Faith-Based Teaching

"Forsake Not Your Mother's Teachings"

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:29:00 +0000

I Peter 4:8 - Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.

This has been a very busy month for us. Our school year is coming to a close and Mother’s Day is just around the corner. We will be working on craft for our moms and our end of the year project. These are happy and sad occasions. We love to celebrate Mother’s Day, but I am sad to see my kids move on to another class or school.

I asked the children what they would like to do for mom on Mother’s Day. They gave me wonderful ideas, but one struck me as really cool sounding. Julia, who loves art a lot, wanted to do something with all the pictures that we have been taking throughout the year.

We decided to go on a nature walk and pick up leaves, flower petals from the garden and anything else flat that they wanted. We put these items in the flower press for a few days and talked about how we wanted to display them.

In our classroom we have four great windows and I try to put see-through items in them. The children are used to doing a lot of activities for our windows.

We took all the nature items that we collected, pressed them on the sticky side of laminating film along with five of their favorite pictures. This was about 8 ½” wide and about 12” long. Once they were happy with their activity we added a thin border of scrapbook paper around the edge. We ran it through the Xyron® No-Heat Laminator (NOHEAT). This laminator allows the children to laminate their own art without fear of burns. We punched holes in the top and strung red ribbon through the holes for hanging.

These keepsakes made a great Mother’s Day gift, that was completely done by the children.

It will be exciting to see the expression on mom’s face when she opens her gift. We had so much fun making these and hope you do too.

Rainbow Promises

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:08:00 +0000

“I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and all the earth. Genesis 9:13”

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Spring is just around the corner and we can experience the wonderful weather where we can head outside. We are going to explore the wind and the rain, planting seeds and making wind chimes.

Our first week in March was all about the wind and spring rains that we get in Arizona. We have cool temperatures through March, April and May, before the desert heat sets in.

In circle time we talk about how God planned for seasons. This is the life cycle for all living things and spring is that renewal of life that has been hibernating during the winter. In our classroom we have wonderful window that we look out each day to see what the weather is like. We looked at clouds and tried to guess what they looked like. We read the story, “It Looks Like Spilt Milk” and made our own blotter art with White paint and dark color construction paper and laughed at what we thought they were.

With spring weather, it changes very fast. It can be raining, than the wind blows all the clouds away and behold a beautiful rainbow. The children wanted to make rainbows like they saw out our windows. We read the book “The Rain Came Down” by David Shannon . We talked about how the rainbow is a promise from God that he would never flood the earth and that a rainbow is always seen after each rain when the sun comes out. We sang the rainbow song so the children would learn the color order of the rainbow and the shape we learned was an arc. We set out to create our see-through rainbows.

We each had an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of wax paper. I set out BioColor® paints in the rainbow colors. I use BioColor® because it is the only paint that will adhere to wax paper, not flake off and the colors are translucent. I gave them the freedom to use their fingers and paint to make their rainbows. After they were dry we put construction paper frames of their color choice around the wax paper and hung them in the windows. They looked awesome and were a lot of fun to do.

This is just the beginning of so many spring activities that we all enjoy so much.

God bless and have a wonderful March.
Lynn

Oh, the Wonderful Things of Valentine’s Day!

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:27:00 +0000

“We Are Wonderfully Made”

I so love Valentine’s Day that I make it the two weeks of Valentines. I love the wonderful colors of pinks, reds, purples, and all the lace, doilies and ribbons.

I also love to cook in the classroom during these two weeks. We love to make pancakes in heart shapes and waffles with red strawberries and yogurt.

This is a great time to use so many books and activity extensions. One of my all-time favorites is Jamberry, by Bruce Degan. I use this book to help my children understand that God has given us our five senses to experience all the, wonders of everything In this book.

For the sense of sight, I put all kinds of glitter, sparkle, and construction paper in the art and writing center for them to use to make cards and hearts.

For the sense of touch, we used silk scarves for dancing. We filled the sensory table with lace, doilies and material along with scissors for cutting. They used these items also in the art center. This was also a great small motor skill builder.

For the sense of taste, we made, Jamberry Tarts. We took refrigerator biscuits, rolled them in to small balls and put a thumb print in them and a spoonful of jam. We went to the school kitchen and watched them bake.

For the sense of hearing we make sound sensory bottles with all the colors of pinks, reds and purples.

For the sense of smell, we made Valentine heart potpourri that we could give away. We used the large doilies from Discount School Supply®. If you double them it makes them pretty sturdy and can be sewn easily with yarn and stuffed with whatever scent that the children would like to put in them.

We made red, pink and purple play dough with koolade and of course used a lot of heart, cupids and Valentine shaped cookie cutters.

Valentines is a great time to talk about love for one another and that God loved us so much, “We are Wonderfully Made”.

Have a blessed week.

