Bread of Life

The next few weeks we will be using texts in church. I decided this was a good opportunity to plunge in a little deeper and even spent a little money on materials that can be used for the next few weeks and stored for future use as well.  One of the items that I ordered and am anxiously waiting for is a bread play set to put in the sensory table.  There were much nice sets, but the price on this one pulled it ahead.

It add a little more diversity to the mix, I also went on a photo hunt and found some varieties of bread from throughout the world, a flag of origination to match and printed them in color on cardstock.  I printed flags and bread back to back to add into the sensory table.  I also added magnets to a set and put on a tray so an older child can try matching the breads to the flags.

While on Amazon, this little gem popped up in my items I might like and I couldn't resist.  This book , Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris, has great photographs and can open the door to conversations about diversity and God's love encompassing and providing for all people, all over the world.  I will have it on the table in our prayground during the series and relocate it the children's library.

I have a few more ideas that I would like to get added to this area so check back and hold me accountable for getting it done!

Worship that Sticks (literally!)

A coworker of mine was sharing about some dolls she once saw made to look like pastors.  It sparked an idea for me that has been peculating for some time now and I finally have it completed and ready to share!

I began by asking the pastors and inter pastor to pose for me with their arms outstretched.  Somehow I managed to convince all three.  I then went around and took  pictures of various things children may notice in worship like the altar, the pulpit, the Christ candle, Communion chalice and paten, and so forth.  Using my computer, I cropped the photos to size to coordinate with one another and fit on a metal cookie sheet that I purchased at Walmart.  The photos were printed in color, trimmed, laminated, re-trimmed and backed with a magnetic strip.  Now children can play worship as they observe what is happening in front of them with their very own magnetic church play set!

Piece Be With You

My blog today isn't a how to worship with children so much as it is a why to worship with children.  The other day my two-year-old had gotten his hands on a box of crackers.  Not only did he manage to get into the box and dump many of the crackers out onto the counter, in typical toddler fashion, he was in the process of breaking the crackers into little pieces.  I was covering the space between the kitchen doorway and him to put a stop to these shenanigans when he looked at me with a sweet smile, offered a broken piece of cracker to me and said, "Piece be with you, Mom!"  I laughed and he stood there with his open hand, offering me peace with his piece of cracker.  "Piece be with you, Mom, eat it."  I took the broken cracker, and he leaned to kiss me and said again, "Piece, Mom, peace."

Family of God

On Sunday, July 12th, we read the beginning of Paul's letter to the people of Ephesus.  Paul writes about God's love and our adoption into the family of God.  I knew I wanted to do something in the Seasonal Sensory table with people.  My first thought was to fill the table with some adorable multicultural counter people that I had when I taught preschool, similar to the rainbow colored counting bears that many people are familiar with.  Google, Amazon, and several other sources failed to find what I was looking for and I didn't want to drop money into something that wasn't what I wanted.  I considered re-purposing the little gingerbread figures from the healing service a couple weeks back, but couldn't find any darker paper to add to the diversity of the group.  I was really scratching my brain trying to think of just the right approach when it came to me.  Use real people.  Real faces of real people the children see every Sunday.  Use the children's faces too!  We had a photo church directory come out this year so I went to the office to get a spare copy.  I cut apart photo from photo, ran them through the laminator because these are something I can envision using more than once, trimmed one more time and viola!  A sensory table full of familiar faces to sort, count, compare and more with!  I added a sign that reads: "We are ALL part of God's family"