say I don't know how. My brain works in compartments, catergories. I like to organize things, to put things in their place. But I did learn something. You CAN'T organize when your stuff EXCEEDS your organization space. Organization is only as effective as the capacity of the container. But I can't get the sickness to go away. The need for More. To live simply - is it realistic in this fast food, tweeting world? I think it is. It will take some major renovation.

This Christmas is about the GIFT we've already received

Christmas 2013

After reading “Seven” by Jenn Hatmaker and studying Jesus’s constant giving and serving in Matthew (BSF), plus contemplating “no presents for Christmas” – the Ann Voskamp way for a whole year, I’ve had some time to put a different perspective on Christmas. After all, it is the Year of the New Thing (Isaiah 43:19).

We pulled out the Jesse Tree, but we didn’t do an ornament every day. We started homeschooling though over the Christmas break, and we fought our two dragons together with the sword of the Spirit (even though it’s a small lego sword, if it’s of the Spirit it’s greater than the largest sword of man.). He was the “good guy” and I was the enemy. I would pick out a common lie (You don’t have to obey your parents) and he would come up with a Bible truth to dispute that lie. Then I would fall down dead! Typical morning. Mommy's always the bad guy. But I can use it to my advantage! Because one day (probably today) a real BAD GUY is going to whisper in his ears and tell him to disobey and that God is witholding something good from him. My goal is that he is ready.

We played with our elf this year. We’d often find him somewhere new in the morning, which Jacob loved, but sometimes Jasper just plain forgot. Give him a break.

Truth in the Tinsel – well, what  a precious idea. But I didn’t really feel like getting the crafts out. I know, that’s a surprising coming from me. And my advent calendars, I have at least 5. Can’t say that we have “read our devotion” more than a handful of times. But we have talked about The Lord our Banner, as long as Moses hands were lifted they won the battle against the Amalekites. We talked about the bitter water at Marah, and the Spirit of God leading Moses to a tree branch to throw into the water, which then became sweet again. I have to constantly be aware of my tendency to compare myself to the Pinterest  Moms of the world for decorating and hosting and birthday-party favor-making and so on. – I mean I refuse to let Christmas be to me what it became to my Mom. A stress. A dread. A nightmare.

We packed our first family shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, for 3 little boys. And we pray that the destinations of those humble cardboard boxes are God-ordained, that they will write us back one day. We made a Prayer Book and we look at it every morning and pray for specific people. It really helps having their pictures in front of us.

We sent Christmas cards to our adopted kids around the world, in Armenia, Nicaragua, and South Africa. We sent Christmas cards to children whose parents are in prison for their faith in Jesus, through Voice of the Martyrs. We made sponge- painted cards & gave them to our mail carrier, recycle, & garbage collector, along with a jumbo Reese's cup. We bought tennis shoes for the soldiers in Afghanistan. We sold peanut brittle, white chocolate candy, and caramel popcorn to raise money for the Missions Offering --Lottie Moon. We gave gifts to our newest mentee and member of the Project Abundant Life program.

Well today we did something cool. I read about “Be the Gift” on Ann Voskamp’s birthday blog. At church I happened to run across “Light ‘Em Up” ideas and it got me thinking. I could do this. For a few dollars we could get some candy or something…tie the gift tags and voila…a way to bless someone! But where to go? Where is the loneliest place in town? For us it’s been the waiting room of the Surgical trauma ICU at Huntsville Hospital. First waiting on my aunt that cold month of October 2011…waiting for those four 20-mintute visitations every day, then setting up shop in the waiting room for hours. Only to see she had made little progress. There were tears. Hopelessness.

Then waiting for my husband in March of this year. After the gun went off. Waiting as he lay there on the table, a titanium rod would be his new shin. Waiting and scared. With one friend. How grateful I was he decided to skip church that Sunday morning. 

