Proverbs 3:5 (day 22)

To help us all remember Proverbs 3:5 we sing it to the tune of "this old man"

trust the Lord (this old man)
with all your heart (he played one)
lean not on your own understanding (he played knick-knack on my thumb)
Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 (with a knick-knack paddy-whack give the dog a bone)
trust the Lord with all your heart (this old man came rolling home)

and by the way, Proverbs 3:6 works well with the same tune:
In all your ways
acknowledge him
he will make your pa-ths straight
Proverbs chapter 3 verse 6
in all your ways acknowledge him

Here is a video we made a while ago to send to Daddy at work.

1 Samuel 16:7 (day 21)

The big kids are staying with their grandparents a few days so we aren't really having Bible time since Knox is only 14 months. Knox does enjoy singing though (he doesn't really sing so much :) so I thought I would share some ways we try to remember Bible verses. Our verse from Friday we put to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb."

Man looks at the outward appearance (Mary had a little lamb)
outward appearance (little lamb)
outward appearance (little lamb)
man looks at the outward appearance (Mary had a little lamb)
but the Lord looks at the heart (his fleece was white as snow)
1 Samuel 16:7 (repeat tune of "his fleece was white as snow)

The teeny, weenie...true king (day 20)

The story of David being chosen as King of Israel is on page 116 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. This account is found in 1 Samuel 16 The emphasis is really on God's words in 1 Samuel 16 :7 when he says "man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." We found some bananas and agreed they didn't look too yummy to eat from the outside. But when we peeled them the story changed. We tried to talk about the type of heart that would be pleasing to the Lord. Kiwi's and watermelon would be other great examples of things that look very different on the inside. We also played duck duck goose but instead said no no yes to pretend we were going through Jesse's sons picking a king.

the point? the Lord looks at the heart

Jericho continued (day 19)

To review the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho (and to get a little work done) we built the wall out of socks. First though, we had to find all the matches :) Dawn Salazar gave me a great idea to play "go fish" with the socks. It actually encourages language and math skills because you have to describe the attributes of each sock you want a match for, "do you have a white tall sock with a green stripe on the toe." Anyway, after matching the socks we built the wall. Von wanted his hot wheels to be the people and he marched them around the wall to act out the story. Of course, knocking down the wall was the highlight.

the point? God is STRONG

The warrior leader (day 18)

Joshua and the battle of Jericho begins on page 108 of the storybook Bible. It is found in Joshua 3 and 6. After reading the story the kids decorated pieces of paper and rolled them up to be trumpets. They were a bit hyper so I also had them run/walk around the house outside 7 times, followed by trumpet blasting and yelling.

the point? God wins in unusual ways

Ten ways to be perfect (day 17)

Exodus 16-40 covers the ten command-ments, manna, and water from the rock. Sally Lloyd-Jones tells the story on page 100 of The Jesus Storybook Bible. The kids were in the mood for running, so we went outside to play a red-light-green-light type game. I called out commandments such as "love God with all your heart" or "honor your father and mother" to the kids to run (the green light.) Lying, stealing, murder, etc. were the red lights where the kids were to freeze. Later we had a snack of bread and honey and pretended it was manna.

the point? God provides our needs

The Red Sea continued (day 16)

We reviewed the story of the God parting the Red Sea in the bathtub. What a fun way to make bathtime even better. The kids seem to listen with "new ears" because it is a different setting. To act out the story we used a bubble bath to be the sea. The kids "parted" the bubbles and let the Isrealites across. then, the bubbles came back together to cover the "mean guys." FYI, I actually tried it first with shaving cream, which worked well for my four year old. However, since I was actually trying to bathe Knox (the 14 month old) at the same time I got worried he would put it in his eyes. Tear free shampoo makes great bubble bathes.

the point? GOD CAN DO ANYTHING!

God makes a way (day 15)

We read the story of Moses and the Red Sea, beginning on page 92 of the storybook Bible. This story is found in Exodus 14-15. After reading it the kids got to choose what they wanted to do. I thought it would be fun to act out the story using play-dough for the sea and toothpicks for the people. However the option of using stamps was too appealing for them. They covered a paper with any stamp they wanted. The goal was for them to be blue to look like the water when they were overlapped. They did not stick to blue so we got pretty rainbow water. After they gathered some sand/dirt outside, they glued it down the middle of the paper to be the ground the Israelites walked on down the middle of the parted sea.

the point? God saves his people, sometimes in unusual ways

The Ten Plagues continued (day 14)

To continue the story of the burning bush and the plagues, which is in Exodus 3-13 by the way, we went outside and had a hail storm by simply throwing ice cubes in the yard. For Von who is older and wanted a bit more challenge, we created a target out of 3 different sizes of bowls. Each bowl was worth different point values. We talked about how the hail killed the plants and probably some animals too. Yet Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go until his own son was killed.

the point? God will rescue his people

God to the rescue! (day 13)

Page 84-91 in The Jesus Storybook Bible is where the story of Moses, the burning bush, and the plagues are told. We pruned a branch off a bush in the flowerbed to be the "bush." Then, we painted it red to represent the fire. If you don't have paint, we have used cornstarch, water, and food coloring to make a paint-able paste. We talked about the fact that the bush did not burn up. When I asked why, Alyse responded, "because God protected himself."

the point: God will get his point accross

Joseph continued (day 12)

We continued with the story of Joseph and his brothers today. We used the dry-erase board to retell the story together, letting the kids take turns drawing stars, stick figures, cows, etc. Then we put "Joseph" in a box and wrapped yarn around the box to create the jail. We talked about the fact that Joseph was in jail for years even though he did nothing wrong. Yet in jail, he still worked faithfully and with a happy heart, wow.

