God So Loved the World {Free Verse Printable}

This week, we’ve been taking a look at the classic verse John 3:16.  Last week, while I was at the Gathering conference, I heard an inspirational story from a preschool teacher who was also in attendance.  She told me that the 2 year olds in her program all knew John 3:16 and could recite it from memory.  When I remarked how it incredible that was, she explained, “Yeah, we start when they are in diapers.  Every time we change them, we say the verse out loud or when we’re rocking them to sleep.  Most of them can say it before they are walking!”  Inspired by her story, I decided to step up my game a little when it comes to learning memory verses around here!   Of course, if you’ve got older kids, Kelli’s memory verse printables are perfect for this venture!  Handwriting practice and Bible learning all in one!   Check out the free printable for John 3:16 right here!

Let’s get started!

What You Need:

  • Paper Plate
  • Green Paint
  • Blue Paint
  • Paint Dotters (optional)
  • Paint brushes (optional)
  • Red construction paper
  • Heart puncher or scissors

 

God Loved the World

What You Do:

If you are opting to use the paint dotters (don’t know what I’m talking about?  check it out here!), fill them up with blue and green.  The manufacturer’s website says you can fill them with tempera paint, but I found that to be a little too thick.  I watered it down a bit and it worked better, but I bet liquid watercolor would be perfect!

The idea was to have them dot the whole globe so it would take a little longer and enhance fine motor skills, but the kids quickly became frustrated with the bingo dotters and I had to put big globs of paint on the plates to smear around instead.

God Loves the World

Of course, by this time, I had run out of green paint, so we had to use some brown… not exactly the effect I was going for.   It’s about the process, right?  Isn’t that what they say these days?

God Loves the World

Anyway, we’ve been talking a little bit about the planets lately — one of the day care kids introduced me to this little video about planets — so we discussed how planet Earth is our home.

God Loves the World

After the “Earth” is completed, we took our pre-punched hearts and stuck them on the plate.  Our paint was still wet, so we didn’t add any glue, but I did spray the whole thing with Spray Adhesive once they were done.   Just to be sure.

Jesus Loves Me

Lots and lots of hearts!   After Chipmunk was done with the hearts, I wrote the beginning of John 3:16 at the top and the Scripture reference at the bottom.

Jesus Loves Me

The 1.5 year old’s work.  Pretty cute!

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Finished!

More Questions to Ask As You Work:

  • What is the blue for?  What is the green for?
  • What kinds of water are there?  What bodies of water do we live near?
  • What are some other planets in space?
  • Do you think God loves all the planets?
  • What did God do because he loves us so  much?
  • What are some things you can do for those you love?

What About You?

What crafts are you doing this week?  Leave a comment and tell me all about it!

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C is for Cupcake!

Last week, while I was out in California for the Gathering conference, I discovered that EVERYTHING in the hotel gift shop was 90% off!  Nevermind the fact that I had just bought an arm full of stuff at Ikea — surely I could squeeze a few more things into the suitcase, right?  Especially these super adorable cupcakes!

Cupcakes

 

I scooped up 7 of these little beauties, wrapped them in tissue paper and hoped for the best as I checked my very over-stuffed suitcase at the airport!

This week, we decided to capitalize on my new find and have a “C is for cupcake” theme all week.   To begin, we set up a cupcake story in the playroom.

C is for Cupcake Store

We put some quarters in a Stonyfield yogurt cup and each kid got 2 quarters to begin.  There was plenty of counting and math skills involved in this dramatic play lesson as we exchanged quarters, counted cupcakes, switch roles, and had a lot of frosted fun!

Cupcake Store

On Tuesday, we decided to make some fluffy cupcakes with shaving cream and glue.  You might remember when we made fluffy polar bears– same idea.   You mix about 1/2 and 1/2 glue and shaving cream and add some food coloring.  The kids LOVED this project and Chipmunk, my 3 year old, proceeded to paint every single piece of paper she could get her hands on.  Apparently, she doesn’t have sensory issues!

DSCN1917

Fluffy Frosting Paint

Finished Cupcake

Finished Cupcake Painting!

I have to apologize for the crazy free-hand cupcake.  Could you even tell that it WAS a cupcake?? Yikes!  You could also print off some clipart if you wanted to go for a more realistic approach, but I think sometimes it’s best to use the imagination! :)

On Wednesday, we made real life cupcakes.  Yum-o!

Cupcakes

When will they ever be done?

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On Thursday, we made playdough cupcakes!  I grabbed my playdough recipe over at Mommy Footprint.

Cupcake Playdough

As always, the kids loved this activity!

To round-out the week, we started working on letter sounds, not just letter identification, so we learned sounds for “C” “U” and “P”.

What about you?  What are you up to this week?

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Free Printable Bible Verses: Ephesians 4:32

Do you teach handwriting in your homeschool?  I was talking to a lady a while back about my free printable Bible verses and she said that she doesn’t teach handwriting.  I wasn’t sure of what to say to that because I am old school and believe that Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic’s are the three most important subjects (well, can I add in Manners?).

What do you think?  Is Handwriting important?

Be kind and tender to one another.

Forgive each other, just as God forgave you.

—Ephesians 4:32

I hope you find these homeschooling freebies useful for you in your homeschool and/or Sunday School classes!

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Handwriting is such a big deal… it takes continuous practice to improve letter formation and make your writing legible.

More FREE Printable Bible Verses and Resources:

The Bible for Kids Resources to Buy:

Looking for more fun items to help you in teaching your kids about the Bible? Check out my top picks from Amazon!

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FREE Printable Bible Verses: Proverbs 14:29

I often tell my kids that Patience is a virtue.  This printable Bible Verse handwriting worksheet helps to reinforce that message.

Anyone who is patient has great understanding.

But anyone who gets angry quickly shows how foolish he is.

—Proverbs 14:29

Your kids can improve their handwriting and learn important messages from the Bible with these printable Bible verses!

I hope you find these homeschooling freebies useful for you in your homeschool and/or Sunday School classes!

clip_image002

Handwriting is such a big deal… it takes continuous practice to improve letter formation and make your writing legible.

More FREE Printable Bible Verses and Resources:

The Bible for Kids Resources to Buy:

Looking for more fun items to help you in teaching your kids about the Bible? Check out my top picks from Amazon!

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Love One Another {Preschool Project and Free Printable}

I’ve been loving Kelli’s free Bible verse, printables — how about you?  It’s the perfect way to review some Bible verses and get some hand writing practice in at the same time.  My little one is just starting to write letters, so practice is always in order!

Anyway, we decided to do a craft project to coordinate with the John 13:34 printable (you can find it here!).  Want to follow along?

What You Need:

  • Construction Paper (any color)
  • Crayons or Markers
  • Heart puncher or scissors

What You Do:

Before inviting the children to the craft table, punch out hearts or pre-cut hearts from construction paper.

We wrote “A Friend Loves at All Times”, but you could also do “Love One Another” to coordinate better with the verse.  We’ve been talking a lot about how to be a good friend, so this was a good fit for us.

Friends Loves

Next, have your child draw a picture of a friend or someone who is important to them.

Friends Loves

I loved seeing all the different ideas and I simply cannot get enough of the cute people blobs!  I love how preschoolers draw!

Once the drawing is complete, talk about how friends love each other and do nice things for one another.  Hand the precut hearts to the preschoolers, one-at-a-time, asking them to think of nice or loving things a friend might do.  Once they’ve answered, have them glue the heart onto the project and continue with another idea and heart.

Friends Loves

After 5 or 6 ideas, hand over the rest of the hearts and have them glue away!

Friends Loves

Finished!

Friend Loves at All Times

Questions to Ask:

  • Why are friends so much fun? 
  • What is one way we can be a good friend?
  • Do friends share with others?
  • What does it mean to love others?
  • What does it mean to love all the time?

Happy Crafting!

About the Author

Lindsey Whitney is a blogger over at Growing Kids Ministry.  A blog designed to help parents, teachers, and Children’s Ministry workers who want to help the kids they love grow in their faith.   You can connect with her via twitter or on facebook.

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