So I had an appointment with my rheumatologist today and I thought it a perfect time for us to distribute our goodies…Mounds bars (MOUNDS of blessings to you!) and cherry candy canes. We prayed for God to show us the right people. Who needed a lift. The first one Jacob passed out was to a man who was very weak in a wheel chair going up the elevator. We saw a Mom from Jacob’s school in the Dr.’s office who was trying to figure out what she had that was making her hurt so badly. She complemented Jacob for the blessing and for the good behavior. She got one too. We found a man downstairs in the waiting room who Jacob sneaked behind and slipped the candy over his shoulder into his lap. This frightened the man so he let out a loud YELL! Oops. Merry Christmas. This is Jacob’s way to bless others.We found a policeman getting lunch in the cafeteria. A receptionist at Daddy's work. A tech at TOC. A patient awaiting modality in therapy. We went into the Hospital chapel and placed several candies on the pews, and one on the pulpet. To bless. In secret. 

Leigh Wilhelm, director of Project Abundant Life, really made me think as she shared with me her family's tradition of only 3 gifts each, like the wise men. And then there's this other thing they do...Secret Giving. To a family in need. How awesome is secret giving! Takes the whole "self glory" problem right out of the picture!

We headed to the ICU waiting room and found several families, one whose sister was having brain surgery (same one Wanda Mullins had 2 days ago! And we have been praying!!). The lady ended up knowing my grandfather, JD and my aunt Cheryl. Another lady was about to go in for surgery to see if her cancer treatment had been working and we got to pray with and for her. Another lady accepted the candy and said she was a Jehovah’s Witness. She told me she didn’t celebrate Christmas but that she wanted me to know that she believed Jesus’s death was essential to our humanity's hope. It was a good day. Being in that room brought back some tears. That was unexpected. But we spread some joy. And it felt good.

So we just had a few presents under the tree this year. And I had family over, but I didn't get out the good China. Not even the tea goblets. We ate around the breakfast room table and had sandwiches and chips & dip. But Christmas is sharing and giving love. And there was that.

Homeschooling - I'm New at This - But God Started Early

So I started saving my stickers off my papers when I was 6, I used them when I taught my "class" in my bedroom. I have been collecting teaching supplies my whole life. The routine of school was always a good fit for me. I loved getting new school supplies every year, had kinda a love affair with colored pens and erasers. And STICKERS. I love to learn. I love WORDS, wrote poems & stories at a very early age (I'm still an aspiring writer!!). I love homographs, homophones, onomatopoeia, rhyming, word meanings (Biblical Greek/Hebrew), Names of God, personification, alliteration, and yes, loved LOVED diagramming sentences. Yes, God made me very special. :) In fact, I still remember the 'chant' my 8th grade teacher taught us to remember the conjugates of "be." I never really knew why I was such a word nerd or why I get a high from thinking about putting things into catergories and using dry erase markers, until the Lord called me to homeschool my to-be kindergartener this Fall. One by one I started to meet Moms who homeschool their children, and one more little light came on in my brain. Then the day came when I had to register my son for kindgergarten...and I didn't do it! And there was...a Peace. There's only one who can provide that kind of peace.


Soooo....since I THINK I'm supposed to make lesson plans in case someone stops me & asks 'what on Earth is your child doing at home on a weekday?' 

I just might pull out my blog...

BIBLE:

Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty Power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:10

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. Col 3:23

 Attending Bible Study Fellowship together on Wednesday mornings. Once a month the children during Intergenerational Worship, the children come into the Sanctuary and we worship together by singing hymns.

Nativity Scene Legos - These are Trinity Toys Brand from Family Christian.

Acting out  The Egyptian Plagues -the bubble wrap is for the boils on their skin!
1. Blood - red marble, red cup, or clear cup painted half-red 2. Frogs - plastic frogs or flippy frogs you flick with your finger 3. and 4. Lice & Flies - tiny plastic bugs 5. Pestilence/disease of livestock - plastic farm animals 6. Boils - bubble wrap 7. Hail -white marble or marshmallow 8. Locusts - plastic grasshoppers 9.  Darkness - black marble or black felt/fabric/construction paper 10. Slaying of Firstborn - tiny plastic baby from King Cake or miniature aisle at craft store

 

 

 We found this cute song on You Tube to help us learn the books of the Bible : 66 Books of the Bible. It's a little dated but J loves it. We used a pointer (pencil with a fun eraser) to point to each book on a chart as they sung the song!

PHONICS & READING:

 Word puzzles are great!! I printed these over at one of my favorites for Printables...This Reading Mama: Free Bob Book Printables or This Reading Mama - Free Bob Book Printables cont'd

 We encourage making all kinds of words with the magnetic letters...even potty words...whatever makes him happy! Typical boy.

Sight word Boom - blow the party blower and knock the cup with the correct sight word I read aloud. You can also read a story and have them listen for a particular word.

Sight Word Baseball-He had to hit the crumpled up pieces of paper, which all had sight words on them.

Sight Word Bingo - a simple 8-word grid and he has to mark the word with a dinosaur on his grid if I call it out. This Reading Mama has an awesome Word Wac Woe which is a very cute way to learn sight words!

Hide and Seek - Searching for Sight Words. You can also search for them around the house (and even put names of common household objects up around your house) or out and about when you go grocery shopping or on errands!

   Matching word families using animals. 
Printed from This Reading Mama Bob Book printables. and More

Alphabet fishing - use paper clips to "catch" these fish and match the letter with the picture that starts with that letter.

Have you heard of BANG? Super fun letter recognition game (or you can use sight words!) Try to make pairs of letters by drawing them out of a paper sack (or hat - something that you can't see what you drawing). If you draw a BANG stick, you lose all your matches and start over! If you're playing with sight words, have the player sound out the word. If he sounds it correctly, he gets to keep it.

Don't Let the Cat Out of the Bag - very similar to bang. We worked on sight words with this game. Draw a card, say the word, get to keep the card (you get a point). If you draw the cat picture out (there were 5) you have to put back your cards. He thought this was hilarious!

 
Coloring with cue tips...ba, be, bi, bo, bu as he says the "words"

Reading with a pointer! We downloaded several FREE ebooks (which go into your ibook app on your ipad!) from 1+1+1=1 Raising Rock Stars.

These fun cards have cut outs for your magnetic letters. I bought them at the Thrift store!

He cut out pictures I had printed from google search of various things and he has to put them over the correct letter of the beginning sound.
 
We use this chart each morning to go over our letter sounds/phonics. We don't say the name of the letter anymore, just its sound! Then we play a fun game called Jibbily Jobbily where you make up funny words - long strings of letters that don't make any sense. He has to name each letter's sound and then I have to try to pronounce the entire word! Big laughs!

 Sight word laminated play doh cards

 Building words with Unifix Letter Cubes



Christian Preschool Printables has some great file folder games, lapbooks, and easy reader printable mini books - all free!
Bible Story Printables has a printable timeline for free! I am so excited to put this together, but I have a feeling it's going to take awhile!


This game came from This Reading Mama. It's called letter blending! If you go to THIS LINK, you can download the Set 4: Compound Words Bob Book printables for free! That is where I printed the cute blender! It explains how to blend 2 letters together. When 2 letters get together they say a special sound (called a blend).

Read - Build - Write from 1+1+1=1
 Cool concept...You read the word in a story, build the word with letter tiles or magnetic letters (or paper letters), then write the word using your pencil. I'm a big fan of the multisensory approach.




Cut & paste to make the story correct. "I see a hat on a cat. I see a bee in a tree."

This one had trouble with 'C.' It was always backwards. So we talked about how C is a crow and drew a beak on the end and that he wanted to eat his corn so he needed to face forward or else he wouldn't get any corn. It worked!

MATH: 

Read

Using a number line: use a small toy/plane or coin to cover up a number and ask "Which number is under the toy?"

 Building with Legos

 Copy the pattern of shapes on the Angry Bird card using the building blocks. Then the fun part - knock it down with the Angry Birds!

 Roll the dice. Put that many counters on the grid. Encourages understanding of one-to-one correspondence. (the number 4 means 4 spaces get covered)



 Christmas Tree patterns - cutting and making patterns!

Farm Spinner Game...OK. This game is super fun. And it covers multiple areas of learning...you use a spinner you can print from 1+1+1=1 in her kindergarten printables. You spin the spinner (which I used a brad stuck in a paper plate with a paper clip around the top of the brad). If you're playing with 2, each of you pick 3 animals and a color. There are 6 total animals. If it lands on my animal, I get to find the word on the chart and color one square in the color I chose. With each spin, color one square. Whoever gets the most squares colored wins. At the end, tally all the squares out beside each word/animal and write that number. Which animal came in first, second, third, etc.

Math sentences with Squinkies. Describe this scenario in a math sentence. I have 2 squinkies. Billy gives me 2 more. How many do I have now?
The math sentence is 2+2=4.

