Print off this coloring page for your kids or send the link to parents to print at home!
10 things I’ve learned in Preschool Ministry
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Delanee Williams joins the podcast to discuss 10 things she has learned in preschool ministry.
Scripture and a Snack!
By Sarah Humphrey
One of the best ways to help kids learn something new is by teaching a short lesson and then following through with a practical application. If I were to ask my kids what some of their favorite school days were, they would almost always express their joy over a hands-on art project, a science experiment, or making a snack together! Thankfully, we can add any of these applications to our daily lives without much prep work or complication.
If you take a look in your pantry, you can easily find and follow a recipe that explains a Biblical truth. And when you eat what you’ve made, it’s much easier to remember what you were learning! Connecting our brains to our taste buds always serves as a great way to enhance a child’s sensory experience, create a positive memory, and engage kids in a practical expression they’ll use in years to come.
Here is one of our favorite recipes that fills little bellies with protein, sweetness, and a Bible verse! Based on 2 Timothy 1:7, it’s a great way to remember that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound judgement.” The next time you might find that a little one in your area of influence is struggling to sense God’s peace or power, you can follow these few steps while sharing Scripture and some prayer time with them!
Enjoy the sweetness, and savor the time well spent.
Powerballs
1 1/2 cup instant oats
1/2 cup organic peanut (almond or sunflower) butter
1/2 cup organic, local honey
Chia seeds, flax seed, mini chocolate chips, and a pinch of cinnamon (to taste)
Mix together.
Roll into balls.
Roll in unsweetened coconut.
Sarah is a wife and homeschool mom to three kids while also working as an artist, author, life coach, and voice actor. Her writing and doodling can be found in her devotional, “40 Days to a Joyful Motherhood” and her voice in several commercials, children’s books, and audiobooks. Her education and love for holistic science also leads her to teach small workshops on health, wellness, and creativity. She loves encouraging women and kids to embrace self-care, utilize their gifts, and become leaders in the community around them. Her latest devotional for tweens, “Solomon Says” releases this November. Until then, you can follow her Instagram @the.table.and.bath!
Fun Friday: Volunteer Appreciation
Download, print, and cut out this tag for a fall-themed volunteer appreciation.
Team Talk: Building Up Your Volunteer Team
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Jeremy Carroll joins the podcast to discuss how to build up your Volunteer Team.
Back-to-Sunday-School Books
By Anna Sargeant
Many churches are back to Sunday gatherings this fall in some form or fashion, and children’s ministries are up and running. Whether you’re teaching kids the Bible in a Sunday school classroom, on the lawn, or in your home, adding a great book to the day’s schedule is always a good idea!
So stock your Sunday shelves! Each of the following book recommendations from the Lifeway children’s imprint, B&H Kids, is a biblically-based, trustworthy resource—an excellent supplement to Sunday worship and Bible teaching.
Recommendations for Classrooms
Elementary School
Cornerstones: 200 Questions and Answers to Learn Truth by Brian Dembowczyk
Do your elementary students ask deep questions about God and faith? Using a question-and-answer structure, Cornerstones provides helpful answers that serve as a foundation for spiritual truth and spark hunger in kids (and parents) to know and love God more. Topics include the Trinity, sin, redemption, the church, prayer, restoration, and more! The whole family might dive into this book together, or children can use it by themselves since each question and answer is written in a kid-friendly way.
Preschool
There Are Lions in This Book! by Dandi Daley Mackall
In this clever take on the story of Daniel in the lions’ den, a narrator mouse continually warns readers not to turn the page. If they do, they’ll be one step closer to what put Daniel from the Bible in danger—those terrifying, hungry lions! As this intriguing story unfolds, preschool and younger elementary children will learn what truly happened to Daniel in the Bible, while being entertained in the process. Based on feedback, this book is particularly interesting to boys!
Nursery
The Moon Speaks by Jason Duesing
The Moon Speaks is a poetic board book for children, ages 0-4, which shows that behind the creation kids love so much, is the God who loves them even more. The steady sounds of the words combine with the gentle artwork to provide a calming experience for young children. The Moon Speaks helps little ones understand that all of creation is telling us something: God is there, He made the world around us, and He wants us to know Him.
Recommendations for Families
Elementary School
The Promises of God Storybook Bible by Jennifer Lyell
The Bible is rich with stories for our children to hear and enjoy! And when those stories uncover the thread of God’s promises, young readers learn so much more. They discover how God has demonstrated His unstoppable love for us—from the first promise in the garden to the promise of the new heavens and earth.
The Promises of God Storybook Bible is a whimsical, biblically rich retelling of more than fifty key Bible stories. Children will see how a specific promise of God is connected to each story and be reminded that God never breaks a promise He has made to His people.
