This Sunday, we learned that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and all the people waved palm branches and yelled “Hosanna” to praise him.  Jesus was happy to see the people because Jesus loves everyone!  Who does Jesus love?  Jesus loves everyone!  We had so much fun this week celebrating this fun story.  We played a game riding on a donkey around the room, and had delicious donkey shaped cookies.

Parents, talking to your child about Jesus’ death and resurrection can be a little intimidating- but don’t let it be.  There are lots of great children’s Bibles that tell this story using kid-friendly language.  There are also resources that can make this story fun to learn, too.  One of my favorite Easter activities for families is making resurrection cookies (click here for recipe) or telling the story through Resurrection eggs.

This was our last week working on our memory verse from John.  Be sure to ask your child to say it with you one last time.  “Love eachother as I have loved you.” John 15:12.

On Sunday morning, we learned that Jesus chose some special friends called disciples. He chose all different people to be his friends.  He called to them, “Come Follow Me” and they did!  Jesus wants us to follow Him too.  We can show that we are following Jesus by loving others like Jesus does.  Who does Jesus love?  Jesus loves everyone!

This week, during snack time, our kids got to take an extra heart cookie home for someone they love.  A simple gesture of sharing with others helps kids experience love first-hand.  We also played follow the leader and used play dough to make heart shapes. 

Parents, this month we have been focusing on showing love for everyone!  When Jesus chose his friends, he chose people who were from all different backgrounds.  Before bedtime, take some time out to help your child make a list of their favorite friends.  Then pray with your child for each friend by name.  Ask God to help your child show love for all of them through their actions.

Be sure to practice our memory verse.  “Love (cross hands over heart) eachother (spread arms out) as I (point up for Jesus, because Jesus said this) have loved (cross hands over heart) you“(point out with both fingers).  John 15:12 (hold hands open like a book)  Have your child “show off” their memory by doing it on their own too.  Be sure to give them lots of praise!

Also, please note that we changed the Valentine Cookie Making Day to Friday, Feb. 12th at 10:00 a.m..  Come let your kids make a mess in our kitchen- instead of yours and take home some Valentine cookies to share with family and friends.

This week we continued learning about the Christmas story.  We learned that Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem.  When they got there they couldn’t find a place to spend the night because no one had room for them.  Guess where they slept?  That’s right!   They slept in a barn.  When Jesus was born, Mary laid him in a manger.   Jesus must have really loved us to give up heaven for a manger.   How do we know God loves us?  God gave us Jesus!

To help us remember this great story, we played a game with barn animals, made a cool jingle bell bracelet, and had a birthday party for Jesus!

Parents, this is a great time of year to make Jesus a priority in your home.  During the Christmas season, kids can become very “me” focused.  Help them remember that Christmas is all about Jesus by doing a few simple things.  This week, set aside time to show love for someone else.  Make up a plate of cookies and let your child deliver it to a neighbor or take it to someone who serves our community.  Letting your child experience the joy of giving will help them to know giving is better then getting.

Help your child with their memory verse this month:  “God (point up) has given (hold hands out with palms up) a Son to us.”  (cradle your arms, and rock them like you have a baby).  Isaiah 9:6

Sunday morning we kicked off our month of Christmas learning about the angel’s visit to Mary.  When the angel told Mary that she would have a special baby, Mary praised God.  We will be celebrating Jesus’ birth this month by answering the question: How do we know God loves us?  God gave us Jesus!

To help us remember this great story, we made angel wing ornaments, ate angel cookies and played a game announcing Jesus’ birth!

Parents, this is a great time of year to make Jesus a priority in your home.  During the Christmas season, kids can become very “me” focused.  Help them remember that Christmas is all about Jesus by doing a few simple things.  Begin by setting out a nativity set  and talk about it with your child every day.  There are lots of child-friendly nativity sets available that kids can play with. .  Fisher Price has a great one.  Letting your child play with and explore all the people who celebrated Jesus’ birth a long time ago, will help them celebrate Him now.

Help your child with their memory verse this month:  “God (point up) has given (hold hands out with palms up) a Son to us.”  (cradle your arms, and rock them like you have a baby).  Isaiah 9:6

This Sunday we wrapped up our month learning about creation with a celebration!  We celebrated all the wonderful things that God made, like the sun, the trees, the water, the sky, all the animals and people.  We all worked together to create a cool celebration banner, then we had a party!  Who makes good things?  God makes good things!

Parents, if you’ve been reading their creation book at home all month, it mightbe time for a pop quiz.   As you are driving in the car, name some of God’s creations and let your child tell you what day God made that thing.   Kids love showing off how much they know!   When they get an answer wrong, encourage them by saying “I don’t think so, try again.”  When they get it right, be sure to give them lots of praise!

Next month we’ll be jumping forward in the Bible to the Christmas story.  You can start working on next month’s memory verse now.  “God (point up) has given (extend arms in front of yourself) a Son to us ( pretend you are rocking a baby).  Isaiah 9:6  (hold hands like a book)

This Sunday, just like the grown-ups, we learned about service.  We learned that we can love others by serving them.  What did Jesus say is important?  1. Love God.  2. Love Others.

Our story was from 2 Corinthians.  Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth asking them to share what they had with the church in Jerusalem.  The church in Jerusalem needed food and clothes. We can share what we have with others too.  We can share our things, our time, and our love.    To help us remember our story, we made pictures with food, we made a special snack together to share, and we sewed up a lacing card.

