Review: At home in Lent

Title: At home in Lent Written by: Gordon Giles Published by: BRF Price: £8.99 Useful for: young people and adults Best bit: a simple, daily three page read for each day in Lent, each taking a different every-day item as its theme Worst bit: as a big fan of audio books, I’d love an audio version to … Read more

A Family Passover Celebration

We’ve celebrated Passover in our home for a number of years now, and each year it’s different, as we adapt it around who will be there. We tend to have a big feast-like meal interspersed with parts of the service (seder). We include elements which we use each week in our Shabbat meal, for example … Read more

Bible story treasure hunt

In the summer, lots of families have more flexible time which you could use to do a treasure hunt style Bible exploration. Create a simple treasure hunt by choosing a series of locations, depending on the age of your children and the time you have available, and hide a section of the story you want … Read more

Pinwheel Prayers

This is a simple activity using pinwheels to think about God’s Spirit being like the wind and to pray using them. This is a great one for under 5s, but everyone might enjoy this very tangible way to pray. What do I need to begin Pinwheel Prayers? To begin, you will need a pinwheel! Perhaps … Read more

8 ways to get your family to stop fighting and be more generous

I wish I could tell you how to stop your children fighting. There’s probably something good about children developing social skills in the home and feeling safe so not restraining their behaviour to please others. But honestly, less fighting and arguing in our home would be quite nice! However, I do have an idea. When … Read more

Review: How to Pray – A Guide for Young Explorers

Title: How to pray – a guide for young explorers Author: Pete Greig and Gemma Hunt Illustrator: Patrick Laurent Published by: Hodder Price: RRP £10.99 available from Eden for £8.36 Good for: Children, young people and adults age 7+ especially those who like visually interesting books and not big blocks of text Best bit: Brilliant internal design … Read more

The cheats way to grow faith at home this summer: read-alouds

Would you love to be able to grow faith in your family this summer, but are feeling low on energy and ideas? What if I could give you one simple idea which would help? Read a book together. Yes, just one good book. How does this work? 1 Connection Research into passing on faith has … Read more

Review: The Inkwell Chronicles: The Ink of Elspet

Title: The Inkwell Chronicles: The Ink of Elspet Author: J. D. Peabody  Published by: Hodder Faith Price: RRP £11.99 Good for: Children age 6-12 years old, especially those who love adventures Best bit: Wonderful relationship between the children and their Dad, plus brilliant idea of ‘ink’ being the most precious thing in the world. Worst bit: Although there’s an ending, the story … Read more

Review: Pembricks Creaturepedia

Title: Pembrick’s Creaturepedia Author: Andrew Peterson Published by: Hodder Faith Price: Â£8.99 Good for: Anyone who’s enjoyed The Wingfeather Saga and who likes non-fiction books or sketches with lables! Best bit: That this is a book referred to in the Wingfeather Saga so it feels like you are holding a copy of a book which the characters had! I also love the … Read more

Review: Into His Presence

Title: Into his presence – an interactive prayer journal designed for teens, by teens Author: Joanne Gilchrist and Shell Perris Illustrator: Gail Hanks Published by: Fieldnote.co.uk Price: RRP £7.99 Good for: Anyone who wants space to journal but would also like some jumping off points Best bit: fabulous quality paper, nice design, really like the … Read more

Review: Creative Ways to Tell a Bible Story

Title: Creative ways to tell a Bible story Author: Martyn Payne Published by: BRF Price: RRP £9.99 Good for: Anyone wanting creative ideas to share bible stories, particularly with children Best bit: LOADS of ideas, but also really helpful advice on how to do it well from Martyn, who’s a master story teller Worst bit: I’d’ve … Read more

Long Stories for Long Summer Days

I love using the seasons in our faith at home. This is fairly easy in the run up to Christmas and Easter, and in the Autumn we celebrate the Biblical feasts. However, between Pentecost and October, there’s a dearth of significant markers. However, the natural ‘calendar’ is often useful, and in the summer our days … Read more