Monster Truck Graphing from 1+1+1=1 Raising Rockstar kids free printables. Print a spinner circle and mount to a paper plate. Use a paper clip to create a game spinner. Chart/graph each time you spin a certain truck. See which truck wins!

HANDWRITING:

 Tracing letters - he gets these cute letter books from Scholastic!
Tracing name on laminated paper

Number Forming

Do-a-Dot painting for difficult letters

 Do you know about 
 b sees d? 
It's a way for kids to remember which letter faces which way!

 SCIENCE:

 

 Experimenting with water, food coloring, and snowman molds!

                                                                                   The clear snowman had sprinkles inside him!

The Melted Snowman game. I handed him a little bag with a button, a carrot, and an ice cube. He had to guess what was inside. It was a melted snowman!! Then we took the ice cube and the object of the game is to be the first to melt your cube! I cannot remember where I saw this game but you could probably search for it.
Roll 1 - Blow on your cube
Roll 2 - Hold in your hand for 10 sec
Roll 3 - Drop cube down your shirt!
Roll 4 - Soak in water for 30 sec
Roll 5 - Sprinkle salt on your cube
Roll 6 - Drop cube on floor.

Another experiment with frozen water - dinosaurs got 'caught' in the ice during the Ice Age! That is how we believe they became extinct.

ART:

Aunt Leslie gave us these wonderful Window Markers. They will be great for art and maybe some handwriting practice too!

FIELD TRIPS

Chilling at the library

Where are we? If Ricky and Priscilla went on a trip from Alabama to visit our adopted child Viktoria, all the way in Armenia, how would they travel there? What would they need? How many miles is it and how long do you think it would take them?

 Learning about the American Indians at a friend's Konos co-op

 Early Works Children's Museum

We always have to take advantage of the scale at the grocery store! Which vegetable do you estimate is the heaviest??

Georgia Aquarium

ON MISSION: 

 World Missions Offering at Church: Selling baked goods we made - peanut brittle, white chocolate cherries, and caramel popcorn trail mix

We raised over $150 for the Lottie Moon Offering!

 Passing out oranges and peanut butter crackers at Manna House - we always bring a fold up stool so J can reach the food line & participate.

Mrs. Fran at Manna House always finds a sweet treat for J to nibble on

 This Christmas (2013) we passed out MOUNDS of blessings, small chocolate bars with a blessing verse  throughout the surgery waiting room of the hospital and in the 

hospital chapel.

 Here we are with all of our Mounds of Blessings and candy canes gifts we prepared to give out to anyone we ran into that might need a lift. We asked God to show us the right people and provide opportunities to share Jesus' love.

 I got this idea from GO Kids, the elementary group at church and it originally came from online - Check out Light 'Em Up by Courtney DeFeo or More Light 'Em Up ideas

  Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes - We prepared 3 boxes for a 4 year old boy. We included a special note and an envelope with our address, in hopes we would get a return letter. We are still praying our boxes will make it to just the right little boys and that they will feel God's love. 

Shoes for Soldiers - We also sent tennis shoes to soldiers guarding in Afghanistan. We pray that their feet will be guarded in the Peace of the Gospel. Eph 6:13

 Project Abundant Life Mentoring Group for Single Moms

 Gifts for our Neighborhood Servants: Mail carriers, Garbage & Recycle Collectors: Waiting...

 Making gifts for special servants - Sunday School teachers & school teachers

Fried Pies :)

 

World Vision Sponsorship - 
Check out the World Vision Gift Catalog. I let J pick out one thing for us to give to Jesus for Christmas. He picked out the goat one year and this year he was drawn to the Girls in Prison who are traffiked. There are many causes to support, wherever your heart leads you.

Our adopted children:
Viktoria - Armenia
 Katerine - Nicarauga
"Rebby" -South Africa

BRAIN TREK - a private school owned and operated by Martha Williams, director of Kids Trek.

    Mensa Kids Trek is free, open to the public, and geared for all ages. Children must have adult partners. For more information on Mensa Kids Trek and/or Brain Trek, please contact Martha Williams, kidstrek@earthlink.net a free program for Huntsville to faciliate hands-on learning.

Making a mammals book

Lots of toys and learning at Brain Trek