Parents, this is a great week to help your child focus on serving others.  There are lots of little ways that your child can help you, their siblings, neighbors and friends.  Sit down with your child and talk about the challenge.  Then help them come up a with a list of 5 things they could do for others.  Some great examples which might make the challenge more fun are:  make cookies and take them to a neighbor, surpise a sibling by cleaning up their room for them, leave a special note on daddy’s mirror, send a card to a grandparent, or help make dinner for the whole family.  

Be sure to practice this week’s memory verse together.  “Love (cross hands over your heart) the Lord (point up) and love (cross hands over your heart) your neighbor as yourself .” (point to those around you)  Matthew 22:37 & 39 (hold hands open like a Bible)    View this video to see how to practice the memory verse with your child.

This was our first Sunday in our new classrooms and we had a blast!  So much fun in fact, that I forgot to take pictures of all the things we did.  But here’s a recap for all our moms and dads!

This month we are learning- Who will help me?  God will help me!  And God helped David too.  He had a big job to do!  David was a shepherd and had to protect his sheep from a lion and a bear.  David was able to do such a hard job because God helped him. 

During our class time, we made lion and bear puppets, played a matching game with animals, and had a fun snack! 

Parents, Kids love playing pretend!  Play out this week’s story.  Set out a bunch of pillows in the living room.  These will be your child’s sheep.  Have one parent (I suggest dad) be a hungry lion.  Dad’s make great growling sounds.  Tell your child that it is his/her job to be David.  He needs to collect all of his sheep and put them in their pen (the couch) before the hungry lion gets them.  Dad, make sure you let your child win at the game!  But have some fun too.  Ending the game in a tickle fight or letting your little “David” wrestle you to the ground will make for a wonderful memory. 

This week’s memory verse is: “I (point to self) can do all things (spread arms out above and slowly bring them to your side) through Christ (point up).”  Philippians 4:13 (make a Bible with your hands)

For moms and dads who are new to our preschool area (yellow ducks, green frogs, blue birds and red foxes), our Sunday morning schedule looks like this:

• First 15 minutes: We spend this time in our classroom doing activities, crafts or games that help us to prepare for what we will learn during GreenHouse.  It’s very play oriented, but with a purpose.  This week some of the activities that the kids were involved in were: making a lion or bear puppet, playing a matching game with animals.  Our group leaders can choose whichever activities they like best, so not every cchild or every class will have participated in the same activities.
• Next 20 minutes: All the kids in the preschool area group together at GreenHouse (in the chapel).  We start with an intro video produced by our curriculum starring “Mr. Justin.”  This 3-4 minute video introduces the application question and answer.  This month it is, Who will help me?  God will help me!  Next comes the Bible story.  The Bible story directly ties to the concept we are teaching and allows kids to learn about all different characters from the Bible.  Next, we worship God through lively music and dance.  Kids are encouraged to express their love of God by singing and doing actions to the music. It’s a lot of fun, and a little rowdy.  After that, we learn our memory verse, which again ties to the concept we are teaching.
• Next 5 minutes:  When we return to the room, we sit in a circle for our talk time.  This time gives kids an opportunity to share with each other and directly apply the concept to our lives.  This week the question that each child answered was, “Can you tell me something that is hard for you to do, that God can help you with.”  Kids named things like: brushing my teeth, obeying my mom and dad, and sharing.  After each child had an opportunity to share, we prayed for God to help us with those things.
• Next 5 minutes: After talk time, we have a snack.  Many times our snack reinforces what we are learning.  This week we used Ritz crackers, EZ spread cheese, and raisins to make lion faces.  Yum!
• Last 10+ minutes: We finish up our time together with more activites, games or crafts that reinforce what we learned.  For example, this week one of the games a group played involved looking for sheep (cottonballs) that were hidden around the room.

We always seek to make the learning very interactive and fun for the kids. 

Each week, we will post one idea that parents can use at home to reinforce what their child has learned.  We want your child to know God is not confined to our church building, so make sure that you talk about Him and to Him at home many times each week.

This month we are learning that God keeps his promises. Can you believe what God says? God does what He says He will do. In our story today, God told Noah to build an ark because there was going to be a flood. God told Noah to take animals on the ark with him and that God would keep them all safe. Noah obeyed, and God kept them all safe just as He said He would do.

To help us remember our story, we made paper plate boats and filled them with animal crackers. We also made really fun animal puppets.

Parents, when you are traveling in the car this week play a game with your child. Make an animal sound and let them guess which animal makes that sound. After they understand the game, let them lead the game. Let them make animal sounds and you do the guessing! After you’ve played the game, remind your child that God kept Noah and the animals safe on the ark.

Memory Verse: “Trust in the Lord (point up with both fingers) with all your heart.” (spread arms out on the word all and then move them closer together on the word your, on heart cross your arms over your heart.) Proverbs 3:5 (hold hands open like a Bible)

Today was our last week asking the question, How do I know what to do? God will teach me. This month we’ve learned that God will teach us through his Word the Bible. We’ve had a great time worshipping God by singing a fun song about the Bible!

Today we learned about a man who was throwing a party. He invited lots of people to come but some of them said “no.” That made the man sad. Heaven is like a big party! God has invited us all to be with Him in heaven someday, but it’s up to each of us to decide to “yes” or “no” to his invitation.

To help us remember our story, we threw a party! Parties are so much fun!

Parents, when your child is a little older, we hope that they will make a decision to say YES to God and be baptized. Although those decisions may still be years away, these early years are important for laying the foundation for that decision. Right now, be sure to read a children’s Bibledaily with your child and play worship music that reinforces key Biblical truths. And don’t forget to pray with your child and FOR your child everyday.