Preschool
Easy for Me Bible Verses by B&H Editorial
A delightfully illustrated board book, Easy for Me Bible Verses includes twenty-four Scriptures that are fundamental to the Christian faith and easy to memorize for preschoolers! Examples include:
- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.—Genesis 1:1
- The Lord is good to everyone.—Psalm 145:9
- God, create a clean heart for me.—Psalm 51:10
- Love your neighbor as yourself.—Matthew 22:39
The sooner kids start hiding God’s Word in their hearts, the better! Easy for Me Bible Verses is a simple way to help them do just that.
Nursery
When I Hold You by Ashley Huffstutler
When I Hold You captures the universal experience of the mother-child bond. As young readers, ages 0-4, listen to the rhyme and see the diverse illustrations, they will better understand how God reveals His love to us through our relationships with one another. With Scriptures woven throughout every image, both mother and child will be encouraged to worship the God whose love lasts forever!
For more biblically based, trustworthy resources for your Sunday school classroom or family, visit BHKids.com.
Anna served on the children’s ministry team at The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas from 2009-2017, first as a volunteer, then as full-time staff. She also wrote for six years for The Gospel Project for Kids curriculum. Anna currently works as an acquisitions editor for B&H Kids in Nashville. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading a book, sipping tea, chatting with loved ones, attempting to record a podcast, or walking in the woods.
Fun Friday: Activity Page
Download the activity page below to do with your kids and preschoolers!
Fun Friday: Praise List Freebie
Download this free printable Praise List. Write down five ways you can praise God with your life this week! These can be simple actions like thanking God for blessings or encouraging someone through prayer.
Making the Print or Digital Decision
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Landry Holmes joins the podcast to discuss what are the things to look for when deciding to go with print or digital resources.
SOAP for kids!
By Sarah Humphrey
We have spent the last year of our lives practicing one habit in particular. Can you guess what it is? It involves water, soap, rubbing two hands together, and sometimes singing “Jesus loves you” three times in a row.
With COVID, school closings, and social distancing, everyone was sure to hear the phrase “Wash your hands” way more than one time a day. In fact, it was a sentence we saw on billboards, TV screens, signs on storefronts, and sometimes even in our very own homes. Washing our hands never seemed to become quite so commonly discussed, even though it’s an age-old habit that most of us have (hopefully) been doing for years.
Handwashing is a practice that usually takes just thirty seconds at a time but also can take longer if we need it to. That’s often how I look at studying the Bible alongside kids. As an adult, we can hear something and then rush through it to either: move onto something else, pass over the information quickly, or even think that we’ve caught it all. But most of the time, if we’re honest, it’s easy to miss a lot of information and thoughts about what we read, see, think, and pray about.
This is one of the reasons I love teaching children. They ask great questions, and they ask a lot of them. They think literally and love details. And they also love to learn and process stories. Throughout my last few years of talking through the Bible with our own kids, I’ve learned the beautiful art of slowing down to dissect different pieces and parts of Scripture. Most commonly, the prayer method called “SOAP” has been a great model for adults to learn how to navigate through the Bible while also bringing a practical application for what they are learning.
I’ve found that it also works quite well with kids, just like reminding them to wash their hands. It’s simple, practical, and doesn’t take up too much time in their day, but it’s extremely effective. If you’ve never heard of the SOAP model, it’s simply this:
S- Scripture
O-Observation
A-Application
P-Prayer
When you’ve identified one Scripture that you want your kids or ministry kids to learn, you simply write it out. This Scripture can come from a Bible story you’re reading about, a daily devotional, or simply one that means something special to you. Next comes the Observation portion, which means to think through what you see, hear, or observe about the Scripture. Is it comforting or correcting? About bravery or peace? Is it a command or a question? Kids come up with all kinds of wonderful questions during this portion of the exercise, so take your time and enjoy their thought processes here. Next, you come up with an Application to your verse, so that you can walk out what you’re learning in a practical way. Following this, a simple Prayer of confession, gratitude, or help is a great closing place for what everyone has learned.
We’ve all been reminded to wash our hands well this year. It’s just as beneficial to make sure we use SOAP in our daily lives as well. Give it a try, and enjoy the conversations it sparks between you and the children in your life!
Sarah is a wife and homeschool mom to three kids while also working as an artist, author, and voice actor. Her writing and doodling can be found in her devotional, “40 Days to a Joyful Motherhood” and her voice in several commercials, children’s books, and audiobooks. She loves encouraging women and kids to embrace self-care, utilize their gifts, and become leaders in the community around them.
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