Bible Bites ~ Your Local Church

Week 4: Your Local Church

Bread: Galations 6: 1 - 10

Bite: “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.” Galations 6:6

Believing: We’ll be learning about our local church for a couple of weeks! This week, let’s teach our tot how to honor and bless the pastors of our churches. The best way to do this is to get up-close and personal!

Begin by printing out a picture of your pastor and hanging it on the refrigerator so that you and your tot remember to pray for him through the week.

Plan ahead for your tot to greet your pastor before or after church this Sunday.

Have your pastor (and family!) over for a meal that your tot can help prepare, serve, and host. (With your tot’s help, plan 3 questions that your tot can ask about your pastor’s life, job, passion, or hobbies.)

If you’re able, stop by your pastor’s house with some tot-artwork and a fruit basket so that your tot can see that your pastor is a person - just like us - who has decided to love and obey Jesus with his whole heart! (I remember when my daughter’s eyes got as wide as saucers to realize that our pastor lived in a real house and didn’t just sleep in our church building. She adores our pastor; the two of them make a point to connect with each other almost every Sunday.)

Find links to all of our past Bible Bites posts here on our Totally Tots website.

Bible Bites ~ The First Church

Week 2: The First Church

Bread: Acts 2: 42 - 47

Bite: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Believing: One time this week, pull out your Loving Family Dollhouse dolls, your G.I. Joe’s, your Barbies, or your popsicle stick puppets and play “First Church”.

Your tot will learn so much as you set up the dolls to meet in a house (instead of a church building) talk and eat together, teach each other, share their things, and praise God together. In order to make it as realistic as possible and to keep your tot’s attention, imagine some small episodes that might have come up at the time. You might pretend small crises like, “Who brought that bread this week? NO BODY?! What are we going to do? What are we going to eat?!” to big things (think: Ananias and Sapphira) explaining that this is really how the very first church lived!

Find links to all of our past Bible Bites posts here on our Totally Tots website.

Bible Bites ~ The Church...Week 1

May Bible Bites: The Church!

This month, we’ll be teaching our tots about the dearest thing to Jesus’ heart: The Church. What a wonderful time to establish a love in their hearts for the Body and Bride of Christ, to instruct them about Her purpose, and to help them to be an active and important part of Her today!

(You might want to plan ahead for the fourth week in May and invite your pastor over for Sunday lunch or a weeknight dinner. Better yet, if you are able, invite you and your tot over to his house for a 15 minutes drop-by-blessing and “tour”... you’ll see why in a couple of weeks!)

Week 1: The Body of Christ

Bread: 1 Corinthians 12: 12 - 27

Bite: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12: 27

Believing: This is a great week to review body parts and learn how to draw stick figures! Find some time this week to sit down at a white board or chalk board for a simple drawing lesson: the round head, the straight line for a body, two lines for legs, two lines for arms... Talk about how each part of the body is different and useful for different things: thinking, eating, running, hugging.

Ask your tot if he remembers anything that Jesus did while He lived on earth. What did He use his body to do? (She might answer: eat, heal people, wash feet, die on the cross) Explain that when Jesus ascended to Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of our bodies so that we would love people like He did. Each person is a different part of Jesus’ body.

Explain how each person in your family has different gifts and personalities so that they can do the work of Jesus’ body. (For example, I’ll say that Daddy’s mind understands money really well so that he can be Jesus’ generous hand, giving money to missionaries and people who need help. Aunt Erin’s heart understands mission work so that she can be Jesus’ feet, going to other countries to befriend people and tell them that Jesus loves them!)

Find links to all of our past Bible Bites posts here on our Totally Tots website.

Bible Bites ~ Jesus is Coming Again!- Week 4

The Bread: Revelation (You've just gotta read it for yourself this week!);

Read Revelation 21: 2 - 4 to your tot.The Bite: "And behold, I am coming soon." (Revelation 22: 7)

The Believing:

Let's teach our tots to anticipate Jesus’ return by describing what Jesus looks like according to John’s Revelation (Did ya know He's no longer the man in sandals?): white hair, fire in his eyes, gold feet. Make up a simple tune to hide this glorious imagery in your tot's mind: “Jesus is riding a white horse! Jesus is riding a white horse! Jesus is riding a white horse; a white, white horse!” (The other verses: “Jesus’ hair is white! Jesus' hair is white! Jesus' hair is white; it is white like wool”, “Jesus’ eyes are like fire… like refining fire.” “Jesus’ feet are gold… pure, pure gold.” etc.)

