The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol (March 2010)

Posted by on Apr 6, 2010 in Blog Patrol | 8 comments

Childrens Ministry Blog Patrol

Welcome to The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol. Every month we gather links from around the blogging world related to Children’s Ministry and issues important to those who work in Children’s Ministry. As always, there were a lot of great articles published this month in the world of Children’s Ministry. I hope you will take a few moments to check them out.

Check It Out

To help identify what I view as the best, or most important, articles of the past month, I’ve added this little graphic next to titles of particularly pertinent posts. I think they’re all must-reads, but if you’re running short on time, you should make sure that you check out these articles at a minimum!

We’ve added several new categories this month to make things easier to find. The following is a quick guide to the various sections of The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol:

As has become a custom here in on the Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol, I’ve included this graphic to warn you / let you know where a post came from Dad in the Middle. I finally updated the graphic this month to match the new look of Dad in the Middle.

With that introduction, let’s have a look at some articles you might have missed this past month:

On Teaching & Working With Kids

Blog Series – Tips for Large Group Teaching

Last month, I started a new series in which we look at various tips that can be used in Large Group Teaching situations. The entire series can be found at this link. The following were the entries to the series this month.

Shaped By The Story

  • This article is based on a post originally done by Amy Dolan on the importance of storytelling in teaching kids the Bible.

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Blog Series – Storytelling 101

Dan Scott looks at the essentials of storytelling in this series.

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Blog Series – Confusing terminology and spiritual concepts for kids

In this series, Kenny Conley examines various terminology that is used in Christian circles and churches which can be confusing to children.

One of the critical roles in Children’s Ministry is that of teacher and shepherd of kids. These articles offer tips and advice on teaching and doing presentation for kids as well as general information on working with children.

Tips for Leading Discussions With Kids

  • The Children’s Ministry Blog offers up this article some advice on leading discussions with kids.

Sticks and Stones?

  • Donna Perugini examines the importance of choosing the right words when you’re talking to kids.

You’ve Got the Power

  • This article provides a simple and profound example of how our words impact the children we lead.

How NOT to Teach About Miracles

  • The Acacia in the Desert blog examines the importance of HOW you teach about the miracles recounted in the Bible.

The Worship Factor

  • Gina McClain explores how to get kids engaged in worship.

New Teacher Training Methods

  • Tamera Kraft examines different methods of training teachers in your Children’s Ministry.

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It’s All In the Questions

  • The Children’s Ministry Blog provides a practical listing of types of questions you can use to engage children.

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Creativity Over Presence?

  • Justyn Smith reminds us to not sacrifice our real mission at the alter of creativity.

How to Treat Your Children so That They Have Good and Right Thoughts about God

  • Justin Taylor summarizes a sermon from C.J. Mahaney on how to interact with your kids in a way that will not cause them view God the Father in a negative way.

GOT QUESTIONS? THE TALK.

  • Chad Swanzy shares how he prepares and delivers his lessons.

Leadership Nugget–Preparing a Lesson for Kids

  • Andy Johnson provides a worksheet he uses to prepare lessons for Children’s Ministry.

Clarity is a must

  • Pastor Todd McKeever tells a funny story that illustrates the importance of being clear in what we say. This is particularly true for those of us in children’s ministry as kids, particularly younger kids, are very concrete thinkers.

Just Dance!

  • Joy Bowens explains the importance, and how to, of motions in children’s worship.

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Building Christ followers the old fashioned way

  • Kenny Conley wonders if we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to certain traditional teaching methods like catechism.

Respect: Demanded, Earned or Both?

  • This article from Children’s Ministry Monthly examines whether teachers should demand respect from their students or earn it.

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Bring The Bible To Life!

  • One of my passions is finding ways to convey the inherent excitement of the Bible to kids. I loved this post from Northpoint on how they brought the story of David and Goliath to life.

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#KidMin Create/Innovate/Relate

  • Jamie Doyle offers five practical things you can do to be creative, innovative, relevant and fun in your ministry.

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Why Kids Need Stories

  • Justin Taylor offers a quote from Alasdair MacIntyre on the importance of stories to kids.

