Childrens Sunday School Lesson: Using music to praise God. DIY Harp.

Praising God,
With singing and with music.

Music is such a fun concept and past time for children; and, such an important part of praising God. We all have our favorite songs, teaching children to desire the right kind of music and using it to praise and glorify God can be allot of fun.

Psalm 92:1-5 kjv

92 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:

² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
⁴ For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
⁵ O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

Before starting a good conversation point (as I always like to prompt conversation with the kids in the beginning of class to give them a chance to talk before being quiet and a way to find fun in what we will be learning) is their favorite songs, instruments. Now, keep in mind that they might need coaxing and try to remind them of songs common in your church that they may know/like/sing.

Points to go over with children:

1-Music is good, something to be proud of and something to be used to glorify God. 
         -Singing in church, playing an instrument are wonderful ways to praise God. He wants us to praise Him with music!
2-Singing/Playing in church does not have to be perfect.
        -Something so hard for us to teach children is to not be afraid to get up on stage and sing or play an instrument, it's hard because often we are nervous or scared to do just that. Tell the kids that, that nerves bother adults too and that nerves are okay, not something to be ashamed of. Also, make sure they know that if they get up there to sing Jesus loves me and forget half the words that the EFFORT is what is important and what God asks us for. He never asks us to be perfect, He simply asks us to SERVE with a willing heart.
3-Everyone has different talents.
         -If a child doesn't seem to have a certain talent make sure they know that is okay and not something to be ashamed of. Each person, each child has a talent that they can explore and use to praise and glorify God.

CRAFT TIME:
Lets make a harp, one of the instruments mentioned in the scripture, a fun play "pretend" to remind the children of the lesson to use music and instrument to praise and give thanks to God.
  
What you need:
Card board (cake boards sold at walmart or craft store in cake section work great)
Large rubberbands (5 per harp)
Wooden dowel cut to about 5 inches
Hot glue gun

Cut board to shape of a harp, as seen in the photos (Not the best cut of card board but it works). After cutting the hole in the center place the wooden dowel at the top with hot glue gun (this serves to balance the rubber bands).  Pull rubber bands to fit around it and spread them out evenly. Let the kids strum and play pretend music. Using a sharpie write the Scripture on it as a reminder.

 

 

Crafting and Cooking. The story of my week.

Last week I had a blast, I got to try some things in the kitchen I've been wanting to try, I was able to craft some new crochet projects and I also got some great quality time with my niece, nephew and sister in law. Here is a look at my week, my latest projects (the successes and the failures as well), enjoy and maybe you can take something from this and enjoy some new ideas with your family. Oh, and I'll be sharing the recipe that worked soon so keep an eye out!

Well, here goes, I want to start with my favorite, I think, I can't really decide this week was so much fun. This was my daughters favorite too though by a long shot, HEALTHY cheese crackers, she helped make them and was so excited as they came out of the oven. Cheese crackers are most definitely a favorite with most kids, especially mine. These have very few ingredients including grated carrots that create a great filler and integrate vegi's into a wonderful kids snack. The recipe will be up soon so check it out, they are GREAT!

The first thing I tried was homemade gummy candies for my daughter since she loves them so, I was so excited about this, it is healthier and cheaper. Juice, gelatin, just some simple ingredients. Well, this I will say was in fact the project that FAILED this week. Not that I'm giving up, I'll be finding a recipe that works and hope to soon but they were gooey and sticky, my daughter is quite the prissy little thing so anything that makes her hands dirty she doesn't like to touch. Also tried with my son, since he doesn't care if he gets messy and he didn't like it. I don't know why but it just didn't work, hopefully the next attempt will!

 

The next thing I want to share is homemade Velveeta, (this recipe will also be up on the blog soon) my husband LOVES Velveeta cheese dip, but have you bought that stuff lately? It is HIGH, seems like the prices keep going up and up! Well, this was something extremely fun for me, not only does it give my husband something he really likes for a little cheaper and to us an even better flavor but, it is much healthier too, no preservatives all real ingredients! 

Apparently I didn't take a picture of the finished product, sorry!

Next, I crocheted a really cute bow holder for my niece for her birthday to go with some bows I had crocheted for her. See, I have been doing so many different projects, including a hello kitty hair bow I made for my daughter who is slowly becoming a great fan of all hello kitty products. My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was younger and I regret not taking more of an interest until lately, see, I have gotten pretty good at this and enjoy making things without patterns and with them. This bow holder that I didn't have a pattern for turned out really well and I hope to get it pinned down to stitch numbers and all so I can post the pattern soon as well as the bows that are on it.

 

And, last but not least, although I enjoyed all my new experiments with crafting and cooking, this picture below sums up the greatness of my week last week. My daughter, niece and nephew were all so tired from playing together that they actually decided to tell us "night night" and go pretend to sleep in my daughters room. They weren't actually sleeping but they were so sweet together and such a joy to be able to watch them together, if only my son was in this picture too! 

Left daughter Annabelle, Middle Luke, Right Julia