With a love for Children's Ministry and a skill in Marketing, Danika LaBrant has founded Designed Service, designing services for messages that matter in ministry and marketing. There is a blog spot on the website. Visit http://designedservice.com and click the "blog" tab. Danika LaBrant will be posting object lessons and other Children's Ministry news on DesignedService.com.
What happens to this blog? It is a curious thing. With the anticipated launch of Google+ the buzz is Blogger will be rebranded. Other than a name change, what other changes will occur? Google is not talking. For now, this blog will remain.
We hope you will find the information available on DesignedService.com beneficial. Ms. LaBrant is available as a guest speaker for AWANA nights, Disciple Now Weekends, special events, retreats, etc.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Acension Awe
In Children's and Preschool Ministry, my favorite lessons are Christmas and Easter. There are a ton of resources for Christmas, but not for Easter. The death and resurrection of Christ is a difficult lesson to teach to a four year old. Through the years I have stumbled across a couple of really good and fun object lessons that put AWE into Ascension. Here are a couple of fun ones....
1. Ping Pong Ball Ascension - Supplies: a ping pong ball, a hair dryer and a toilet tube role. What to do: turn on the hair dryer (cool air if possible) and point it to the ceiling. Place the ping pong ball in the airflow and watch it balance there. This is a good time to review Jesus was resurrection and appearances on the Road to Emmaus ( Luke 24:35-37) and the 40 days he appeared alive after his death (Acts 1:3). With practice you can even walk around balancing the ball in the air stream. But of course, we want to end with a HOORAY! Jesus is risen. So after you talk about the ascension (Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9), place the toilet role over the ball. The channelled air will move faster and force the ball to pop out the top. Preschoolers love it. Children want to try it themselves.
2. Breaking Free Baking Soda - Supplies: empty water bottle, lemon juice, water, baking soda, one square of toilet paper, a cork, and an aluminum baking tray or craw fish plate to catch the fizz. Prep: fill about an 1" of lemon juice in the bottom of the water bottle and then add water until about 1/2 full. This is a good lesson to talk about the resurrection. The lemon juice is the oils used to treat the body of Christ. The baking soda is the body of Christ placed in the toilet square which is the linen cloth. They placed the body in the tomb (pour the baking soda into the bottle) and then rolled a great stone in front of the tomb (do it quickly after the pour, cork the top). Then three days later Jesus was resurrected (the pressure builds until the cork is forced to pop out. depending on how much baking soda you use and how tight the cork is in, determines how high the cork will fly.) If you can't find the right size cork, you can try to make one with play dough. It didn't work so well; never popped. But the fizz created did leak out and the discussion became how Jesus's love just keeps flowing. Jesus loved us so much He went to the grave, broke out of the grave, and pours His continued love and forgiveness on us even today.
3. Resurrection Explosion - this one is great fun and an outdoor experiment. It can be used on Easter Sunday as something special for an exciting day or you can use it on Ascension day as the climax to a multi-week study of Easter. All this is is the Mentos experiment which you may have seen on the Steve Spangler, the Science Guy website. Supplies: 2 liter bottle of cheap diet soda, a roll of mentos mint candy, and optionally a geyser tube which you can get on the Spangler website at http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/ or check the discovery section of some toy stores or Hobby Lobby sometimes carries them in their impulse buy section by the cash registers. You don't need the geyser tube but it sure makes it easier. Anyway, I recommend having multiple bottles and multiple rolls of Mentos. I keep the kids back since this makes a huge mess so I holler out, "Can death keep a good man down?" Student reply, "No!" I holler, "How many days was Jesus in the tomb?" Student reply, "Three!" I holler, "What happened on the third day?" Student reply, "He rose." I holler, "Let's count! One, two, three!" Then release the mentos into the soda. The explosion is quick so wear a poncho or have an umbrella for you. Kids will squeal with glee. Then I repeat the holler, student reply. Review is always important, and the kids are having so much fun, they don't realize they are learning.
