Mealtime Prayer Box

Knowing that prayer is a key component to a healthy spiritual life, it is important that we begin to teach our children early. One of the most frequent and routine opportunities to incorporate a a family prayer practice is by saying mealtime prayers.

"God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food." Everyone knows that one, right?

While I believe there is nothing wring with memorization and recitation, it can become boring when we recite the same thing over and over. Therefore, it loses some of its meaningfulness. 

At my house, my youngest daughter (age 10) is usually the one who recites our mealtime prayer because her older sisters are far too old and mature for that! 😉 However, even she often sighs and mumbles because, after reciting the same blessing many, many times, she is getting a little tired of it. 

So, here is an idea to keep your mealtime prayer practice from becoming stale and mundane - create a mealtime prayer jar! It's is a super simple thing that might just jazz up your family dinnertime prayers! 

Simply take and empty, clean jar. Any shape or size will do. A box works great as well! Then, paint it, decorate with stickers or markers - whatever you want! Last, print the below pdf and cut apart each of the 25 short, sweet mealtime prayers. (Or create your own) Each night, when you gather at the table, pull one out an read it. Everyone at the table can read one or you can just choose one person to be the reader for that evening. You could even make a jar for each person around your table! Whatever works of you family is fine - there really aren't any rules! 

I hope this idea works for you and that your family enjoys this simple prayer practice! 

Teaching Children To Pray: Body Prayer

I truly believe prayer is central to a healthy, strong spiritual life. However, I also admit that prayer is an area of my own spiritual life that could use some improvement. As I continue to grow in this area, I am learning that prayer can take many different forms. It doesn't always have to be an eloquently scripted Psalm, but it also shouldn't always just be a "Help me!" shouted in desperation. Although both of those methods are perfectly acceptable, there are a lot of other styles that fall somewhere in between.

Like many skills, I think the earlier we start teaching children to pray, the more natural it will be for them as they grow in spirituality. However, we have to teach them in ways they can grasp and absorb in their youthfulness. Since young children often struggle to sit still, why not give them a prayer that lets them move their bodies??

This is a whole body prayer that I use in preschool chapel with 3-5 year olds. We started it at our first chapel sessions this school year when the lesson was about Hannah praying. I said it (along with the motions) and they repeated after me. They really liked it, so I decided to keep doing it. We have closed every chapel with it this year and, now, the children know it by heart. In fact, they frequently jump up and start reciting it with motions as soon as I say, "Let's do our body prayer!". I even used it in a Sunday children's message and got the whole congregation to participate from a sitting position! 

Like most things in life, what works for some might not work for others. Using this body prayer might not be a great fit for everyone, but it is a great way to show children that prayer comes in many different forms. Give it a try with your little ones! 

We were doing this body prayer in this photo! 

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Delivering an Effective Children's Message

I was born and raised a Presbyterian which is the basis for my theological acumen. However, my professional knowledge is in the area of child development. 

As a Christian educator, one of my jobs is to frequently offer the children's message during worship services and it's one of my favorite things to do. Not "tooting my own horn," but recognizing gifts, I often get compliments from the adults in in the congregation saying they enjoy my children's sermons. I guess that means I'm pretty okay at it and, unlike some people, I am extremely comfortable sitting on the chancel steps surrounded by little ones.  

In the book of Matthew, Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me.” I believe that offering a children’s message during worship services provides an opportunity for the church to fulfill part of our baptismal promises and embrace children the way Jesus us said we should. It is great opportunity to share a biblical message with littles ones, but also a time when the smallest disciples take center stage in worship sending the message that the church values their presence. Since these moments are usually quite brief, it is important for the message to be inviting and engaging – for the little children that come to the steps and for the big children of all ages still sitting in the pews. When I am crafting a message, this is the strategy I use. Remember your vowels:

Attention Grabber

Engaging

Interactive

On Kid-level

Understandable

(Personal)

First, you need an attention grabber. This might be an object, a picture, a sound, or even a joke! It is simply something that gets the kids interested right away and makes them want to listen to find out more.

Next, your message needs to be engaging. We've all heard speakers who spoke in a monotone voice looking down at their notes the entire time rather than looking at the audience. Don't be that kind of speaker!! Remember, kids are used to watching brightly colored cartoons and tween shows where the middle-school aged actors are extremely over dramatic. They love it because it's not boring - it's engaging! You don't have to be Oscar-worthy, but you can't be too humdrum either. 

