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Coloring to Connect on a Mission Trip to Mexico

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Since we’ve began creating coloring posters, it’s been exciting to see the fun and creative ways people have used them. We’ve seen children coloring in classes and during a Christmas pageant, youth and adults coloring during fellowship hours, people on sessions and church boards coloring during meetings, creative uses on mission trips and more! There are many ways that coloring posters can create space for relationships to grow, conversations to be had and your community to experience fellowship.

We love sharing some of the ways people are using our resources, and we wanted to let you know about a church who used our coloring posters to develop relationships while on a mission trip. One of our customers, Hope Lutheran Church from Fresno (CA) bought our large 4′ x 3′ coloring posters in Spanish, and took them on a mission trip they went on. You can see from the photos below that the coloring posters were a quick and easy way to begin to develop relationships with the children they were working with.

Adam Knudson, Associate Pastor of Youth and Family Ministries, sent me the below note while they were on their trip:

We are having a great time here in Mexicali with our brothers and sisters. Sometimes there is a language barrier but with coloring these pictures the differences are minimized. Kids, adults, everyone knew exactly what to do and could come and go as they pleased. This was a great resource for our team.

We currently have two sets of our coloring posters with Spanish words, and they are both available as digital downloads. You can use those to print these posters out at whatever size you want

  • Advent Coloring Posters: While these were sold as our Advent Coloring Posters, they can certainly be used for any occasion. These are our largest posters, ready to be printed as 4′ x 3′ posters. The words in the middle of these posters are Amor, Paz, Gozo, Esperanza and Emmanuel.
  • Lenten Coloring Posters: Our newest set of coloring posters includes nine 2′ x 3′ posters. The words/phrases on these posters are Reciba a otros, Dé, Sirva, Escuche, Ame, Vigile, Arriesgue, Tome y Coma, Abandanado, Vaya y Diga.

I know there are lots of churches that go on mission trips over spring break and in the summer, and I just wanted to encourage you to think about how something as simple as a large piece of paper and some crayons and markers could help provide a simple but meaningful activity to do with kids you are serving. Of course, these would work anywhere – and not just for mission trips to Mexico – so if there is a different language you need the posters in, please contact us and we’ll setup a custom order for you.

How have other people been using their coloring posters in creative ways?

Lenten Coloring Posters Available to Pre-Order

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In case you missed it over the weekend, our Lenten Coloring Posters are now available for pre-ordering. Instead of five 4’x3’ posters, for Lent we are offering nine 2’x3’ posters. These nine posters come together to tell a story of a journey through the Lenten season. As you can see in the image below, when you put all of the posters side by side, you’ll see that they are all connected together.

I loved seeing so many of the creative uses that everyone had for their coloring posters – and so many of them were intergenerational activities! I think this photo does a pretty good job of summing up the success of the Advent Coloring Posters (which is what the people in the photo are coloring below – you just can’t see it).

Lenten Coloring Posters
Intergenerational Coloring at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, WI

Here’s what one pastor said about her experience with the Advent Coloring Posters:

Within moments of setting out the posters, I had people clamoring to do some coloring–young & young at heart, men & women, boys & girls. When I asked a few people to pick it up to put down another poster, I heard groans of “But it’s not done yet!” The posters were beautiful and well designed, and the customer service stuck through some pretty tedious mailing issues. We had a wonderful few weeks of coloring through Advent!
Pastor Megan Thompson
Mt. Vernon, Champaign & Bondville United Methodist Churches

Each of the Lenten Coloring Posters is based on one of the texts from the Narrative Lectionary for 2016. So, you can see the scripture that will be used for each poster – as well as the focus word for each of the posters that comes out of the passages:

  • Poster 1 for Ash Wednesday – Mark 9:30–37: Focus word is Welcome.
  • Poster 2 for 1st Week of Lent – Mark 10:17–31: Focus word is Give.
  • Poster 3 for 2nd Week of Lent – Mark 10:32–52: Focus word is Serve.
  • Poster 4 for 3rd Week of Lent – Mark 12:13–17: Focus word is Listen.
  • Poster 5 for 4th Week of Lent – Mark 12:28–44: Focus word is Love.
  • Poster 6 for 5th Week of Lent – Mark 13:1–8, 24–37: Focus word is Watch!
  • Poster 7 for Palm Sunday – Mark 14:3–9: Focus word is Risk.
  • Poster 8 is divided into two parts. The top portion is for Maundy Thursday – Mark 14:22–42: Focus words are Take. Eat. The bottom portion is for Good Friday – Mark 15:16–39: Focus word is Forsaken.
  • Poster 9 is for Easter Sunday – Mark 16:1–8: Focus words are Go. Tell.