I love the Ascension Lesson. The kids have fun, and we get to celebrate life. Best wishes for success in your Children's program.
1. Ping Pong Ball Ascension - Supplies: a ping pong ball, a hair dryer and a toilet tube role. What to do: turn on the hair dryer (cool air if possible) and point it to the ceiling. Place the ping pong ball in the airflow and watch it balance there. This is a good time to review Jesus was resurrection and appearances on the Road to Emmaus ( Luke 24:35-37) and the 40 days he appeared alive after his death (Acts 1:3). With practice you can even walk around balancing the ball in the air stream. But of course, we want to end with a HOORAY! Jesus is risen. So after you talk about the ascension (Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9), place the toilet role over the ball. The channelled air will move faster and force the ball to pop out the top. Preschoolers love it. Children want to try it themselves.
2. Breaking Free Baking Soda - Supplies: empty water bottle, lemon juice, water, baking soda, one square of toilet paper, a cork, and an aluminum baking tray or craw fish plate to catch the fizz. Prep: fill about an 1" of lemon juice in the bottom of the water bottle and then add water until about 1/2 full. This is a good lesson to talk about the resurrection. The lemon juice is the oils used to treat the body of Christ. The baking soda is the body of Christ placed in the toilet square which is the linen cloth. They placed the body in the tomb (pour the baking soda into the bottle) and then rolled a great stone in front of the tomb (do it quickly after the pour, cork the top). Then three days later Jesus was resurrected (the pressure builds until the cork is forced to pop out. depending on how much baking soda you use and how tight the cork is in, determines how high the cork will fly.) If you can't find the right size cork, you can try to make one with play dough. It didn't work so well; never popped. But the fizz created did leak out and the discussion became how Jesus's love just keeps flowing. Jesus loved us so much He went to the grave, broke out of the grave, and pours His continued love and forgiveness on us even today.
3. Resurrection Explosion - this one is great fun and an outdoor experiment. It can be used on Easter Sunday as something special for an exciting day or you can use it on Ascension day as the climax to a multi-week study of Easter. All this is is the Mentos experiment which you may have seen on the Steve Spangler, the Science Guy website. Supplies: 2 liter bottle of cheap diet soda, a roll of mentos mint candy, and optionally a geyser tube which you can get on the Spangler website at http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/ or check the discovery section of some toy stores or Hobby Lobby sometimes carries them in their impulse buy section by the cash registers. You don't need the geyser tube but it sure makes it easier. Anyway, I recommend having multiple bottles and multiple rolls of Mentos. I keep the kids back since this makes a huge mess so I holler out, "Can death keep a good man down?" Student reply, "No!" I holler, "How many days was Jesus in the tomb?" Student reply, "Three!" I holler, "What happened on the third day?" Student reply, "He rose." I holler, "Let's count! One, two, three!" Then release the mentos into the soda. The explosion is quick so wear a poncho or have an umbrella for you. Kids will squeal with glee. Then I repeat the holler, student reply. Review is always important, and the kids are having so much fun, they don't realize they are learning.
I love the Ascension Lesson. The kids have fun, and we get to celebrate life. Best wishes for success in your Children's program.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Very Bad, No Good Day, but Still Loved
Reading the Old Testament, it is amazing how many times the Israelites disobeyed God. Unlike today where faith and prayer are the way to a personal relationship, they actually got to see God and hear God verbally. He spoke to them and appeared in clouds and fire. Today His miracles are usually subtle like a great parking spot or a lost job just in time to earn a great job, but back then His miracles were miraculous. Plagues that ravaged the land did not touch the Israelites. They walked on dry land through the middle of a sea. When they complained about that boring old manna everyday, God sent them quail to eat. To be that close to God and to just turn your head and disobey? I don't get it.
So what is the good news? The good news is that God's continued forgiveness, continued blessings for the Israelites offers a great picture of a loving father. The old testament demonstrates again and again the character of God as patient and loving.
How to express God's character to Preschoolers? This is hard for them to understand, but easily described through their relationship with their mom and dad. How many times has a preschooler spilled something on the floor? How many times have they "accidentally" broken a toy? How many times did they spill their dinner down their shirt? Mom and Dad may have gotten mad, but they didn't stay mad. They still love you.
Have you ever had a very bad, no good, day? When you woke up, you got caught in the sheets and tripped, falling out of bed. Since you were so tired and surprised, you had an accident and did not make it to the potty. Mommy was sad, but she still loves you. You didn't like what you got for breakfast and when you pushed the dish away, you pushed too hard. It fell to the floor and made a mess. Mommy was mad, but she still loves you. You watched cartoons nicely but became bored. You decided to be a helper and decorate the wall with your crayons. Mommy was mad you colored the wall, but she still loves you. Mommy sent you outside to play. You enjoyed following a lady bug, but soon the bug flew away. You decided to dig and see what other bugs you could find. How were you supposed to know that was her favorite kitchen spoon that you used for a shovel? Mommy was mad but she still loves you. After lunch you had a play date. You shared your toys but your friend would not share their toys. You had to bonk them on the head to get them to share. Mommy was mad, but she still loves you. Dinner went much like breakfast. Broccoli, yuck. Didn't shove them on the floor, but mommy did not like you pushing them off your plate and onto the new table cloth. Mommy was mad, but she still loves you. Bath time and we are out of bubbles. Ho hum. Bed time finally, Mommy reads a book, sings a song, says prayers and kisses you good night. Mommy loves you.
For every time we say Mommy, we could also say Daddy. Daddy sometimes gets mad, but Daddy always loves you. God is the same. He loves us no matter what happens.
A fun visual aid is a pet. If it is o.k. with your church, bring a child loving pet. Pets make mistakes. They don't make it to the potty. They chew things that are not food. They scratch furniture, floors and walls. Pets have very bad, no good days, but we love them anyway.
So what is the good news? The good news is that God's continued forgiveness, continued blessings for the Israelites offers a great picture of a loving father. The old testament demonstrates again and again the character of God as patient and loving.
How to express God's character to Preschoolers? This is hard for them to understand, but easily described through their relationship with their mom and dad. How many times has a preschooler spilled something on the floor? How many times have they "accidentally" broken a toy? How many times did they spill their dinner down their shirt? Mom and Dad may have gotten mad, but they didn't stay mad. They still love you.
Have you ever had a very bad, no good, day? When you woke up, you got caught in the sheets and tripped, falling out of bed. Since you were so tired and surprised, you had an accident and did not make it to the potty. Mommy was sad, but she still loves you. You didn't like what you got for breakfast and when you pushed the dish away, you pushed too hard. It fell to the floor and made a mess. Mommy was mad, but she still loves you. You watched cartoons nicely but became bored. You decided to be a helper and decorate the wall with your crayons. Mommy was mad you colored the wall, but she still loves you. Mommy sent you outside to play. You enjoyed following a lady bug, but soon the bug flew away. You decided to dig and see what other bugs you could find. How were you supposed to know that was her favorite kitchen spoon that you used for a shovel? Mommy was mad but she still loves you. After lunch you had a play date. You shared your toys but your friend would not share their toys. You had to bonk them on the head to get them to share. Mommy was mad, but she still loves you. Dinner went much like breakfast. Broccoli, yuck. Didn't shove them on the floor, but mommy did not like you pushing them off your plate and onto the new table cloth. Mommy was mad, but she still loves you. Bath time and we are out of bubbles. Ho hum. Bed time finally, Mommy reads a book, sings a song, says prayers and kisses you good night. Mommy loves you.
For every time we say Mommy, we could also say Daddy. Daddy sometimes gets mad, but Daddy always loves you. God is the same. He loves us no matter what happens.
A fun visual aid is a pet. If it is o.k. with your church, bring a child loving pet. Pets make mistakes. They don't make it to the potty. They chew things that are not food. They scratch furniture, floors and walls. Pets have very bad, no good days, but we love them anyway.
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