Lynn

It's a New Year

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:54:00 +0000

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;
old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new."
2 Corinthians 5:17

Our first week back at school and our theme is The New Year. I thought long and hard about how I wanted to help my kids understand that we are now in a new year and the old year is gone. Being four years old, they really can’t grasp the "New Year" concept so I decided we would go with celebrating the old things we still love and the excitement of discovering new things.

This was a good theme for me and the kids. I am in a new school and I am a new teacher for the kids in this class. They are used to Miss Jessy, whom they felt comfortable with and knew the class routine. Change is going to be hard for me but harder for them. We talked a lot about how we like to hold onto things that are the same, and it is hard to give those things up. We also talked about how something new can be very exciting and a little scary.

We talked about what is old and what is new. For show and tell they brought in something old that they have had for a long time and something new they just got. They talked about what they liked about the routine in their classroom and if they would like to change anything. We prayed each day that God would help all of us not to be scared and that we could all work together, have fun with the old and enjoy the new.

I started with adding "New Year” items to the sensory table. I put in sensory bottles that had glitter. We put in confetti, hats, noise makers, streamers and glasses that said “2012" on them. We sprinkled in Insta-Snow® (SNO) for winter along with Opal Glitter (OGLI) which made it shimmer. This was a very popular activity for the kids. They wore the glasses, played with the snow and enjoyed making noise with the noise makers. They continued to make suggestion of new items to put in and you can see by the picture.

We all learned that if we trust in the Lord, no matter what changes come along, he will guide and protect us. When we become a new creature in God, old ways pass a way. It is exciting to see what new things He has in store for us.

This is a new year. Enjoy the changes that happen in your classroom and remember to thank God for all the things that stay the same and all that are new.

Have a blessed week.
Lynn

The True Meaning of Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:24:00 +0000

Christmas is rich with all the gold, silver, reds, blues and green colors that surround our room. We are talking about, exploring and using all of our senses to experience the sights, sounds, textures and smells of Christmas.

For this post, I am going to let you know what we are doing in my classroom to help my children understand the true meaning of Christmas and to get the feel of how it felt on the first Christmas morning.

We read the Christmas story from the Bible and other children's books to help them understand that first Christmas morning.
Mary was going to have baby Jesus very soon, so she must have been tired and uncomfortable riding on the back of a donkey or walking. I invited a mom, who is pregnant and due very soon, to come talk about how she feels and if she would like to travel a long way on the back of a donkey. The children had many questions for her.

We talked about how there was no hotel for them to stay at so they had to stay in a stable where the animals lived. I brought in hay and animal feed so they could experience the smell of the stable.

We talked about the shepherds and how they travel a long way outside of Bethlehem to see baby Jesus and the glorious angels. We dressed as Joseph, Mary, shepherds and angels for dramatic play.

We also put out lots of items that help us celebrate the Christmas holiday. We put colored bows in the sensory table for matching. We added wrapping paper, scissors and tape to wrap packages. We made candy canes with red and white pony beads and white pipe cleaners. This was great for sorting, making a pattern and developing small motor skills. I put angel shapes in the free art area and let them decorate them however they wanted. This was one of the most popular art activities. We had a host of angels throughout our room. Our angels were beautifully adorned with gold and silver paint, opal, red and silver glitter.

The children enjoyed all this, unstructured time for exploring the many things of Christmas. We don’t talk a lot about Santa Clause unless the children bring it up. We try to focus more on the caring and sharing of this blessed holiday.

Enjoy your Christmas time in the classroom.

God bless.
Lynn

Giving With a Cheerful Heart

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:01:00 +0000

Jacob made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves.

Genesis 37:3

With Thanksgiving coming up in November we started our giving with a cheerful heart theme. We started by telling the story of Joseph's coat of many colors. Joseph’s coat was a gift from his father, because he loved him very much.

At circle time we talked about what kind of gifts we have received and which ones were our favorites. This was very easy for my kids because they all receive gift throughout the year. When I asked what kind of gifts they have given to people they love, this was harder for them to come up with an answer.

My goal for this theme is to help them understand that we give as well as receive and we give with a cheerful heart. I asked for them to bring in two of their favorite toys. I asked if they were to give away one of their favorite toys, which would it be. Several of my children were ok with giving away one of their toys to another child who does not have a toy, but most did not want to give one of their toys away.

We talked about how God wants us to give to others and that we need do so with a cheerful heart. This means helping others with our time, money and even our toys.

We took brown grocery bags and cut them into the shape of a vest. I gave the children glue, brushes and pieces of colored tissue paper to put on their vest.They also could use dot markers and regular markers to decorate as they wished.

When our vests were complete and dry, we drew names out of a bag and the vest they made was given to another classmate. I reminded them that we often don't know the person we are helping but we give with a cheerful heart.

We all loved doing this activity, the girls more than the boys, but we all had a good time and a good lesson on the act of giving. We will wear our vests for the Thanksgiving feast.

Hope you enjoy doing this lesson with your class as much as we did.

Have a blessed day.

Lynn

Winter in July

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:48:00 +0000

“God Helps Us Weather the Storm”

We are continuing our Vacation Bible School theme, of “God Helps Us Weather the Storm”, and this week it is, “Winter in July.”

It is very hot this time of year all across the country, so we wanted to help cool us and our kids off, even if just for a little while.

We set all of our centers up with snow, ice and cold air for play and art. During our circle time we talked about how snow and cold make a difference in our lives. We asked how many have played in snow or gone ice skating? Many of our kids have done both and they talked about their experiences of playing in the snow and ice. We looked at a lot of pictures of children and how they were dressed for playing in the winter weather.

We talked about how to be safe in winter weather and what can be scary about snow and ice. My children gave answers like heavy snow coming down, hail hitting the car, and snow being too cold for their hands and faces.

Just like any weather we experience, we always have to be prepared and pray that God helps us weather the storms. We talked about how we can ask God to help and be with us through all the stormy times in our lives.

Our children went to all the different centers. They played in Insta-Snow® (SNO) in the sensory table. We put winter clothes in the dress-up center, kool-aid and ice cubes painting in the art center. We made rainsticks with white packing peanuts and cardboard tubes. They had a great time making snowflakes with coffee filters and Colorations® Liquid Watercolor. We ice skated to music with paper plates on their feet on the blue carpet.

This was the last lesson in our Vacation Bible School, but I thought they had the most fun exploring all the winter activities that we did. We helped these young children understand that God will help us weather all that happens in their lives, all they need to do is ask.

Hope you enjoy doing these activities with your young children.

Have a blessed week.

Lynn

Summertime Means Vacation Bible School, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:54:00 +0000

Rain, rain, don’t go away.

For our Vacation Bible School, we are continuing our “God helps us weather the storm” theme. This week we were exploring how rain is involved in our lives.

Arizona only get about 7.5 inches of rain each year. Over ¾ of our rain comes during the summertime, which is known as the Monsoon season. We can get very heavy rains in just 30 to 60 minutes and is accompanied by loud and often scary thunder and lightning.

I asked my children what they liked about the summer rains. Many said they like to go outside and play in it. Some of the children like to play in the puddles after the rain had stopped. I asked them what they did not like about the rain and almost everyone said the thunder and lightning. It was too loud and scary.

During our music and movement time we used drums and noise makers to create the noise that thunder makes. This activity was designed to help them understand that it is just noise and we don’t have to be afraid. We also talked about that during thunderstorms we can lose the power to our houses, so we need to be prepared. We handed out flashlights and played flashlight tag. We let them take the flashlight home to keep in their rooms.

For our art activity we made rain pictures. Using Colorations® Liquid Watercolor the children put paint on their construction paper with spray bottles. They had the choice of colors to use. After their paintings had dried we took them outside and used eye droppers to drop water on the pictures to simulate rain. The watercolor ran and blended with the other colors.

Our rain pictures turned out great. We laminated them and sent their pictures home to remind them that God provides rain for us, plants, and animals, and that we need these summer rains to help everything in Arizona grow and stay healthy.

We talked about being safe during these thunderstorms. We talked about asking God to be with us and to help us not to be afraid and to "Weather the Storm."

You may have different summer weather where you live, so have fun with all you weather activities.

Have a blessed day,
Lynn

Summertime Means Vacation Bible School!

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:12:00 +0000

God helps us weather the storm.

I think I can remember almost every Vacation Bible School that I have helped plan, gather material for and teach. These are great times for me, our kids and the Sunday school staff.
I wanted to do something relevant for our children, so we decided on a theme focused around how weather affects them every day. Weather is a perfect example of how we are at the mercy of the sun, rain, wind and even hail.

Our first lesson was on wind. We talked about different Bible stories that had to do with wind. We talked about our own stories about wind. Here in Arizona, we get some very bad wind storms during the summer. These winds kick up the dust in the desert and cause dust storms. These storms can be big and deadly. What do we do when the wind becomes very strong? We stay inside with mom and dad and we pray that God will help us to weather the storm.

We decided to make windsocks that we could hang outside to tell us when the wind was beginning to blow.

We used the largest coffee filters (BIGTEX) that we could find. We used Colorations® Liquid Watercolor and dyed them in rainbow colors, using brushes. While they were still damp, we used the Colorations® Metallic Washable Stamp Pads (METSTAMP) and the Easy-Grip Inspirational Stampers (EGISTAMP) to decorate our windsocks.

It took about 20 minutes for them to dry completely. Then, we folded each side of the round coffee filter up about three inches and stapled them down. It now looked like a rectangle ready to be rolled into a cylinder. We stapled the ends together and glued the middle. We each chose different colors of yarn and strung it through four holes we punched evenly around the top and knotted all the yarn together.

