Family Resources:
The Nest

Today we are going to be learning about prayer which is another word for talking to God.

If you have a chance, take a look at this 2 minute video about chatting to God with young children (see the video here). We would also recommend watching this video as well if you have time, you will need to create a login to watch it, but it is free and this video and the whole course are really fantastic (see the video here).

As a quick overview, we are going to be thinking about this concept of ‘chatting’ to God which is taken from the Parenting for Faith course and books (which we would really recommend). ‘Chatting’ encourages children to use informal language, as well as non-verbal forms, to communicate with God. It’s about reinforcing our children’s understanding that they have their own relationship with God. All our activities this week hopefully will help with this.

Verse ‘Always be full of joy. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful.’ 1 Thessalonians 5v16-18

Book My Very First Prayers by Gabrielle Mercer (see link here). Tamsin, one of our Nest team, has recorded a wonderful video of this term’s story using Makaton signs (see the video here).

Songs For this term please choose whichever are your favourite songs from our Nest resources page (see the videos here).

Activity 1 This is a chance to practice chatting to God with your child. We are going to include this activity each week of the prayer term and although it might feel a bit awkward at first, we hope that with a bit of practice this will become easier and help to encourage our children to chat to God themselves. Your child naturally learns by copying you and we want to show them that they can have their own relationship with God. It is also something we can try to do every day by letting our children see and hear us chatting to God out loud. For example ‘Thank you God for this dinner I am making, I really love spaghetti, God isn’t it funny that it looks a bit like wiggly worms!’.

Grab a cushion and ask a question (some ideas are below). Then tell God your answer into your cushion and encourage your child to do the same. If children are non-verbal or don’t want to speak then you could suggest the following: God is a proud parent just like us, who wants to see their new skills, so they might want to show Him how they can clap their hands or the funniest face they can make. Just remember to keep directing it as communication with God, not a performance for you.

What is your favourite animal? What did you have for breakfast today? Who is in your family? What is your favourite colour? Do you like singing or dancing? What food do you love to eat? What is your favourite toy? Do you like it when it’s sunny or rainy?

Activity 2 Using playdough or Duplo make some things that you are thankful for. Keep reminding your child to thank God for these things as you create.

We are currently learning about some of the stories that Jesus told. We can read about these in the Bible and they each show us how much God loves us and how we can be more like Him.

Verse ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’ Jeremiah 31v3

Book The story this week is ‘The Good Stranger’ from Stories Jesus Told by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen (see link here). If you don’t have a copy of this book then have a look at this video of the story (see the video here) or have a look in your Bible at Luke 10v25-37.

Songs God's love is big - Guess what, God loves you - When I look - The wise man built his house (see the videos here).

Activity Using a big sheet of paper, draw around your child and let them colour it in. Then remind your child of the story and that Jesus wants us to be kind and look after people who are poorly or need our help. At this point you could stick some plasters onto your picture and talk about how we can help people who are unwell.

If you have a play doctors kit you could use this to practice looking after each other. This would also be a good opportunity to pray with your child for people you know who are poorly.

We are currently learning about some of the stories that Jesus told. We can read about these in the Bible and they each show us how much God loves us and how we can be more like Him.

Verse ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’ Jeremiah 31v3

Book The story this week is ‘The Ten Silver Coins’ from Stories Jesus Told by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen (see link here). If you don’t have a copy of this book then have a look at this video of the story (see the video here) or have a look in your Bible at Luke 15v8-10.

Songs God's love is big - Guess what, God loves you - When I look - The wise man built his house (see the videos here).

Activity Coin rubbing. Put some coins underneath a piece of paper and using crayons rub over the coins to create an image of them on the paper. You could try to do ten coins like in the story or even draw a purse on the paper and put nine inside it and one outside to represent the lost coin.

Another way to do this activity is to use a sheet of tin foil with coins underneath. Your child can then do a rubbing with just their fingers to show the coins details through the foil.

As you do either or both of these coin rubbings remind your child that Jesus says ‘We are like the woman’s silver coins, God wants every single one of us’.

Over the next 4 weeks we are going to be learning about some of the stories that Jesus told. We can read about these in the Bible and they each show us how much God loves us and how we can be more like Him.

Verse ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’ Jeremiah 31v3

Book The story this week is ‘The Lost Sheep’ from Stories Jesus Told by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen (see link here). If you don’t have a copy of this book then have a look at this video of the story (see the video here) or have a look in your Bible at Luke 15v1-7.

Songs God's love is big - Guess what, God loves you - When I look - The wise man built his house (see the videos here).

Activity 1 Hide some sheep toys/pictures/puzzle pieces around the room and then search for these lost sheep with your child. Once you have found them all, remind your child that God loves us just like the farmer did who went and found his one lost sheep.

Activity 2 Create a sheep picture. Draw an outline of a sheep on some paper then let your child decorate it using whatever resources you have available. You could colour your picture in, paint it or use cotton wool for the body, black paper for the legs and face, googly eyes, green paper for grass etc. Remind your child as they make their sheep that Jesus says, ‘God is like the farmer, He loves us just like the farmer loves his sheep’.

This term in the Nest we are learning about the world around us to help us remember to be thankful for all the wonderful places God has created. This week we are looking at the Woodland!

Verse ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.’ Psalm 9v1

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 71-91) (see link here). Tamsin, one of our fantastic Nest team, has recorded a video of this term’s book including a Makaton signed story and song (see link here).

Songs Who’s the king of the jungle - Creator God - If I were a butterfly - Praise the Lord - When I look (see the videos here) - Father God (to the tune of Old MacDonald, lyrics below, have a go at making up more verses with your child about other things you can find in the Woodland).

Father God made the world, E-I-E-I-O,

And in the Woodland He made a bird, E-I-E-I-O

With a tweet tweet here, and a tweet tweet there etc.

Activity Create a texture walk to explore the Woodland. Set out plates/boxes with different woodland/forest items on for your child to walk bare foot on each (or feel with hands if they don’t want to walk on them). For example: soil, leaves, sticks, pebbles, seeds, water (to help with cleaning at the end!). You could also put some of these items in a big box/bowl and let your child play with them, build with them etc.

As they walk around, talk about how the different items feel and how God made the Woodland and all the different things we find there - we can thank God for the wonderful Woodland.

This term in the Nest we are learning about the world around us to help us remember to be thankful for all the wonderful places God has created. This week we are looking at the Arctic!

Verse ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.’ Psalm 9v1

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 71-91) (see link here). Tamsin, one of our fantastic Nest team, has recorded a video of this term’s book including a Makaton signed story and song (see link here).

Songs Who’s the king of the jungle - Creator God - If I were a butterfly - Praise the Lord - When I look (see the videos here) - Father God (to the tune of Old MacDonald, lyrics below, have a go at making up more verses with your child about other things you can find in the Arctic).

Father God made the world, E-I-E-I-O,

And in the Arctic He made it cold, E-I-E-I-O

With a brr brr here, and a brr brr there etc.

Activity To help your child learn about the ice in the Arctic create some frozen objects for them to explore. Either make ice cube pom poms by putting a pom pom (or any other small object which can get wet) in each section of an ice cube tray, add water and freeze. Or you could put some slightly bigger objects (toy animals work well for this) in a bowl or plastic box, add water and freeze. Once frozen pop the ice out of the tray or bowl and let your child try to ‘free’ the objects using a metal spoon and a small bowl of warm water.

As you play, talk to your child about the fact there is lots of ice in the Arctic and many things can get frozen in it (although probably not pom poms!) - we can thank God for the wonderful Arctic.

This weekend there are some awesome resources for 2-4 year olds as part of the Catalyst Festival - Which can be found here

Do check them out!

We also have our usual Nest content below: 

This term in the Nest we are learning about the world around us to help us remember to be thankful for all the wonderful places God has created. This week we are looking at the Jungle!

Verse ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.’ Psalm 9v1

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 71-91) (see link here). Tamsin, one of our fantastic Nest team, has recorded a video of this term’s book including a Makaton signed story and song (see link here).

Songs Who’s the king of the jungle - Creator God - If I were a butterfly - Praise the Lord - When I look (see the videos here) - Father God (to the tune of Old MacDonald, lyrics below, have a go at making up more verses with your child about other things you can find in the Jungle).

Father God made the world, E-I-E-I-O,

And in the Jungle He made some trees, E-I-E-I-O

With a sway sway here, and a sway sway there etc.

Activity 1 Make lion masks. Cut a hole in a paper plate and stick strips of orange/yellow paper around the edge for the mane (see example here).

Activity 2 Decorate banana monkey muffins. This requires a bit more preparation but may be a fun activity to do in the week (see example here). Make or buy some banana muffins/fairy cakes and decorate them to look like monkeys with chocolate icing. Stick on little biscuits/wafers/white chocolate buttons for the face and ears and use black icing tubes to add the eyes and mouth.

Remind your child that God made the animals that live in the Jungle - we can thank God for the wonderful Jungle.

This term in the Nest we are learning about the world around us to help us remember to be thankful for all the wonderful places God has created. This week we are looking at the Jungle!

Verse ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.’ Psalm 9v1

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 71-91) (see link here). Tamsin, one of our fantastic Nest team, has recorded a video of this term’s book including a Makaton signed story and song (see link here).

Songs Who’s the king of the jungle - Creator God - If I were a butterfly - Praise the Lord - When I look (see the videos here) - Father God (to the tune of Old MacDonald, lyrics below, have a go at making up more verses with your child about other things you can find in the Jungle).

Father God made the world, E-I-E-I-O,

And in the Jungle He made some trees, E-I-E-I-O

With a sway sway here, and a sway sway there etc.

Activity Make your own Jungle ‘swamp’ (see example and full instructions here) by mixing washing up liquid and a little bit of water with a whisk/blender/electric mixer. You can then add food colouring if you’d like to. The foam is fun to play with at this point but if you’d like to make it more ‘swamp’ like then add some baking powder to the mix. You can then let your child add some squirts of vinegar to the ‘swamp’ to make it bubble. If you have any swamp creatures such as alligators, snakes etc then you can add these too. As your child plays remind them that God made the swamps in the Jungle and we can thank God for the wonderful Jungle.

This term in the Nest we are learning about the world around us to help us remember to be thankful for all the wonderful places God has created. This week we are looking at the Desert!

Verse ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.’ Psalm 9v1

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 71-91) (see link here). Tamsin, one of our fantastic Nest team, has recorded a video of this term’s book including a Makaton signed story and song (see link here).

Songs Who’s the king of the jungle - Creator God - If I were a butterfly - Praise the Lord - When I look (see the videos here) - Father God (to the tune of Old MacDonald, lyrics below, have a go at making up more verses with your child about other things you can find in the Desert).

Father God made the world, E-I-E-I-O,

And in the Desert He made it hot, E-I-E-I-O

With a *wipe hand across forehead and say ‘phew’ like it’s hot* here, and a *wipe hand across forehead and say ‘phew’ like it’s hot* there etc.

Activity Using whatever resources you have available, create a ‘Desert’ for your child to explore. If you have some sand already, then add some Desert animals, rocks etc to explore the Desert with your child. If you don’t have any sand then there are a couple of ways to make your own sand below.

As you play remind your child that God made the Desert and all the sand - we can thank God for the wonderful Desert.

• Make some moon sand using the ratio of ½ cup flour (any type) to 2 tbsp oil. You can also add food colouring if you’d like to create some fun colours.
• Create cereal sand by blending/grinding up some cereal and adding some bicarbonate of soda to it in the ratio of ¼ cup cereal to 1 cup bicarb. Then add water in small quantities and mix continuously to avoid the bicarb dissolving. The mixture needs to be crumbly and still look quite dry, but when squeezed in your hand it should hold together.

This term in the Nest we are learning about the world around us to help us remember to be thankful for all the wonderful places God has created. This week we are looking at the Countryside!

Verse ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.’ Psalm 9v1

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 71-91) (see link here). Tamsin, one of our fantastic Nest team, has recorded a video of this term’s book including a Makaton signed story and song (see link here).

Songs Who’s the king of the jungle - Creator God - If I were a butterfly - Praise the Lord - When I look (see the videos here) - Father God (to the tune of Old MacDonald, lyrics below, have a go at making up more verses with your child about other things you can find in the Countryside).

Father God made the world, E-I-E-I-O,

And in the Countryside He made a river, E-I-E-I-O

With a splish splash here, and a splish splash there etc.

Activity 1 Create some handprint paintings of animals you’d find in the Countryside. If you search online for ‘animal handprint paintings’ followed by an animal name there are lots of examples of each. The cow, chicken and sheep are good ones to try. You can also make a sheep using fingerprints for the wool.

Instead of painting you could create the handprints by drawing around your child’s hand and colouring it in to look like animals you’d find in the Countryside.

Activity 2 For something a little different you can use toy farm animals to make footprints and whole animal prints in some playdough. You could also make some prints beforehand and see if they can match them to the animal.

As your child paints/plays remind them that God made the Countryside and the animals that live in it - we can thank God for the wonderful Countryside.

This is our final week learning about how God created us and how we have amazing bodies that can do so many things. This week we will be learning about how God made us able to move in lots of different ways.

Verse ‘I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ Psalm 139v14

Book God knows all about me by Claire Page and God loves little me by Rebecca Elliott (see links here). Tamsin, one of our Nest team, and two very special helpers have also recorded a brilliant video of one of this term’s books using Makaton signs (see the video here).

Songs Deep, deep, deep - Jesus loves me - Great big God - Guess what, God loves you - Jump around (see the videos here) - God made my head, shoulders, knees and toes (lyrics below, sing the first line however you’d like to and then into the normal tune).

God made my…Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head, shoulders, knees and toes. knees and toes. And eyes and ears and mouth and nose. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.

Activity 1 Play copy me game (Can you…wiggle your fingers, bend your knees, put your hands on your head, turn around etc?). Then talk about how God made us able to move in lots of different ways.

Activity 2 Create an obstacle course/stations of movement activities in your home. Do add in any others you can think of using things from around your home. Talk about the different types of movements as your child does the activities and remind them that God made us able to move!

• Balance bean bags on heads
• Hop between stepping stones (e.g. cushions)
• Aim objects into hoops
• Throwing and catching
• Jumping over items
• Egg (ball) and spoon race
• Throwing balls/balloons into buckets
• Parachute games (could do these with a big sheet)

After our mini series for Easter we are now coming back to our God Made Me topic. We are learning about how God created us and how we have amazing bodies that can do so many things. This week we will be learning about our sense of smell.

Verse ‘I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ Psalm 139v14

Book God knows all about me by Claire Page and God loves little me by Rebecca Elliott (see links here). Tamsin, one of our Nest team, and two very special helpers have also recorded a brilliant video of one of this term’s books using Makaton signs (see the video here).

Songs Deep, deep, deep - Jesus loves me - Great big God - Guess what, God loves you - Jump around (see the videos here) - God made my head, shoulders, knees and toes (lyrics below, sing the first line however you’d like to and then into the normal tune).

God made my…Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head, shoulders, knees and toes. knees and toes. And eyes and ears and mouth and nose. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.

Activity 1 Talk about how God made our sense of smell. Then play ‘can you guess the smell’ game? Put different items in boxes and let your child smell without looking to see if they can guess what they are. For example: peeled orange, ripe banana, cheesy crisps, fresh bread etc.

Activity 2 Use fresh herbs and a little water to let your child make ‘perfume’ in various size pots/bowls, using spoons, funnels etc. Talk to your child about how it smells and remind them that God made us able to smell.

This week in the Nest we are looking at the story of what happened when Jesus died on the cross.

Verse ‘He is not here; He has risen!’ Luke 24v6

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 51-69) (see link here). If you don’t have a copy of this book then have a look at these videos of the story (see the first video here, see the second video here).

Songs All through history - Great big God - Jump around - 123, Jesus is alive (see the videos here).

Activity Make stained glass crosses using sticky back plastic. Cut a cross outline from card and attach this to the sticky back plastic. Then cut up lots of bits of tissue paper which the children can stick onto the middle section of the cross. Once they have finished filling their cross you can cut around the outline and put them up on a window (see example here). If you don’t have any sticky back plastic, you could cut out a card cross and let your child stick on paper pieces/colour it in/paint it. Talk about how Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for our sins/the wrong things we do.

This week in the Nest we are looking at the story of what happened during the last supper.

Verse ‘He is not here; He has risen!’ Luke 24v6

Book Five Minute Bible Stories by Fiona Boon & Hayley Down (pages 51-69) (see link here). If you don’t have a copy of this book then have a look at these videos of the story (see the first video here, see the second video here).

Songs All through history - Great big God - Jump around - 123, Jesus is alive (see the videos here).

Activity 1 Have a little picnic with your family using some bread and red juice. Give thanks for the food at the beginning. Talk about how Jesus did this with his friends and said they should do it to help them remember him. Ask your child what they would like to thank God for or ask them to join in saying thank you to God for the food and that Jesus is our friend.

Activity 2 After the picnic have a bowl of water and towel ready for your child to come and have you wash their feet (or hands if they don’t want to do feet). Talk about how Jesus washed his friends’ feet to show how He loved His friends and wanted to bless, serve and look after them. Jesus was also showing how He washes away our sins/the wrong things we do. Although it’s a hard concept for young children to understand it is always good to tell our children that Jesus loves them.

This term we are learning about how God created us and how we have amazing bodies that can do so many things. This week we will be learning about our sense of hearing.

Verse ‘I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ Psalm 139v14

Book God knows all about me by Claire Page and God loves little me by Rebecca Elliott (see links here). Tamsin, one of our Nest team, and two very special helpers have also recorded a brilliant video of one of this term’s books using Makaton signs (see the video here).

Songs Deep, deep, deep - Jesus loves me - Great big God - Guess what, God loves you - Jump around (see the videos here) - God made my head, shoulders, knees and toes (lyrics below, sing the first line however you’d like to and then into the normal tune).

Activity 1 Gather any instruments you have and talk about the different noises they make (drums can be loud, shakers may sound happy etc). Then talk about how God made our sense of hearing, so we can hear all these different sounds. You could also use these instruments during any of the songs you do this week.

Activity 2 Make kazoos by decorating a cardboard tube or a sheet of A5 card which can then be rolled up into a tube shape and taped in place. Cut a square of greaseproof paper and attach to one end using an elastic band. Make a hole near the greaseproof paper end of the tube, then when you talk or sing into the other end it makes a funny sound (see example here). Remind your child that God made us able to hear even the funny sounds!

This term we are learning about how God created us and how we have amazing bodies that can do so many things. This week we will be learning about our sense of sight.

Verse ‘I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ Psalm 139v14

Book God knows all about me by Claire Page and God loves little me by Rebecca Elliott (see links here). Tamsin, one of our Nest team, and two very special helpers have also recorded a brilliant video of one of this term’s books using Makaton signs (see the video here).

Songs Deep, deep, deep - Jesus loves me - Great big God - Guess what, God loves you - Jump around (see the videos here) - God made my head, shoulders, knees and toes (lyrics below, sing the first line however you’d like to and then into the normal tune).

Activity 1 Play finding body parts game (God made your…, can you find your…?), ending with eyes and talk about how God made our sense of sight.

Activity 2 Create a sensory tray using fairy lights, torches, voile/organza material etc. While your child is playing, you could blow some bubbles and use the time to talk about how God created us able to see the different kinds of lights through the material, reflecting in the bubbles etc. You also could use other toys such as kaleidoscopes, binoculars and magnifying glasses to play with and talk about how God has made us able to see.

This term we are learning about how God created us and how we have amazing bodies that can do so many things. This week we will be learning about our sense of touch.

Verse ‘I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ Psalm 139v14

Book God knows all about me by Claire Page and God loves little me by Rebecca Elliott (see links here). Tamsin, one of our Nest team, and two very special helpers have also recorded a brilliant video of one of this term’s books using Makaton signs (see the video here).

Songs Deep, deep, deep - Jesus loves me - Great big God - Guess what, God loves you - Jump around (see the videos here) - God made my head, shoulders, knees and toes (lyrics below, sing the first line however you’d like to and then into the normal tune).

Activity 1 Talk about how God made our sense of touch. Gather some different items and look at them with your child, feeling them and explaining the different textures. For example: prickly hairbrush, squashy sponge, soft teddy, hard building block, smooth ball etc.

Activity 2 Create texture handprints by either printing this sheet (see link here) or drawing round your child’s hand a few times on a piece of paper. Then stick items to the handprints such as textured paper, pom poms, cotton wool, string etc. Talk about how the different items feel with your child and then write this below each handprint, reminding them God made us able to feel and touch.