Category: Family Activities

How to Engage Your Family: Shows About Kids From Other Countries

If you are looking for a great educational program for your kids and entire family to watch, I have found a treasure! One day during quarantine I was looking on Amazon for something interesting for my kids. I stumbled upon a program that is super interesting and is free for those with Amazon Prime. It is called The Most Dangerous Ways to School. (Links in this article are affiliate links.)

Your family will learn about a different country in each episode. The show highlights the challenges that children around the world face as they journey to school. I found it interesting that it also discusses the climate, housing, food, and other information about the country where the child lives.

The first season’s episodes take you to Kenya, Nepal, Oymyakon (Russia), Peru, and Himalaya, but there are three seasons available. (Please note that programs on Amazon may change in availability without notice.)

During the second season, you will learn about Nicaragua, Mongolia, Mexico, Ethiopia, and Papua New Guinea.

Season 3 takes you to the Philippines, Colombia, and Bolivia.

How our Family Engaged with this show:

Our family has watched most of these episodes and we have tried several different ways to engage:

1. We take advantage of talking about how privileged we are and how easy it is to get an education where we live.

2. We discuss any missionaries that live in the country that is featured.

3. We talk about if we have been to the country featured.

4.We get out the globe and make sure we know where the country is located in the world.

5. We convert the temperatures mentioned from Centigrade to Farenheit so that our kids will understand and have a frame of reference.

6. We look up plants and foods mentioned, using the internet, to find out what they are.

What ideas do you have? Have you seen this show before? I would love to know what you thought of it!

Fun Family Activity About Africa From Wycliffe

If you are looking for a fun activity to do with the kids at home, check out Wycliffe.org for a fun safari from home.  You can learn about different animals in Africa and even make a 3D cut out animal of three of the fun ones!

Fun Family Activity from Wycliffe.org
https://www.wycliffe.org/blog/posts/lets-go-on-a-safari-right-from-home

Research Some African Animals

In addition to this fun activity, head to your local library to check out some books about wild animals.  You might even find some fun books that would tell you more about the countries where these animals live.  Here are some examples:

Journey Through South Africa tells a little bit about the Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Mlilwane Nature Reserve in Swaziland.  It has a fun map with a journey planner page that older kids can use to follow along as you “travel” through the country. 

You can learn more about Elephants with a National Geographic Kids book for early readers.  They have a variety of books representing different animals. 

If you have little ones that are working on learning their alphabet, the African Animal Alphabet from National Geographic Kids is fun.

There are so many books to choose from about wild animals. Look through the sections about animals and African travel at the library and pick some of your favorites!  For a good read about a missionary to Africa check out David Livingstone: Africa’s Trailblazer.

Watch a fun video together

If you have kids that love watch TV (and who doesn’t?), try watching a video about animals together.  If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can watch episodes of Wild Kratts for free right now, including one about elephants.

There are also some great documentaries about African animals and their habitats available on Amazon Prime.  Check out Growing Up in the Savannah or Strange Encounters in the Savannah.

https://amzn.to/2MKEqQQ
https://amzn.to/2LaVxcJ

Have fun making your animals and learning about them!

Mission Class Ideas for Kids – Japan

I am so excited to be back and blogging again after taking a little time off over the summer for some projects and commitments. I have been very busy working on a new book that will be released in the coming months, and I have been soaking up some extra time with my kids.

I also helped with a summer missions class for the grade-school kids in our church. It was great fun to help plan activities and crafts for each week…the kids enjoyed it so much and learned a lot! I’ll be sharing more about this over the next couple of weeks.

Each week of the class we picked a different set of things to focus on: each week had a featured country, a past missionary story, a current missionary, a prayer station, and a craft. Small groups of kids rotated through each of these and spent about 10-15 minutes in each area. We also had an opening and closing time with song and prayer.

Here is a link to the song that we used (but we added lots of clapping between lines and some motions, too.) 😊  “Be a Missionary Everyday”

One of the weeks, we focused on Japan. Our missionary from the past was Jake DeShazer. He was a prisoner of war during WWII in Japan, and he hated his captors. After being freed, God helped him to forgive them and called him to return to witness to them. You can read more about him at http://www.jacobdeshazer.com/.

Each of the kiddos received a Japanese flag to keep. You can get one for your home or let your kiddos color one easily by making a circle in the middle of a white piece of paper and letting them color it red.

Our church has a current missionary that is working in the country of Japan that happened to be visiting during the summer months, so we arranged for the mother of this family to come speak to our kids. It was fun to have a real person there that was familiar with Japan. She even brought some dried seaweed for the kids to taste. Each child received a prayer card with this family’s picture on it, so they could take it home and remember meeting the missionary. Hopefully they will pray for them, too.