We talked about how not all wind is scary. There are gentle breezes that can blow every day. Even these gentle breezes will make our windsock move. We wrote on the wind sock that God will help us to weather the storm.

The windsocks came out beautifully and are a good reminder that God is with us at all times.

Have a blessed week,
Lynn

Fully Rely on God

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:56:00 +0000

“Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you." I Peter 5:7

Here it is May already and our time together as a class will soon be coming to an end. All of my children will be leaving the comfort and security of a classroom, as well as the teachers and friends they have come to know and rely on each day. All of my children will be moving on to Big Kid's School, as they call it.
The end of school can be a very happy, sad and scary time all rolled into one. Not only for me and my aide but certainly for the children and their parents. I wanted to help make this transition as easy and comforting as possible.

In circle time, we talked about who we rely on each day. My kids gave examples of “mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, a couple of pets and other adults.” I said, “As you go off to big kids school, our family and friends may not be there in our new classroom and school. Who do we rely on then?" Two of my girls said, "Jesus and God." We talked about how God is always there to talk to through prayer. We can always rely on God to make us feel secure until we can be with the people we love.

We decided to make something to remind us each day that God cares for us and to rely on him. We got foam sheets, a frog stencil, green BioColor® and a balloon. We placed the stencil in the center of the foam sheet, put the green paint on a paper plate and blew our balloons up to the size of a tennis ball. The children dipped the balloon in the paint and bounced it up and down over the stencil until the center was entirely covered. They had no trouble doing this and really enjoyed painting with the balloon, When they were done, they removed the stencil and had a print of a green frog on their foam.

After drying for the afternoon, I lightly wrote F.R.O.G. at the top of the foam and Fully Rely on God at the bottom. They then took markers and traced the letters. We punched holes at the top and strung yarn for hanging.

We gave instructions to take their plaques home and have a parent hang it in a spot that they could see it each day before leaving the house. We all enjoyed making these keepsakes to remind us that God is eternal and will always be there for us.

I will miss this class as they move on to Big Kid School, and I look forward to a new group of eager young learners in the fall.

Hope you enjoyed this activity!
Have a blessed week.
Lynn

Lily of the Valley

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:16:00 +0000

Spring and Easter are here and it is always an exciting time in the classroom. The true meaning of Easter is hard for young children to understand so in our classroom we concentrate on new life.

The Easter Lily is a great example of Easter and new life. So we decided to let the children plant Easter Lily bulbs. During circle time we looked at pictures of all different kinds of lilies and discovered that they come in many different colors. The popular colors are purple, blue and white. We looked at our bulbs and talked about what we needed to make them grow. The children decided that they needed dirt, water and sunshine. This was an outside activity. Each child had a pot and filled it 1/3 full of soil. In went the bulb, then water, and more soil to cover. They had the choice to leave it in the classroom or take them home. They all chose to take theirs home.

We explained that the bulb would take a long time to grow, so we decided to make Easter Lily's for Easter dinner decorations. The children had a choice of what color they would like to make. Some chose purple and blue, but most choose the most popular white. They laid their hands down on the colored paper, spreading their fingers wide, and we traced around them. They cut them out and used pencils to curl the fingers. We taped both hands to a green straw and pushed a yellow pipe cleaner up through the straw as the yellow part of the flower. They taped on green construction paper leaves and put them in clear plastic bottles.

Parents, teachers and the children enjoyed both of the Spring/Easter activities. I heard comments such as, "This is a keeper," "It was fun!" and "They are so cute."

Easter and spring are definitely here. Enjoy all the new life that both bring.

Have a blessed week,

Lynn

Let Your Light Shine

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:51:00 +0000

...let your light shine before others.... ~ Matthew 5:16

Our Bible verse this month is about having the light of God in us and letting that light shine so others can see our good works.

I wanted to help my children understand, in fun hands-on activities, how we see light and how it reacts in different ways. In my sensory table I put mirrors in the bottom, to see reflective light and magnifying glasses on the science tables to show refractive light.

In circle time we read the story “Northern Lights, A to Z” by: Mindy Dwyer.
and we looked at pictures from Natural Geographic on the Northern Lights.
I handed out flashlights to each of my children. We turned out the classroom lights and I let them shine their lights on the walls and the ceiling. We used the flashlights to spotlight items around the room. I never had a child that didn't love a flashlight.

My aid and I helped each child make a Northern Light activity. We took a large, inexpensive white paper plate. Each child cut their paper plate in half and glued a large craft stick to the cut side. This was their handle to hold the plate. We gave them white school glue and brushes to paint their paper plate. They then glued glitter confetti onto their paper plates and let it dry. When their plates were dry we shut the lights off in the classroom and used our flashlights to reflect the light off the glitter and the colors magically appeared on the walls and ceilings. They had to discover the best angle to hold the flashlights to make the colors appear.

My kids had so much fun with this activity they wanted to take their plates to other classrooms to show them how the lights appeared on the walls. We even went into the directors office.

We kept the glitter plates in their cubbies for a full week and the flashlights on the science table for continued exploration. Then they went home for the families to enjoy.

The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) have been shining long before the dinosaurs roamed the earth and will continue shining forever. God's light has shown from the beginning of time and will continue to shine in our lives for eternity.

Hope you and your kids have fun with this activity and let God's light continue to shine through you.

Blessed week.

Lynn

The Good Samaritan

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:42:00 +0000

My goal for this month is to help each of my children learn their home address. Helping a child learn their address covers many areas of their cognitive and social development. While trying to accomplish this I also wanted to incorporate our Bible story, The Good Samaritan.

After telling the story in circle time we talked about who is our neighbor. Who is sitting next to you? Are they your neighbor? Do you know who lives next door to you? Are they your neighbor? I let each child share about who they know, see, say hi to and play with around their neighborhood. As all young children, my kids love to share. This was a lot of fun, as they all had stories to tell. We then talked about how important it is to know where we live and that each of us has an address. When we know our addresses we will always be safe and be able to tell someone if we need help to find our home.

My aid and I helped each child, using the foam numbers, to put their address on a square piece of construction paper, using the color of their choice. We then used a large triangle for the roof, small squares and rectangles for the door and windows. We gave them markers if they wanted to do more decoration. On a large sheet of butcher roll the children each glued their houses to make a neighborhood. We gave them foam shapes of children, flowers, dogs, cats, cars and airplanes to finish off the group activity. We continued to talk about how God wanted us to love your neighbor as yourself. This means to be kind to not only those who live in our neighborhood, but also your neighbor friends in our classroom and at church.

We hung our group mural on the wall about a couple of feet above the floor. This became a real conversation piece during free choice for them to tell stories about their houses and who lives with them.

We continued to reinforce our address numbers and street until everyone was able to say where they lived. When it was time to take the mural down we cut the section that each child had contributed to and sent it home.

Not only did we all learn a lot about each other, but we were able to memorize our Bible verse …Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Matthew 22:39

Have a blessed week.

Lynn

Who Loves you, and Whom Do you Love?

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:35:00 +0000

“Hide My Word in Your Heart.”

February is the month for talking about love. Whom do you love and who loves you. At circle time we talked about all the people in our lives who love us very much and everyone we love too. Three of my children said they love their dogs, cats and Morris the tortoise. In a little basket beside my chair I had small items for each of the children. I asked if they had little treasures and they wanted to put them some place safe where would you hide them right now so they would not get lost. I gave them each a small toy and saw where they put them. Most put them in a pants pocket, shirt pocket and one in her shoe.

We talked about the Word of God and our Bible verse. To keep it safe we hide the word of God in our hearts by memorizing our Bible verse each week. Our Bible verse is “Love the Lord Your God with all Your Heart”, Matthew 22:37.

We talked about color patterns in our shirts and our pants. I gave them a cut out of a pair of pants or a shirt and let them decorate them as they liked. They had their choice of anything that was in the art center to use. Some used markers, paint, stickers and the girls loved the sequins and glitter pens. After their article of clothing was dry I gave them an outline of a heart and they cut it out and glued it to their shirt or pants. On the heart I wrote-I Have Hidden Your Word in My Heart… After we recited the Bible verse they tucked the piece of paper into the heart pocket. We hung our shirts and pants on the walls for about a week and after we had memorized the verse, they took them home.

Hiding small items from the science center, cars and trucks area, and small animals is all part of the preschool experience. Hiding the Word of God in their hearts is part of their growing experience.

Have a joyous February.
Lynn

Teaching Children About Praying

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:48:00 +0000

This time of year is so appropriate to teach children about praying.

Last week I asked each child to bring a shoe box or similar sized box to class because we were going to do something very special with it. I also made sure I had extra boxes for the children that forgot their box or didn’t have one.

We read the story “This Little Prayer of Mine” by Anthony DeStefano. Anthony explains this "It just shows children that prayer is simply conversation with God. It's as simple as that, it's just talking to God -- children telling God their fears, their hopes, their concerns. It involves humorous, funny pictures. I think it's just a very inviting kind of a book that parents and children will like very much." I couldn’t agree with him more. The children really enjoyed the story and it really helped to convey the message of praying.

We had a great discussion about praying and how it is just isn’t about asking God for “things”. We talked about praying for peace, health, friendship and love.

I told the children that we were going to make a “Prayer Box” to put our prayers in it and so that others in our family could do the same.

I put out lots of jewels, sequins, glue , markers, crayons and colored pencils and let the children decorate away. While they were decorating their boxes I cut a slit in each of their lids.

We made special prayer cards using index cards, colored pencils and stickers. Each child dictated to me what their first prayer would be to God. I wrote it on their special card and let them insert it into the slit on the lid.

