Individuality Books

This month at VAC Kids we've been exploring the virtue of Individuality.  So, we decided to pick up some books from the local library that celebrate individuality.  Here's a list of some of our favorites:

 

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

A great book about a little mouse who LOVES her name, until she starts school and is bullied by peers because its too different and too long!  There's a great little twist in the end, and this book sparked a tonne of discussion about being careful not to make personal remarks about how people look, or talk or what their names are, because it is not kind.  Its also quite funny to see in the illustrations how the parents respond to their daughter being upset and not liking school.  My cousin who teaches grade 3 says this is an excellent book for talking about anti-bullying strategies, specifically WITS: walk away, ignore, talk it out, seek help.

 Chicken Big by Keith Graves
A very silly book about a chick who is so large when he hatches that the other chickens can't quite figure out what he is.  This book is written in a comic-book style and would really appeal to boys and girls as it is quite silly.  In the end Chicken Big saves the day and the chickens realize that he really is a chicken!  Again, this is a great book for discussing the way our words can be hurtful when we comment on a person's appearance, and that each person has unique abilities and talents that they can use to help others.

 The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane and Herm Auch
This was such a fun princess book.  I think the reason I like it so much is the princess is always saying "For Pete's sake" which just reminds me of my dad!  She is put through a series of predictable princess tasks which don't truly measure who she is or what she's good at until in the end, quite by accident she discovers her unique talent.  Very cute and not a fruffy princess book! 

 Ten Big Toes and Prince's Nose by Nancy Gow
I loved this book!  Again it looks at the age old problem of judging a person by their outward appearance, even though what makes a person who they are is what's on the inside.

 The Apple-Pip Princess by Jane Ray
Such a sweet tale of a young princess, overshadowed by her two older sisters who are totally focused on themselves.  This young princess sets out to make her father happy and in doing so brings hope and joy and beauty back to the kingdom.  A great story about simply doing one little thing a day with what's in your hands right now.  Could spark conversations about resourcefulness, being kind to the earth, helping others, teamwork and not doubting yourself.

 I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont
This is a book we were given when my daughter was quite young.  Its a silly story where the little girl says she would like herself no matter what she looks like on the outside because the inside is what makes her who she is.  Wild illustrations that are sure to make your imagination soar!

Family Connect May 22-28

Oops!  I just realized I forgot to post the Family Connect this week!  Our house has been CRAZY busy getting ready for Creative Chaos next weekend, June 3-5, AND celebrating the upcoming marriage of our friends Glen and Amanda.  I'm a bridesmaid, the kids are the flower girl and ring bearer, and Jeremy's officiating the wedding.  So, we've been doing premarital counseling, bridal showers, stag(ette) parties, etc.

Last weekend at VAC Kids we were talking about the importance of taking initiative to make things right.  We looked at Jesus' teaching about leaving our gift or offering to Him at the altar, so that we could go and make things right with our "brother" (ie. friend, spouse, coworker, teacher, siblings...) FIRST.  If we don't have right relationship with those around us, how can we expect to have a right relationship with God???

 

 Have you ever done one of those spot the 10 differences between this picture and that picture game?  Well this week you are playing a 3-D version of that in your home!

Gather your family in one of the rooms in your house, and split into two teams (kids vs. parents, boys vs. girls, etc.).  Team 1 has 30 seconds to look around the room, memorizing where everything is, and then leaves the room while Team 2 takes the time to change around 10 things in the room.  They could move cushions and magazines, turn the coffee table upside down, turn on the TV if it was off, etc.  Team 2 then returns, and has to find all 10 things that have been changed, and make it right.  You could time Team 1 to see how quickly they can discover the 10 changes and make things right, if you like a little bit of competition.  Then swap roles with Team 2 leaving the room and Team 1 making things topsy turvy.  If you’re having lots of fun, play again in a different room, or change up the teams. 

Take time to discuss with your kids how important it is to take the time to make things right, especially with other people, and to not wait for them to come to you first, but to go first, and initiate forgiveness.

Further Discussion Questions

• What can you do if someone isn’t willing to forgive you even after you’ve said you’re sorry?
• How do you benefit by being the first one to step out and make things right with others?
• If God wants us to make things right with others before we come to worship Him, what does that tell you about how much He values forgiveness? What else has God done that shows us how incredibly important forgiveness is to Him? 
• What are some things you can say or do to start making things right with someone?

Family Connect May 15-21

This week at VAC Kids, we heard the story of Joseph, who even though betrayed and treated poorly by his brothers chose not to get even, but did the opposite!

Have an Opposite Meal with your family!  This can be as simple or as zany as you’d like!  Consider dressing up backwards in your clothes, girls dressing like boys and boys dressing like girls, having breakfast for supper, eating dessert first, cutting your food with a spoon or eating with the cooking utensils, sitting on the ground picnic-style, or making an entrée look like dessert or dessert look like an entrée (check out All Recipes for some great ideas like Meatloaf Cake and Spaghetti Torte).  Come up with some of your own fun ideas!

During the meal take time to talk with your kids about the difference between getting even with someone when they’ve hurt you or getting even God’s way.  Share about a time when you thought getting even would settle the score, but it made things worse, or about a time when turning the other cheek like Joseph did to his brothers made a big difference.

Family Connect May 8-14 - A little late, oops!

On the May 7/8 weekend we learned about the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus.  Our new storyteller Jason A. told the story and did a great job making it interesting for the kids and driving home the application points.  We talked about how technically Zacchaeus is the bad guy in the story, but because Jesus forgave him, he was changed... so much so that he because extremely generous in his desire to right the things he had done wrong in his life.  The Family Connect idea for this week is taken from the 252 Basics curriculum, but we thought it would be a better at home activity than at church!  Enjoy!

SUPPLIES: You’ll need a Bible; medium or large mixing bowls (one for every two or three children); spray bottles with a “stream” setting (one bottle for every two or three children); water; salt; blue, yellow, and green food coloring; towels; and smocks (if desired).

Open your Bible to Colossians 3 and read verse 13. Lead the kids to repeat the verse several times, one phrase at a time. What does the phrase “forgive the things you are holding against one another” mean? (It means choosing not to stay angry at others when they do things that hurt us; it means loving others even though they have done something wrong to us; it means letting go of the hurt and anger we feel when people do wrong things to us.)

Ahead of time, fill some bowls with water and place them in the freezer. This activity is best done outside.  However, if you choose to do it indoors, spread towels over the floor or a table and set out the prepared ice-filled bowls. For the spray bottles, you will also need to prepare a mixture of one part salt to three parts hot water. Stir until the salt dissolves. (If the salt isn’t completely dissolved, it can clog the spray bottle.) Pour about a cup of salt water into each spray bottle. Add about 20 drops of food coloring to each bottle. Replace the sprayers and set them to “stream.” Wrap the bottles in towels to keep them as warm as possible.

Give each child a spray bottle. Encourage the kids to take turns spraying water onto the ice. In the beginning, encourage them to repeatedly spray the same area. After about a minute, the water will begin to melt the ice, and a colorful ice sculpture will begin to take shape. Ask the kids to describe what they see (water melting the ice, water changing the shape of the ice, colors swirling together, colored water going into the ice) and possibly hear (water bubbling inside the ice, the ice cracking as it melts).

Chat with your kids about how the ice is like our hearts, and that God can use forgiveness to change people’s hearts the same way their colored water is changing the ice, just like it changed Zacchaeus’s heart.  Share a time when forgiveness changed you or someone close to you.

Further Discussion Questions:

• Why does God not want us to live weighed down with hurts and bad feelings toward others?
• Are there ever any situations in which it’s okay not to forgive someone? Explain.
• What are some reasons people give for not forgiving someone? What do you think God says about that?

Family Connect May 1-7

This month we're looking at the virtue of FORGIVENESS... deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn't have to pay.  We have the privilege of freely experiencing God's forgiveness in our own lives if we confess the wrong that we've done to Him (our sin), and ask Him to forgive us. Because of His great love for us, He died on the cross and rose from the grave, so that we could know forgiveness to its deepest measure, and the privilege of knowing being His child. He has the power and the ability to remove our sins from us, as far as the east is from the west, so that we can live in freedom in our relationship with Him and with others! But, if we have been forgiven, then we should also forgive others! Our memory verse this month is...

“Forgive the things you are holding against one another. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13, NIrV

 

As a family write up a Bucket List of things you would like to do this summer.  Include ideas from every member of the family.  When you’re brainstorming, remember that no idea is a bad idea!  When you’re finished pick your Top 10 ideas that are your family’s "Must Do’s" for the summer.  

