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Children & Family Ministry

Children and Family Ministry

  • ROOTS: parent/caregiver book club, $

  • Faith At Home playlists from the Michigan conference of the United Methodist Church

  • Five Practices of Faith Formation: Prayer, Hospitality, Storytelling, Retreat, and Service from the PC(USA) Office of Christian Formation, 2022. 

  • How to create a quick DIY labyrinth

Parenting
For Kids

  • Lifetree Kids, Group youtube channel with music videos, stories and more

  • Kids Corner, fun and faith forming devotionals, podcasts, Bible stories, and more (ReFrame Ministries)

  • Hacks 4 Kids, Amplify media 3 minute craft ideas by kids for kids

  • We Wonder podcast: Contemplative Bible Storytelling for Children & Grownups Alike

  • Free Activity Pack for Children from Flyaway Books, 2022 (The Thoughtful Christian): There are a number of ways you can use picture books to enhance the worship and ministry of your entire congregation:

include picture books and activity sheets in baskets for children to use during worship

gift a few books or Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible (bulk purchase discounts available!) to families with young children in your congregation to encourage faith formation at home

incorporate a picture book as part of your sermons to not only encourage the inclusion of children during worship, but also to spark the imagination of adult members

build a robust children’s book library

hold an intergenerational night using the books and activities

assemble a children’s booth with story times and activities during a community event

Suggested Children’s Books

  • The Coat by Séverine Vidal, 2022 The Thoughtful Christian

  • God’s Coming to Visit! by Franz Hübner and illustrators Angela Glökler and Rea Grit Zielinski shares the story of various animals who learn that God is coming for a visit. Flyaway Books, 2021 $

  • Once Upon a Time Not So Long Ago (Church Publishing, 2021) This beautiful keepsake picture book captures the joys and sorrows of the COVID-19 pandemic. The underlying message to readers is that they can make it through difficulty. It also includes journal pages to record your own memories about this unique and historic time. $18.95

  • The Shema in the Mezuzah: Listening to Each Other (Jewish Lights, 2021) This story is based on a 12th-century rabbinic debate about townspeople who cannot agree on how to put their mezuzahs on their doorways. Author Sandy Eisenberg Sasso helps young people discover that there is often more than one solution to a problem, and that living together and creating “home” requires cooperation and listening to one another. $15.16

  • Breathe: A Child’s Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time (Paraclete Press, 2021) This delightful book explores the comings and goings of Jesus and the Spirit through retellings of the biblical stories of Ascension and Pentecost, interwoven with contemporary reflections from the point of view of a child. Breathe guides children to wonder about and watch for the presence and work of the Spirit in practices of prayer and mindfulness, and through acts of justice, generosity, and the sweet taste of kindness. $16.99

  • 100 Sheep: A Counting Parable by co-authors Amy-Jill Levine and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and illustrator Margaux Meganck, a modern retelling of the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Flyaway Books)

  • Everyday Family Faith by Sandy Schwartzentruber. For each day of the week, this pocket-sized resource provides creative ideas for exploring Bible verses, talking about faith in daily life, and praying together, as well as fun activities to do.

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