We must also teach our tots that Jesus will appear in the sky (just like He went into Heaven!) and that we are to look actively for him and make sure our hearts are ready to meet Him. I distinctly remember one afternoon when our little tot could barely speak, she toddled by the front window, pointing to the sky, and said, “Jesus is coming! Very soon!” She was right! This week, spend time praying that you and your family would be prepared to meet our glorious Savior face-to-face. If you find that your heart quakes with earthly fear at the thought of Jesus' return, talk to God about your fears and search for the truth in Scripture. Please be encouraged that Christians can anticipate a most-glorious future! We will be giving our tots a priceless gift if we do the heart-work of learning more about the Revelation of the future and being noble women who laugh at the days to come (Proverbs 31: 25).

Bible Bites ~ The Holy Spirit- Week 3

The Bread: John 15: 26 - 16: 15

The Bite: "He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (John 16: 14)

The Believing:

While Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father, He sends the Holy Spirit to teach and direct us.

One morning this week, ask your husband or a close friend to give you instructions for a simple - yet tot-gratifying - project. (Okay, so maybe you'll have to come up with the project yourself and give your husband or friend a script!) Ask your husband or your friend to explain to your tot, "I need you to do a project today, but I will not be here in person to help you do it. I have told Mommy exactly what I would like you to do. Just ask her for help. I've chosen to make her
your helper so that you can do the project well."

Soon after, explain to your tot: "When Jesus returned to Heaven, He said that He would send a Helper for us. We call Jesus' Helper the Holy Spirit, because it is the spirit of God that fills us, teaches us through God's Word, and helps us to do things that glorify Jesus. The Holy Spirit only teaches us what Jesus wants us to know." Then remind your tot about Daddy's project. Because Daddy chose you to be your tot's special helper, you can fill your tot in on the exact directions to complete Daddy's project. Get to work together, talking about how this situation is similar to/different than the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. Proudly present your work in the evening. As a family, thank God for sending the Holy Spirit to help us by telling us everything that Jesus wants us to know.

Bible Bites ~ Jesus Ascends- Week 2

Jesus Ascending Into Heaven

The Bread: Luke 24: 50 - 53

The Bite: "Jesus was carried up into heaven"

The Believing:
Choose a beautiful day this week to spend some time outside together. Enjoy the grass, the sky, the earth. Reminisce about your Easter celebrations together. Ask your child, "What do you think Jesus did after He rose from the grave?"

Explain to your tot that after Jesus rose from the dead, He visited many Christians, ate fish with His disciples, and encouraged His disciples to tell everyone the good news: that He had died on the cross to forgive sin and had risen again so that we may live forever! Then, explain that, there came a time when Jesus had to go back into Heaven to be with God the Father; He said He was going to prepare a place for us in His Father's house.

With the beautiful sky as your backdrop, tell your tot that, right before He left, Jesus gathered His best friends around Him, blessed them, and then was carried up into the sky. Lay on your backs and look up into the sky, imagining what that might have been like to watch the Lord ascending...

Bible Bites ~ The Resurrection-Week 1

Celebrate Jesus' Resurrection from the Dead

The Bread: Matthew 28: 1-10 and John 20: 1-10

The Bite: "Jesus is not here, for He has risen, just as He said!"

The Believing:

Some of my most influential childhood Easter memories involve the re-enactments that we would perform at school. I can still remember being one of the women who anxiously brought precious burial spices to the tomb, only to learn from an angel that Jesus had risen from the dead! I remember trying to run in my long robe back to "the disciples", tossing my no-longer-necessary spices to the ground in my haste.

This Easter, let's help our tots understand the glories of the Resurrection by re-enacting that historical grave-scene with them. First, play the parts of Peter and John, racing to the tomb, only to find an empty grave! (Check out the great race in John 20: 3-4.) Then, play the parts of the women, diligently carrying brimming beautiful bottles of oils and spices. If you are able, enact the role of the angel announcing, "Jesus is not here, for He has risen, just as He said!" Help your tot to play the part of the angel, too. Hide those glorious words in his/her heart; hear them spill out of his mouth: "He has risen, just as He said!"

Bible Bites ~ I AM...Week 5

Week 5: I am the vine. John 15:1

If you live in an area of the world where your vines are producing fruit right now, get outside and take a look at that fruit together. Notice how the fruit that is attached to the vine is growing, beautiful, and tasty. Notice that the fruit that has fallen off of the vine is shriveled and squashed.

If you live in an area of the world where the vines are still shivering in the cold (like ours are!), the grocery store will have to suffice. With your tot, examine the vine-ripened tomatoes or the grapes. Point out that the fruit could only grow while it was attached to the vine. That's how it receives it's food and water.

Explain that Jesus is like that vine. If we stay attached to Him, by talking with Him and obeying His Word, we will produce beautiful fruit in our hearts: fruit like love and joy and kindness. (Of course, you know you've gotta sample some of that delicious vine-ripened fruit!)

Memorize the verse and draw a vine around your poster, attaching a picture of each person in your family. As you work on this project, you can say, "Our family stays attached to the vine: Jesus!" You can get images to download for your poster here too!

Bible Bites ~ I AM...Week 4

Week 4: I am the door. John 10:9

Remember those sheep? Well, this week, they run through a door!

At the beginning of this video, you and your tot can see a good shot of sheep pouring through a gate into a pasture (you don't need the sound on, just watch the first little part and talk your tot thorough the sheep running through the gate!) . Watch the video together and explain that, just as the sheep could run happily through the gate into a pasture, Jesus provides the only way for us to run happily into Heaven. Jesus is the door to Heaven!

I don't know about your tot, but I know mine will love running through each doorway of the house chanting, "Jesus is the door to Heaven!" (It's the little things, ya know?)

Memorize the verse and glue a door to your "I am" poster (glue along the left hand side so that the door can open and close). You can get images to download for your poster here too!

Bible Bites ~ I AM...Week 3

Week 3: I am the good shepherd. John 10:11

In the morning, read this week's verse together. Explain to your tot that a shepherd takes care of sheep. Sheep trust the shepherd so much that they will follow the shepherd anywhere! You might want to watch this YouTube clip of a shepherd in Italy: watch how his sheep follow him!

Later that morning, set your tot's favorite snack and drink in an unusual location in the house. Then, don your tot in a wooly sweater, a cotton-ball head-band, or a full-fledged sheep costume. Tell your tot that you will act the part of a good shepherd and your tot will act the part of the sheep. Expect lots of "baaa-ing". Tell your "sheep" that if she trusts you and follows you wherever you go, she will be so happy about the food and drink you will lead her to. Have fun with your "journey" around the house, ultimately leading your "sheep" to the yummy snack. As your "sheep" enjoys her reward, remember the verse together and explain that Jesus is our good shepherd. When we trust and follow Him, He leads us to good food and water for our hearts!

Memorize the verse and tape pictures of sheep, cotton balls, and shepherd-hook sticks to your "I am" poster. You can get images to download for your poster here too!

Bible Bites ~ I AM...Week 2

Week 2: I am the light of the world. John 8:12

Hide a treat somewhere in the room. Blind-fold your tot. Explain that, in the dark, he needs to find a treat that you've hidden. This will quickly get frustrating for your treat-seeking-tot! Debrief with a question about how difficult it was to find the treat in the darkness. Remove the blindfold and tell your tot that he can now search in the light. Finding the treat will be fun and rewarding this time! Jesus is the light of the world: without His love and guidance, we are living with a blindfold over our spiritual eyes, BUT *with* His love and guidance, we live in the light and can see where we are going and we can find the best things in life!

Memorize the verse together and tape pictures of candles, light bulbs, the sun and stars to your "I am" poster. You can get images to download for your poster here too!

Bible Bites ~ I AM...Week 1

During March, let's focus on deepening our tot's understanding of Jesus! And what better way than through Jesus' tangible "I am" statements?

You'll want to hang a poster with the words, "Jesus said, "I am..." written across the top. Each week, your tot will be attaching pictures, photos, and other reminders of each word picture.

Week 1: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." John 6:51

You guessed it: this week, we're pulling our kiddos up onto the counter-top, rolling up our sleeves and making some delicious bread! (Need a recipe? Try this one: Fabulous Homemade Bread) As you add the ingredients, knead the dough, wait for the bread to rise, enjoy the delicious aroma, and take your first warm bite, tell your tot that, just as bread satisfies our hungry tummies, Jesus is the only One who satisfies our hungry souls.

Memorize the verse together and tape pictures of bread, a copy of your recipe, or labels from a bread bag to your "I am" poster. Stay tuned, this afternoon there will be a Simply Made post up with a new PDF to download for this month!

Bible Bites ~ LOVE Week 4

Love (Week 4)

The greatest thing we can do for our tots is to encourage them to love Jesus themselves. Bread: Read Luke 10: 38-42, with your tot.

Bite: Explain or act out the difference between Martha's good choice (getting things ready) and Mary's better choice (sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to His teaching). Each person must enjoy his own relationship with Jesus; this is the best thing we can do!

Believing: This week, foster your tot's love-relationship with Jesus. Let your tot witness you enjoying Jesus, reading His word, praying, singing to Him...

Then, schedule about 10 minutes each day for your tot to sit quietly in a comfortable place and talk with Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit will meet your tot in the moments when she is alone; that the Holy Spirit will awaken a vibrant and personal relationship with your tot when he is in bed at night, when he plays in the woods, and when he works on a craft. This is true love.

Bible Bites ~ LOVE...week 3

Love (1 Corinthians 13: 1 - 8) ...Week 3

Click here to see Week One

Click here to see Week Two

BREAD: Aim to read 1 Corinthians 13: 1- 3 once a day to your tot during a meal or a snack. (This happens to be my favorite - or, most successful - tactic to increase my tot's attention span!) If this is a new habit for you, I suggest you choose a regular time and pattern for your reading and within a few days, you both will be accustomed to enjoying God's Word together.

BITE: "Without God's love, we have nothing; but with God's love, we have everything."

BELIEVING: Make the Scriptures come alive for your little one with these simple ideas:

• Sit on the kitchen floor with an assortment of pots and pans; wooden spoons and measuring cups. (and ear plugs, if necessary; you'll see why in a moment!) Script: "God loves us in a special way. He wants us to love Him and each other in that special way. If I do not LOVE God's way, I have nothing! But if I do love God's way, I have everything!" Read 1 Corinthians 13:1 aloud. "Even if I say really fancy words, but don't love God's way, I actually sound JUST AWFUL! It's kind of like this: If I say 'I love you because you give me presents and give me lots of attention.' I'm not loving the way God wants me to love and I really sound like this: (Say the words again, but clang pots and pans all over to totally cover up your words. The more alarming you make this, the better your point will be!) Didn't that sound JUST AWFUL? That's not God's way of loving each other." And then - you guessed it - help your tot come up with other "unloving" examples and excuses to bang those pots and pans! It'll be lots of loud fun! Remember to drive home the point that without God's love, we sound JUST AWFUL!


• Write 1 Corinthians 13:2 on a post-it-note. Dust off your biggest, heaviest book and show it off to your tot. (Try this: Can he hold it with both arms? How about with one arm?) Script: "There's A LOT of knowledge in this book. It would take me days and days and days to read and memorize all of this knowledge! If I understood everything in this book, I would be very proud of myself! Wouldn't you think I was so smart?! Maybe you'd call me THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE WORLD! But God says that even if I knew all of the stuff in this book, but didn't love God's way, I'd be NOTHING! Not the SMARTEST PERSON IN THE WORLD, not even the HALF-smartest person in the world... I'd be NOTHING."
  Stand up with the book propped in your arms like the stereotypical sage. Attach the post-it note to the front of the book. Read 1 Corinthians 13:2 aloud. Drop the book with a thud hen you read the word "nothing" and hold your hands open, empty. Let your tot imitate the skit with a line like, "I am SO smart, but without love, I am (THUD!) nothing!" Wrap it up with, "God loves us in a special perfect way. He wants us to love Him and each other in that special way. If I do not LOVE God's way, I have nothing! But if I do love God's way, I have everything!"
  