You should also make your message interactive. Young children retain so much more information when they are able to actively engage with it. Find a way to get the children involved in your message by adding some movements for them, teaching them a related song, giving them a phrase to repeat. It can even be as simple as asking them questions. The point is to involve them in it in some way.

Next on the list is offering a message on kid-level and I mean this literally. You have to get down on their level. If they are sitting on the floor, you should be on the floor with them - or, at least in a small chair  - so that you are not towering over them which can feel intimidating. This allows you to look them in the eye when you or they are speaking and conveys the message that you are truly talking WITH them rather than AT them. 

Almost last, but most definitely not least, is that your message has to be understandable. Young children do not have the experience or the maturity to comprehend abstract concepts. Instead they think in very concrete terms. If they have never experienced something and cannot touch it, taste it, smell it, or see it, they will most likely have a very difficult time grasping the concept. Therefore, use concepts and language they can follow.  

Finally, it's not absolutely necessary, but it is helpful if you can find a way to make the story personal. This can be done by either telling a story about yourself (i.e. "When I was a kid like you, this happened and made me feel really sad) or it can be done by making a correlation to something personal to the kids (i.e. Have you ever lost something that was really important to you and felt very sad because you no longer had it?) Making the stories personal lays the foundation for children to see how the scriptures apply to their current lives - something even big kids and grown ups can struggle with.  

I'd like to tell you this is a foolproof method and that, if you follow the steps, every message you offer will "knock it out of the park." Unfortunately, that's not true. I believe these tips will go a very long way in helping to create a great message, but talking to children is not without challenges. 

"What do I do if the children ask me a question?" There are three ways to approach this situation:

• Answer it! Make sure your answer is short, simple, and understandable. Then, answer it and move on.
• Save it for later. If it is a question too complicated for a simple answer or one you are not comfortable answering in front of the crowd, you can suggest a future conversation. Say something like, "That's a really good question and I would like to talk to you about that, but we don't have a lot of time right now, so let's talk later." IMPORTANT: If you take this approach, follow up. The kid might forget the question two seconds after they ask it, but you shouldn't. Email their parents, find the child after the service - whatever works, but do follow up.
• Ignore - You are teaching the story of Palm Sunday and little Johnny blurts out, "Why is the sky blue?" or little Suzy says, "Did you know I hurt my finger yesterday?" These questions are completely unrelated to the matter at hand. You could, of course, save it for later, but another option is to just ignore it and keep going with your message. This is an especially good strategy when the questions start coming like dominoes! 

"What if the children are misbehaving?" There are also a couple different ways to handle this:

• Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. The best solution is to not encourage their behavior by paying it any extra attention. Hopefully, if it is extremely disruptive, parents will come address it. Since a children's message time is usually very brief, this is often the best approach (in my opinion) as long as safety is not a concern.
• Redirection is another strategy. Ask a question directed at the child who is acting up or invite him/her to help you if you can. Find a way to distract the child from the misbehavior and re-focus their attention on the message.
• Predict, preempt, and/or readjust as much as possible. Not long ago, we rearranged one of our worship spaces a bit. As part of this process, a large flower arrangement was placed near the rug where we do the children's sermon. It turned out to be a huge distraction for the children and a bit of a safety concern if they pulled on it too hard. The solution? We moved it. Realizing the problem it caused, we proactively addressed the situation in order to prevent the distraction in the future. 

Delivering a children's message is unpredictable because children are unpredictable! There is no 100% guaranteed strategy for planning a perfect one. However, if you follow these guidelines and just relax, more often than not, your message will be meaningful and engaging. Most importantly, the children will learn the information as well as feel welcomed and embraced.

Jesus Calms The Storm (Mark 4:35-41)

Today, I had one of my regular Wednesday morning chapel services with the preschoolers from our half day program. One things I love about kids (and something that makes other people uncomfortable) is that you just never quite know what they are going to say! As they were leaving today, I was bombarded with sweet, knee-level hugs. Then, one little boy (about three years old) asked,"Are you Jesus?" Before I could even answer, a little girl in his class piped up, "No! She's God!" Ha!! I explained that I was neither Jesus nor God, but I knew about them both and like helping kids learn about them, too. 

