The Messages We Send About Christmas
The Holidays. We love them, but sometimes we dread them, too. Our society has placed such an emphasis on “stuff,” that most of us find ourselves, soon after Thanksgiving, stressing over money and tight schedules, and how will we ever get all the gifts and make it to all the events this season? This has…
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Thanksgiving Bible Verses for Kids
Whatever else you may do to underscore the value of gratitude during the Thanksgiving season, one of best things you can do now or at any time of the year is to take your kids to the Bible and let them hear what God Himself has to say about giving thanks. As you might imagine,…
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Growing Gratitude
Hunter ripped into his first present on Christmas morning, his parents and grandmother eagerly looking on. With a squeal, he triumphantly lifted a remote-control Batmobile out of the box. “Just what I wanted!” he beamed. Hunter’s dad said, “Grandma gave you the gift. What do you say?” The boy turned to his grandmother and heaved…
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Gearing Up to Give
Thanksgiving rarely gets the attention it deserves. In recent years it seems that Thanksgiving has become little more than opening day for Christmas shopping. What a huge opportunity we are missing to slow down and help children understand WHY we give during the Christmas season. Generosity should be birthed out of a sense of gratitude.…
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Doing For Others
We are teaching and raising the “selfie” generation. Perhaps this problem is as old as Adam, but our children today often are not only indulged, but over indulged. This can, and often does, manifest itself in angry outbursts, manipulation, shallow relationships, and a spirit of ungratefulness. So where do we draw the line? How do…
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Packing Gratitude
During the Thanksgiving season there is, quite naturally, a big focus on gratitude. Kids are often encouraged to verbalize their thankfulness in a variety of ways. Children’s Bible teachers can reinforce this message by challenging students to show gratitude with generosity and service. Out of gratitude for God’s provision, we can teach children to share with the…
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Learning Styles Part 5: Kinesthetic Learners
It was a Sunday like any other. Since my husband had recently volunteered to help with children’s church, the kids ministry director thought it best that he sit in on one of my lessons, just to get used to the flow of things. I lovingly welcomed him to take a seat and watch a true…
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Learning Styles Part 4: Auditory Learners
You’ve planned for your lesson by putting in hours of study and preparation. The lesson includes hands on activities, a map that shows the route that Jesus took, games, and maybe even a craft or object lesson and yet, you still have that student who becomes distracted and possibly disruptive. This child taps his (or…
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Learning Styles Part 3: Visual Learners
It’s been a known fact for decades that different children learn, well, differently. Even before the pioneering work of Cynthia Tobias in her book, The Way They Learn, educators have understood that different children process information and store it through different “gates.” These learning styles manifest themselves in observable ways early on. It is one…
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