• One morning, set up a bunch of your own valuable things in the living room alongside a big cardboard box or plastic bag. (Your purse, jewelry, your fly reel, whatever.) Invite your tot over to handle some of these things and talk briefly about how much you value these things. Read 1 Corinthians 13: 3.
  Script: As you pack each item into the box or bag, explain to your tot, "What if I packed up all of these wonderful things and gave them away JUST BECAUSE I wanted everyone to know how generous I am; JUST BECAUSE I want to be famous for giving away all of my favorite things? What if I did it without God's love?"
  Once you have everything packed up slide the box behind the couch or out of the room so that it is out of sight and sorrowfully say, "I'd give it all away, and I'd have NOTHING in return." Open your hands, empty.
  "But, we both know that when we give gifts WITH God's love, we get so much happiness in return. Today, let's each find one of our favorite treasures to give away... but let's do it with love in our hearts so that we get happiness in return."
  Together, find something that you each can give away in love. Be sure that the delivery and the "return of happiness" happens in the same day. And because you have it memorized by now, conclude your Situation with: "God loves us in a special perfect way. He wants us to love Him and each other in that special way. If I do not LOVE God's way, I have nothing! But if I do love God's way, I have everything!"

Bible Bites ~ LOVE Week 2

Did you know that St. Valentine had a heart for marriage, in particular? At a time when marriage was illegal, Valentine performed private marriage ceremonies at the risk of his own life!

Hebrews 13: 4 says that "marriage should be honored by all"; that includes our tots! We teach them the truth of this verse by honoring our own marriages: speaking highly of, working peacefully with, and having fun with our spouses. We also teach them this truth by honoring other marriages: babysitting a friend's tot so she and her husband can spend an hour together, praying for our parents' marriages, or gently reminding a girlfriend about her vows. Besides our daily behaviors, we can deliberately teach our tot to honor marriage by teaching them about marriage from a young age.

This week, take some time to look through your wedding album with your tot. Talk about how you promised to love and stay with your spouse as long as you live. Talk about your dress, the flowers, the special traditions you chose, the limo. Sing your wedding song. Let your tot try on your ring. Above all, make sure your tot hears you say, "God created marriage! He wants a daddy and mommy to love each other just like Jesus loves us!"

Then, plan a special candle-lit dinner for the family. Let them see you and your spouse sit next to each other, hold hands, and talk kindly to each other. If you have a bunch of little ones, this blissful plan might only last for 2.7 minutes, but the experience will influence their view of marriage forever!

If you are single or were never married, crash your best friend's wedding album together, and listen to her stories. Plan a special candle-lit dinner for your family and talk about the qualities of a beautiful marriage in your circle of friends. What a wonderful example of Hebrews 13:4!

And finally, before bed each night, let your tot hear you pray a blessing on their future, including their possible spouse!

Bible Bites ~ Bibles for Tots

Recently a reader asked for recommendations of Bibles to use with tots. Of course, my first reaction was to think of the children's Bibles we owned personally, as I went around the house collecting all of our Bibles, this is the stack I came up with and I know a few were missing!!!I couldn't believe how many there were!!! They're all Bibles we have that I use or have used with my older son (he is 6 1/2 right now) and also will use(or am using) with my tot. I put together all of our personal Bibles (and also devotionals) together in one place, with my opinions under each of them. You can see those here if you're interested!

Then I contacted a few ladies via email to get their tot Bible recommendations and together this was what we came up as our top recommendations for various tot-age groups.

For ages Baby-about 2 1/2, (this one is a board book)...

You can get it here at Amazon-The Baby Bible Storybook

What tot doesn't like a great rhyme? This Bible is perfect to read aloud to a tot...

Find it here at Amazon-The Rhyme Bible Storybook for Toddlers, or here at CBD-Rhyme Bible for Toddlers They also make The Ryhme Bible, which is great too, it's recommended for ages 4-8 but could be enjoyed by older tots too.

A very simple and engaging Bible for tots is this one...

You can get it here at Amazon-The First Step Bible

For ages about 2 1/2 and up through the rest of tothood (and beyond)...

Find it here at Amazon- The Beginner's Bible, or here at CBD- The Beginner's Bible.

Another great Bible book for the 2 1/2 and up age group is this one... Here at Amazon-My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts, or here at CBD-My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts

For the older tots, here's another one...

It's available here at Amazon-Read-N-Grow Picture Bible

Here's a new one coming out at the end of February, it looks great for tots, it's a Bible with a cd of songs too! I might have to order it myself for Krash!

Here it is on Amazon-My Sing-Along Bible, or here at CBD-My Sing-Along Bible

Here's one more last minute addition to the list...

Find it here at Amazon-The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name