Sharing Communion With Children

  • Mimi Bullock offers practical advice on the preparation for, and execution of, communion with children.

Children’s Ministry Issues

This category is a bit of a catch all for everything that doesn’t fit under another category. These articles deal with all kinds of different issues relevant to Children’s Ministry and those who work in that ministry.

Blog Series – 5 Essential For Kidmin

This second series from Greg Baird at Kidmin360 looks at five essential elements of kidmin.

  • Heartfelt Relationships
  • Engaging Teaching
  • Authentic Worship
  • Real Service
  • Telling the Good News

Blog Series – Milestones

In this series, JC looks at specific milestones in Children’s Ministry

Blog Series – Milestone Transitions

Jonathan Cliff looks at various indications for determining the proper time to advance kids from Kindergarten ministry to “a more mature Elementary environment.”

Blog Series – Jim Wideman

Although not a series in the traditional sense of the word, Kenny Conley offered a series of posts about Jim Wideman this month. Jim is a bit of a legend in the Kidmin world, and Kenny took some time to examine how Jim has helped him in his ministry.

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Blog Series – Innovation

Sam Luce published article this month on asking the right questions in ministry.

Blog Series – The Kidmin Space

Gina McClain looks at the importance of your physical kidmin space.

Blog Series – Kids Worship Innovation Then & Now

Jim Wideman looks at the evolution of worship in Children’s Ministry.

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Blog Series – How to make VBS the biggest thing all summer

Ryan Frank offers six practical tips for making your summer vacation bible school the biggest thing all summer. In a day and age where many churches are scrapping their summer vacation bible schools, it is refreshing to read these articles which extol the virtues of such an event.

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Blog Series – Undercover Boss

One of the shows I have started watching recently is Undercover Boss. One of the things I like best about Sam Luce is his keen eye for learning opportunities in secular culture (I don’t care for that phrase by the way, but it fits here). In this series, Sam looks at various leadership lessons to be learned from Undercover Boss.

Celebrating the Win: Define the Win

  • Small Town Kidmin blog looks at the importance of defining victory before an event happens.

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Is your ministry built around a HOOK or an ANCHOR?

  • On the Orange Leaders blog, Tom Shefcunas takes an interesting look at the difference between hooks and anchors in Childern’s Ministry and wonders which one you are building your ministry on.

Things I’ve Learned About Meetings

  • Matthew Guevara provides practical tips for making a meeting all that it can be.

Tips for Planning a Kids Ministry Block Party

  • Mimi Bullock from Ministry-to-Children.com looks at some important things to consider if you are planning a block party for your ministry.

Five Fabulously Fun Ways to Bond with your Kids in Five Minutes or Less

  • This article offers five unique ways to have fun with your kids.

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Relevantly Irrelevant

  • Jared from the Small Town Kidmin Blog reminds us that what is relevant in one community may be totally irrelevant to another.

I can’t do kids’ ministry because I’m not musical

  • Many people feel like they aren’t cut out for Children’s Ministry because they are not musically inclined, This article offers some helpful tips for those of us who are tone deaf and sound more like a dying cow when we sing than a performer.

What I learned from Infuse

  • Sam Luce reflects on his first year in Jim Wideman’s Infuse program and shares some of the insights he picked up.

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Children in Today’s Church: Goals for Growing Spiritually

  • This article from Logos Ministry shares some age specific goals for the spiritual maturation of children.

Stir up the waters

  • Todd McKeever looks at ways that we hinder kids and how we can keep from doing that in Children’s Ministry.

The healing power of consistency

  • This short article looks at an aspect of children’s ministry which I think is sometimes overlooked – consistency.

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10 weeds that choke kid’s ministry

  • Effective Children’s Ministry links to an article from ChildrensMinistry.com which includes 10 things which will threaten the growth of your Children’s Ministry.

Interesting rules

  • As those involved in Children’s Ministry, we oftentimes see the normal everyday things of the world through the eyes of children. One of the things I appreciate about Kenny Conley is that he does just that.

Meanings, Must-Haves, & Goals for Children’s Ministry

  • This articles looks at various targets, goals and purposes that a Children’s Ministry should have.

