If you don't follow David Wakerley at kidinspiration (Hillsong) check it out and add your comments. He recently posed a question that started an interesting discussion: "Should we be teaching/telling our kids the ultra-violent stories found in the Old Testament?" You'll find some good comments & diverse points of view.

I find that very much a cultural question but a pivotal question, if you will. I'd venture to say that our answers reflect the role scripture plays in our lives, in our world views, and how we wrestle with them when culture as we know it clashes with our faith. I'm not condoning violence nor am I condoning picking and choosing what we take from the scriptures and what we ignore. How we share those stories with kids reflects how we perceive children...but the wrestling is an on-going process if you're willing to wrestle with God.

Having those particular questions to wrestle with is indicative of something much much bigger that I'm trying very hard to get my head around and maybe when I do I'll try to put it into words and post more...

...go check it out...he also has a great list of resources...

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Not the best lighting but here is a picture of all 3 variations on the last post:

yellow tissue paper
white printer paper
green wrapping paper

Hopefully, they don't look like they're hanging...I mean they are...but. . . you can also tie the string around their waist & behind their arms and knot it well above the hat then it looks like someone is hoisting them up up up ...

If the wind doesn't cooperate you can take something big and flat and make your own...or blOw...or use a hair dryer... you get the idea...or do it during your windiest season . . .

Too much wind and they get pretty worked up...if it weren't for the tape and the screen they'd probably just blow away like Elijah did ...

You can also make kites and use kites during kite-flying season to talk about the wind and the Holy Spirit...

craft to teach about the Holy Spirit

Here's a craft for kids about the wind & the Holy Spirit.

You can use white paper, colored paper, thin tracing paper, wrapping paper, tissue paper . . . .

Cut 1 square head (or round if you want 3 different shapes). Cut 1 triangle hat. Fold the bottom edge of the hat up if you like. Cut a larger square for the body. Cut 2 arms as long as the width of a piece of construction or white paper. Cut 2 legs as long as the length of a piece of paper. Everything can be 1/2 to an inch wide.

Glue hat to head and head to body. Make a face with googly eyes or pencil or thin markers.

Fold each arm & leg accordian-like.

Glue arms & legs to the body or punch holes & use brads to attach them.

Securely attach a string or piece of yarn to the head. (glue, tape, or tie it to the brad)

Take the paper person outside in the wind or hang him in an open window and wait for the wind to blow.

We Made the Top 100 Children's Ministry Blogs! Ok. The only reason I know is because when lots of people on my site meter come from the same site I go and see what they're saying about us. This was a neat surprise! The badge is cool but I guess they recalculate each year. If I don't put it up, I don't have to take it down again... :-)

The big reason to click on the above link, out of 100 sites, there's bound to be one you haven't seen yet - lots I haven't seen . . . Enjoy!

If you regularly frequent my site, thanks for coming! :-)

After you read the post before this one...Here's a project for you...sit down alone or with other* parents, teachers, & volunteers and ask yourselves,

"What do I remember from the years before I started kindergarten?"

"What are the things (good & bad) that make me who I am that have roots in my early childhood years?"

"What are the things I did as a child that I still do today, a way of thinking, a passion?" What lingered through the years? If you'd grown up in a different location, with people around you who loved or worked at different things, with different social opportunities or playthings would you be different? We don't really know but I bet you can find connections. I'm not talking about making excuses for ourselves. I'm talking about climbing into the skin of a preschooler. You can specifically apply this to faith and the faith community, if you like but don't limit yourself...

Sure, you could sit and read a lot of scientific journals on the subject but you might find this approach much more fun ... plus these are your kids and you're the ones given opportunity to influence them...



*Not sure if it's best to have a variety of adult personalities, gifts, skills & interests for this or whether it doesn't matter. I'm not focusing on nature vs nurture here, I'm asking what lingered over the years and what would have been happening between 3-5 yrs old to make those roots run so deep? Something I remember from early sunday school when my grandmother was teaching: the finger game "here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors, see all the people" and a book that's still a Mennonite children's book God's World and Johnny. Gosh! I remember this one too! I remember being in choir of older kids and trying to sing louder than all the other kids. I remember lots but maybe another time...have fun with this...