Helpful Resource Children & Family Ministry

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Children and Family Ministry:

  • Family Ministry resources from PRC: Click here
  • Every Season Sacred: Reflections, Prayers, and Invitations to Nourish Your Soul and Nurture Your Family throughout the Year by Kayla Craig, 2023: Click here
  • Around the Table at Home, a curated list of resources from the PC(USA) to share with households: Click here
  • Guides for sharing stories with children from the PC(USA): Click here
  • 2 Family Gathering Events from Cultivate (PRC), $: Click here
  • The Day by Day Deck: God, Me, and the World, A Visio Divina tool for children and their families: Click here
  • Holy Moments resources from PRC: or purchase individual parts here at Dandelion Marketplace: Click here
  • Summertime Faithful Families calendar/packet from PC(USA) minister Traci Smith, $: Click here
  • Summer at home care package from Cultivate Faith PRC Practical Resources for Churches. Four care packages (play dough prayers, family labyrinth walks, prayer garden, and prayer deck) you can send home for families. Click here
  • Blessing Children in the Home, an article from Building Faith: Click here and Roots: Bedtime Blessings: Click here
  • “Table Talk” is the New Normal: Supporting Faith Conversations at Home, an article from Building Faith: Click here
  • ROOTS: parent/caregiver book club, $: Click here
  • PCUSA Faith At Home Resource: Click here
  • Children & Family Playlists: Click here
  • Story Path from Union Seminary: Click here
  • Raising Critical Thinkers: A Parent’s Guide to Growing Wise Kids in the Digital Age by Julie Bogart, 2/2022: Click here
  • Common Prayer for Children and Families by Jenifer Gamber and Timothy J. S. Seamans
  • All About Communion, a playlist from the Michigan Conference from the United Methodists: Click here
  • Ordinary Blessings for Parents: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Family Life: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Family Life by Meta Herrick Carlson: Click here
  • Faith At Home playlists from the Michigan conference of the United Methodist Church: Click here
  • Five Practices of Faith Formation: Prayer, Hospitality, Storytelling, Retreat, and Service from the PC(USA) Office of Christian Formation, 2022. Faith Practices Toolkits PDF downloads: Click here with Traci Smith videos: Click here
  • How to create a quick DIY labyrinth, watch a video: Click here and here
  • The Micah Paradigm: From “Just Fine” to Transformative Justice with Children and Youth, a PRC webinar: Click here
  • 5 Ways to Pray With Kids, Christian Reformed Church: Click here
  • 5 Terrific Tips for Telling God’s Story with Children During Online Worship, Christian Reformed Church: Click here
  • Fresh Idea for Helping Families Explore Faith Practices this Summer, 6/2021 (Christian Reformed Church Network article): Click here
  • Family Faith Formation Resources by Topic (Christian Reformed Church): Click here
  • Family Faith Formation: At Home and In Community (APCE resource sheet): Click here
  • Christian Ed @ Home and Family Faith Formation @ Home, weekly online curriculums from Presbyterian Outlook: Click here
  • Breathe: A Child’s Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time, 4/22/2021 (PRC webinar): Click here
  • Spiritual Practices with Children and Youth (PRC webinar): Click here
  • Toolkit For Grieving Children, 5/2021 (PCUSA article with downloads): Click here

 

Parenting:

  • Growing Spiritually With Our Children; An Ecumenical Guide for Parents and Pastorsby Melanie C. Gordon, 2023, and a review
  • With Parent, a podcast on parenting: Click here
  • Practices for Forming Faith With Families & Parent, Insights from research and theory from Lifelong Learning: Click here
  • Little Big Moments Andrew Taylor-Troutman, 51 playful and piercing lessons about parenting, 2023
  • Parenting For A Better World, an 8/2022 PRC webinar on demand: Click here
  • Five Parenting Practices That Help Develop Your Child’s Faith, a Children’s Ministry Basics 6/2022 article: Click here
  • New Directions for Holy Questions: Meet the Authors! 5/2022 PRC webinar: Click here
  • Empowering Parents to Practice Faith at Home: A Ministry Leader Workshop with Rev. Traci Smith from Yale Divinity School: Click here
  • How Parents Pass Religious Faith to their Children, 1/2022 article from Lewis Center for Church Development: Click here
  • Mental health for parents, kids and families, Parenting Resources from PC(USA): Click here
  • Dreams of the Overworked: Living, Working, and Parenting in the Digital Age, Christine M. Beckman and Melissa Mazmanian – A book that makes the case for celebrating the structures that allow us to strive for our dreams, by supporting public policies and community organizations, challenging workplace norms, reimagining family, and valuing the joy of human connection.
  • Parenting Studies from the PC(USA): Click here

 

For Kids:

  • Free online children’s short Bible videos from Open Network: Click here
  • Lifetree Kids, Group youtube channel with music videos, stories and more: Click here
  • Kids Corner, fun and faith forming devotionals, podcasts, Bible stories, and more (ReFrame Ministries): Click here
  • Hacks 4 Kids, Amplify media 3 minute craft ideas by kids for kids: Click here
  • We Wonder podcast: Contemplative Bible Storytelling for Children & Grownups Alike: Click here
  • Free Activity Pack for Children from Flyaway Books, 2022 (The Thoughtful Christian): There are a number of ways you can use picture books to enhance the worship and ministry of your entire congregation:
    • include picture books and activity sheets in baskets for children to use during worship
    • gift a few books or Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible(bulk purchase discounts available!) to families with young children in your congregation to encourage faith formation at home
    • incorporate a picture book as part of your sermons to not only encourage the inclusion of children during worship, but also to spark the imagination of adult members
    • build a robust children’s book library
    • hold an intergenerational night using the books and activities
    • assemble a children’s booth with story times and activities during a community event

 

Suggested Children’s Books: