After Part 1 of our Jonah Bible Study for 12 preschoolers, we did a fabu craft I found at Little Window Shoppe. They are called I Spy Bottles. The idea is that you fill an empty water bottle with small items (catalog them as you go), then fill the bottle with sand or rice. Later you shake, spin and roll the bottle to find all the items you put inside. Fun to make, then fun to keep and play with later!

I thought this would be a great Jonah craft. So, I collected the mini water bottles (what, like 8oz, maybe?) from church. (Our church provides drinks and snacks for all the volunteers. So, I just wandered around and asked everyone for their empty water bottles until I had enough! RECYCLING!)

Then I headed out to the Dollar Store to find our I Spy items. First on the list?  Jonah. I found army men, police men, firemen and cowboys and Indians. I ended up picking the police because they were blue. That seemed ocean-y. But I didn’t notice they all had guns in their hands. Oh, well.

I also found a bucket of craft foam fish stickers, a bucket of craft foam beads and a little bag of marble-y things you’d put in a vase. We divided these up into bowls and buffet-style, the kids filled their bottles. Of course, they only got one Jonah (aka Mr. Police Man). We called the beads seashells and the marbles rocks, so the kids thought it was very ocean like.

After everyone’s bottles were filled we went back to the Mine/Belly of the Whale and filled them 3/4 of the way up with sand. On their way out we gave them the top lined with white glue and then they sat down to play I Spy Jonah. It was really fun—but took much LESS time than I anticipated. So, we turned on some music and they had to play with their bottles for one full song before we took them back up and wrote their names on their bottles.

Next, my favorite: SNACK TIME! We had these plates ready before any of the kids even arrived:

Ingredients:
one can of frosting tinted blue
one box of fruit snacks shaped like fish
one bag of goldfish crackers
one box of graham crackers

(note: I was going to do this with tinted cream cheese and crackers, but couldn’t find crackers big enough to decorate. That would have been a better low sugar option.)

Supplies:
paper plate
plastic spoon

We gave everyone a paper plate with one graham cracker, a few fish snacks, a few goldfish crackers and ONE spoon filled with frosting. They spread the frsoting on their cracker and decorated it with the fish snaks and crackers.

This eliminated mess and the double dipping that is likely to occur when a tub of frosting is set in front of a four year old. We also had a sample one made so they knew what to do when they got their plates.

After a few minutes of quiet snack-making and eating, we turned on Veggie Tales’ Jonah and before you can say Ninevah, the parents arrived! Everyone (including myself) was excited about their snacks, their crafts and HOPEFULLY their lesson about God’s plan for their lives!

(Alternate Title: Are We Crazy?!)

We have a neighborhood Bible Study every week. The past few weeks we started doing a Bible Study for the kids, too. They are all preschool age and this week I was the host/teacher/chief babysitter. Here’s a brief rundown of our night. You know, in case you ever go crazy and decide to start a preschool Bible Study…

Our theme was: God has a plan for you! We focused on the story of Jonah and how he disobeyed God’s plan.

When they arrived, we colored a whale coloring page. The whale had a little flap cut in his tummy. (I used a razor knife.) Then I stapled a plain piece of paper to the back. After coloring the whale, we drew a little Jonah inside. A little more fun than a plain coloring sheet and a low key transition for when they first arrive. A lot better than, “WHERE ARE ALL OF LYDIA’S TOYS?!!!”

Then we all sat down for the Bible story. I tried to remember some of those “open shut them open shut them” songs to get the kids settled. But I couldn’t. So, we just settled for wiggly kiddos. I read the story like a “sound story”…when certain words came up, they had to make a sound or repeat the word with a motion. For example, every time I said “Ninevah” they had to hold up their finger and say Ninevah in a creepy voice. Then we all acted out Jonah jumping off the boat and being swallowed by a whale. Sound difficult?

Well, it was actually quite easy and fun! I had Lydia’s Little Mermaid tent set up by the door to our porch. I crawled into the tent and into the porch. The kids crawled behind me. Inside the porch was my leftover Seven Dwarfs Mine from Lydia’s Snow White Party. But the kids thought we were in the belly of a whale…an open can of tuna adding to the smelly ambiance. We finished the story in there and then spit ourselves back into the living room for a craft!

Come back tomorrow for Part 2: Jonah I Spy Bottles and Ocean Cookies

It’s time for W! WOW. I can’t believe we’re getting to the end of the alphabet. (Finally. I won’t even tell you how long it’s taken us!)

There are so many great “w” words. Besides the ones I expertly drew to the left, we also thought of several more. Most of which are escaping me right now.

The first idea that popped into my mind for a verse was something that had to do with “wait”. Goodness knows that Lydia needs to learn a thing or two about waiting. But the only thing I could really find was about waiting on the Lord. And really, I need her to wait on me. Ahem.

So, I looked up “WIN” instead. And I found the jackpot of all W verses:

With your help we will win the battle. You will walk all over our enemies. Psalm 108:13 NIrV

Can I get a WOO-hoo?! That’s six w’s in one verse! I was a little concerned about it’s obviously pro-fighting tendencies. I even emailed Leigh to see what she thought. (Of course, she’s the mother of 2 boys so…)

However, when I read it to Lydia today, I like the way our converation went:

Lydia: What’s battle?

Me: It’s like a fight.

Lydia: What’s ememeies?

Me: It’s someone bad who might try to hurt you.

Lydia: No one hurts me.

Me: That’s true. But sometimes other things can be our enemies. Like this: With Jesus’ help Lydia will win the battle. Jesus will walk all over her fear.

***

Lydia has a tendency to be shy and fearful. I think this verse is easily seen as big battles and fights. But for my 2 year old, fear is her biggest battle. I hope this verse buries itself deep in her heart.

Now, our awesome craft. I wanted to do a walrus. And I found a cute printable walrus craft on First School. But of course, our printer wouldn’t work. (And why? Because ONE of the THREE cartidges was LOW. grrr.)

So, we made a whale instead. I cut out a (very true to life) outline of a whale. I let Lydia piece it together and then color it with chalk. This was a hit! She absolutely loved it! And then I showed her how to smear it with her thumb. And that made it even cooler.

I’m looking forward to the rest of W. I’m thinking about doing something for “week” because Lydia is really interested in the calendar. And maybe even Jonah and the whale (I know, it was really a big fish, but still…).

Happy W!

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Don’t forget about our Fall Impressions carnival tomorrow! Link up and show off your creative Thanksgiving stuff!