elementary Archives - KidMinspiration

Newsflash: kids LOVE to play games! The beauty of children’s games is that they don’t have to be fancy or complicated, just fun!

I’ve scoured Pinterest and found a few Valentine’s Day games that would be great to use in your ministry before service, between services or as an extra-time activity. Of course, these games would also work for academic classrooms, homeschooling environments or Valentine’s parties.

Here are a few of my favorites:

From childrens-ministry-deals.com

Minute to Win It games are always a hit! The games are usually high energy (because you only have 60 seconds) and easy to prepare, as the supplies are usually ones you already have on hand. What I love about these is that you can set up several different games in a large, open space and have the kids rotate through them. And the good news is that these 10 games are absolutely FREE to download! You can also find other minute to win it ideas here.

From teachmama.com

This game is awesome for several reasons. (1) It is very easy to set up. You can use foam hearts (as mentioned in the post) or you can cut large hearts from cardstock or construction paper and laminate them for durability. (2) You can adapt it for toddlers, preschoolers, or elementary-age children.

The hearts can include active movements (as mentioned in the post), reflective actions (i.e. “Name someone you could say, ‘God loves you and so do I?'”), Bible story/verse review questions, or icebreaker questions. There are many options.

From Seven Thirty Three

Who doesn’t love the classic game of Tic Tac Toe? Playing it with x’s and o’s is good but playing with chocolate candies is even better! If food allergies are a concern, you could also play with red and pink Starbursts© or Skittles©.

From childrens-ministry-deals.com

Another classic game – BINGO! Again, you can download the free game boards here or be creative and make your own and adapt them for preschoolers & non-readers or include Bible verse words, names of people God loves…the possibilities are endless.

For more fun ideas, be sure to check out my Valentine’s Pinterest Board!

What fun games do you have planned for Valentine’s Day? Let me know by leaving a comment below or on our Facebook page!

I love reviewing materials that offer a different spin on a classic or traditional product, so when the kind people at Green Egg Media contacted me to review two of their Power Bibles, I was thrilled.

About the Books

The Power Bible is a set of 10 illustrated comic book-style bibles featuring stories and characters from the Old and New Testaments. The series brings bible stories to life for children ages 6 to 12. The stories are easy to follow and understand and create a strong emotional connection that will hold kids’ attention from beginning to end. The books reference scripture verses from the NASB version.

The publishers outline why a comic style was used:

Visual. Pictures tell a better story. Comics bring ideas to life, creating an intimate, emotional connection between the reader and the story.

Individualized. The reader determines the pace of the story by lingering on images or reviewing pages to better understand the story.

Learning tool. Comics make difficult ideas easy to understand. Educators today use comics to help young readers, especially to engage those who don’t like to read.

Fun. Kids enjoy reading a comic so much that learning becomes effortless and fun.

What I Liked

If you combine a bible storybook and a comic book, you’d have the Power Bible. Kids who love comic books will absolutely love the graphics and layout. (Note: The colorful, attention-grabbing Asian-style graphics stems from the fact that the books were first published in Korea.)

I also like that mini character biographies are included at the beginning of each book. Having that information will help the children connect better with the characters and just might teach them a thing or two (but don’t tell your children that!)

What I Think Was Missing

While the graphics were indeed bold and colorful, some of them were a bit scary. The bulging eyes and facial details on some characters were, in my opinion, a little too dramatic.

I also would’ve loved if the chapter titles and scripture passages were a little larger. To me, the smaller text was lost on the page with the graphics and conversation bubbles.

I also would’ve liked to see the scripture passages listed with the chapter names in the Table of Contents. I think that would help the children better develop their bible literacy skills.

My Recommendation

Overall, I think middle to older elementary children (2nd-5th graders) will enjoy reading the series. Check it out for yourself at www.greeneggmediagroup.com. Each of the 10 volumes sells individually for $14.99. The complete set of 10 books sells for $149.90. The Old Testament series (Books 1-6) sells for $89.90, while the New Testament series (Books 7-10) sells for $59.90.

Have you seen the Power Bible? What were your thoughts?

Green Egg Media provided me two free copies of books in the series in exchange for an honest review.