Church Bag items
A lot of people bring a bag of special goodies to church for their kids to occupy them during the service. These are "toys" that are saved only for Sabbath. Our daughter looks so forward to her special playtime during church that she gets upset if we leave after Sabbath school.
This is a book of puzzles.
You can get them here. There are a lot of different options.
Felt bible story book
This is a little book with different Bible stories. The children can use the pieces to tell the bible story.
This book can be found here
Other books are also available and can be found here.
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Sabbath Pajamas
We have previously posted on Sabbath PJ's before but thought it was worthy of an update. On Friday evening Calissa gets a bath and after her bath she and her baby doll both put on their matching Sabbath PJ's. We talk about how Jesus takes away our dirty clothes and gives us clean white clothes. She, at 2 years of age, understands and tells me about it now when I dress her in them.
Some verses that we use to go with the lesson are: Zechariah 3:1-6, Rev. 3:4-5, 18
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More food ideas
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I recently read an article from the "Signs of the Times" about Sabbath. Here are a few of the excerpts that I found particularly interesting:
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We have been looking for and implementing ideas for making Sabbath a very special day. We have found a few ideas that we have enjoyed these past few Sabbaths.
A lot of people bring a bag of special goodies to church for their kids to occupy them during the service. These are "toys" that are saved only for Sabbath. Our daughter looks so forward to her special playtime during church that she gets upset if we leave after Sabbath school.
This is a book of puzzles.
You can get them here. There are a lot of different options.
Felt bible story book
This is a little book with different Bible stories. The children can use the pieces to tell the bible story.
This book can be found here
Other books are also available and can be found here.
_________________________________________________________________________________
We have previously posted on Sabbath PJ's before but thought it was worthy of an update. On Friday evening Calissa gets a bath and after her bath she and her baby doll both put on their matching Sabbath PJ's. We talk about how Jesus takes away our dirty clothes and gives us clean white clothes. She, at 2 years of age, understands and tells me about it now when I dress her in them.
Some verses that we use to go with the lesson are: Zechariah 3:1-6, Rev. 3:4-5, 18
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More food ideas
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Some wonderful friends, Becky and Judy Jarnes, made a very special book for Calissa. Growing up we had quiet books and I had been wanting one for Calissa. We got home one day and a very special package was at our door. Calissa loves the book!. I try to save it for the sermon so I can actually listen to it! We have special books and activities that Calissa only gets to play with during church and this is now a favorite!
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The fish and turtle can be put in the net. The cup, fork, knife and spoon are all attached by Velcro too.
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Queen Esther's hair is to be braided and the giraffe's spots are removable.
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The tent zips and the Native Americans are great fun as well as the shapes that have their proper place.
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Flowers for arranging and a boat for building
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Matching the heads with the proper attire and helping the bees into the beehive
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Baby Moses hiding in the bulrushes and trying on some mittens
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They put a surprise bag at the end so we could have something new in it each week!
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A great addition to a church bag!!
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Previously we had posted ideas for making Sabbath special. Well here are a few Sabbath meals that people have shared... :) If you have any, we would love to see them.
I know this looks like it might take a lot of time but we do this every Sabbath and are no later for Sabbath school than we were previously. :) We actually look forward to making them each week and our daughter gets very excited Sabbath morning as she is getting up for breakfast.
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Beavers - pancakes; beaver tails - fruit leather;
water - blueberry yogurt; tree and dam - pretzels;
greens - celery leaves; sun - tangerine
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Elijah on Mt. Carmel
Alter - tater tots; fire - Morningstar stipples;
Offering - Morningstar veggie sausage patties;
Elijah- pancake; belt - stripple;
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Caboose - pancake and strawberries; wheels - grapes;
train tracks - celery, sun - tangerine slices
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Moose - pancake; trees pretzels and parsley
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snakes-alternate strawberries and bananas on skewer
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Owls - pancakes; beak - carrot;
perch - pretzels and googly eyes
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Baby Moses
Baby - pear; water - Jello; land - pancake;
basket - kiwi; bulrushes - green onions
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octopus - hot dog
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I recently read an article from the "Signs of the Times" about Sabbath. Here are a few of the excerpts that I found particularly interesting:
As Sabbath begins, the mother is the one who officially receives Sabbath by lighting candles. Many times one candle is lit for each member of the family. The mother then offers a prayer asking God to bless her family.
"Candlelight represents the Sabbath blessing that still shines from creation. One can light a whole roomful of candles from a single taper without diminishing the luster of its light. Just so, the rich blessing God intended for us on Sabbath has not diminished since He blessed the first Sabbath day."
In our home we turn off the lights and experience darkness. We then light the candles and talk about being lights in this world, shining for Jesus. We also sing "This little light of mine." It is a pretty neat object lesson that even a 2 year old can understand.
In our home we turn off the lights and experience darkness. We then light the candles and talk about being lights in this world, shining for Jesus. We also sing "This little light of mine." It is a pretty neat object lesson that even a 2 year old can understand.
The father then takes his children in his arms or puts his hands on their bowed heads and recited a blessing for each one. To affirm his wife's place of honor on the Sabbath and her important position in the home, the husband sings a love song from Proverbs.
Throughout the evening they pause to sing joyous table hymns that reflect the jubilant mood of the Sabbath.
Can't say that we will adopt all of these traditions but I did find them interesting. I particularly like the candles and the father's blessing on the children.
For more information: "Sabbath is for Love." Signs of the Times August 2010: pages 43-46
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We have been looking for and implementing ideas for making Sabbath a very special day. We have found a few ideas that we have enjoyed these past few Sabbaths.
Here are a few of them:
Erin Houghton has been doing the cutest meals for her kids and we have adopted the idea for Calissa's Sabbath breakfast. I must say Erin is much better at it than I am but our daughter still loves it! :)
Erin Houghton 's photos
We have also decided to do things differently to start Sabbath. I am usually pretty ragged at the end of Friday after all the cleaning and such so we decided we would dress up a little more than usual to start the Sabbath. Neither of us dress up much... so it is something different than the rest of the week. In families where they dress up a lot it might be nice to get comfortable... Then it is time to sit down to welcome the Sabbath.
The dinner table is also special with a table cloth, candles, nice dishes, flowers/plant, and music. After dinner there are special Sabbath toys that are greatly looked forward to each week. Felts are used at times during the week but only on Sabbath is Calissa allowed to play with them. Still, the ark is her most anticipated Sabbath toy.
Bath time is extra special with bath crayons and lots of bubbles but still considering the idea of having bathing done before sundown. In order to get everything done I am having to start the on Thursday but it is so special that it is worth the effort! :)
The special Sabbath PJ's
Thanks to all the ladies who work so hard at church to make Sabbath school really good!! Our daughter loves Sabbath school and is excited to get there every week. Sabbath is truly a very happy day! :)
We are looking for more ideas! If you have any thoughts on this topic, please contact me! :)