Here's our family's: 

• go swimming
• go to Eagle Bay Camp (I'm speaking at Camp C in July, and this is one of our favorite summer family activities.  There's just something glorious about hanging out with kids and young developing leaders, food that I don't have to cook, sunshine and swimming, and the four of us sleeping in a room together for a week!)
• go fishing (my husband's favorite pastime)
• play in our wading pool in the backyard
• grow vegetables in our new square foot garden boxes, and eat them!
• pick strawberries
• make jam
• Aria wants to learn to ride her bike without training wheels
• Roscoe and Mommy want him to be potty-trained
• read lots of books (my favorite summer pastime)
• holiday in Alberta
• have a visit with our cousins
• meet our new cousin/niece Baby Lucy!
• go watersliding
• go hiking
• build a fence (its been in the works for the past three summers)
• use our new patio umbrella that we bought super cheap last fall
• go to the IPE parade
• do a garage sale
• go shopping for Kindergarten this fall
• fix the deck 

 Next, try making a “bucket list” of things as a family and as individuals you need to forgive. As a family, list some things you can forgive so you can live lighter, more freely, and together with the people around you.  If this is tough, try listing situations that often cause tension and hurt, and work on changing those situations before they cause hurt (ie. not doing chores when asked the first time, taking turns with the TV, getting homework done before playing with friends, etc.)

Family Connect April 24-30

Jesus is risen!  He is risen indeed!

I've been reflecting a lot on Isaiah 53 this Easter.  Its always been a favorite chunk of scripture for me, as it blows my mind that God gave His people such an incredibly detailed description of His son in prophesy, and yet when Jesus came, they still couldn't recognize Him!  I love the imagery of new life and growth used - he grew up like a tender shoot.  And the wording used to describe both the way he suffered, but also WHY he suffered, and conquered! 

 ¹ Who has believed our message
   and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
   and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
   a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
   he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
 ⁴ Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
   stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
   each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.
 ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
   yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
   so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
   Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
   for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
   and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
   nor was any deceit in his mouth.
 ¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
   and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
   he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
   and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong
because he poured out his life unto death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.

This past weekend at VAC Kids we really emphasized that Easter is THE most important day in all of history, and that the story we were telling of the resurrection is THE most important news EVER!!!  And if you knew that your friend could tell you about the most important news ever, wouldn't you want to hear it??  I know I certainly would!

This week for a Family Connect idea we thought it would be really fun to do a scavenger hunt of items that relate to the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.  I can't remember where I found this scavenger hunt list, but it is really well put together!  Enjoy!

EASTER STORY SCAVENGER HUNT

Take time after you’ve collected all the objects to discuss the significance of each item.  Let your children try to figure out which part of the story each object represents, and have them lead the conversation, taking time to look up the different scripture references.

3 dimes - Judas received 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16)

Cracker - last supper (Matthew 26:17-29)

Chocolate kiss - Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss (Matthew 26:47-49)

Feather - Peter denied Christ three times before the cock crew (Matthew 26:69-75)

Soap - Pilate washed his hands (Matthew 27:24)

Purple cloth - they put a purple robe on Jesus (Matthew 27:28)

Thorn - a crown of thorns was placed upon Christ's head (Matthew 27:29)

Nail - they nailed him to the cross (John 19:18-19)

Sponge - when Christ asked for a drink he was given a sponge with vinegar (John 19:28-30)

Rock - Jesus' body was laid in a tomb (Matthew 27:57-60)

Piece of tape - after Christ's death the tomb was sealed (Matthew 27:65-66)

Empty egg - this represents the empty tomb after Christ had risen (Matthew 28:1-9)

Family Connect April 17-23

I had the incredible privilege of storytelling this weekend at VAC Kids; a role that I always enjoy stepping in to.  This weekend was particularly special, as I got to share with the kids about Jesus trial and death... leaving the story hanging a bit, to build anticipation of what is to come next weekend!  It was a really neat weekend, and the power of the story was evident in the way all 125 kids tracked with me through out the weekend, because I just straight up told the story.  No bells, no whistles, no creative acting or costuming or lighting or props or computer graphics.  Just the simple story of God's incredible love for us and the lengths He will go to let us know that love and relationship first hand!

So, in light of what we learned about at VAC Kids this weekend, we have a recipe below to pique the mystery of Jesus' resurrection in the hearts of your kids.  I haven't yet tried this with my kids, but I'm super excited to.  For the past couple of years our family has made Resurrection Cookies (a merangue cookie that so sugary sweet even my kids won't eat them, and I end up eating them all because I feel guilty about wasting perfectly good food... yeah).  SOOOO, I was really excited to come across a recipe for Resurrection Rolls.  I know my kids will love it, because it has a marshmallow in it!  Enjoy!

 

Here is a recipe for a fun and intentional baking activity that explores the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Take time discuss the symbolism of the different steps involved in the recipe.