God’s Word and its role in our lives

  • JC reminds us all of the importance of following God and modeling the act of listening to God for the kids in our lives.

Ministry t-shirts

  • One thing I really like about Kenny Conley’s blog is that his posts run the gamut from the extremely theoretical and thought-provoking to the extremely practical. In this article, which tends towards the practical side, Kenny examines what he looks for in volunteer T-shirts.

Gods word is family business

  • Todd McKeever offers three tips for sharing the Word of God with your kids.

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God is an Optical Illusion

  • This article from A Heart After Children includes some cool optical illusions and reminds us not to put God in a box based on our perceptions.

Speaking of revolutions

  • Last week I watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, and it opened my eyes to a lot of different things. As he often does, Kenny Conley sees parallels between this show and children’s ministry.

10 great reminders from a friend

  • Ryan Frank shares this list given to him by a friend of ten reminders for leaders in children’s ministry.

VBS or not?

  • Larry Shallenberger looks at the challenges of putting on a Vacation Bible School in today’s day and age.

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Health Care and Kids Ministry

  • This article offers five questions to evaluate the spiritual health of your children’s ministry.

Children’s Ministries – Basics 101

  • Victory Circle offers practical advice to those entering a new position in children’s ministry.

Leading the Next Generation Well – Overwhelmed

  • Tim Elmore looks at helping youth today feel less overwhelmed.

Stuff Children’s Pastors like #103

  • Sam Luce offers alternatives to the phrase “Seeing the light come on.”

Leaders and Leadership

Running a ministry takes leadership at all kinds of different levels. This section is for articles about and for leaders.

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Blog Series – Power to Last

Jim Wideman is a fixture in the world of Children’s Ministry. He has been around for years helping others in the field. This series, which started last month, is Brother Jim’s look at persevering in Children’s Ministry.

Blog Series – Build A Better Meeting

Last month Amy Dolan from Lemon Lime Kids started a series offering tips for having a better and more productive meeting. She continued that series this month

Blog Series – Leading Through Challenges

In this series, Pudge Huckaby looks at seven things to remember whenleading people through a challenging time based on the book “7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis” by Bill George.

Blog Series – What Kind of Leader Are You?

Children’s Ministry Blog looks at different ways of leading and relating to children to help ensure that they don’t walk away from church.

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Blog Series – A Growing Leader

In this series, Jim Wideman examines several characteristics of a growing leader.

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Apples, Leadership and the Gag Factor

  • This article contains the best analogy I’ve ever heard about not trying to take on too much too soon when you are in a leadership position.

Who says it’s lonely at the top?

  • Kenny Conley looks at ways for a leader to keep from getting lonely at the top.

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Pastor Challenge

  • Jamie Doyle offers a challenge to pastors (and all leaders frankly) to invest in those under their leadership.

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Five Miles Less

  • Jim Kast-Keat is on an interesting and commendable trek this year to simplify. This month he tackles slowing down the pace of life in general.

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#KidMin Leaders’ Challenge

  • Following his challenge to pastors, Jamie Doyle offers this challenge to Kidmin leaders.

How to LEAD in Kidmin

  • Greg Baird offers a little acronym to remember what is mean to be a leader in ministry.

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If it Weren’t For God, You’d be More Efficient

  • Donald Miller looks at God’s plan to slow us down

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What if Every #KidMin Leader Was Like Me? Curious Minds Want To Know…

  • Jamie Doyle challenges us to ponder this question in our ministry to children. If everyone were like me, what would Kidmin look like? It’s a great way to identify areas where you may want to change your approach or your attitude.

What Do You Think?

  • Perry Noble examines the importance of the question “What Do You Think?” to leaders.

Who Are You?

  • Jared Masey offers a link to a free online personality test and explains that it is important that we know who we are as leaders.

What’s your Blind Side?

  • Kendra Fleming encourages you to examine what your personal blind spots might be and how they affect those you lead.

Volunteers

Most Children’s Ministries are made up principally, or entirely, of volunteers. I am amongst that number. This section includes articles related to volunteers both for volunteers and about volunteers.

