Image from childrensministry.com

Children’s Ministry magazine is always a fund of great ideas. There online resources are no exception.

In this craft and activity you can wave your home-made palm branches and shout praises to Jesus, while thanking God for the blessings others bring into your lives.

This idea for a family Palm Sunday celebration can be used in a church context, family worship or class room. Just adapt the setting. The discussion and craft are very versatile and helpful. Through our own emotions we can gain a greater understanding of what the Jerusalem people and Jesus felt. We can also have opportunity to value and appreciate others – and that is always good.

Here is the Palm Sunday activity and craft plan from Childrensministry.com

Damaris Trust 

This year, Damaris have once again received permission to use snippets from the British film Nativity! Using this as a starting point, they have created ideas for a primary school Christmas season assembly.

When you visit the Christmas assembly page  you can click to open up the elements you wish to use and have a PDF made of those parts.
There is also a PowerPoint presentation to use and ideas for drama, singing and a time of reflection.

To view the Damaris suggestions and pick up the PowerPoint, visit the Collective worship for Christmas page.

You may also find these free Christmas resources of ours to be helpful.

Do you have a child in your family or group that has special needs? I have  been very impressed at the regularity and quality of posts on
Our Out of Sync Life.

The author, Momma C. sums up her site like this:

God has blessed us with three beautiful children – one with Sensory Processing Disorder, a very Strong Willed middle child, and a Spirited Little Man. Follow us as we learn to train up our children to love the Lord with all of their heart, soul, and mind.

Even if right now there are no children in your care with special needs, you will still find this blog very uplifting and illuminating. There are heaps of ideas for crafts, and other learning opportunities.

Momma C is a trained educator  and she also runs a companion site , ABC Jesus Loves Me.   This is a pre-school Bible curriculum, free for use in the home. It is especially helpful for children with developmental delays.

I’d encourage you to check out these wonderful sites.

What do running shoes and a warning bell have in common? They both feature in this free visual presentation.

The download is a PDF containing full instructions and images to print out and laminate. It is what we call an Adaptable Application, because although it was first intended to illustrate practical teaching from the life of Moses, it is adaptable for any Bible lesson where temptation features.

The simple outline gives children and others a four-step strategy, so that they can cope better when they are tempted. Piece by piece, as you open out the teaching and apply it to real life, the visuals help the kids to retain the teaching.

Here is an outline for How to Cope with Temptation.

REMEMBER what you have been told.
Our teachers and the folk who look after us at home tell us right and wrong.

REALIZE the danger.
Every action has a result. We need to think things through; think ahead to what might happen to us, or to others, as a result of our actions.

RUN AWAY from the situation.
It is not cowardly, when you are tempted, to go off do something else. It takes courage to run away from doing wrong!

RELY on God.
Christians believe he has the power to help us do right, and follow God’s plan for life.

…………………………………………………………

Would you prefer this Adaptable Application as a PowerPoint presentation? let us know, by clicking the contact tab and emailing us at the address given. We’ll be happy to try to help you with that.

To download the printable version, Right-Click the link below and save the file to your computer.

Download  the Adaptable Application – How to Cope with Temptation (PDF)

Posting about these resources is not  an indication that we have read  and approved everything . We simply want you to know about them and use your own judgement concerning their suitability for your work.

After mentioning today a free 3-year curriculum plan from Kidology, we have just seen a blog post from the excellent FreeCMStuff.com site.

There you will find news of a free 13-week course outline for children’s bible lessons. Made available by Children’s Ministries University Online, the course marries principles from the book of Hebrews to lessons from the Gospels.

You can download and review the course here.

Look for “The Book of Hebrews: 13 Weeks of Children’s Church Lessons”

Missionaries around the world: Are you aware of this 100% FREE Complete 3 Year Bible Curricula? http://kidology.org/opensource 

The Kidology web site tells more: 

Kidology Open Source Curriculum is a collection teaching tools you download, remix, and share with others!

Kidology is excited to offer a complete 3-year children’s ministry curriculum for FREE.     

This collection consists of three 1-year programs: Old Testament Chronological Study, New Testament Chronological Study, and Value Keepers of the Bible.  We’re big fans of the collaborative power of the Internet to take something and make it better, so we’re “open sourcing” these studies written with extensive detail by Susan E. Harper, author of our popular The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe Companion Study. Whether or not you are a Kidology Member, you can download and use all the units from this series with grades 1-6.

To download the material you need to be a member of Kidology, but there is a free membership level which qualifies you for these downloads.
Sign up is quick and easy and you get instant access to this material. If you are on a budget, and would value the suggestions of this structured curriculum, with ideas for activities and games as well as Bible teaching, then check out the information page.