It was so much fun and believe it or not they didn’t ask for “things.” Many of them asked for God to watch over them, love them, their family and to feed the poor and hungry 

I made one too. I think the children really like it when we participate in the activity as well.

Have fun and Happy Holidays!
Barb

P.S. These would also make a great gift for the children to make for their family if you are looking for a gift for them to make in class.

Bottle Cap Bracelets

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:03:00 +0000

I love reusing items in the classroom for lessons, and bottle caps are one of the most reused items that we take advantage of almost on a daily basis. They can be reused for counting, sorting, game pieces, art and craft projects and so much more.

We made “I LOVE GOD” bracelets with bottle caps and they came out great! The children even made extra ones to give to their parents, siblings and friends.

Ahead of time I printed out the words “I” “LOVE” “GOD” onto paper and cut them into circles to fit inside of the bottle caps.

I set out pipe cleaners, straws, beads, scissors and bottle caps with holes already poked in them before the children arrived.

The tables looked like so much fun and I just knew the children would be anxious to get to work on their bracelets.

At circle time we talked about how much we love God and all of the wonderful things that we love about him. In my usual way I charted the children’s responses of the reasons they loved God. Some of their responses were the following:

He gives me food to eat
I live in a house
I have a bed to sleep in
He gave me my mom and dad
He loves me
He takes care of me

After circle time the children went right to work on their bracelets. They cut up straws to string on their pipe cleaners along with beads and the bottle caps. Inside each cap they glued each word to spell out “I LOVE GOD” on their bracelet.

I always like to connect a bible verse with our lesson so I found this one that fit perfectly:

I love you, O LORD, my strength
Psalm 18:1

The children had so much fun making the bracelets and even more fun giving one to their parents and siblings when they were picked up.

I hope you decide to make these with your children.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

Responsibility Cards

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:06:00 +0000

"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him." --Booker T. Washington

I read the story “Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.” I asked the children if their rooms at home were a mess and many of them said they were. We talked about how they needed to be responsible for cleaning up their mess at home.

I made responsibility cards ahead of time (each card had a responsibility written on it with a corresponding picture.) Each child picked a card from the bag. I explained that they would have to take on that responsibility for the rest of the day. They were very excited about picking their cards and to find out their responsibility for the day.

The following is a list of responsibilities I wrote on each card,

• Sweep
• Wash tables
• Tuck in chairs
• Set table for snack
• Pick up trash
• Wash out paint cups
• Pick up books
• Put markers away
• Put paper away
• Clean up after snack
• Say prayer before snack
• Wash out paintbrushes
• Pick up loose toys

It was amazing to see how excited they were to take on their responsibility. It was also a bit challenging because some of them had to wait until the time came for them to complete their responsibility.

At the end of the day I asked them if they wanted to pick responsibility cards again tomorrow and of course they said yes. I had each of them put their cards back in the bag so that they could pick a new one tomorrow. If they get the same one I will have them choose again unless they are happy having the same responsibility a second day. Who knows, maybe this will be something we do every day.

Tell me how your responsibility cards turn out.

Peace and Joy,
Barb

Rules Are Not Made To Be Broken

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:48:00 +0000

With the beginning of the school year upon us this is a great time to have a lesson on fairness and to create new rules or revisit the old rules.

I came up with the idea to make a big book of our classroom rules. We did this as a large group project. I also let each child make a small book of the classroom rules if they wanted to.

I put out 6 large sheets of white poster board. Each sheet would represent a rule that we all agreed on and one sheet would be the cover of the book called “Our Rule Book.”

Rule #1 ~ Take Turns
Rule #2 ~ Play Fair
Rule #3 ~ Be Nice
Rule #4 ~ Clean Up
Rule #5 ~ Wash Hands

On the poster board I wrote in pencil (very lightly) the rule and what it was so that the children could trace over the words with markers, crayons, or colored pencils. I then encouraged them to draw pictures, glue pictures from magazines or put stickers onto the poster board that related to that rule.

After we were all done, I stapled the 6 sheets together in book style. We read the book together and then we placed the book in the book shelf with all of the other books to be read anytime the children wanted to.

Perhaps you will make a big book of rules with your class? Let me know if you do, I would love to hear how it went.

As always, peach and joy,
Barb

I Will Not Tell a Lie

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:41:00 +0000

During circle time we read the story “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

This book is a perfect example of honesty and what can happen if you don’t tell the truth.

I asked the children if they have ever lied. Surprisingly many of them admitted that they had. I asked them about some of the things they had lied about and what the consequences were when they got caught in a lie.

Some of the things they lied about was hitting a brother or sister or taking away their toy, breaking something, spilling milk or water, tearing a book, coloring on the wall.