Lead by Training!

  • One of the principal jobs of a leader is to train others. This article from Bill Emeott looks at the value of training others.

Welcoming High School Students into Your Children’s Ministry

  • Larry Shallenberger looks at why those of us in Children’s Ministry should be actively recruiting helpers from the high school ministry.

New Volunteer Orientation

  • Inside North Point Kids offers insight into their own volunteer orientation program.

Family Ministry / Orange

Family Ministry is a growing trend in the field of Children’s Ministry wherein worship services and teaching are not segregated by age. Instead, the whole family is the core. This section includes articles specifically related to Family Ministry.

Don’t Waste Your Time Partnering With Parents

  • I love the catchy title from Orange Leaders, but what this article is really about is making the most of your time spent with parents.

Practical Ideas for Family Worship

  • Tony Kummer offers some links to various resources related to family ministry.

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THE UP PLAN

  • Rob Bradbury, of Planet Shakers and Children’s Ministry 1234, offers a seven step plan for family ministry to help kids grow up in God. He’s got a great graphic to go with a great plan too!

Kids & Theology

Jesus should be at the center of any Children’s Ministry. That means teaching kids about Jesus and about theology. This section is for articles that discuss and assist with teaching kids about theology and theological concepts.

Blog Series – When Can A Child Believe

Kids Ministry 101 asks the age old question of when a child is old enough to have (and accordingly also a responsibility to choose) a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Blog Series – Personal Agency and Childhood Conversion

In this series, Doug Wolter shares an e-mail conversation he had with Dr. Eric Johnson, Professor of Pastoral Care at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on the issue of personal agency and childhood conversion.

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Levels of Doctrine

  • This article from Justin Taylor has nothing to do with Children’s Ministry. It is however an interesting look at the different levels of “importance” when it comes to doctrine. I believe that those of us who work with kids should be grounded in doctrine and therefore this article is important to our own spiritual development.

Kids & Christ

In all about Christ! This section is for articles about bringing kids to Christ, bringing kids back to Christ, salvation and children, and anything along those lines. I’ll warn you that I love stories about kids being saved. So, don’t be surprised if you see quite a few of those hear too.

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Blog Series – Responsible Evangelism with Kids

The Kids Ministry 101 blog from Bill Emeott examines thirteen principles for approaching children with the gospel of Christ in a responsible way.

Leading A Child to Christ

  • Our goal in Children’s Ministry should be to lead children to Christ. This article offers some practical advice on that process.

Teaching Children About Salvation

  • Jerry Moyer talks about sharing the Gospel with kids.

Kids & Culture

Kid are multi-million dollar target market. Is it any wonder that kids these days have their own culture? This section looks various cultural trends and issues with kids and that affect kids.

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Blog Series – Commercialism and Faith

In this series, Donald Miller explores the relationship between the language of culture (i.e., commercialism) and faith.

Blog Series – Can We Put Adolescence to Rest

Tim Elmore examines the cultural trend of prolonged adolescence.

How is the Family Different? – A Facebook Comment Transplant

  • Anchor Children’s Ministry examines the difference between today’s “families” and families in the New Testament era.

Everybody wants to be famous

  • Funny Man Dan looks at the obsession with fame in our culture. As an aside, I would ask for his autograph if I could.

Kids & Cell Phones

  • This article looks at the impact cell phones are having on kids today.

Cyber-Bullying

  • The Arise and Eat blogs looks at the growth in the alarming trend of cyber-bullying among youth.

Top Five Shows the Children in your Church are Watching

  • This article from CentriKids offers a brief summary of five shows the kids in your ministry might be watching.

JUST THE FACTS MONDAY – EASTER

  • By the time this is published, Easter will be over, but I thought the facts in this article were interesting none-the-less.

Divorce in Families

  • This article offers some interesting statistics on the prevalence of divorce in this country and asks whether your ministry is prepared to deal with the implication of the statistics.

Viewing Preferences: TV vs. Online

  • This article offers interesting insight into how children and youth are watching T.V. these days.

