The captain of the storm (day 43)

Jesus calming the storm, from Mark 4 and Matthew 8, begins on page 236 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. I love when Sally Lloyd-Jones says "the wind and the waves recognized Jesus' voice (They had heard it before, of course-it was the same voice that made them, in the very beginning.)" The kids were in a very hyper mood so we played "freeze" but pretended to be Jesus saying "be still" to the storm.

the point? all creation knows and obeys Jesus

The singer (day 42)

"The singer" is the story of the sermon on the mount from Matthew 6,9 and Luke 12, in the Jesus Storybook Bible. We talked about picking flowers but it really wasn't the right time of year around here. So, we made our own by coloring with markers on a paper towel. Then the kiddos used a spray bottle to wet the towel and make the markers run a bit. After cinching the middle with a twist-tie and taping it to a straw, we had ourselves a flower. We talked about the fact that God makes his flowers even more beautiful, and he says we are even more important than the flowers.

the point? God will provide everything we need

How to pray (day 41)

For the re-telling of the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6, Sally Lloyd-Jones begins on page 222 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. She gives a lot of guidance on how to pray and does a great job making the reader feel relaxed and loved in it. We simply practiced some praying. We talked about how we can whisper or even talk to God in our heads. Then we took turns doing sentence prayers out loud. I started with "thank you God for today" and then we each took turns thanking Jesus for things, be it jelly beans or grandparents. Then we went around the circle asking for forgiveness, i.e. "please forgive me for not being patient" or "please forgive me for hitting my sister." Last we did asking sentence prayers. "Please help me save the money for a doll" or "Please help me not have bad dreams." We did this to get the kiddos comfortable to say anything to God.

the point? God wants us to always talk to him

A little girl and a poor frail lady (day 40)

For the story of Jairus' daughter from Luke 8, Sally Lloyd-Jones begins on page 216. For some reason I am in a magnet mood so the kids each drew pictures of the little girl on an index card and attached a small alligator clip to the "head." As we talked through the story, we used a strong magnet to "pick up" the girl when Jesus brought her back to life. We folded the card in half so it looked kind-of like she sat up in bed.

the point? Jesus works miracles!

Let's go (day 39)

The story of Jesus being tempted by Satan and then Jesus calling his disciples, from Matthew 4, and Luke 4-6, begins on page 208 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. Even though the disciples were actually fishing with nets, we decided to make some fishing poles and "fish." The kids cut fish out of card stock and attached paperclips. Then we tied a magnet to one end of a 3 foot piece of yarn, and the stick/pole to the other end. As the kids were fishing we took turns being Jesus and "calling" them. It is interesting to see how the disciples dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus, yet the kids didn't even want to stop fishing for a second...

the point? Jesus is all powerful, he commands a following, yet he loves us!

Heaven breaks through (day 38)

Page 200 is where Sally Lloyd-Jones begins the story of John the baptist, and Jesus being baptized. We attempted to make a dove painting, while talking about the dove and God's voice accompanying it. For the dove we folded a piece of paper in half and painted one of Von and one of Alyse's hands. They then put their hand print along the middle fold line, and closed the paper so the paint was transferred to the other side in a mirror image. However, it turned out more like a butterfly than a dove. Perhaps we should have printed the hand lining up the pinky side of the hand on the fold, instead of the thumb side??? You can probably do better- but the kids still liked it and we still got to talk about the story.

the point? "The Great Rescue had begun..." (page 206)

The wise men continued (day 37)

After reviewing the story of the wise men seeking and finding baby Jesus, we made a star out of cardboard. Then we took turns hiding the star and the other "wise men" searching for the star, in order to find the new King.

the point? Jesus is King over all kings

The King of all kings (day 36)

The story of the wise men visiting Jesus from Matthew 2 begins on page 192 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. Alyse had the idea to use a flashlight to guide the "wise men" to baby Jesus. This would have worked better at night so we could get the house darker, but we did try it in the closet. One person would place themselves in a corner (while it was dark) and then turn the light on. The rest of us would find them just by seeing where the light was. Then we bowed down to Jesus.

the point? God guided the wise men to his son

The shepherds continued (day 35)

To review the story of the shepherds visiting Baby Jesus we acted it out. The angel got to stand up on a chair to deliver the good news to the shepherds. Then, the shepherds took their sheep (sometimes a person crawling and sometimes stuffed animals) to the other room to bow down to the newly born King.

the point? Even as a baby, Jesus was King over all Kings

The Light of the whole world (day 34)

Sally Lloyd-Jones tells the story of the shepherds, from Luke 2, on page 185 of The Jesus Storybook Bible. We used cotton balls to be tiny sheep and a spoon or clothespin to guide the sheep from the field to the stable. Each utensil uses a different fine-motor movement. We also did some timing, to see how quick each shepherd could get their sheep to the stable (another bowl.)

the point? Jesus came for people who are not lovely

He's here! (day 33)

Page 176 begins the New Testament stories with Jesus being promised and born, from Luke 1-2. After reading the story we acted it out, with Gabriel the angel wearing a white blanket. Baby Jesus was wrapped in a plain blanket and laid in a plastic box filled with freshly picked grass. Sally does an excellent job of making it very obvious that this is the climax, the point that all time has been leading up to. Thank you Lord.

the point? Jesus was the savior God had promised

Get ready! (day 32)

