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Family Activities for Summer

Below are some fun activity ideas to enjoy with your family over the next few weeks! Feel free to make any adjustments to fit your family and make them your own![/cs_text][cs_text]

1. Movie Night

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It’s hot outside, so why not have a movie night! Make some popcorn and get into the movie mood by turning off the lights, cranking up the AC and relaxing!

Movie
Choose a movie, any movie. My suggestion is “The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe.” (It has some fighting in it, so if you are concerned about that for your child, just preview the movie yourself and make your own informed decision.)

Conversation
Ask some questions about the movie to help them think about the message & how it relates to God, like:
– Does anyone in the movie remind you of Jesus? Why?
– Have you ever been tempted to do something bad like Edmund?- How can you resist temptation?

2. Chalk Bodies

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Trace your bodies with chalk while laying on the concrete, or by tracing shadows. Compare and contrast: what makes your shadows similar? unique? Color them in to show even more similarities or differences!

Go sit under a tree with a Watermelon (because it’s summer!) … While you eat, read 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 to your kids.

After reading, you can say something like: “Remember the stuff that makes our bodies different, like we saw in our chalk body drawings? We also have gifts that make us different. They are all useful for showing people God’s love!”

Ask kids what they think each other’s gifts are? Their own? Share what good gifts you see in each of them & brainstorm ways they can use their gifts to show God’s love to others!

3. Bible Theatre Thursdays

Make Thursdays a Bible Theatre day! It’s a fun way to bring Bible stories to life and kids love to play pretend! Playing pretend helps kids process and learn. (Also, most kids love to be ‘on stage’!)

Pick a Bible Story

You can choose any story! It’s helpful to choose one that fits your child’s attention span. It also helps if it is narrative. Ideas: Jonah & the Whale, Jesus Feeds 5,000, or the story of Mary & Martha.

Theatre Prep

Bring all the costumes to your practice space. No costumes? Sheets, blocks, belts, etc will also work! Assign characters to your kids and have them dress themselves up to represent those characters. Set up a stage area: it could simply be an open space to act, or it could be a place that fits the story.

Tell the Story

Narrate the story (word for word, or you can summarize it to flow better as a ‘stage performance’). As you narrate, tell your kids to do exactly what their character does! It can be spur of the moment, or you could let your kids prepare it and narrate it themselves.

Ask Questions

Ask some questions about the story. Try to ask open ended questions instead of yes/no questions. If you have trouble forming questions like that it helps to start the question with ‘I wonder….’ Example: I wonder why God would want to save Ninevah even though they were really naughty?

4. Pray For Our Church Family

Check out our Emmaus Church Directory (available in our newsletter). Look through it during your bed time prayers and choose people to pray for. Do this every night for a week. Then, pick a family you’ve been praying for and invite them out to lunch after church!

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Family Sunday :: July 30th

A few times a year the kids join us old folks in the sanctuary for Family Worship – a church service we plan for the whole family! Being part of the larger church community is so important! Children will feel more connected to the church if they know more people than just other kids. Wiggles & giggles are expected. Perfect behavior is not. Below are a couple of things to note as approach Family Sunday.

What if our child is very wiggly and doesn’t sit still?

That’s normal! Paper & crayons will be available at the Ekidz check in desk: pick some up before service for your child to doodle on when they get the wiggles. Having quiet toys to fidget with can help kids listen. You might even suggest they draw a picture about the Bible story being taught.

Explain What’s Happening

It’s an irregular thing for kids to be in the whole sanctuary service. Don’t assume they know why we do what we do. Take some time to explain things to them. For example: during prayer time you can whisper to your child “It’s time to pray,” & show them a posture of prayer like folding your hands and closing your eyes. Then add an explanation such as “We pray because God hears our prayers and it helps us build relationship with him.” Other good opportunities for explanation are communion and the sermon.

Fall Classroom Names

Anyone else confused by two classrooms being called ‘Explorers’? Let’s fix that! Classrooms will be titled as follows beginning in September:
• Pioneers: 0-1yo
• Explorers: 2-3yo
• Adventurers: 4yo-Kindergarten
• Pathfinders: 1st-5th Grade

Sick Policy

Children with a fever (100 degrees or higher), rash, vomiting, diarrhea, excessively runny nose, or cough should stay in the worship service with their parents or at home to prevent the spread of germs to other children and teachers. Thanks for understanding!

Family Resource Event

Our July Family Resource event was postponed. Stay tuned for a new date for our Faithful Families resource event!
It’s a great book and I’m really looking forward to going through it with you all!

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