Generation Y and Faith: Spiritual but not Religious

  • Tim Elmore offers some advice on dealing with those from Generation Y.

Games

One of the fun things about working in Children’s Ministry is playing games with kids. As Games Leader in AWANA each week, this is near and dear to my heart. In this section, I have accumulated articles about and links to various games.

Free Powerpoint review game – Burger Bar

  • Effective Children’s Ministry provides a free Powerpoint template for a Bible review game.

Animals vs. People Game

  • Acacia in the Desert provides a game for preschoolers which teaches that man is made in the image of God.

Books

There are lots of great books out there about Children’s Ministry and lots of great books for kids. In this section, we accumulated reviews and recommendations to such books.

Blog Series – Review of Formational Children’s Ministry

Various bloggers reviewed Ivy Beckwith’s new book – Formational Children’s Ministry this month. These group blogging projects are really catching on. I am looking forward to participating in one or two in the coming months myself.

Read to Them..Please?

  • Donna Perugini looks at the importance of reading to your kids and how to pick the right thing to read to your kids. I am happy to announce that I have corresponded with Ms. Perugini, and I will be reviewing her book(s) sometime in the near future here on Dad in the Middle.

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Site of the week: Bookie Woogie

  • Kenny Conley links to a unique site which offers reviews of children’s books from a father and his kids.

Sojourn’s first published book!

  • I can’t wait to get my hands on this new book from Sojourn Kids! Now I just need to find someone to send me a preview copy to review on Dad in the Middle (Hint! Hint!) .

Book review: Revolutionary Parenting

  • Kenny Conley offers his review of this revolutionary (pun intended) book from George Barna.

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Read More, Read Better

  • Tim Challies, one of the most prolific readers I know of, offers his advice on ways to read more and make better use of your reading time.

Internet Sites

The goal of the Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol is to bring together useful resources for those involved in Children’s Ministry. Many bloggers out there write about their favorite web sites. This section is for those types of articles.

Wayne’s bumper bundle

  • Lin Pearson, from Effective Children’s Ministry, was kind enough to link to last month’s Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol again this month. If the title of this post wasn’t so familiar at this point, I might think of changing it to the Bumper Bundle.

Family Time Training

  • Free CM Stuff links to a site that contains various free family activities to use in your ministry or with your own kids.

Children’s Church Ministry Resources

  • Andy Johnson offers this link to a site with some good ideas and some motivational resources.

Other Resources (Music, Conferences, Etc.)

One thing I have learned since getting involved in Children’s Ministry is that those who work in Children’s Ministry are generous to a fault. This section is full of useful resources for those working with kids.

Blog Series – R U Smarter than A Fly

This series of videos looks at four biblical stories through the eyes of a couple of flies.

Blog Series – Napkin Conference

Glen Woods is nice enough to share some of his notes from this year’s Napkin conference.

Fun stuff for your elementary rooms

  • Kenny Conley provides links to some fun things you can add to your elementary rooms!

How to Build a Kid-Sized Tabernacle

  • Acacia in the Dessert offers instruction on building a kid-sized tabernacle for preschoolers.

Curriculum and Object Lessons

Curriculum was part of the Resources section before I started to see more and more object lessons as blog posts. I don’t put them all here do to time constraints, but I will link to some of my favorite every month. If you’re looking for more, trying searching the blogs that show up under this section. Many of them frequently post object lessons.

A Child’s Prayer

  • Children’s Moment blog offers this lesson for teaching kids about prayer.

Where Would You Look? (Jesus Lost in Jerusalem)

  • This Q&A type lesson teaches kids about the time Jesus stayed at the temple in Jerusalem.

Lesson from the Garden of Gethsemane

  • Beckie Stewart from Ministry-to-Children.com offers up this lesson for 7-12 year olds based on Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Lesson: The Rewards of Obedience

  • Beckie Stewart, from Ministry-to-Children.com, uses the story of Jesus calling the disciples in this lesson for 7-12 year olds on the rewards of being obedient.

Bible Lesson: Wise & Foolish Builders

  • The Children’s Ministry Blog offers a fun lesson for teaching kids the lesson of the wise and foolish builders.

Lesson: Journey Through the Book of Acts

  • This object lesson from Kelly Henderson at Ministry-to-Children.com is for kids aged 9 to 12 is a review of the first 9 chapters of the book of Acts.

Sheep SAVED by a Shepherd: Preschool Lesson

  • This lesson intended for preschoolers helps kids to recognize Jesus as the Good Shepherd who saves us.

Creation Art Project #2

  • From Acacia in the Desert, this is a great activity for preschool kids related to creation.

Sheep LOVED by a Shepherd: Preschool Lesson

  • This lesson intended for preschoolers helps kids to recognize Jesus as the Good Shepherd who loves us.

Parenting and Marriage Issues

The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol would not be complete if we did not pay attention to family issues that affect the kids we minister to. This section includes various articles and parenting and marriage.

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Top Ten Ways To Frustrate Your Kids

  • Want to know how to frustrate your kids? This article gives you the top ten ways. Head on over and take a personal inventory to see how you are doing.

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Arguing Logically vs. Listening Empathetically

  • Doug Wolter offers advice to parents on dealing with emotional kids.

Parenting with Hope in the Worst of Times

  • I haven’t YET listened to the sermon associated with the article, but the article provides a Godly perspective on raising kids.

Helping Parents Embrace Spiritual Weirdness

  • This article examines how awkward moments (particularly with teens) can often offer the best opportunity for spiritual guidance.

Weary Parents

  • Being a parent is hard work. This article from Shepherd Press offers some encouraging words to wearied parents.

THIRTEEN IDEAS FOR GREAT FAMILY DINNERS

  • apPARENTly blogging offers 13 great tips for you and your family to engage around the dinner table.

AND EVEN MORE FAMILY DINNER IDEAS

  • apPARENTly Blogging offers 13 more fun ideas for the family dinner.

Devotions for Kids & Families

There are great sites out there with devotions for families and kids. These are great resources which we can point families too.

Family Devotional on Matthew: Following the King

  • Jared Kennedy offers up some ideas for devotionals based on the book of Matthew in this article.

What’s wrong with grumbling anyway?

  • This devotional for kids teaches the importance of not grumbling based on the story of the Israelites from the book of Numbers.

Family Devotional on Mark: The Mustard Seed Kingdom

  • Enjoy this devotional based on the parable of the mustard seed from the Book of Mark.

Just For Fun

This section includes posts from various Children’s Ministry blogs from the last month that were lighthearted, useful or just made me chuckle.

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Site of the week: Nintendo8.com

  • Kenny Conley linked to this site which has nothing to do with Children’s Ministry but did manage to take up a couple hours of my day. This site includes links to play various games from the original Nintendo system online. As a child of the 80’s and 90’s, I had a blast!

Expecting your kids to memorize more Bible than you.

  • Stuff Christians Like makes a triumphant return to The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol with this article on having kids memorize verses.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of “The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol.”

Fish Image courtesy of www.christart.com

8 Comments

  1. Jamie Doyle | April 6, 2010 at 11:29 am

    thanks for the shout out my friend! I appreciate the fact that you do all this work and give it to everyone else!

    Blessings!

  2. Jared Kennedy | April 6, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    I'm meeting with Tony Kummer tomorrow morning, and we'll work on that preview copy of Our Home is Like a Little Church

    • wdstocks | April 6, 2010 at 8:25 pm

      Jared,

      That would be awesome. I would love to review the book. When you meet with Tony tomorrow, let him know that I know I owe him a call. Also, I would love to chat/correspond sometime about Sojourn's Family Worship Guide that you linked to over on Kenny Conley's blog.

      Take Care!

  3. Greg Baird | April 6, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    Awesome resource Wayne! Thanks!

  4. Lin Pearson | April 6, 2010 at 11:52 pm

    Wow! The work you put into this is amazing! Thank you so much for making it easy for us to find such good kidmin stuff in one place.
    And thanks, too, for selecting some stuff from us! Catherine and I feel honoured to feature in your list,
    My recent post Writing your own Scripture songs

  5. jcisonline | April 7, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    thanks so much for this again Wayne, You rock!!!