I guess, maybe, their question was understandable since I had just led them in creating and calming a storm - like Jesus! 😉

I love teaching children this story because it is one they can really relate to - which is not always the case with some of the more abstract bible stories and very concrete-minded little ones. However, almost all kids have experienced a thunderstorm and I would venture to say that most young children are at least a little scared of them. So, they can understand that the disciples were scared when they heard the thunder, saw the lightening, and felt their boat rocking and rolling in the waves. 

They can also understand the aspect of something that brings them comfort when they are scared - maybe a teddy bear, a special blanket, a pet, or a parent. So, I am able to correlate that to the way Jesus brought comfort to the disciples - he calmed the storm which also calmed the people's fears.

Giving young children the opportunity to move and/or participate in the story is a great way to grab their attention, to get them excited about what they are hearing, and help them remember what they have heard. So, here is a great, fun way to tell this story. 

This part is optional, but I like to begin by playing the sounds of thunderstorm for the children. You can find CD's with these sound effects, easily download a thunderstorm track, or even play one via YouTube. (THIS is video and sound of a storm at sea you could even show them.)

After listening to the storm sounds, I tell the kids that the bible story we are going to hear is about a big thunderstorm and that we are going to make our own storm with our bodies. Here's how you do that:

1. Begin by leading the children in rubbing their hands together (as if warming them up). 
2. Then, have children tap two fingers (index and middle) on the palm of their opposite hand. (Older children can snap their fingers, but young children do not have the dexterity to do this.)
3. Getting louder! Now, begin fully clapping hands.
4. Then, pat thighs using both hands.
5. Add some stomping for thunder!
6. Now, reverse! Do it all backwards to represent the storm calming down. 

Confused? Here is a YouTube video of some children doing a version of that might help to offer a better example. 😊

If time permits, I like to have the children make the storm once. Then I tell the story. After that, we make the storm again and I interject repeated bits of the story such as, "Oh, the rain is getting harder and I bet the disciples are getting worried!" or "Wow! It's a really big storm now and their boat is rocking on the waves!" and "Okay! Jesus is awake and the storm is beginning to clam down just like he told it to!" 
It's really a fun one to do and the kids always love it!  Do you have any fun ideas for engaging kids in this story?

Four Friends (Mark 2:1-12)

This stroy is one that is frequently included in children's curriculum and with good reason. It's a great story. When using it with children there are several different themes you could focus on. 

Of course, there is the theme of friendship. The four friends were so determined to get their paralyzed buddy to Jesus that they went to great lengths to do it.

There is also the fact that the people in the house did not believe that Jesus was God. Therefore, they did not believe he could heal the man. Obviously, he proved them wrong. 

Lastly, it is a story of faith - the faith the friends had in Jesus, the faith the paralyzed man had in Jesus and in his friends, and the faith the people did not have in Jesus' power. 

A few years ago, I was looking for a creative way to tell this story and stumbled across this YouTube Video. It was such a creative yet simple way to tell the story. I used this example and assembled my own "magic storyteller" using four bright yellow sentence strips and a few brads.  

(By the way - This is not me in the video and I take no credit for this amazing creativity!)

Wasn't that cool??? I've done this a few times now and, every time, the children and the grownups are all amazed - which is crazy because it really is so simple! 

Here is a link to a printable version as well. Give it a try and your kids will think you're magic, too! 😊

Sink or Float: Jesus Walks On Water (John 6:16-25)

Each week, I lead a preschool chapel lesson with three, four, and five year olds from our church's half-day preschool program. It's truly the highlight of my week!

Last week in preschool chapel, I was teaching story of Jesus walking on water. I needed an attention grabber/demonstration that would incorporate water, but not get all the children wet! I went with an old standard - the sink or float game! 

To start with, I had a clear plastic tub filled about halfway with water. In a separate container, I brought several different objects that would be familiar to the children and made sure to include some items that would float and some that would sink. Some item suggestions are:

• wooden blocks (one big one and one small one)
• crayon
• marker
• cookie cutter
• plastic animal
• pencil
• small ball
• paper clip
• rock
• Legos
• keys
• toy food
• stuffed animal (if it can get wet)
• coins
• toy person (such as a Barbie doll)

I started by telling the kids we were going to play a game. I told them I would hold up an item and I wanted them to show me "thumbs up" if they thought it would float on top of the water or "thumbs down" if they thought it would sink to the bottom. I went through each item, holding it up, waiting for their response, and then testing it out. 