the point? God is with us even in the hard times

The Forgiving Prince (day 11)

The story of Joseph and his brothers, from Genesis 37-46 starts on page 76 of "The Jesus Storybook Bible." There is so much in this story that it was hard to decide what activity to focus on today. The kids wanted to scoop and pretend to be Joseph handing out food in Egypt. This was an activity in the Fingers and Feet (formerly Bible Buckaroos) book but we used beans. My friend Sara Virdell had the brilliant idea to use rice crispies instead so there would be no choking or nose hazards. So we acted out the story, with brothers being hungry, traveling to Egypt for food, bowing to Joseph, receiving food from Joseph, being forgiven by Joseph, etc. We took turns being Joseph since the kids like the scooping part the best. Then they actually had rice crispies for their snack. Knox liked the eating part the best.

the point? God used Joseph's being in Egypt to actually save his entire family, wow!

Rachel and Leah continued (day 10)

For review we acted out the story using t-shirts over "Rachel and Leah's" head for the wedding. We talked about God not showing favoritism based on popularity or looks. We also discussed the amazing fact that although Laban was dishonest and wrong, God still used it for his plan.

the point? God's plan always happens

The girl no one wanted (day 9)

Sally Lloyd-Jones beautifully tells the story of Rachel and Leah, from Genesis 29-30, on page 70 of "The Jesus Storybook Bible." In fact she presented it in such a new way that it was so touching. We pulled out 3 plastic cups and placed different small toys under two of them. We took turns mixing them up and trying to guess where the shell was. It was much harder to guess if you didn't watch the cups the entire time. One time Alyse even put the shell in her lap to trick me. It made Von upset. However, it was a great time to remind them of the trick that Laban played on Jacob.

the point? "But then God chooses people we least expect" (Page 70)

The Present (day8)

The story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac, from Genesis 22, is on page 68 of "The Jesus Storybook Bible." Wow, is this a tough one. I cannot get through it without sobbing. I was hesitant to even read it to my kiddos, but the modeling/foreshadowing of God sacrificing his own humble son, is just so amazing. After reading it we talked about how Abraham trusted God fully. We played a couple standard "trust games." For example, one kiddo falls backwards and Mom catches them. Then Von (age 7) caught Alyse (age 4.) However, it wasn't a good idea for Alyse to try and catch Von. In this case, Alyse was not worthy of trust-- she would not be able to catch him. God is always worthy of our trust and always able to catch us.

the point? God is trustworthy

Promise of Isaac continued (day 7)

We reviewed the story of the promise of baby Isaac by drawing the story on the dry-erase board instead of reading it. Then we stood on opposite sides of a door (like Sara listening in on the angels telling Abraham she would have a son.) We took turns telling each other jokes or things that made the other person laugh. Sara thought it was just as absurd that she would birth a baby in her old age. For some reason, my kids love to be silly.

the point? God is not limited

Son of Laughter (day 6)

Page 56 of "The Jesus Storybook Bible" begins the story of God promising a son to Abraham and Sarah. After reading the story we acted the story out. The highlight for Alyse was bathing baby Isaac-- complete with a bottle of soap and a washcloth. Von wanted a "boy doll" so he found a bathtub whale to be his "Isaac."

fyi... just to show you the natural progression of things... after bathing the babies, Alyse put her legs in the bucket and washed her own legs... then Von threw sidewalk chalk into the bucket and discovered that the chalk is a lot brighter when it is wet... then we had a tiny lesson on color mixing and rainbows... just go with it :)

the point? God has a plan and keeps his promises

A Giant Staircase to Heaven (day 5)

For the tower of Babel (page 48 in the Jesus Storybook Bible) we attempted to build a tower out of magazines together. However, we each were only allowed to say "mamamama" or "lalalala." I attempted to say things like "start here" or "you hit my thumb" using the gibberish. It successfully confused the whole project. Then, we later built a tower speaking English, which worked much better.

the point? Nothing we do can get us to heaven. God is the author of success.

A New Beginning (day 4)

Page 38 in "The Jesus Storybook Bible" begins the story of Noah's ark. To act it out we assigned roles of God and Noah. Then we found a large rubbermaid bowl with a lid to be the ark. "The animals" came and got on the ark (dolls and hotwheels.) When God closed the boat it began to rain. We all got in the blow up pool and used funnels to "rain" on the ark. After counting to 40, we continued the story, until the people and animals were able to get out of the boat.

the point? God takes care of his people

The Terrible Lie (day 3)

We read the story of the fall of man (page 28 in The Jesus Storybook Bible.) We set up water bottles in a bowling formation, to represent all the trees that Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from. We used a baby bottle to represent the one fruit they were instructed not to eat. The goal was to knock down as many water bottle/pins without knocking down the baby bottle. They were allowed to set the "pins" up in any formation. They discovered if they set the baby bottle far away from the others, it was easier to avoid. It was a neat lead in to staying far away from the things God tells us not to do. Flee from temptation.

The Point? God's ways are best

Creation continued (day 2)

There are so many activities to help review the story of God creating the world. Sometimes I like to read a story and do one activity one day. Then the next day we may act or draw the story to review it, and do another activity. Today we played in the water. I got to tell them about the world being covered in water and darkness before God separated the waters (sky) and made light. Aren't we glad God made the air so we don't have to be in water all the time!

The point? God is so super smart! Nothing takes him by surprise.