Abandonment

One of the most fearful concepts in life is the utter termination of a cherished relationship. Wheather we call it abandoning, forsaking, giving up on us, or divorce, the portrait is of a sharp line drawn in a relationship- a line that quickly becomes a great gulf between the two persons, putting them out of reach of one another. And one of the greatest consequences of being abandoned is that it threatens our feeling of self-worth. "I was worthless, so I was abandoned. I had something wrong with me, so no one wanted me." How comforting to know that God will never abandon anyone who loves Him.

I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. (Hew. 13:5)

The Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

(Deut. 31:6)

God will never desert those who trust in Him and love Him.  If you feel abandoned, don't give up on God.

The Lord will not abandon His people. (1 Sam. 12:22)

People we depend on sometimes desert us, abandon us, turn away from us. There may be only a few people we can truly count on- at times there may not be any. But the one we can always count on is God; He will never abandon us.

Even if my father and mother abandon me, The Lord will hold me close. (Psalm 27:10)

Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me. (Psalm 66:20)

Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for You. (Psalm 9:10)

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Cor. 4:9) 

Some key points to consider when teaching children that they can always rely on God are:

Teach and show them honesty.

Teach them that God commands honesty from us. Showing them this will help them associate God with truth.

Use F.R.O.G.

Another great way to teach your children about God’s consistency in our lives is to teach them F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On God). Teaching them this acronym is a fun way to remind them that in their time of need, they can always rely on the Lord. I also like to tell my children to always take a leap of faith; we call this Leap F.R.O.G. 

Demonstrate.

The final and most important point you must remember when teaching your children to fully rely on God is to do so yourself.  I cannot teach great faith if I do not show great faith in all circumstances. Let your children see you lean on the Lord and they will imitate this behavior. 

Always pray. 

Remind your children that even when they feel alone, God is with them. Explain that He never will leave them. Teaching your children to pray whenever they are frustrated, angry, and nervous or even when they are happy, is a great way to show them they have a direct line to Jesus and that He is always listening.

As your children learn their favorite characters, childhood heroes and fairy tales are make believe, show them they will never be let down by God. Teach them that God is the true hero and He will always be the one to save the day.

Resources:

Visit: POPUPC.org

Teaching Children to Rely on God

Scripture quotations taken from the TouchPoint Bible

The Great Yogurt Debate

Full of protein, calcium and healthy bacteria that's good for your digestion and immune system, yogurt has recently enjoyed a burst of popularity. It's a great snack! 

     So what is "The Great Yogurt Debate"? It may only be a battle in my own mind that no one else gives any care or thought to. However, as a childcare provider, every time I peel back one of those foil lids, I'm wondering if the contents of the little plastic tub actually contain nutritional value for its toddler recipient. There are so many brands and so many varieties- most of which go against everything I've been taught about nutrition. Well, to put my own knowledge to the test, I decided to do my own research into this question, "Which yogurt is best?"

     Honestly, I assumed it was probably an old question that had already been asked and answered, right? I just needed to find and review the already provided research. 

And I was right. There is vast universe of yogurt critics out there; from women's health to diabetic health, to kids health, and so on. Obviously, my focus is on children- their dietary needs differ from adults- and since I'm a back-to-the-basics kind of person, I like to judge foods by looking at the basics. What are the basics? 

     Going down the yogurt aisle can be very confusing for parents. How can you tell the difference between the natural sugar in milk and the added sugars? How much calcium should yogurt have? Is organic essential? What about probiotic benefits?

The Basic Criteria:

There are five important factors in choosing yogurt: sugar content, added ingredients, calcium, live and active cultures and taste (of course).

Sugar: If you check out the label, you might be surprised to find that some yogurt varieties contain more sugar than two donuts! And, many yogurts that claim to be "low sugar" are packed instead with artificial sweeteners. Though plain yogurts usually have less sugar than flavored ones, we know that many people prefer flavored yogurt. Because milk already contains natural sugar in the form of lactose, it can be difficult to tell how much added sugar is in the product. The best thing to do is to compare the sugars in the plain version (if it’s available) to the flavored one. So if the flavored product has 26g of sugar and the plain has 13g the product would contain 13g of added sugar.

Tip: Flavors like vanilla tend to have less sugar than fruity flavors and fat-free yogurt usually has more sugar than low fat or whole.

Added ingredients: Watch out for artificial colors, preservatives and filler ingredients that make for less yogurt in the cup. Look for yogurts without artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup. Just plain old sugar will do.

 

 

Live & Active Cultures: You want to make sure that the yogurt you choose contains “live & active cultures,” which are also called probiotics. Any refrigerated product legally called "yogurt" must be produced by culturing dairy ingredients with a bacterial culture. These good bacteria can take up residence in your digestive tract, supporting good digestion and immune function by keeping bad bacteria in check. The large intestine needs healthy, “good” bacteria to thrive and help fight disease. The bacteria are also responsible for making yogurt safe to eat for people with lactose intolerance. Refrigerated yogurts that bear a Live & Active Culture (LAC) seal contain at least 100 million bacterial cultures per gram at the time of manufacture. If you see the Live & Active Culture seal from the Yogurt Association, you know the product contains adequate amounts. 

Calcium: The smaller the serving size, the less calcium the yogurt will contain. 

Fat and organic: Kids under two need full fat dairy products for optimal growth and brain development so choose whole yogurt for them. 

 

Back-To-The-Basics: What are the best yogurts for kids?

1. Plain yogurt and flavors like vanilla tend to have less sugar than fruity flavors and fat-free yogurt usually has more sugar than low fat or whole. 

2. Watch out for artificial colors, preservatives and filler ingredients that make for less yogurt in the cup. Look for yogurts without artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup. Just plain old sugar will do.

3. You want to make sure that the yogurt you choose contains “live & active cultures”.  The large intestine needs healthy, “good” bacteria to thrive and help fight disease. The bacteria are also responsible for making yogurt safe to eat for people with lactose intolerance.  

4. Calcium: The smaller the serving size, the less calcium the yogurt will contain. 

5. Kids under two need full fat dairy products for optimal growth and brain development so choose whole yogurt for them. 

Resources:

8 of the Best Yogurts For Kids

http://www.raisehealthyeaters.com/2010/08/8-of-the-best-yogurts-for-kids/

Yogurt Cheat Sheet | The Dr. Oz Show

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/greek-yogurt-cheat-sheet

What's Really in Those Squeezable Yogurt Tubes For Kids?

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3417322/

Yogurt Ratings and Reviews | GoodGuide 

http://www.goodguide.com/categories/282989-yogurt#%23products

5 Kid-Friendly Healthy Yogurt Options 

http://www.realsimple.com/m/food-recipes/shopping-storing/food/healthy-yogurt-00100000063733/

Jesus Stops the Storm

I use Toddler Level Word Aflame Curriculum, and this week is Week 8: Jesus Stops the Storm.  Again, I get a little OCD when carrying out a theme! I love gathering tons of resources! Of course, some Bible lessons are more easily gathered than others; this one being such an one. I found a lot of great activities to reinforce this very simple Bible story. 

Lesson Focus:  Jesus Stopped the storm.

Scripture Text: Mark 4:35-41

Bible Words:    Jesus does good things! 

Sensory: 

This Bible story just begs for water play, water play, water play!

• Create an ocean bottle: This is awesome! I SO LOVE sensory bottles!
• Create an Ocean Bag:
• Ocean In a Bottle:  (Use a smaller bottle for smaller hands? I like to use large, empty, plastic peanut butter jars. They are a good size for toddler hands, have smooth sides for clear viewing, and large mouths, which are easier to place objects and pour liquids into.)
• Jesus Calms the Storm Story Bag: (This is such simple genius to teach toddlers story-bag style! Love! I am definitely going to us this!) Make inexpensive smaller versions of the story bags (1 per child) to send home with the kids so they can retell the Bible story to their parents.
• Jesus Calms the Storm Tub Toy: (Uses a Pringles Singles tub)
• Ocean Sensory Tub: (Click on the link and scroll further down the page to see)
• Sensory Tub: Sea of Galilee 
• Create a sensory bin using blue water beads, toy boats, plastic plants, sea shells, and toy sea creatures. Be creative!

Movement/Motor/Music:

• Create Wave Streamers  Use these streamers to make "waves" as you play music, sing, or retell the Bible story.
• Song: "My God is So Big"
• Song: "Awesome God"
• Song: "How Great is Our God"
• Song: "Deep and Wide"
• Animated Bible Story: "Jesus Calms the Storm"
• "Sunny and Beamer Show: Jesus Calms the Storm"
• Create a Rainstorm: (by rubbing fingers, rubbing hands, and so on. Click link for instructions)
• Interactive Group Activities for "Peace, Be Still"

There are quite a few more animated children's videos for this Bible Story on YouTube. You can explore additional videos from any of the above video links.