Resurrection Rolls

You Will Need:
Crescent rolls (the Pillsbury kind)
Melted butter
Large marshmallows
Cinnamon
Sugar

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Step 2: Take the white marshmallow. Jesus was pure and sinless like this marshmallow. Roll the marshmallow in butter and then in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. The butter represents the anointing oil and the cinnamon-sugar mixture represents the spices--both items were put on Jesus' body before they laid him in the tomb.

Step 3: Wrap the biscuit around the marshmallow and seal the dough around it. This part is very important--make sure the dough is completely sealed around the marshmallow. After they put Jesus in the tomb, they rolled a large stone in front of it to seal it.

Step 4: Roll the ball of dough in butter and then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Step 5: Place on the cookie sheet. Tip: Wrap the dough around the marshmallow and pinch the dough together. Make sure that the side that you did the most "pinching" and "sealing" becomes the "bottom" of the tomb/roll. This will help keep the roll sealed. Otherwise, the roll will bake apart, exposing the marshmallow.

Step 6: Place the tray of rolls in oven for about 10-12 minutes or until done. Let the rolls cool and then serve.

Step 7: Encourage your child to break open the tomb to look for Jesus. Where is he? He has risen! The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.  How do the rolls taste? "Taste and see that the Lord is good..." Psalm 34:8  The rolls taste sweet, of course. Easter is a time to celebrate the sweetest gift of all--our salvation through Jesus. Although he was blameless, he died on the cross for our sins; was buried in a tomb from three days; then rose from the dead.

Read Matthew 28:1-10

At the tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw an angel, who told them not to be afraid. No one had taken Jesus' body, but He Had risen from the dead! The angel told the women to go and tell the disciples what they had seen, that Jesus had risen from the dead. They were so excited that they ran all the way home to tell the disciples the good news! He is risen from the dead! Alleluia!
By rising from the dead, Jesus proved once and for all that He was the Messiah, the Savior of the World, the Chosen One, and the Lamb of God. By dying on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus did what no other had ever done before. As both God and man, He overcame sin, death, and hell. And now because of what Jesus has done, these things no longer have any power over those who believe in Jesus and allow His Spirit to lead and direct them. 

Oh, and if you want to read an incredible blog about getting your kids to do an "Easter Hunt" for rocks, check out Impress Your Kids.  They have fabulous ideas, and are pretty much my new favorite blog.

Family Connect April 10-16

This past weekend our storyteller Donna shared the story of Jesus praying in Gethsemane and his arrest and betrayal by his disciple Judas (Luke 22:39-44 and John 18:2-11).  The bottom line was that to put others first, you need to put God first. The thing that always strikes me most about Jesus in this story is how completely human he was, that he could be, in a sense, "conflicted".  Our human nature is to shy away from pain and to lean towards self-preservation.  But here we see Jesus, in light of his human nature making the wise choice.  The most wise and loving choice he could make, in order to redeem his creation and restore the potential for relationship with us.  

Aria and I have been reading the Jesus Storybook Bible before bed each night.  I have been SO impacted by the way this book is written for children, but some of the language and phrasing causes me to stop and reflect on the God I know, and challenges me to stretch my understanding of God's love for me.  Here's an excerpt from Psalm 23:

God is my Shepherd

And I am his little lamb.

He feeds me

He guides me

He looks after me.

I have everything I need.

Inside, my heart is very quiet.

As quiet as lying down in soft green grass

In a meadow

By a little stream.

Even when I walk through

the dark, scary, lonely places

I won't be afraid

Because my Shepherd knows where I am.

He is here with me

He keeps me safe

He rescues me

He makes me strong

And brave.

He is getting wonderful things ready for me

Especially for me

Everything I ever dreamed of!

He fills my heart so full of happiness

I can't hold it all inside.

Wherever I go I know

God's Never Stopping

Never Giving Up

Unbreaking

Always and Forever
Love

Will go, too!

The family activity for this week will help to build anticipation as we continue to head towards Easter.  This idea is adapted from Mustard Seeds Blog.  Check it out for step by step pictures and more info. 

Hill of Calvary

Note: It's best to start your Hill of Calvary at least 2 weeks before Easter.

You Will Need:

• Potting Soil or Jiffy Mix
• Gravel
• A few small rocks
• 10 inch terra cotta dish
• 4 inch terra cotta pot
• 4 inch terra cotta dish
• Grass seed or wheatberries (make sure they are organic and untreated) for the grass.
• A good spray bottle
• Sticks (for crosses)
• Hot glue gun
• Raffia and purple ribbon (optional)

 Step 1: Lay the 4 inch pot on its side in the 10 inch dish. Use smallish rocks to hold the pot in place.

