When I put together the Held in Hope series, we included activities in the books to help families dealing with issues of illness and death. I’m putting together some activities for a funeral next week, so I’m doing an activity from Sam’s Special Book. In the book the children remember being told that Jesus said … Read more
Have you seen my family activity sticker book: GodVenture through the story of Lazarus? It’s a collaboration with Yvonne Morris from the Diocese of Oxford, and perfect for use during Lent due to the poster in the middle with 40 days of Bible verses and activities. Don’t worry! It’s designed to be easy to use, … Read more
Title: Story Stacks Author: Becca Stileman Useful for: parents of children age 3-10 wanting to do faith together at home, childrens groups where Bible stories are shared Best bit: large sturdy, bold character cones Worst bit: the cardboard box they arrived in was a bit worse for wear to use to keep them in Price: RRP £34.99 for 25 … Read more
This activity provides an open-ended opportunity to respond to a story using words. I’d probably use it for children age 7+ after sharing a Bible story with them as I don’t want negotiating the words to become the focus for early readers. For them I’d use something similar but picture based like this. This set … Read more
Free Download! I love making books (being a publisher, that helps!) so here’s a way to make your own Christmas story photobook. We often make photobooks with FreePrints which print 20-page photobooks for reasonable prices. All you need to do is download their phone app, upload the photos and wait for your luscious new book! … Read more
 Something my children enjoy is using puppets to retell and explore the meaning of Bible stories. One way I’ve made the puppets is to buy 2 identical sets of Bible storybooks. We then have one copy for reading and I cut up the other and stick pictures onto lolly sticks. It takes about 20 minutes … Read more
Most families have some dried pasta in the house, so here’s a few ways to use it to explore Bible stories together. While 1 type of pasta works fine, it’s fun to have a few different types. In this picture we used lasagne sheets, spaghetti and twirls (what are they called?). You could read the … Read more
One of the things I like doing when reading the Bible is considering the crowd. Who are the non-speaking people in this story? Which people from other Bible stories might have also been in this one as part of ‘the crowd’. This is especially interesting when looking at stories about Jesus as the Bible often … Read more
Title: Mosaic – Celebrations Author: Scripture Union Useful for: anyone wanting materials for a small group with a wide age range (e.g. a family!) Best bit: loads of creative activity pages and flexible, accessible ways to explore the Bible story including great artwork Worst bit: maybe too many colouring pages, although my children did love them! Price: RRP £11.99. This … Read more
I’m really keen on reading the whole story of Easter from the Bible every Easter. However, as I’ve mentioned before, I think it’s hard to find a Bible which is accessible for children who are early readers, around age 5-7 years. They are moving on from children’s Bibles, wanting more depth and more stories, but … Read more
Title: Treasure Box Author: Becky and Adam May Useful for:Â parents of children aged 3-10 wanting to do faith together at home Best bit:Â the lovely Bible storybook and ready-to-go craft activities – my 5-year-old especially loved the weaving loom Worst bit: the wooden door included in the box was lovely, but the prayer ideas didn’t actually use it Price: RRP … Read more
Title: The Big Bible Activity Book Written by: Maggie Barfield Published by: Scripture Union Price: £11.99 Buy from: Scripture Union Useful for: parents of children age 1-6 years old Best bit: My daughter (age 4) said it was the stickers. Of course. We love stickers. For me, the best bit was the fresh new contemporary … Read more