We finished our Creation Lapbook!!

Well, we have been working on this creation lapbook for a few weeks and today we finally put the finishing touches on it, so I wanted to share.  We started out our Creation Bible times several weeks ago, following the schedule in my Little Folk Visuals parent guide.  Here are some pictures of the children using the felts:

I had a felt piece of the earth from a different set that I used to show the girls that the earth has water and land.  They used this as a pattern to color in their "Whole World in His Hands" pop up.

Tabitha decided to place the felt on her paper (not a bad fit, huh?)

Then I decided to add a section right under this pop up (the printable included the song).  So I made sure the girls know He's got Tabitha/Amelia in His hands!  I added a picture of each girl in their own lapbook and we glued on hearts showing how much God loves them both that he made them each special and unique.  We went into the bathroom to look in the mirror so they could discover their eye color and hair color, which we added to two of the hearts.

I found an activity sheet on which the girls were to match creatures with the homes God has made for them.  I thought it was from dltk-bible.com but I can't find it now.  I had followed a link to it, but now I can't find it at their site.  If I find it I will post the link.

(Amelia did get a little help drawing the lines)

Then we made a mini book I designed (which is what was holding up this lapbook because I didn't have everything I wanted to use for this craft, then I just decided to dig and improvise and make do.  I took several pieces of cardstock and cut them in half lengthwise, ending up with a 4 1/4 inch width.  Each page was then cut out.  I started out at 3 inch height and worked my way up to 10 inches, with 1 inch intervals.  Each page was devoted to one day of creation.  The girls were able to trace dots to write the days of the week.  They got to glue on different things or use stickers for each day.

Here is the completed lapbook:

I put our memory verse on the cover and had the girls color 

Tabitha made a happy face (you can't see it really well but it is by the end of the word beginning)

This is the view after opening the two flaps:

Our minibook:

View after opening the middle flap downward.  This is the memory match game.  

I made a pocket for the picture cards representing each day.

The habitat match activity:

All about me

I found printables for this lapbook at a couple of different sites.  

Lapbooklessons.com had the "whole world" pop up and the "all about me" printables.  I turned part of it into a "My favorite things" book.  And from their sister site: Christian Preschool Printables I printed out the Creation Memory Match cards.

For other cool activities being done by preschoolers and toddlers, head on over to Homeschool Creations and 1+1+1=1

Easter Bible Time

In our house we call our family devotional time "Bible Time." I have called it that since the older children were little. Usually we read a story out of our little Bible Story Book or pick a board book we have (usually Jonah or David and Goliath). However, this past week and a half we have pulled out the Resurrection Eggs (as I have seen on multiple blogs) and let them guide our Bible Time.

As I have no idea where the booklet is that came with the eggs when I bought it many years ago I have been choosing to read the corresponding Bible story from which ever of the Gospels seems to tell the story most clearly for each night.

First we open the previous nights' eggs one at a time and Tabitha will answer my questions about each one if she can. For example, we go through a series of questions for the first egg. "Who rode the donkey?" "Where did Jesus ride the donkey to?" "What did the people shout?" "What did the people wave?" (By the way, the answer to that question tonight was "pompoms.") She is definitely starting to remember more and what she doesn't remember we discuss. Not sure how much Amelia is picking up, but she loves getting her turn to hold all the objects.

When we get to the egg from the very last night we also attach a picture representation to our cross.

Then we read the verses for that night's egg or eggs (2 at the most), and introduce that night's object/egg.

On Palm Sunday we made very simple palm branches.

I printed them off the internet and cut them out. Tabitha snipped the fringes and Amelia glued on the word "Hosanna" to the back. She refused to let me help her cut , and seeing as she was trying to hold the scissors by the blade I decided she wasn't quite ready. We use these to wave as we sing the song "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna."

If I had a decent amount of ink I would have printed out the Resurrection Eggs Printables that Carissa has available on her site. Here is a link to them.

If I am not in the hospital this weekend with a newborn we will be making Resurrection Cookies. I did this years ago with the older children (though none of them remember). I found the recipe again here, though she is unsure of the original source. This website has loads of information and ideas for focusing on "Resurrection Sunday" as opposed to "Easter." Especially here.

I also hope to make Resurrection Rolls for the first time.

To see what others are doing to raise their little ones for the Lord check out Raising Rock Stars at Carissa's blog.