“He tends his flock like a shepherd:
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.”
Isaiah 40 v 11
As our groups and courses take a break for the Summer, we hope that you as a family are able to take a break too, whether you get away or it’s just a break from usual activities and routines.
The Summer can be a good time to make traditions as a family, be that ice-creams out, board games, cycle rides…… It can also be a time when the family spends more time together than usual… although after the last 18 months that may not be so true! In any event, we’ve included some resources below for activities, guidance on sibling fights and some more Christian resources to continue your family’s journey of faith.
Finally, we’ve prepared some activities to do as a family to pray together and reflect on the world around you.
The folk at VCUKI have used their amazing graphic skills to produce a wonderful resource. Do take a look. It is adaptable to any age and do let us know how you get on. We’d love to hear from you.
Resources for Parents/Carers
Below are a selection of articles and videos that other churches and organisations have produced that we’ve found really helpful:
- Indoor games for younger children https://www.unicef.org/parenting/coronavirus-covid-19-guide-parents/indoor-play-ideas-stimulate-young-children-home
- Handling sibling fights https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/behaviour/friends-siblings/handling-fights
- Handling self-regulation and emotional control. We use this in our VKids spaces and if you are on our mailing list, we’ve sent you these for use at home. This is a link to the official website http://www.zonesofregulation.com/index.html
- Care for the Family podcasts. (https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/family-life/podcasts?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItp6OgtOP6QIVQYBQBh2phgyWEAAYASAAEgKmV_D_BwE)
Christian Resources for Parents/Carers, Kids and Families
If you are wondering how to be encouraging your children’s faith at this time or indeed looking into adding to or creating habits, we and others have found these useful (again not an exhaustive list and we will add to this).
- Bridgetown Daily: Family Listening Prayer Practice. A 5 minute podcast to listen together as a family. https://bridgetown.church/teaching/bridgetown-daily/family-listening-prayer-practice/
- The Bible Project: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVfwlh9XpX2Y_tQfjeln9QA.
- By the Hand, free printable by Sally-Lloyd Jones from Thoughts to make your heart sing. https://www.sallylloyd-jones.com/downloads-for-you/
- Indescribable or How Great is our God both by Louie Giglio, Thomas Nelson (Devotionals for children/families)
- Soul Food by Bear Grylls (Devotionals for children/families)
- Odyessy (online bible stories – 28-day free trial) https://www.oaclub.org/
- The Bible App for Kids – https://bibleappforkids.com/ (fun app for kids to watch Bible stories and interact with them, plus lots of companion resources on the website.)
- Sticky faith, by Dr. Kara E. Powell & Dr. Chap Clark, Zondervan (Everyday ideas to build lasting faith in your children.)
- That’s a Good Question, by J.John, Theology for Little People (Helping children answer their questions.)
We’re all in this together so do share with us any resources you find particularly helpful.
Much love.
Manny & Sinead
