Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

ANZAC Day 25 April is the day that we remember the ANZAC landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. It is important for children, young people and adults to be aware of New Zealand's history and to reflect on the place of faith in the midst of war and violence. If you are looking for resources for your children's ministry or All Age ideas then look no further than these: KidsFriendly  and Pinterest page STRANDZ website Other resources: ww100.govt.nz:  The official 100th year commemoration website, a wealth of information as well as events and resources. OMF reflection resource using stones: Written for adults, but could easily be adapted for an all age reflection.  Sacraparental - the sacred practice of parenting (and some other stuff): If you are interested in reading wider on how to approach ANZAC Day from a faith perspective, this is an excellent blogpost to spark your thinking. 

**This is episode one of a serial story, leading right up to Easter. This story is written to share as a family or with your church community. You can find the rest of the story by clicking on the 'Easter' ta b above. You will find the pi ctures to be downloaded, as well as a little Easter booklet to print and share .  ____________________________ Step with me back in time, over 2000 years back. Look around you. The land is dotted with olive trees, their silvery foliage swaying with the gentle breeze. It's warm, not too hot. The full on blaze of summer hasn't arrived yet, but the harshness of winter is fading.  The fields are tinged with green, with the olive trees providing shade for weary travellers. You sit down on one of the many rocks scattered all over the fields. They are everywhere! And sh epherds have used them to create walls and holding pens for animals, and the structure of their simple houses.  The journey towards Easter is just beginning....

This page is the right spot to find all the resources for series one, books 1-5.  Click on the links below to access our dropbox folders, with all the resources you need. Crafts, waiata (songs), karakia (prayers), story telling ideas and great suggestions for how to set up your room with stations.  Start with the 'Read First' book, as this gives you some important details into how the programme works and some of the thinking behind it. Click here to download it. The programmes: T here is a programme for each book. You will find the programme file, as well as lots of additional material to go w ith it.    Click on the link s below to access th ese programmes:   Book #1 - Te Powhiri - The Welcome Book #2 - Te Pahi the Adventurer Book #3 - Ruatara and the new Beginning Book #4 - Patuone the Peacemaker Book #5 - Elizabeth Colenso the Teacher

An All Age Palm Sunday Service Use your imagination to enter into the story of Palm Sunday.  This service is a great way to encourage your whole church to enter into the event of Palm Sunday. It begins by setting the scene as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, providing helpful background details. It also includes: - Role Play: imagine you are one of the people in the crowd that day. Why have you come to see Jesus? - Waving of palm branches and laying coats along the front of the church.  - Bible readings  - A reflection activity using rocks, based on this verse:   “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”  This All Age service is designed so that people can be as involved as they want to be. It provides depth as well as interaction, seeking to bring to life the story in a creative way. You can download the file for FREE by clicking here . Feel free to adapt it to fit your church context. I would love to hear how it g...

2018! It's here whether we are ready for it or not. If you are like me, my inbox and Facebook feed has filled up with New Year resolution type emails and links to articles and advice. 10 ways to change your life. 5 tips on de-cluttering your house. 20 super foods to add to your diet. So, in the spirit of numbers + New Year + good advice, let me offer you four things for this new year. I found these in 'Children Matter' by Beth Posterski and Scottie May (a great book for anyone starting out in Children's ministry by the way). A great community is characterised by these: - hospitality  - gratitude - truth telling  - promise keeping I think that's a great list. How might they help you shape this year with the children you know, love and walk alongside?   

     Christmas Carols but not as you know them: When it comes to singing at Christmas, providing a good balance is important.  Christmas Carols have fabulous words and tradition, providing an important connection with the past. The parents of the children you work alongside may have wonderful memories of singing these carols as a child, and will enjoy singing along with their own children. But there are some great Christmas songs that can be added into the mix. Here are a couple you might like to have a listen to and buy. While they might not be your taste in Christmas music, they might be just the thing your children will love!  Hey! Mary!   Straight from NZ: Malcolm Gordon’s song “Hey Mary” was composed with his son Sam and released just last year for all of us to enjoy. Click here to listen to this song : Youtube Click here to download the sheet music! Dropbox Raise your candle:  Click here to listen to this song and see the a...

These are four quick ideas you can use to explore the Christmas story with children. They accompany photographs that I took in Israel in 2011. We want children to understand that the events of Christmas are not a fairytale. They happened in a real time and place, to real people.  __________________________________________________________________   Spot it! Print out pictures of Bethlehem and Nazareth as they look today, or download copies of the photos mentioned below. As a small group, look at the photos. Count how many differences you can spot between Bethlehem or Nazareth today and what it would have been like in Jesus’ day. Israel photos: Click on the photo's name to download the photo from our dropbox file:  Bethlehem today Nazareth today __________________________________________________________________ Create it!  In Israel, beautiful churches have been built in places where the Christmas story happened. They have amazi...