Home Church

So, we've been sick, and traveling, and for one reason or another have missed church for several weeks now. When I say miss, I don't just mean that we physically weren't there...I have really MISSED church!! It's been wonderful to be in the company of the Godly people at Tidal Creek and hear the pastor teach the Word.

Most of the time when we have to miss church for some reason, Matt and I will listen to a CD sermon and do quiet activities with the kids in the room. It's kind of our "home church." With Matt out of town, I ended up listening through the computer, and brainstorming activities to do with the kids.

I have to say, I was kind of stuck. I guess I had a brain block of some sort today. I had no idea what to do with the kids except a coloring sheet & reading the Bible story (LAME). So, I turned to a book getting dusty on my shelf, Tippy Towers and Boo Blankets. Our daily readings had us at Moses being hidden among the reeds, and the book helped me brainstorm some great ideas! These weren't even in the book, but sometimes just reading other connections between simple activities and Bible stories helps get the creative juices flowing.

First, we played "Sink or Float." I grabbed a wide variety of toys and items to put in two mixing bowls of water. We talked about how Moses' basket floated on the water...and how some things will sink and some will float. Ian enjoyed making predictions about which items would sink...his guess for everything. It cracked me up to watch his absolute glee and surprise that something would float in the water after he said it would sink! Zoe got into it more than I expected, too. She started clapping every time something sank to the bottom. We made piles and sorted which were floaters, and which were sinkers. We tried stacking as many objects as possible into a cup to see how heavy we had to make it before it would sink...and on and on...

Later in the afternoon, they were getting restless, and I looked for another idea. Our next game was "Baby Moses in Hiding." Since the idea was to hide Moses from Pharaoh's command to get rid of all the Israelite males, I thought why not just hide a baby doll? This was an absolute hit! Of course, I had to keep sending Ian back around the corner into the kitchen because he started peeking to see where I was hiding "Baby Moses."

The difference between the two of them was amusing. I hid a different baby for each of them, so there would be equal opportunity. Ian would walk a circle track in the middle of the room looking up and down, saying, "Where is baby Moses? I can't find him." Zoe scampered over to every blanket, box, and toy, turning them over theatrically and announcing, "I find baby. I find baby." They shared the same huge smiles of accomplishment when they found the baby, though!

It was so much fun to do these simple and fun activities...with things I already had laying around the house! I really like manipulatives and gadgets designed for educational learning, but today was yet another reminder that there's no need for anything extra or prepared to learn and have fun. Yes, another one of those lessons that I will never tire of learning.

And, I still missed church, but sure did have fun at home church today. :)