Step 2: Pour in a small layer of gravel for drainage.

Step 3: Make mud! The best way to apply the soil/dirt is by first making mud in a separate container.

Step 4: Take handfuls of the mud and pack it all around the pot and in the dish. You will want to create a nice rounded hill.

Step 5: Spread a thick layer of seed over the ENTIRE soil area. You may have to kind of push it into the soil a bit on the steep sides. This is very important: Don't be stingy with the seed. If you want nice, dense grass, the seed needs to completely cover the surface of the soil. (Don't just sprinkle it.)

Step 6: Cover seed with a very thin layer of your mud mixture.

Step 7: Bring your dish garden inside and put it in warm sunlight. The terra cotta is porous so it's going to leak some moisture. Put a tray, plate, etc. underneath it.

Step 8: WATER! For the first 3-4 days you will need to spray and water your hill three times per day. Before the seeds take root, the soil will run off pretty easily...(think erosion) so at first you will mainly need to rely on using a spray bottle to irrigate...

Once the grass takes root and matures, you'll be able to slowly drizzle water on it, without losing your hill.

Step 9: Watch it grow! Within 2 days you will probably see small white roots shooting out.

Step 10: Make three crosses out of collected sticks. Use hot glue to connect the sticks and then wrap raffia around to secure it and hide glue. Note that the grass will grow faster and higher than you think. Make your crosses a little bit "jumbo" sized because they will need to be nestled down in the grass and yet, you still want to be able to see them.

Step 11: The grass will be fully mature by day 7...and from then on out, you will be amazed at how fast it shoots up. Get out our scissors and give it a mow.

Additional Ideas

• As you work on creating the project, watering, etc. talk about the Easter story with your child.

• On Good Friday, wrap up a clothespin in white cloth and lay it in the tomb (Jesus).

• On the Eve of Easter, remove the clothespin, leave the cloth and leave the tomb open for your child to discover first thing on Sunday morning.

• The path to the cross was paved by my sins. Put these rocks in the tomb...to once again die...with Christ. "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."  Romans 4:25

On Easter Jesus not only rose from the grave, conquering death, but he conquered our sin - FOREVER.

Family Connect April 3-9

This month we're learning about HUMILITY—putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve.  I think this is such a fabulous virtue for April, as we're heading towards the Cross, and reflecting on who Jesus is and what he has done for us!  Our memory verse is, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3, NIV

 

This week we explored the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet in John 13:1-17, focusing on the bottom line that we should treat others like they’re more important than you.  My K/Gr 1 group LOVED getting their feet dirty, and then taking turns washing one another's feet.  It was a really great lesson that is a perfect launching point for parents to continue the learning at home!

Our idea for a family night this week is to have a family dinner party with a twist!  You can make it as simple or as fancy as you like (think dressing up silly, just for fun), the only rule is that you can’t serve yourself.  Someone else has to help seat you at the table, dish up for you, fill your water glass, and clear your dishes (but not their own), so that everyone is serving someone else within the family.

Take some time to brainstorm ways that you can serve other people in your community as a family (ex. Picking up garbage at the park, helping to clean up an elderly neighbor’s yard, planting flowers at the church, visiting shut-ins, making freezer meals, etc, etc).  Choose the best idea, and then do it!

Family Connect for April

So, my ministry partner, Amy, and I have been working on a new way for parents to take what we're teaching their kids on the weekend and to stretch the learning even further at home with a family night activity.  Speaking from my own experience as a mom, I often have FABULOUS intentions, but not enough creative energy to actually plan out activities, gather the supplies and execute them.  So, what if we took the planning work out of the equation for parents, and did it for them?  Last month was the pilot month for Family Connect, and I haven't really heard any feedback yet.  But, maybe no news is good news?!

I'm super excited about this month's Family Connect though, because it's all about EASTER!  The curriculum we use at VAC Kids is 252 Basics.  It is an incredible curriculum, that I will go ON and ON about if you let me!  This month we are learning about HUMILITY: putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve.  And who better to be an example of that than Jesus, right?  So, this weekend we are looking at the story of Jesus washing his disciples feet.  Followed by Jesus in Gethsemane and his arrest.  Then, his crucifixion and finally his resurrection!  I am just so excited to be talking about Jesus all month, and to be a vessel for the Holy Spirit to call these kids to Himself.

Back to Family Connect!  So, for the next month, I'm going to be posting our Family Connect activities on my blog, and I plan on doing them with my family, so hopefully there will be pictures as well!  Some of the ideas are ones that I found on some other really great blogs by moms I've come across in the last couple of weeks.  Enjoy!