When I asked them what happened when they got caught in a lie they talked about being put in time out, saying they were sorry or cleaning up their mess. It was a really rich conversation and I could see the remorse in their faces and hear it in their voices. I encourage you to have conversations like this with your children because it is a great way for them to learn and hear from each other.

I had a big piece of chart paper taped to the wall and asked them what honesty meant to them.

Here is what they said,

• Tell the truth
• Don’t steal
• Don’t lie
• Don’t tell on someone else
• Don’t make up stories

I had brought in all kinds of props to act out “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” we had stuffed sheep, a wolf and large sticks that would be their staff.

Below is the story in case you don’t have the book.
There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!" The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces. "Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill. Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away. When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!" But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more. Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!" But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.
At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping. "There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why didn't you come?" An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village. "We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"

I hope if you do this with your class you have a great time and the children learn about not telling a lie and the importance of being honest.
Peace and Joy,
Barb

Caring Coupons

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:19:00 +0000

Over the next few weeks I will be focusing on character education. I believe that character education is a beautiful compliment to the teachings in the Bible and how God wants us to behave.

The first core virtue of character education we focused on was caring.

During circle time the children and I discussed what caring looks like or means to them.

Here is the list we came up with:

• Be nice to others
• Be compassionate
• Show you care
• Express gratitude
• Forgive others
• Help and take care of people in need
• Think good thoughts towards others
• Be generous with kind words and actions

I told the children we were going to make “Caring Coupons” for others. They were very excited about this and couldn’t wait to get started.

On the tables I had stapled together 5 coupon-shaped pieces of paper into a booklet. In pencil (very lightly) I wrote “Caring Coupon Book” so that each child could trace over the words with a marker or crayon of their choice.

I put out stickers and pictures from magazine of cats, dogs, clothes, food, books, newspapers, gardens, flowers and other pictures that would represent something a child could do to show they cared.

The children glued the pictures into their books and dictated what they would do with that coupon to show they cared. For example, Andy glued a picture of a dog and said that he would take care of his dog and make sure he had food and water. Sarah glued a picture of flowers and said she would help her mom water the flowers in the garden.

It was so exciting because each book was unique to the individual child and they really seemed to grasp the concept of caring for others.

If you try this with the children in your class, there are many ways to make it appropriate for children of different abilities. For example, instead of magazine pictures the children could draw pictures on their own; the shapes of the coupons could be preprinted and children can practice cutting them out; or have the children cut the coupons out to make any shape they want.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

It's All About The Sheep

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:03:00 +0000

Did you know that there are over 600 references to sheep, lamb, shepherds and ewe in the Bible? Sheep are consistently used throughout scripture to teach biblical truths.

I wanted to do a large group activity with the children because I believe it really teaches them teamwork, sharing, respect while at the same time having fun.

I made a huge cutout of a sheep and had it on the floor in the middle of our circle time as the children arrived.

I had them sit around the sheep and read them the bible verse John 10:7-16. I explained to the children that sheep are so important to God that he talks about them over 600 times in the bible. I asked them if they knew what a sheep sounds like and if they do can they make the sound. Of course, I heard a lot of “baaaas.”

After we talked about sheep I ask them if they know what a shepherd is. Many of them said Jesus and some said a man with a cane and others had no idea. I explained that a shepherd takes care of the sheep and uses a “staff” that looks like a cane to direct them.

I taught them a song that went like this…

“One Little Two Little Three Little Sheep”
(to the tune of “Ten Little Indians”)
One little, two little, three little sheep
Four little, five little, six little sheep
Seven little, eight little, nine little sheep
Ten sheep loved by the Shepherd

Then I told them that we were going to make our paper sheep nice and fluffy. I put out cottonballs of all different colors and told them they could put any color cottonball they wanted on their sheep. (To make colorful cottonballs you take powder tempera paint , put in a bag with some cottonballs and shake it.)

The children worked together beautifully and even color coordinated some of the cottonballs. I had individual sheep ready for them if they finished early and wanted to make their own sheep to take home as a reminder of our lesson. Most of them did this activity as well.

Let me know how your sheep lesson turns out.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

Joseph's Coat of Many Colors

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Wed, 26 May 2010 21:05:00 +0000

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.
Genesis 37:3

It was a very colorful day in class. Ahead of time I cut out paper bag vests for each child. They are simple to do, just cut open the middle of the front side of the bag. Cut a hole in the top for the neck. Cut a hole on each side of the bag for arm holes.

I always like to give the children lots of choices so I had paint, markers, crayons, tissue paper, fabric, glue and even chalk out on the tables.

At circle time we talked about Joseph and all of the reasons his father gave him a coat of many colors. The responses are always so cute and some were even funny. Some of the responses from them were:

“Joseph’s father gave him the coat because he was cold.”

“He gave him the coat because he wanted him to be pretty.” (my personal favorite)

“He wanted everyone to know that his coat was special.”

“He wanted to share.”