Naturally, this is great fit for those of you who are using the Narrative Lectionary. But what if you’re using the Revised Common Lectionary? Can you still use them?

I certainly think so. Each of the stories that these posters are based on come from life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so, these posters take people on a journey of Jesus’ life and teachings, and so while that could be a Lenten them on its own, I think it can be something to compliment whatever Lenten plans and programs you may already have for your congregations or families.

How to Use Your Lenten Coloring Posters

Regardless of whether you are using the Narrative Lectionary or Revised Common Lectionary, I think these Lenten Coloring Posters can very easily fit into your Lenten plans in a variety of ways:

  • Perhaps the children could color the posters during worship each Sunday.
  • Maybe various Sunday School classes could color them as they talk about each of the stories.
  • The posters would be great activities for children to do during a Wednesday night Lenten service – or an intergenerational activity to do after your Lenten Soup & Salad dinners.
  • Since these posters are 2’x3’, they are a much more manageable size for getting completely colored during a shorter period of time – or you could send a poster home with a different family each week, and they could color them during the week as part of a family Lenten practice.

However you end up using them – one of the fun parts about the posters this time around, is seeing them all displayed together – as I think that will help give people a sense of the journey of Lent – the progressive movement of the season – always getting closer and closer to the events of the last week of Jesus.

Lenten Coloring Posters
Another photo from Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, WI

An Illustrated Advent Update: 2 Weeks!

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By now I hope you’ve heard the name of the Advent/Christmas resource that I’m launching in two weeks: An Illustrated Advent: Engaging Activities for the Season. I’m both nervous and excited to complete this resource and get it to you! The more time I spend with it, the more excited I am by the possibilities that it brings to churches and families. You see, there will be a Church Edition (for churches) and a Family Edition (for…yup: families!). They can both be used independently of each other, but they will also work really well together. When  you buy the church edition, you’re going to receive a promo code for 25% off the Family Edition. That is a code that you can send out in your children’s and youth ministry weekly emails, and families can purchase the family edition to use at home during Advent and Christmas.

Some people have been asking what will included in An Illustrated Advent. To be honest, that’s probably still a bit of a moving target, but here is what I am hoping to have included in two weeks:

An Illustrated Advent: Engaging Activities for the Season – Church Edition

  • A short introduction to Advent and ideas on how to use the enclosed materials
  • Five Illustrated Children’s Moments (based on the RCL Gospel texts for Advent, and then one for the Sunday after Christmas)
  • Five Worship Activity Sheets for Advent and the Sunday after Christmas
  • One 11×17 Advent poster that can be printed and placed in classrooms or bulletin boards (I know you all have bulletin boards you have to decorate). It can also be used digitally during worship or on your website.

An Illustrated Advent: Engaging Activities for the Season – Family Edition

  • A short introduction to Advent and ideas on how to use the enclosed materials
  • Four engaging weekly family devotions that can be done around the table or at bedtime
  • Four coloring sheets that go through the story of Jesus’ birth
  • Flat Wise Men: think Flat Stanley meets the Elf on the Shelf. Here’s a new, fun way to engage your kids during Advent. Hide the Flat Wise Men in different places around your house – slowly making your way to the Christmas tree (or wherever your presents show up on Christmas morning). A fun way for them to have to look for something around the house that is a little different than a creepy elf watching your every move, ready to report back if you’ve been good or bad. (Full Disclaimer: I own an Elf on the Shelf)
  • Advent Calendar Activity Guide: An Advent calendar that provides daily activities from December 1 – December 24 that children can do on their own, or with their families.

In addition to these two resources, I will be selling the coloring pages and posters that you’ve been seeing and hearing about. We all know the adult coloring craze is most definitely a thing right now – so this could be the perfect opportunity to get your congregation (or your family) more involved in this fun intergenerational activity that everyone can participate in.

Alright…I can already hear what you’re saying right now: “LESS talk, MORE drawing!” Alright, alright. Let me leave you with a few photos of the process involved so far in creating An Illustrated Advent.

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