Pancake prayers

It’s always good to thank God for the good things in our lives. Here’s a fun and simple way to pray while eating yummy pancakes. Add sugar (or something else sweet, chocolate spread…mmmm) to your pancake and thank God for something ‘sweet’ or good in your life. God intended life to be good, but it … Read more

No-grow Easter gardens

Making an Easter garden is a great way to share the Easter story together. We made ours after my daughter decided to collect a selection of things from the garden when we were outside on a sunny Spring day. I added a biscuit tin lid, lemon and cumin glitter playdough, some play people and we were … Read more

Read the Easter Story challenge

Challenge: Read the whole Easter story by Easter. You have four gospels to choose from, so maybe pick the one you like or one you’re less familiar with. You could choose a different Bible version from that which you usually use. If you’re doing this with very young children, you might want to use a … Read more

Snowy Prayers

When having some fun in the snow, why not add in some prayer? The opportunity for this type of prayer is very seasonal and geographically limited but may be more special for it. Get everyone to write, draw or make a snow model of something they’d like to say sorry to God for doing, something they … Read more

Hidden theology in children’s Bible story books

One of the questions most asked by Christian parents on forums is: What Bible should I get my child? Most of us start with Bible story books, and storybook Bibles, re-tellings of Bible stories. They make the Bible more accessible to our children and often feature great illustrations, such as those by Jago in the … Read more

Review: Jesus was a refugee

Title: Jesus was a Refugee Written by: Andrew McDonough Series: Lost Sheep Books Published by: Sarah Grace Publishing Price: £5.99 Buy from: Malcolm Down Publishing Useful for: parents of children age 3-10 years old Best bit: Beautiful re-telling in the first person – Jesus and Joseph write their own story, explaining how they had to escape … Read more

Review – Bethlehem Town

Title: Bethlehem Town Written by: Andrew McDonough Series: Lost Sheep Books Published by: Sarah Grace Publishing Price: £5.99 Buy from: Malcolm Down Publishing Useful for: parents of children ages 3-10 years old Best bit: The fun, quirky, colourful pictures and well-rhyming text, describes the birth of Jesus taking place in a house, which from what I’ve … Read more

Question: How can I do Bible times for under 2s?

I was asked this question today relating to under 2s in a toddler group, but my answer could apply to any group or home situation. I love under 2s, but they are often ignored as they can’t draw or write or talk or walk or … well, the list goes on. However, God doesn’t seem … Read more

Imagining our ‘place’ in God’s house

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

Review: Story Stacks

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

DIY Christmas Story Photobook

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

New Year with God

New Year isn’t necessarily a particularly family event especially for younger children. My youngest, currently four, has put in a request to stay up late this near year, and watch The Beegees, which is what she considers to be ‘New Year’. (Just to clarify, last year we DID watch a documentary about the Beegees with … Read more