Arts/Crafts:

• Tree Bark Boats
• Boat Craft with Blue Bubbles Painting
• Jesus Calms the Storm Craft (Using blue construction paper and die-cut boat)
• Build a boat out of a large cardboard box, or put together several smaller boxes to create a larger boat. You could also let the kids paint the "boards" of the boat. Use this boat to take turns retelling the Bible Story. 
• Use water colors and cotton swabs to paint the waves blue on any of the coloring page printables.
• After coloring one of the coloring page printables, cut out Jesus and His deciples on the boat and attach it to a large craft stick. Use this stick puppet prop to retell the story.
• Printable Boat Craft  This is really cute!
• Jesus Calms a Storm
• Bible Story Boat Craft

Coloring Pages:

• Jesus Calms the Storm
• Jesus in the Storm
• Jesus Stills the Stormy Sea
• Jesus Calms the Sea Door Hanger
• Jesus Calms the Sea Church House Collection
• Jesus Calms the Storm

Book List: 

• Calming The Storm by Connie Morgan Wade
• Theodore and the Stormy Day by Ken Edwards
• My Very First: Jesus and the Storm by Lois Rock
• Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll by Franklyn M. Branley
• The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Sunday school lessons:

• Preschool - Kindergarten  Jesus calmed a raging storm
• Early elementary Jesus calm the storm
• Upper elementary Jesus calm the storm
• Preteen Peace be still

Additional Resources:

• God's Little Explorers Free Preschool Curriculum: B is For Boat: Jesus Calms the Storm Awesome!!
• Rainy day Mum website Fantastic for summer (water play) activities!!

Jesus Heals a Man at Church

While working on lesson plans for Sunday School, it occurred to me that I might as well put my gatherings together in a blog post. In my limited Sunday morning time, I will only be able to use a small fraction of the resources that I gather, but I tend to go OCD when I follow a theme! Besides, who knows when, how, for what, or where I might need to use these ideas in the future? I'm a little late sharing my supplemental lesson ideas for tomorrow's lesson, but in the future I'm hoping to post on Mondays for the upcoming Sundays. This was actually a very difficult lesson to collect ideas for, as there are more adult sermons than Sunday school lessons on the web for this topic. Adapt and overcome! 

I use Toddler Level Word Aflame Curriculum, and this week is Week 7: Jesus Heals a Man at Church.  

Lesson Focus:  Jesus heals people at church.

Scripture Text: Matthew 12:9-13

Bible Words:    Jesus does good things! 

Coloring Pages: Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand

Lesson (Age-Adaptable): Jesus Heals a Crippled Hand 

     This curriculum contains a little bit of everything: coloring, puzzles, games, lessons, etc.

Lesson (Activities): Man With the Shriveled Hand

Lesson: Jesus Healed a Withered Hand

Book List (Hands):

• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn  
• Press Here by Herve' Tullet  
• My Hands by Aliki
• Wash Your Hands by Tony Ross
• Hands Are Not For Hitting by Martine Agassi PhD
• One Hand, Two Hand by Max Lucado

Hand Print Craft Ideas: Choose what works for you based upon holiday/season/occasion, etc. These images did not have a website for me to credit, so let me say a special "Thank you" to the collection creators for their idea share! 

Sensory Learning:

• Teach the steps of hand washing Hands-on
• Provide a variety of sensory textures (sand paper, dirt, velvet, satin, water, feathers, egg in a bowl , etc) and talk about how things feel (wet, rough, soft, slimy,etc.)
• Provide an ample supply of lock or snap-together blocks for children to build their own church structure. Talk about how Jesus healed the crippled hand at church and how Jesus is still The Healer today!
• Allow time for children to explore a busy board. Some interesting DIY busy boards can be viewed at the following sites: DIY Busy Board, DIY Busy Board For Toddler Motor Developement, Latches Board For Toddler, DIY Busy Board For Kids, Homemade Busy Board For Fine Motor Developement

Have fun! If you have any suggestions for this topic, just comment them to me and I will look into adding them to this page! I always appreciate idea-swapping!