Koinobori (Flying Carp)

Our craft was to make koinobori. This is a Japanese flying carp that is frequently made or bought to be displayed around their children’s day in Japan. Many times, there is one for each family member. The dad’s is usually black, and the children have red or many different colors for theirs.

Here is a fun song in Japanese about the koinobori.

You can make one of these at home pretty easily. You will need a toilet paper roll (or paper towel roll cut shorter), some glue sticks, scissors, tissue paper, and string. Sticker eyes are optional (You can draw in your own.)

Use the scissors to cut circles or ovals out of the tissue paper and then cut each one in half. Let the kids join in with the cutting if they are old enough. The half-circles do not have to be perfect. Start gluing the half circles onto your toilet paper roll at the bottom and make sure the rounded part of the paper is facing the bottom. Overlap your pieces as you go, and continue around and up the roll til you reach the top.

Draw some eyes or use stickers. Make a hole on opposite sides of the top, and attach your string. Cut some straight pieces of tissue paper and glue or staple them to the bottom edge of the toilet paper roll.

Now you are ready to display your koinobori!

I’ll post soon about the other weeks and the activities we did…in the meantime, happy crafting!  If you want some great information about Japan, check out Operation World’s website!

 

Missions Music for Kids

Want a great album of music for your kids to listen to?  Check out Psalty the Singing Songbook‘s webpage which features fun songs and stories for kids (of all ages) 🙂

This one is very mission-minded and teaches kids about how to learn and care about people in need all around the world.  It also introduces them to the concept of different kinds of missionaries – all with a fun story and great music.  Check it out by clicking here or on the image below!

You can even use a song or two from these albums in your children’s Sunday School or VBS!  Purchase the CD’s, DVD’s, or download the music from the Psalty website.

Do you know of another great mission album for kids? I’d love to hear about it!

 

 

Want to Host a Missions Conference at Your Church?

Missions conferences or a time for missions focus at your local church are great ways to help educate people about missions and try to get them interested in becoming more involved in missions. If your church has one of these, you are lucky. It seems they are less and less frequent now, as people are branding them as old-fashioned or outdated. I argue that they still have value.

In my younger childhood years (before my parents became missionaries), we attended a church that was very missions-minded. Each year they had a “Missions Month”. There were missionary speakers each Sunday morning and evening (yes, we still had evening services back then 😊). In addition, there was a focus in each service on talking about missions. I still remember the phone calls with mission partners on the other side of the world; they were live with the pastor and broadcast so the entire church could hear. I also remember a parade of flags where many children carried a flag forward in a procession. Some, including myself, spoke a few words from the country’s flag they carried. I remember my dad helping me learn John 3:16 to recite in Spanish (even though I didn’t know any Spanish at the time). The women invited the missionary wives to speak at a luncheon.

With my mom’s help, a women’s ministry to help missionaries was started. It was called L.A.M.P. (Ladies Applying Missions Personally). They started a “Mission Closet” and requested donated new items to stock it. Each missionary that visited was taken through this room filled with supplies: toiletries, small gifts, handmade bags for traveling with shoes, snacks, blankets, etc. I really do not even remember everything that was there.

Here are some thoughts and ideas as you think about starting or improving a missions focus or conference at your church.

    1. Decide what length of time will work for your church with your church leadership. You may choose to have only one Sunday to start with or you might be able to have a whole week or month dedicated to missions.
    2. Choose dates for your missions focus.
    3. Find out who is willing to help. You cannot pull this off by yourself. You will need volunteers to help (the longer the time and the more activities mean more volunteers are needed!)
    4. Choose activities or plans. Here are some possibilities:
      • Missionary speaker to give the sermon at services. (Keep in mind that not all missionaries are pastors and evangelists. Giving a sermon may not be their spiritual gift. Some might prefer a different role.)
      • Missionary update during the service with prayer to follow.
      • Ladies meeting, Bible Study, or luncheon. You could have a missionary wife speak (again, remember not all ladies are gifted as public speakers) or have a missionary wife panel answer preplanned questions with time for Q and A at the end.
      • Skype or phone call with missionary during the service.
      • Lunch with a missionary update after services. This would require people to sign up if the lunch was provided or to bring a dish if you choose a potluck-style lunch.
      • Church banquet. This can be catered or potluck-style. You could require the purchase of tickets in order to encourage RSVPs and help plan for how many would come. You can plan an international theme or just choose something easy and crowd-pleasing.
      • Walk-through rooms decorated like different countries where you have a missionary or member of the church share about their ministry. Kids can even have passports to get stamped as they complete each one.
      • