church. home – Lauren's Line

Holy Week for Children at Home

March 30, 2020March 30, 2020 LaurenLeave a comment

As a Children’s Minister, my biggest question is how to make Holy Week special and fulfilling for children. This week should be a big deal. It is a big deal!

In addition to the ideas on my previous blog on Holy Week, we are faced in 2020 with one of the biggest challenges for Holy Week that leave us struggling with, “What do we do when we can not gather to prepare or worship?”

Here are ideas for keeping Holy Week that families can do with little to no preparation:

Palm Sunday: have the children gather greenery from their yard. Do a children’s moment either during the service and tell the children the story or have a Children’s Chapel after and retell the story. Encourage them to yell, “Hosanna!” and wave their greenery. Have the family create a “Holy Week” space in their house (a corner or table) and place the greenery their as a reminder of the start of the week. They can make a crown for the king. A battery operated candle can be used for prayer time.
Wednesday of Holy Week: have a Children’s Chapel of what has happened and what is to come. I talk about Jesus as teacher, healer, storyteller, and messiah. The Godly Play Faces of Easter are very good for this. Ask the children to choose a role of Jesus and put a symbol representing that role on their “Holy Week” space. Letting the children choose the object or picture creates a beautiful chance at sharing.
Maundy Thursday: have a Children’s Chapel before the Maundy Thursday Service and explain how this Service will be different. Tell the story of the Last Supper and the washing of the feet. Encourage each family to wash each others feet or hands before they eat tonight. Add a small towel to the “Holy Week” space.
Good Friday: have a Children’s Chapel before the Good Friday Service and explain how this service is different. Tell the story and talk about being afraid. Remind them that this is not the end of the story! After the service, create a cross from twigs or other objects at home and put it on your “Holy Week” space.
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil: depending on which service you will do, have a children’s chapel explaining what will happen and why. If doing Holy Saturday, it is a beautiful time to talk about waiting, about God never leaving us, about love, and about family. To the “Holy Week” space add a picture of the family that is not there with you. If doing the Easter Vigil, have the children draw their favorite Bible Story and add it to the “Holy Week” space. During Children’s Chapel (done before the service), expain what the Vigil is, encourage families to light a candle and turn off all the lights until Easter is announced.
Easter: have the children pick flowers or draw flowers. Remove all the items from the “Holy Week” space and replace with flowers. During the children’s moment or during Children’s Chapel, tell the story of love winning and light winning. Tell the story of the resurrection with enthusiasm and excitement to emphasize the big deal this is.

Viritual Easter Egg Hunt: one of the ways, I am making Easter special for our children, is during each of the above named Children’s Chapels, I have cut a very large egg out of paper and put a Bible story picture or symbol on it. For the week of Holy Week and the first week of Easter, every time I do a chapel, I will have an “egg” in the background. Children find the eggs and write the Bible Story or symbol down. Those who have found all of the eggs and named the story get a goodie bag of Easter treats on Pentecost or the next time we are able to gather. (If you are not on a “Stay at Home Order”, then you can deliver the treat bag to their houses.

To view any of the Children’s Chapel Services on our Holy Week, visit www.facebook.com/stpaulswinstonsalem.

Using the Jesus Doll & Kit for Lent

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 LaurenLeave a comment

Lent is a time to focus on our relationships with God and each other. One bridge to the Sunday Morning “box” and to one’s home is with a Jesus Doll. It helps families become rooted in Jesus in an easy way. After adding a home kit, it has been a wonderful tool to tie our parish and faith to a family’s home life. Children have loved their turn with the doll and kit. Parents love having a format to discuss Jesus and faith. One mother told me that her family had never discussed Jesus so much!

The family gets the Jesus Doll and Home kit on Sunday morning and return it the following Sunday. I send an email during the week to let the coming family know their turn with the doll and kit will start the coming Sunday. I, also, send an email to the family who has the doll, asking them to send pictures and reminding them to bring it with them on Sunday. We have a large parish, so generally I stick to our Kindergarten Class, but all children love the opportunity to take “Jesus” into their home.

The photographs returned are full of smiles as the child(ren) take Jesus on their different adventures. Jesus has visited preschool classes, parks, parties, and zoos while with the children. Jesus, also, joins the family at dinner and bedtime. The books (made from a photo service), are cherished. I title it “Jesus Came to our Homes” and the year. I put the photos in story content.

Parents receive a letter in the kit:

This is your week with St. Paul’s Jesus Doll and bag. Enclosed in the bag, you will find a folder with an activity sheet for each child in your family as soon as Jesus comes home and then an activity sheet when Jesus is ready to come back to church. Please, return the sheets with the doll and book in the bag. They will be used to make a display and a book.

The bag, also, contains the book If Jesus Came to My House. Please read this with your child and use it throughout your time with the Jesus doll as a time to talk about Jesus in our homes and in our lives.

Please email a photo of your child(ren) with the Jesus Doll and one photo of Jesus doing an activity with your family. These with the words will be put into a Shutterfly book that will travel with the doll in the future. Copies will be available for purchase if you would like your own.

Included in this folder is a Parent Insights Page. Please write anything you would like to share about this experience for your family.

Please, return the doll and the bag with all the contents the next time you come to the church. The doll and bag with new sheets will be passed on to the next family.

Any discussion questions you have with your children that you would like to pass on, please let Lauren know and those will be compiled to travel with the doll.

Enjoy your visit with Jesus at your home and I hope you find ways to include Jesus in all your activities even beyond the doll’s visit.

Additionally, each kit contains

Two Activity Sheets for each child: one sheet asks the child to write or draw what they would like to do with Jesus during the coming week and the other is their favorite times with Jesus (write or draw) for child to return and then are displayed.
Insight Page for parents to return
Book: If Jesus Came to My House
Jesus Doll
Photo book from previous years

The Jesus Doll and Home Kit was such a success, that I purchased a second Jesus Doll and book. This one goes to our school for classes to use. Jesus, also, attends our parish events. I get various pictures of Jesus with parishioners or “doing” some of our regular activities.

Click on any of the highlighted items to see what I used. Any items purchased through this link helps to fund this site.

Advent: Angels Event – an Intergenerational & Family Event

November 29, 2018 LaurenLeave a comment

Angels are, probably, one of the most used creatures in movies, art, theater, books, and other forms of media. Yet, very rarely, are angels shown as the angels in the Bible. Most of what people know about angels comes from the arts, not the Bible.

Hosting an Angelic Event during Advent encourages learning, Bible knowlege growth, fun, fellowship, and a way to keep the holiday season faith focused.

Families, congregation member, children and youth gather for stories of angels in the Bible verses the angels depicted in the arts. This, also, encourages parents to be their children’s main faith teacher, build a time of community, encourage exploration and help families to think of church and faith beyond Sunday mornings.

I set this up as stations to encourage everyone to move about and explore. One can have as many or as few stations as one would like. I, also, set up a cookie and lemonade table for when people get hungry, as well as chairs for fellowship.

The stations I have used are:

Crafts- 2 Stations set up opposite in the room Coffee Filter Angel: need coffee filters, cotton balls, gold pipe cleaners Ornament Angel: including a beaded angel (kit) and wood angel ornament (I use permanet markers for them to decorate so they can take it home with them that evening.)
Games and Puzzle Stations- Wood Searches, hidden objects, and mazes with angels. I , also, copy a picture of an angel on cardstock for anyone to make into a puzzle Angel. This is two stations.Matching Game- I have angels in art copied and let children cut them out to make into a matching game. Will need scissors to cut the angels out and bags to put their game in to take home.Nativity Rock, paper, scissors (Mary, Joseph, Angel: Mary wins Joseph wins Angel, Angel wins Mary) and a Bingo game featuring angels in the arts and Biblical Stories with angels. (Nativity Bingo and Biblical Bingo are two already made sets you can purchase or make your own.)
Learning about Angels: Make Q & A posters (interactive-queston on one sheet taped to posterboard with answer on another piece of paper. They lift up the question to read the answer.) Questions include- What are the types of angels mentioned in the Bible? What are the four roles of Cherubim? How many times are Seraphim mentioned in the Bible? What forms do the Living Creatures Angels take? What angels have names in the Bible? How many angels are there (according to the Bible)? Do angels have wings? Are angels easy to spot (see)? What three people in the Bible does an angel come visit to tell them they will have a baby? What does Gabriel’s name mean? Were angels created by God or have they always been there? Are guardian angels mentioned in the Bible? The answers have Biblical Scripture text.
Angel Reading Station-books, angel dolls, angel statues, Christmas tree angels (Here is a few angel dolls to start off –one blonde and one brunette. For angel statues, here is one neutral hair and one child friendly.
Angels in the Arts-pictures with information of how angels have been depicted and any information about the artist, the media work, or the angel. A book with some information and pictures in Angels in the Arts.
Station with name tags and Information sheet for parents on activities to do with child for faith.
Small Child station with coloring pages, crayons, and simple crafts to make.
Ornament Angels (display of different angels borrowed from different people in the church.)

I schedule a volunteer at each station. Every year, the ornament can be changes and other stations can be added.

Clicking on the links of items above and buying through the link, helps fund this site. Thank you.

Advent: St. Nicholas Festival

November 22, 2018 LaurenLeave a comment

Hosting a St. Nicholas Festival brings smiles, excitement, and joy from children, families, volunteers, and newcomers hoping to find something that takes the materialism out of the holiday. It is a wonderful on-ramp for new children and families looking for a church. It is a gift to give the surrounding community looking for a faith-based celebration of the Christmas spirit.

St. Nicholas feast day is December 6. In some parts of the world, such as The Netherlands, this is the day children receive Christmas gifts. There are many ways for churches to bring this feast day to life and help replace the “give me a list” Santa Claus with “how can we love others and love God” St. Nicholas.

I plan the festival to have stations, usually 8 to 10. Families can go to any station they desire as many times as they would like. After forty-five minutes, we gather all and head to the Nave, where the children leave their shoes in the Loggia. We have a short worship service (15 minutes), where we hear a knock on the door and St. Nicholas enters. He shares information with the children, we bring offerings from the stations (will explain when I explain the stations) and we sing lots of songs. St. Nicholas does do a short homily on giving and loving God. After we have completed the worship service, the children are invited to come sit in the Bishop’s chair, with St. Nicholas standing beside them, for pictures. (This takes about 10-15 minutes for all to talk to St. Nicholas and get pictures.) When we return to the Loggia, the children discover one of their shoes is filled with a bag of candy, stickers, bookmarks, pencils, and another small gift. The children are so excited! We then move to another room for cookies, hot chocolate or lemonade. The whole event is about one and a half hour.

For free ideas, visit St.Nicholas Center.

For stations, I have found these the most successful:

Making a Bishop’s Miter (hat)- supplies are red paper, glitter crosses, tape, staples, and the pattern found at the St. Nicholas site.
Community Service/Outreach-we have collected slippers for a nursing home, diapers for a family homeless shelter, blankets for our police to give it to the homeless, made placemats for a community meal, food for a food pantry, etc. We bring these in to the worship for an offering.
Making Christmas Cards-supplies are cardstock, stamps, stickers, and markers.
St. Nicholas Ornament- handprint one or easy face one come in easy kits.
Letter to St. Nicholas (Child asks for something for someone else)-supplies are stationary or postcards , pens, pencils, and mailbox. We bring these in to the worship for St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas Festival Around the World-I researched the festival around the world and laminated each country. The table is filled with statues, toys, wood-shoes, etc. from around the world.
Puzzle and Games-supplies include coloring sheets, word puzzles, hidden object pictures, match card games, Bingo game using St. Nicholas symbols, pens, pencils, and crayons.
St. Nicholas Information-supplies include information sheets, book, statues, other books, prayer cards, icons, and other items that tell about St. Nicholas. The volunteer working the station is very knowledgeable about St. Nicholas and shares with each person information about the saint.
St. Nicholas Craft-Pattern from the St. Nicholas Center.
Storytelling-I have the Godly Play story of St. Nicholas going all the time. There are floor pillows and blankets for people to sit on.

Continue reading “Advent: St. Nicholas Festival” →

Advent Take Home Kits

November 20, 2018December 3, 2018 LaurenLeave a comment

Families love the take home kits that I have made for them. It started in Lent in a Bag, Church on the Go, Jesus Home Kit, and now Advent Take Home Kits. The theme this year is: Journey to Bethlehem: Share the Joy.

The kit contains a book with information, education, and lots to do. There is information on what Advent is, how to make an Advent wreath, how to use an Advent wreath, worship services to practice at home, weekly meditations with readings and discussion, Christmas Eve and Christmas meditations and information about our church services. Booklet is available for the cost of a donation. Please email me at lauren@laurensline.com

The Kit, itself is in a “take out” box with a sticker showing Mary and Joseph traeling to Bethlehem. I used take out containers to give it a fun feel (and to make it different from the other season’s kits.