Shown are a metal cookie cutter, green block, rubber duck, and marker.

I used the toy person last. Then, I asked them what would happen if a real person tried to stand on top of the water. Many of them said, "He would swim!" Several, however, said the person would sink. Then, I told them the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter coming out to meet him.

Of course, the whole point of this particular bible story is to remind us that we need to keep our faith in God - when our faith waivers (like Peter's), we start to "sink." The concept of faith, however is difficult for really young children to understand. It's too abstract. So, I simply explained it by saying that when we forget Jesus loves us and is with us, we get in trouble - like Peter. But, if we remember Jesus loves us, we will be safe. 

In chapel, we don't do any crafts or activity sheets, but if you are doing this lesson in another context, here are some links to a few resources that might be helpful:

• Word Search
• Fill-in-the-Blank Decoder Activity
• Maze
• Find the Differences Pictures
• Some group Activities/Games

What creative ideas and activities do yo have for this lesson? 

Blessings,
Lisa
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Why this blog?

I became a christian educator quite by chance. I guess, sometimes, God really does have plans for us that we cannot see. 

I graduated from college, what seems like forever ago, with a degree in child development. Then, I taught special needs preschoolers for a few years before having our first daughter. At that time, my husband and I decided that I would be a stay at home mom. It was just the decision that made the most sense for our family at the time and what I felt I wanted to do. Along the way, we added two more daughters and I was the quintessential stay at home mom. I volunteered at their preschool and elementary school. I attended a moms' bible study at our church and volunteered on all the church committees surrounding children and christian education. I even started a mommy blog.  

Then, eleven years later, when my three daughters were in sixth, third, and first grades, God called. Well, actually, it was the Christian Education director from my church on the phone. She told me the current children's ministry person was leaving. That person was already the third in five years, so the position and the congregation needed some familiarity and stability. Knowing that I had a background in child development and that I had already served on basically every committee and participated in every event the person in the position would oversee, she asked if I would consider taking it on temporarily. It would only be for about 3-4 months as an interim so they could take some time to find a permanent person. After much discussion with my husband, consideration, and prayer, I said yes. After all, it was only part time and just for a few months. I could work my schedule around all the school carpool runs I needed to do and my time would be up before my kids were out of school for summer vacation.

That was February of 2013. 

After two years of serving as an interim and a search for someone permanent coming up empty, the church session asked me if I would take the job permanently (but, still part time) and, again, I said yes. 

So why start this blog?

Well, it didn't take long serving in children's ministry (even before being employed there) to realize that many themes and stories are repeated when teaching children about God. That's okay. In fact, that's great because young children learn through repetition. But, I often felt like I was constantly reinventing the wheel trying to come up with new ways to teach the same things. So, I wanted to find a way to keep a record of ideas and methods I had used. At first, I thought I would start notebook. Then, I though I would pin them all on Pinterest. Neither of those ideas seemed efficient, though. Then, it hit me. I already had a blog, so what if I just created another one. That way, I could keep track of ideas as well as share with others. 

So, why "Handprints of Faith?" As I was contemplating this blog, whether to actually do it, and what to title it, I was sitting in the living room of my house looking out a large window. It was smudged with handprints from my kids and my even younger nieces. The children weren't there, but they had left an "imprint" that made me think of them days later. I hope that's what I am doing with Christian Education - leaving an imprint that children will remember when I'm not there to teach them anymore. I hope that each little lesson I teach, no matter how silly or trivial, will leave on them an imprint of God that they will carry with them throughout their lives.

This blog will mostly consist of lessons I've done in preschool chapel, as children's sermons, or at other events like Sunday School. I will try to include links to coloring pages, etc. in order to "centralize" it all. Occasionally, I may also include additional posts about some trends in Christian education or thought on other topics  It will take time to build, of course, as anything strong does. So, if you don't find what you are looking for right away, please come back again. If you have a creative idea to share, send me a message or leave me a comment. After all, it does take a village, right? 

Blessings,
Lisa