The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders

We are having a lot of fun doing parables!!!

This week was Easter so we had some outings to go to that caused us to be out late so we weren't able to do a whole week of activities for family time which meant we repeated some of her favorite ones a few times :)

Day One: Learning about the 2 types of builders
        We colored our builders that I made out of pre-made cut outs and talked about how one is really smart and one makes silly decisions.



 Day 2 and Day 3: The house built on the sand
            For day 2, I made a house out of construction paper and made a half sheet of brown paper that was our sand. We practiced putting the house on the sand---but sideways because it wasn't stable.
           For day 3, I took a cup of sand from our sand box and some popsicle sticks and we "built" a house on the sand and then poured a cup of water over the house and watched it float away!
 ..... and then played in the water for a very long time HAHA!

Day 4 and 5: And to do the same thing to learn about the house built on the rock, we made a "house" out of a Styrofoam cup and put it on a rock and poured water in the container and watched it stand strong and also cut a black rock out of paper and placed our cut out house on it and talked about how the rock is strong.

 







If you check out my pinterest, I have many other ideas to bring this bible story to life for your family time!

 

Here's some Easter pictures for your viewing pleasure :) 

 



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Check out some more ideas for family time on my pinterest board:

https://www.pinterest.com/pastortiff/family-time/

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

We enjoyed learning about the story of the shepherd who looks after the sheep and cares so much for all of them. And even when he lost one sheep, he went looking for it high and low and threw a party when he found it.

Here's how we made this story come to life for us this week:

Day 1: Reading the story for the first time
        I used 3 cotton balls to play the role of our lost sheep :) We talked about what they sound like and feel like and then we hid one to play a hide and seek game! And then afterward, like each night, we hold hands and pray a VERY simple prayer such as "God, thank you for finding the sheep."

Day 2: The Lost Sheep

       I found a picture some sheep and printed a few off and played hide and seek again. Can you find the 3 sheep? :) 





 Day 3: Coloring
       Coloring is a favorite thing in our house... we do a lot of it! So we colored a picture of a sheep after we read the story.

Day 4: Sheep hiding behind the bushes
        We used one of the sheep from the previous night and I cut out 3 bushes that were bigger than the sheep. She would close her eyes (which was precious) while we put the sheep behind one of the bushes and she had to try to find out where it was hiding.

Day 5: We played the hide the sheep behind the bush again because she liked that :)

 

Day 6: Time to turn off the lights!

        We hid the cotton ball sheep around the room and she had to find them with the flashlight!

Day 7: Sheep handprint

       We ended our week of the Lost Sheep by tracing her hand print on black paper and cutting it out. The thumb is meant to be the head and the fingers the legs. Then we glued cotton balls on the sheep! 

Another idea would be throwing a party at the end of the week :)


So that's what we did this week! Very easy, quick and simple prep and the kids can't wait for family time every night! We know they won't remember all the activities we did but they will remember us making the time to love God together every day and how much fun it was.

If you look back to our weeks of Adam and Eve and Jonah, we made them all out of pre-made cut outs and she uses them to play with in her play house and when I ask her who they are, she can tell me!

Soap box: I'm a children's pastor and know how important it is for these young minds to be shaped well and that children's ministry (specifically the nursery) is not babysitting.. it's a foundation. Worship, prayer, relationships and learning through play ---like our family time--- makes a difference. If you are looking for a church or are plugged in, be sure that your kids--no matter the age--are in a quality ministry. Off soap box. :)

Daniel in the Lions Den

Day 1: Daniel prayed

         For this day, we talked about who Daniel is and how he prayed. We practiced praying like him and then colored a picture. Simple and easy! 

 

Day 2: The Lions Den

        We grabbed some lego blocks and built the lions "home" and just happened to have a Melissa and Doug puzzle that has a lion piece.

Day 3: Daniel in the Lions Den

        Literally-- Daniel in the Lions Den. LOL!!!! 

 

Day 4: Lion Puppet

        For this one, I cut up some orange and yellow construction paper and we glued them on the lions face part of the brown paper bag and practiced making the lion say ROAR!

 

Day 5: Lion Mask

     This was a particularly rough day---everyone was just grumpy and to not contribute to that grumpiness of having to take away a glue stick, I completely made this one ahead of time and then we just put it up to our faces and had fun being the lion.

      All I did was cut up the strips of construction paper and glue them around a paper plate that had the center cut out and then made 2 ears out of brown paper and glued those on. 

 

Days 6 and 7: Being praying Daniel in the Lions Den

This one was a big hit so we did it 2 days in a row. We layed out a blanket (but could easily be made from a baby gate or play pen) and took turns being a lion using our face mask and the other would be a praying Daniel. 

So there you have it! Another week of fun, easy, simple ways to bring God into your home!!