Faith Formation

5 Easy Practices to Inspire Gratitude in Children

Inspiring gratitude in children is a huge gift we can give them. Throughout the Bible, we read verse after verse describing and encouraging the practice of gratitude. And now, there is research backing up the wisdom that’s flowed from these scriptures since their penning.

Gratitude in Children

Effects of Gratitude on Our Health

Dr. Emmons, professor of psychology at UC Davis and leading expert on the science of gratitude, conducted a study on gratitude and found the following:

Gratitude…

can lower blood pressure and improve immune health
can reduce lifetime risk for depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders
is a key resiliency factor in the prevention of suicide
can decrease the likelihood of smoking, alcohol abuse
blocks toxic emotions like envy, resentment, regret and depression
is associated with healthy levels of cholesterol
can facilitate more efficient sleep
reduces stress hormones and contributes to a healthy nervous system
lowers levels of creatinine (an indicator of the kidney’s ability to filter waste in the body)
can improve diet and exercise routines

Holy cow! That’s a ton of benefit to our well-being, emotionally and physically! So, how can we help our children access these benefits?

FREEBIE! And if you’d like to download a free printable Gratitude Fridge Sign to help you remember these 5 ways of inspiring gratitude in children, you can click this link to get your free Fridge Sign.

Gratitude in Children

Inspiring Gratitude in Children

Model it. Children learn and form habits around things they observe. Therefore, say thank you to children often and sincerely. Be kind to others while in public, expressing gratitude for services rendered. Speak with children about how helpful others are and point out blessings in your midst.
Express gratitude as families. Set aside time to share things to be thankful for. This may be done by saying grace before dinner, through conversation around meals or on drives to and from school. Sharing more formalized times of gratitude can ensure it becomes a routine part of life going forward.
Give. Make it a common practice to give things, time, and resources to others, particularly those in need. This allows for children to understand the concept of abundance and to recognize how much they have. Additionally, it also expands their sense of perspective and instills generosity.
Support children’s autonomy. As children grow, they become familiar with their values and strengths. Within a firm but flexible environment children have the safety to explore who they are. Along the way, they find things they naturally appreciate, both in themselves and in the world.
Cultivate children’s intrinsic goals. Western culture particularly, steeped in consumerism, is fueled by dissatisfaction with the present and withers in the midst of sustained contentment. Sadly, this doesn’t inspire gratitude in any of us. As a result, we must counter this by helping children find value within. This means we focus on things not associated with image, wealth and status. Help children find activities they love and bring them joy, those that cultivate community and growth.

We hope these five practices for inspiring gratitude in children has sparked your thinking. We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below! And don’t forget to grab your Gratitude Fridge Sign below.

BONUS: “I am Thankful” Coloring Pages

As you find ways to express gratitude together while spending time with family and friends, we thought you might be interested in our “I am Thankful” Coloring Pages. Check out previews of the coloring pages below. These could be great coloring pages for any time of the year, but especially fun to do around the Thanksgiving holiday. Both are great for all ages, though the one with “Thankful” in the middle of the design might be especially good for any adult coloring fans in your family! You can pick up both of these coloring sheets for just $5 here.

Creative and Engaging Advent Devotions & Activities for Families

Adam Walker Cleaveland 2 Comments

This is the first truly “family friendly” devotional for Advent that I’ve found. There was something to which everyone in the family could relate – from our preschoolers all the way through adults. The coloring pages were wonderful! Even my little two-year-old was able to participate. My kindergartner read the devotional book as part of her reading practice at night. It was great that the words were easy and straightforward!
– Rev. Meredith Keseley, Senior Pastor, Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, Burke, VA

We are excited to announce the launch of our newest family Advent devotional resource: An Illustrated Advent for Families (2017 edition)!

This is our third year of providing families with a resource for engaging their children in faith formation at home during the Advent season. Our Illustrated Advent for Families and Illustrated Lent for Families have been used by thousands of families around the world, and we’re looking forward to sharing this new edition for 2017.

It can be difficult to find meaningful ways to engage our families in faith formation. It can sometimes feel awkward, we don’t always know what to do, and sometimes we have a hard time talking about our own faith stories.

FREE SAMPLE: Click here to download a free sample of An Illustrated Advent for Families.

An Illustrated Advent for Families

An Illustrated Advent for Families is one way to do that – to slow down, ask questions, have fun, be intentional about how you spend your time, and try new things. There are coloring pages for your children, but we’ve often found that parents enjoy coloring them as much (if not more…) as their children enjoy the coloring. There are simple but meaningful devotions for families to do throughout Advent, an Advent Wreath activity, and our Advent Calendar.

Keep reading to learn a bit more about the activities in this year’s edition, and to hear testimonials from people who have used our previous editions of An Illustrated Advent for Families.

Our family, like many, struggles to find opportunities for prayer and faith formation. My children were attracted by this resource, and even asked about when we were going to do the next portions. As a widow with three elementary-school-aged children, I was grateful for this resource, because it had a marvelous combination of flexibility and structure, and let me find ways to fit activities in as it became possible.
– Elise Erikson Barrett, Consultant with Indianapolis Center for Congregations

Family Advent Devotional

This year, our family devotions will walk participants through Advent by focusing on a different Advent hymn each week. The hymns will be accompanied by a set of Advent scripture texts and the traditional Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

Incorporated into the devotion is a time for coloring the Advent Wreath candles if you would like to do so, however that can also be used as a stand-alone activity.

These weekly devotionals are written so they can be used by children of all ages (and adults as well), and we believe you’ll find questions and discussion topics in each of the devotionals that will work for your children, no matter the age. Each devotion includes scripture, an Advent hymn to listen to, a brief reflection and discussion questions, an activity a family can do over the week and a short prayer.

Having a weekly Advent activity rather than a daily one was helpful for our family. We liked spending a more meaningful block of time on this activity once a week rather than trying not to squeeze in a daily activity that was shorter but less meaningful. We have felt guilty in the past for missing a day of other Advent devotions, and knowing we had a week to complete the activity removed the pressure and stress.
– Emily Barlow, volunteer worship planner at The Well, Long Beach, MS

Coloring Pages

Advent Coloring Page — Hope Coloring Page

Obviously, we love coloring here at Illustrated Ministry. But it’s not just that we like getting messy with markers and crayons. It’s really the conversations that happen when you’re coloring that we treasure.

If you’ve used any of our products and resources before, you may have experienced some of these types of conversations with children. When they’re immersed in coloring, you’ll be amazed at what they will share with you.

Our coloring pages for this year’s Illustrated Advent for Families follow the traditional Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. But they also connect with the Advent and Christmas hymns (some of which may be new to you) and you’ll find lines from the hymns incorporated into the coloring sheets as well.

As a Christian educator who is also a mom, I found this resource to be an excellent guide for our family and our congregation’s families during Advent. I appreciated how both my 8-year-old and 5-year-old could engage with the writings, questions, and prayers. The coloring is always a hit and creates space for conversations and questions around scripture…I’ve done a lot of research on Advent devotionals for families and hands down, An Illustrated Advent for Families is the best. Sound theology with content that has depth and engages families while understanding the realities of a family’s life makes this resource a must-have for Advent.
– Jenna Campbell, Director of Children and Youth Ministry, First Presbyterian Church, Stillwater, OK

Illustrated Advent Wreath

This year, we invite you to create your own Illustrated Advent Wreath to aid you as you travel through Advent on your own or with your family. Each week of Advent, you will have the opportunity to color an Advent candle as you read through the devotional materials.

We encourage you to cut out the candles and display them in a creative way (make a poster, hang them on your refrigerator, post them near your doorway) to help you remember and reflect on Advent throughout the week. Or you can use our paper “wreath” and place each of the candles on the appropriate circle. It is our hope that our Advent resources will deepen your faith and connection with God and your family as you journey together through Advent.

Place your candles on the wreath each week

Our family has used An Illustrated Advent for Families for the last several years, and each year it brings a new sense of joy and understanding to our family’s Advent season. Each Sunday night, we all sit down with the activities, light our family Advent wreath, and share in a special time together that helps start off each week of Advent with intention and focus. The devotions are well-written and thoughtful and the calendar has great ideas. But I think the coloring sheets are my favorite part overall. If nothing else, reading the scripture and coloring together offers a point in our week where we can reflect together, pray together, and meditate on Advent as a family.
– Courtney Willis, part-time contract minister with young parents, First Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC

Advent Activities for Families

While many Advent calendars today come with the promise of chocolates or toys behind each of the numbered doors, this Advent calendar is a little different. Our Advent calendar is more of an activity calendar — activities that can help you get into the Advent and Christmas spirit. Some of these activities will be great for your kids to do by themselves—others will require the whole family. And there are some activities that require you to get out of your house and go into your community.

We think these activities will be a lot of fun for your kids and your family and maybe some of the prompts will cause you and your family to get creative and make up other activities on your own.

Each of the weeks of Advent has a different theme and focus, and we hope that this will provide you with meaningful ways to get into the Christmas spirit.

The feedback from our congregation was that the resources were really great quality and easy to access. Parents felt that they could discuss the ideas without needing to check with the vicar first, and children were keen to undertake the activities. The quality of this product is wonderful! We loved that the devotionals were geared towards families, but weren’t in any way ‘dumbed down’ – adults felt they were just as relevant to them as to our youngest members.
– Deb Scoble, Authorised Lay Minister (Worship Leader), St Mary-the-Virgin Dover, Kent, United Kingdom

We hope you’ll take some time to check out An Illustrated Advent for Families, and let us know if you have any questions. If you’d like to download a sample of the resource to check out before you purchase, you can click here.

The Jesus Storybook Bible: A Review

Alissa Ellett 5 Comments

The Jesus Storybook Bible is one of so many children’s Bibles. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the variety and unsure which is best for your bookshelf. So, here at ICM, we’ve compiled our thoughts in this blog series where we’ll be reviewing some of today’s most popular children’s Bibles. Once you find your fave children’s Bible, check out our post on ways of reading scripture with your kids to get the most out of it!

Quick Facts about The Jesus Storybook Bible

352 Pages
Author: Sally Lloyd-Jones, Illustrator: Jago
Storybook format (retelling of some of the Bible)
Age Range: 4-8 years old
Bestseller on Amazon
The Moonbeam Award Gold Medal Winner

A Closer Look

There’s no perfect choice for all children everywhere or even for your own child. Each children’s Bible is a mix of aspects to love as well as those that invite palm to forehead moments. In this series of reviews we’ll always include what we think to be the pros and cons of each Bible and whether or not we’d recommend it to our friends. So, let’s dive in and take a closer look at The Jesus Storybook Bible.

Pros of The Jesus Storybook Bible

Engaging Illustrations: Award-winning illustrator Jago produces dynamic, vibrant illustrations. They’re beautifully expressive, engaging and simple in presentation.

Digestible Story Length: The stories, which are retold compilations of several chapters, are short. This aspect makes it easy to hold the attention of young readers.

Table of Contents Included: Having a table of contents makes for easy reading, especially if a child has favorites they like to return to repeatedly.

Classic Stories Included: All the classic stories you’d hope for from a children’s Bible are included here.

Name Plate Included: The first page contains a name plate for gifting it to a child. A parent, children’s director, teacher or family member would appreciate this.

Compact Size: This children’s Bible is medium-sized (6.6 x 1 x 7.9 inches). It is small enough to stow in a child’s backpack for church or travel.

Appropriately Illustrated Characters: Figures are shown with olive skin and dark hair, honoring the Bible’s Middle Eastern context.

Biblical Passages Cited: Each retelling of a biblical story gives the biblical passages from which the author drew. This increases biblical literacy and makes for easy cross-referencing.

Cons of The Jesus Storybook Bible

Unfamiliar Story Titles: While the story titles are creative and fun, they aren’t the names we normally associate with the biblical stories. This can make it difficult to find a particular story. Additionally, a child may struggle to make the connection between stories as they age and begin reading out of a complete Bible.

Imposed Narrative: In The Jesus Storybook Bible, the thread that holds all the stories together is Jesus. This for some is the biggest selling point. However, this was not the intention of the biblical authors. Furthermore, to impose the narrative of Jesus’ life and mission onto the Hebrew scriptures can present problems. To mention just one, such theology can easily lead to anti-Semitic thinking. That is, one can argue that Jews don’t know how to interpret their own holy texts and are “missing the point.”

Exclusively Masculine Language for God: God is neither male nor female but possesses a nature far more complex and integrated. If we are to use one gender to metaphorically describe God then we must use all genders. If not, using non-gendered language for God is ideal. This is standard practice in most seminaries; there is no reason it shouldn’t be common practice in the pulpit and faith education of young ones.

Inaccurate Biblical Account: Lloyd-Jones takes much creative license in her retelling. Consequently, there are inaccuracies in the biblical stories. For example, the story of Adam and Eve names the serpent Satan, a fallen angel. Satan asks Eve, “Does God really love you?” To begin, the biblical text doesn’t name the serpent Satan. Furthermore, the serpent doesn’t ask that question of Eve. Moreover, it’s debatable, non-biblical mythology that assumes the character of Satan is a fallen angel. Throughout The Jesus Storybook Bible, several of these unsound portrayals exist.

Conclusion

Children’s Bibles are all different, each with good qualities. And The Jesus Storybook Bible has some things going for it. The illustrations are beautiful and portray the characters appropriately. Its stories are short, and it includes all the classics. It contains a table of contents, scripture references and a name plate. And it’s an easy size to take along places.

However, there are several key things that take away from it. First, the story titles are unfamiliar. This can slow learning and make it difficult to find the desired story. Second, Lloyd-Jones weaves the life of Jesus into every story of the Hebrew scriptures. Third, Lloyd-Jones uses gendered language for God that is exclusively male. Fourth and finally, there are several inaccuracies in the stories. When teaching children, we hope to give them an understanding of their faith that invites little undoing and relearning. Enough of life’s events invite that through theological reflection without wild misunderstanding of scripture. In conclusion, in spite of it being a best seller on Amazon and a gold medalist in The Moonbeam Awards, we wouldn’t recommend The Jesus Storybook Bible.

We hope this review has been helpful and has given some food for thought. Share what children’s Bibles you have and love in the comments below!