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SSTN # 19 - February 27, 2002
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
1) Explaining the Trinity
-> Jesus Lights Me Up! - Switch Covers
2) Abraham and Isaac
-> Puppet Resource Site
3) Jr/Sr High Skits to Motivate?
-> FaithShapes!
®
4) Curriculum for VBS 2002
5) Foreign language help
6) Music for Baptism?
7) Need Inexpensive Rewards/Awards
8) Olympics Resources Book?
9) Using Disney characters
10) Temptation of Jesus
11) Parable Lessons?
12) Temptation of Jesus
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1) Explaining the Trinity
I have heard of using an apple, but I use a real egg in class. Ask them
what part is the egg (not just the yolk, or the white, or the shell) All
parts make it an egg. My little ones ask who is God. For the sake of
simplifying it enough for them, I tell them that "the shell is God, the
white is the Holy Spirit, and the bright sunny yolk is Jesus. " They
seem to be able to grasp it this way. You can make it as simple or
difficult as you like in explaining it. Cindy Butterbaugh
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Jesus Lights Me Up!
TM
5 Reproducible patterns to cover and decorate light switch cover plates.
Patterns include: a lion, a lamb, a ladybug, a butterfly, and a whale.
Each pattern comes with accompanying Scripture and object lessons.
Great for mid-week and VBS programs! (Cost: $4.00 + shipping)
In the Curriculum section:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/kt_kit.html
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2) Abraham and Isaac
>Chrisel wrote: I would like to know if you know any free website that
>help me with the story of Abraham and Isaac. I'm looking for some idees
>to help mepresent this story.
The most wonderful presentation of this story that I've heard was done by
a
Bible study teacher named Chuck Missler. You can listen to his
presentation with RealAudio (a free download if your computer does not
have it).
It's available here: http://firefighters.org/html/library.cfm
Click on "Genesis" , then in the next window, scroll down to click on
Chuck
Missler study #16 (Chapters 22 & 24) It isn't a kid's study, but it will
help with background. He's a fantastic teacher!
He emphasizes that Abraham knew God was not going to kill Isaac, because
the
Lord had already promised that he would be the father of a great nation
(Genesis 12:2). This is so important, because we don't want kids to think
of God as "mean"! Abraham believed that GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES.
Also, Jewish traditions lead us to believe that Isaac may have been a
young
man (maybe as old as 33), and not a little boy as many story pictures show
(an interesting tradition - not in the Bible, but interesting to
consider).
Isaac had much faith in God, too. He did not fight against his father,
who
would have been really old!
Hebrews 11:13 tells us that Abraham was one "not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off". In other words Abraham saw the
promise of the substitutionary atonement! ABRAHAM ACTED OUT PROPHESY
through faith, when he took Isaac up the hill and RECEIVED THE SUBSTITUTE!
Have fun with this Bible story in class. It is a serious and important
one
as it shows us a story of Christ!
Hope this helps!
Trish in Nebraska
--from SSTN: one other important point that Hebrews 11:19 makes is that
Abraham believed in the Resurrection! A craft or game illustrating this point would be appropriate. Check out the free games and craft page for
some resurrection ideas: http://www.christiancrafters.com
ysic, sarah <><
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Puppet Resources
Check out the new Puppet Resources site recently added to the links page
at:
http://www.ChristianCrafters.Com/page4.html
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3) Jr/Sr High Skits to Motivate?
My question is do you have any skits that would interest and help get jr.
high and high school kids more motivated to come to church to help in
teaching young and old about Christ. My thoughts are having part of
worship on Sunday mornings in a skit to go along with what the pastor is
speaking on that day. But I am in need of something and advice to get the
kids motivated and wanting to participate. I have been told the I might
only get some but not all because they think Services are boring anyway.
Please help. I will be praying on this. Diana
--from SSTN:
there are so many untapped creative resources in this age group. Singers,
musicians, visual artists, writers, actors, etc. It's a wonderful idea to
get them interested! Get them using their talents to produce a skit once a
month, or even just once or twice a year. You might start with only a few
interested kids, but then those kids will pull in their friends to work
and create too. Create from scratch, by using stories or themes from
Scripture, or buy some books to get you started. Check out the Games and
Skits section of the Bookstore:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html
ysic, sarah <><
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FaithShapes!
®
Stuff your Easter baskets with FaithShapes! ® "The Card Game of
Christian Symbols" A fun game for kids and adults, readers or nonreaders.
The 64 cards are beautifully illustrated with historical explanations and
Scripture verses. Use them for family game night, during Sunday School, or
for personal enrichment. Shape your faith with FaithShapes
®.
In the Curriculum section:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/kt_kit.html
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4) Curriculum for VBS 2002
I'm excited about VBS already, too! We usually use Standard Publishing.
I think their curriculum this year is Extreme Mountain Sports (and extreme
faith from Hebrews 11!). Sounds like a fun project. We don't use their
crafts, though. And I haven't come up with any ideas yet!
Anyone else?!!
Trish in Nebraska
--from SSTN: what are the themes or stories you are illustrating or
emphazing?
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5) Foreign language help
Dear Sarah and other youth workers,
I love the Christian Crafters web site and the newsletter. I started
teaching SS about a year ago in a small (and not wealthy) church. All your
resources have been helpful and timely! Earlier today I read through my
next week's lesson and found that I needed some examples of different
foreign languages to use with a lesson on the Tower of Babal. I was
thrilled when tonight I found the website Freetranslation.com in the
newsletter. I used it to translate the Lord's Prayer into several
different languages. Thought maybe someone else could use it for the same
thing. Thanks for being God's vessel to provide us with help in His
service!
Jan in New Jersey
--from SSTN: thank you, Jan for your encouraging words. Please remember my
ministry in your prayers. Just a heads up on the freetranslation site, one
of the other subscribers informed me that you need to be careful using
this site because it doesn't always use translate correctly. Please be
aware of this fault. Bummer aye?
ysic, sarah <><
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Praise-Amations!
Remember those cartoon flip cards that you rolled between your hands to
make them animate? With Praise-Amations, children will be excited to see
their praise cartoon mini-movies come to life as they roll them between
their hands. 27 Reproducible patterns to make and do with your entire
class!
In the Curriculum section:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/kt_kit.html
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6) Music for Baptism?
My newborn son is being baptized on the 3rd of March. I am looking for
suggestions of music, etc. to make the ceremony extra special. The
ceremony will not be part of the normal Mass.
DB
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7) Need Inexpensive Rewards/Awards
Our Upward Basketball Ministry uses t-shirts, with iron-on stars. The
kids get an Upward Basketball shirt and jersey before the first game. The
t-shirts are worn under their jerseys. They can earn stars for memorizing
Bible verses. They also get different colored stars for basketball
related achievements after each game... such as a red star for "best
defense", or a white start for "most Christ-like". You could probably do
something like that, earning some type of iron-on for special t-shirts.
My kids really work to have their shirt full of stars by the end of the
season and enjoy this type of reward.
Our GAs also get inexpensive charm bracelets. The girls get charms for
completing their "steps" each year.
Kelly
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8) Olympics Resources Book?
Hello. We are trying to put together an Olympic themed VBS from scratch
and was wondering if anyone knew of any resources that we could use. I
have gotten great ideas from the archives, but since the olympics is going
on right now, I thought maybe someone would know of a book or any other
resources that could be helpful. I would welcome any thoughts or ideas.
Thanks so much.
Kim (Texas)
--from SSTN: to anyone responding, tell me the ISBN and I'll try to carry
it in my Bookstore. ;o)) thanks, sarah <><
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9) Using Disney characters
In response to the question about using Disney characters in a teaching
setting: Having taught preschoolers for a few years, I have been to quite
a few training conferences on teaching this age group. I believe they
have all recommended not using animated characters in any way in a Sunday
school or church setting. Their reasoning for this is that the children
will see that "Mickey," for example, is not real, so Jesus must not be
either. Made a lot of sense to me. So when we completely renovated and
refurbished our Baby rooms and Toddler Rooms, we cleaned out all toys,
books, puzzles, etc that used any kind of animated figures. This not only
included Disney characters, but any animal or character that portrayed
human characteristics, such as talking. All of our pictures, puzzles,
books, toys, etc depict animals in true animal settings or people in true
human settings.
I will also add that
we (my husband and I) try not to support Disney in
any financial way because of the lack of moral standards their company
(and company President) has so openly and blatantly voiced. Disney is
truly a perfect example of how this world has so greatly turned their
backs on God!
VJN-FLORIDA
P.S. I would definitely call the park before visiting to make sure they
are not holding any special days that you would not want your children (or
yourselves, as far as that goes) to be a part of. They have definitely
allowed the "family" park to become not so "family friendly."
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10) Temptation of Jesus
I used Temptation Stations from Group's Bible Story Games for
Preschoolers.
Station 1: Bread Station
Hold up a loaf of bread (could use for snack) & sing:
The B-R-E-A-D
That's not enough for me.
It feeds my body, not my soul....
(this posting has been edited for copyright purposes. To get the whole
story, please purchase the book.)
--from SSTN: you can find this in my Bookstore by typing the title into
the Bookstore's search box. ysic, Sarah.
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"Get em' in the LOOP!"
L-eading kids to Christ,
O-ffering advice
O-pen discussion forum
P-roviding free resources
Invite your friends, pastors, and coworkers
to join our discussion in SSTN.
http://www.christiancrafters.com/page3.html
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11) Parable Lessons?
I am the director of the 1st UMC ChiIdren's Church in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
Since I have not found a preschool curriculum that I feel is well rounded,
I write my own. I would like to start a series of lessons based on the
parables. I would greatly appreciate any songs, games, crafts or snack
ideas suited for ages 3 to 6.
Thanks so much - Kay
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12) Temptation of Jesus
>I am looking for some hands on type --and or visual type of lesson for
>3-5's on the Temptation of Jesus. Do you have a resource for such??
Tammy, I'm not sure what you are looking for, but I have a children's
sermon called "Who Says" that is based on the Temptation of Christ. It
uses the children's game "Simon Says." It is very brief, but could be
used as the basis upon which to build a lesson. Here is the URL:
http://www.sermons4kids.com/who-says.html
Charles Kirkpatrick
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