Sally Lloyd-Jones finishes the old testament stories by telling the story of the Israelites returning from captivity, as told in Nehemiah, Malachi, and Ezra. Since this story is one I am not as familiar with, I am glad she referenced the actual chapters in the Bible so I could read them. Basically we read the story, some selected passages from the Bible (especially Nehemiah 8-10) and then acted out the story. The stuffed animals and children that were the Israelite people "cried" for their sin and asked God for forgiveness. They told of their desire to follow God's ways. The account in Nehemiah is a beautiful picture of repentance. Then they had a party (with music and dancing) to celebrate the forgiveness they received.

the point? "If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

Jonah continued (day 31)

To review the story of Jonah we acted it out. We were all Jonah, running away from God on the couch ship. After the storm came we fell into the sea and swam on the rug until we arrived inside a red sheet fish. When we pulled the sheet over us we were crowded and hot. We took turns praying. Then, the fish spat us out.

the point? God gives second chances

God's messenger (day 30)

The story of Jonah begins on page 162 of The Jesus Storybook Bible. After reading the story we decided to have our afternoon snack for Bible time. We gathered a couple small food items to represent different types of fish/food in the ocean. We then chose different utensils to represent different mouths that fish have. For example a toothpick, clothespin, spoon, or tongs each are able to pick up different foods. As Von pointed out God made different creatures to eat different foods so "we don't run out of food." Only the tongs were able to pick up the banana which represented Jonah. God created and chose the perfect fish that was able to swallow and save Jonah.

the point? God commands everything... the sea, the fish, etc.

Daniel and the lions continued (day 29)

Another activity to review the story of Daniel and the lions is to make a puppet out of a paper plate, yarn, and a pencil. Use the photo and be creative. Then, let the kiddos act out the story using the lion puppet. They can even get behind the couch and put on a puppet show.

the point? God tells up to pray only to him

Daniel and the scary sleepover (day28)

On page 152 Sally Lloyd-Jones tells the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den from Daniel 6. We did two activities today because Alyse and Von did not agree on their preference. They both ended up enjoying both the activities. First we took some play-dough and made "lion prints" using our fist and smashing it into the dough. Then we went outside to play chase. We took turns being Daniel while the others were the lions chasing him. However, when the lions caught Daniel, God had closed their mouths and they could only tickle Daniel. We talked about why the lions didn't eat Daniel and how God's name was made great through this situation.

the point? God protects his people

Operation "No More Tears!" (day 27)

Sally Lloyd-Jones includes an unusual story for a Children's Bible on page 144 of her storybook Bible. She tells of Isaiah delivering the promise of the Savior-Jesus. I love how she brings up the prophecies and promises that God made, long before Jesus came to earth. It really highlights the entire point of the Bible. I must admit, I was a bit stumped on what activity to do to help teach/review this story, because there is not a lot of action. We toke turns being the "messenger" delivering notes or drawings between people, as Isaiah delivered God's message to the people. Of course God's message was WAY better than ours :) Leave a comment if you have any other ways to teach this story.

the point? God planned and promised Jesus' salvation, long before Jesus came to earth

A little servant girl and the proud general (day 26)

The story of Namaan being healed of Leprosy is on page 136 of "the Jesus Storybook Bible." I like how Sally Lloyd-Jones points out Namaan's pride, and how God wanted to heal Namaan's "leprosy of the heart" as well.The kids wanted to sit in boxes and take turns pushing each other around. They were supposed to pretend to be Namaan riding in a chariot. Then we acted out the story. Later tonight we plan on acting out the story for bath time. I am going to rub chalk or something easily washable on their skin, to pretend it is the leprosy. Then, when they "wash" they will be "healed."

the point? "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Proverbs 3:34

The Good Shepherd (day 25)

Sally Lloyd-Jones tells a little about King David beginning on page 130. She talks about David having a loving heart like God, singing praises to God, and even murdering someone. She paraphrases Davids humble repentance and then tells Psalm 23 to give a feel for David's psalms. We made instruments to sing praises with. We wrapped rubber bands around a box lid to make a harp. We also clanged spoons together and attempted a wax-paper-comb-harmonica. We sang our memory verse (see day 21 to learn 1 Samuel 16:7) as well as some other psalm songs we knew like Psalm 100. I attempted to teach them David's repentant song "create in me a clean heart."

the point? the Lord looks at the heart

David and Goliath continued (day 24)

Another activity we did to emphasize the story was to make a ribbon as tall as Goliath. Since Goliath was about 9 feet tall we used a 1 foot ruler to mark off each foot (up to 9 of course.) This actually was also great exposure to some real life math/science skills. We then taped the ribbon to the wall and marked how tall each of us are in comparison. It is easy to see why the Israelites were afraid and why David needed God to win the battle.

the point? God is not afraid

The young hero and the horrible giant (day 23)

David and Goliath, from 1 Samuel 17, is retold on page 122 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. After reading the story we built "Goliath" out of empty cardboard boxes. Whoever was "David" would say "you come against me with sword and spear... but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty," (from 1 Samuel 17:45.) Then David would throw a ball and try to knock over the Goliath tower (rocks would be better to use but it was raining outside.) Alyse asked "how could just a little rock kill him?" This was a great way to talk about how big the miracle was.

the point? "...and God always wins his battles!" (page 125)