In the box, I included objects to be used for the meditations in the booklet. On week one, the reading is Isaiah 9: 1-7. So the object is a jewel for families to pass around, as in a jewel from a king’s crown. The jewel needs to be big enough for children not to swallow. I liked these jewels as they look very impressive.

Week two’s reading is Luke 1: 26-55. The object is a feather for angel’s wings. I found this feather and liked it because it looked very different from a bird’s feather.

Week three’s reading is Luke 1: 10-25, 57-66. The object is a baby blanket and picture of old couple with a baby. For the baby blanket I used material squares.

Week four’s reading is Matthew 1: 18-24, Luke 2: 1-7. The object is wood for Joseph. I loved these tree slices for the rawness and the way one can tell it is from a tree. I loved the way the slices feel too.

Christmas Eve’s reading is Luke 2: 9-20. I used sheep wool for the shepherd’s story object. This sheep’s wool will need to be cut into small 2 inch squars, but makes for a wonderful feeling object.

Christmas Day, the meditation moves from the journey to Bethlehem to the journey to Easter. The object is a cross that the family can decorate.

The Advent kits are designed for families to use to help the preparation of Christmas be about faith, time together, understanding and joy. They can spend as little as once a week up to three times a week doing things in their kit. They can include visiting family and friends. It gives thema chance to share about the exciting things happening at their church.

Our kit, also, includes a Christmas ornament (picture of the church in snow printed on cardstock) and a Christmas card from the staff.

Another item to include would be Advent candles for a wreath (or making them available for purchase.) For purple candle set or blue candle set, click on the color to get the link (or click on any of the items to get the link to the items I used.) Any item purchased through the link, helps to fund this site.

Fall Event: Fall Festival

August 31, 2018September 4, 2018 LaurenLeave a comment

Having a Fall Festival is a wonderful opportunity for fellowship and fun. Done thoughtfully, it becomes a tool for community building and a great on-ramp for those looking for a church. A committee of volunteers can easily put together a fun afternoon or early evening event. I plan two to three hours for the event and include food, games, crafts, stewardship, outreach, and additional activities.

Food: Ideas for easy providing of food include inviting a few food trucks, grill hamburgers and hot dogs with pot luck sides, or have a chili cook-off.

Games: Carnival games are always a hit. Ideas are Bean Bag Toss, Ring Toss, Duck Fishing, or a mix. Host a Scavenger Hunt with a list of people to get their names (great for interactions). Ideas include a vestry member, someone wearing purple, a clergy person, someone two years of age, etc. Give out award medals to those who complete the hunt.

Other game ideas include Bingo (with fun prizes), Cornhole, and Four Square. Everyone loves games using cut pool noodles.

Crafts: A fun Fall event includes a Pumpkin Painting or Carving Contest Use paints or stickers and have a table to display them Another idea is to have a “ Create an Ad” Poster Contest Posterboard, markers, paint, and pencils are all that is needed Display the finished products in the Parish Hall theme ideas of “Why I Love My Church” or “My Church is the Place to Be” help inspire ideas. I, always, have sidewalk chalk on hand to inspire the little artists

Stewardship or Outreach: After deciding on a project, we announce the goal in services and publicity for the festival. We have collected can goods for the food pantry For every canned good or $1 given, the person got to through a ball for a Dunking Booth we had staff take turns in the Dunk Booth

We have set goals for stewardship and when they are achieved, the rector got a whip cream pie in the face.

We set jars out for people to put money into and the staff person with the most money gets water ballooned.

Other Activities: Children love face painting. Our youth, usually, volunteer to do it.

A Bounce House is always fun. I invested in one because renting can cost about $400. Click here to see the one I bought

A Fall Festival encourages community and fellowship. Our parish looks forward every year to our annual event.

Clicking on the underlined words will take you to the products I use and help fund this site! Thank you for your support.

Jesus Doll and Home Kit

July 11, 2018August 1, 2018 LaurenLeave a comment

One of the ways to bridge the Sunday Morning “box” to the home is with a Jesus Doll. After adding a home kit, it has been a wonderful tool to tie our parish and faith to a family’s home life. Children have loved their turn with the doll and kit. Parents love having a format to discuss Jesus and faith.