12 Ways to Share the Easter Story with Under 5s

I know lots of people do things as a family to celebrate Jesus at Christmas, but what about Easter? In some ways, Christmas is harder as there’s so much else going on, but Easter is trickier to tell, especially to younger children. Here are some ideas to help you: Looking for more ideas? Here’s 36 … 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

Three questions for a connected Christmas

It’s December, the last month in what has been a pretty dreadful year in many ways. How do we celebrate Christmas? In order to work out our answer to that question, I’ve got three questions (I’ve put each in three different ways – make your choice!): What is your family like? / What do you … Read more

#Thanktober

#Thanktober is a simple idea: Let’s be thankful for something every day and grow our ‘thanks muscles’. I started it a few years ago, and each year I share a thanks prompt each day on Facebook and Instagram, so do pop over and say hi, like a few and comment on a few posts to … Read more

Breathing prayer

Here’s a simple version of an ancient practise: Use a breathing prayer to ‘chew over’ a Bible verse. This is less of an understanding exercise and more of a feeling, meditative one. If you’ve found a verse that jumps out at you or is particularly meaningful to you at the moment, this might be something … Read more

Fruity Prayer

Have fun choosing and preparing fruit. If possible, arrange to visit a pick your own farm to pick it first! Look for suitable moments during the preparation to help everyone reflect on what fruit they like and why, and to tell god about this, thanking him for his brilliant creations. Open ended questions are good … Read more

Bite-Sized

A nibble can be just right whether it is faith at home or snacks. I am totally in love with my mini muffin tin. Actually, It’s not a tin—it’s a silicon mold. I use it to make all sorts of things—cakes and frittatas—not just muffins! I held off buying one for ages, because I thought, … Read more

8 Ways to Use Mini-Books in Your Faith at Home

I love mini-books! They are so cute and so quick and very satisfying to make. I recently made this rainbow set for a group of 12 children. It only took me about an hour and only used paper, card and staples. I have a lot of mini-books, both ones I’ve bought and ones I’ve made. … 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

Review: My Easter Egg Hunt

Title: My Easter Egg Hunt Author and illustrator: Cathy Porter Published by: Amazon Price: £4.57 Good for: children aged 3–10 years Best bit: brilliant relatable storytelling working through the meaning of Easter for a child in a Christian family Worst bit: As always, I would have liked more pictures, but even when they were little, … Read more

Review: Make Room

Title: Make Room: a child’s guide to Lent and Easter Author: Laura Alary Illustrator: Ann Boyajian Published by: Paraclete Press Price: £8.99 (Amazon) Good for: Families with children aged 3–10 years old who want to introduce them to the Easter story focusing on the transforming nature of the story Best bit: The book is written … Read more

Review: How to Include Autistic Children and Young People in Church

Title: How to include autistic children and young people in church – Creating a place of belonging and spiritual development for all Author: Mark Arnold Published by: Grove Youth series Price: £3.95 Good for: anyone involved in church, especially church and group leaders Best bit: Simple, quick to read with immediate take aways Worst bit: … Read more