I asked them if they wanted to make a coat of many colors and they couldn’t get to the tables fast enough.

They colored, painted and glued fabric on their coats. Of course no two of them were alike. I made one along with them as we talked about how Joseph’s coat was probably made. Most of them thought it was sewed together by his father.

After the coats were completed we decided to have a parade through the school to show them off. It was so much fun as I let each child lead the parade for a little while.

I hope you will make Joseph’s coat of many colors with your students and have as much fun as I did.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

The Prayer Lap Book

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:37:00 +0000

Have you ever made a lap book with your students? They are great fun and can be very interactive.

Today we made a “Prayer Lap Book.”

Before we started I put out the following items:

File Folders
Magazines
Print outs of people praying
markers
crayons
glue stick

I read them the story, “I Can Pray” by Happy Day Series.

We talked about praying, how we can kneel when we pray, fold our hands/arms and close our eyes.

We started creating our lap books. The children could choose from a variety of pictures, magazine cut outs or even color the outside cover to assemble their prayer lap book. I had them write with markers the words “My Prayer Lap Book” on the cover of their folder.

On the inside cover, I asked them to put pictures of what it looks like when people pray. They could draw or color pictures, or glue on the pictures that were already out on the table of people praying.

On the opposite cover I asked them to dictate to myself or my aide the things they pray about and perhaps a prayer they would like us to write down.

On the back cover they could do whatever they wanted.

Each book came out unique and colorful. I hope you will consider creating a lap book with your children.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

The Rainbow Promise

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:07:00 +0000

Who doesn’t love a rainbow? I always enjoy doing a rainbow lesson with the children so that they are reminded of God’s promise to us. Here is something we did recently:

As the children arrived in the classroom they saw the following items out on the tables:

Bread
Toaster
Cups of colored milk
Brand new, clean paintbrushes
Butter
Paper plates
Plastic knives

They were so excited because they knew they were going to get to eat.

We gathered in a circle so that I could read them the story “Let's Paint a Rainbow” by Eric Carle.

After the story we talked about rainbows, and I asked how many of them had ever seen a rainbow in the sky? They all raised their hands, so I figured if they hadn’t seen a rainbow in the sky they at least knew what a rainbow was.

We then discussed God’s promise to us from the passage in the Bible, Genesis 9:8-17. I replaced the word covenant with promise so that the children could understand it better. I explained to them that when they see a rainbow in the sky it reminds us of God’s promise and how much he loves us.

After the discussion we sang “Oh Rainbow.”

Oh Rainbow
Tune: O Christmas Tree
Oh rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors.
Oh rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors.
Purple, red and orange, too,
Yellow, green and blue so true.
Oh rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors.

After we were done singing it was off to make rainbow toast.

The children were allowed to “paint” any colors of the rainbow on their bread using the colored milk and what fun they had!

Before they ate their toast, Emily said a prayer, “Thank you God for this rainbow toast. Amen.”

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

Don't Be A Litter Bug - Earth Day Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (SunBeam Teacher) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:41:00 +0000

Earth day is fast approaching and I wanted to give you an activity idea to use with your children.

One lesson we use this time of year is to teach that God wants us to protect our earth, take good care of it and honor it. One way to get the message across to young children is to teach them not to be a “litter bug.”

Take some newspaper, scrap paper, clean bottle caps, clean string and other items that resemble litter. Go outside to the playground or outdoor setting and toss the “litter” all over before the children arrive, (yes, you read that correctly, make a mess and spread the litter).

As soon as all of the children have arrived tell them that something happened on the playground that you want to show them. Be prepared to answer questions about why there is litter all over the playground. Take garbage bags with your when you go outside or have them out there ahead of time.

Ask the children how God would feel if he knew that someone had spread litter outside. Most likely you will get answers like sad, mad, upset and not happy. Take a moment to sit outside with them and ask them if they know what a litter bug is and if they have ever been a litter bug.

Suggest to the children that we need to pick up the litter from the playground or outdoor area and once we pick it up we are going to go inside and make “litter bugs” with it. Explain that this litter is actually items you brought from home to help them practice picking up litter, and that the items are clean and OK to use for a craft project. Litter that they find on the ground in other settings should be disposed of properly.

In advance have
glue, scissors and crayons ready for the children to create their litter bugs.
One way to start is to show them how they can crumble the newspaper into balls and glue the bottle caps, string and other litter to the newspaper to create their bugs. This can be a creative, unguided project where the end results can be anything the children imagine.

Have little signs made up ahead of time that say “Don’t be a litter bug!” The children can attach these signs with a craft stick, straw or twig for their litter bugs/creatures to hold. Remind children when they see litter outdoors they can help keep the earth beautiful by picking it up and disposing of it properly.

At the end of class you can read a story about the earth. One of my favorites is “Dear Children of the Earth” by Schim Schimmel.

I hope you have great fun with this activity and let me know how it went.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb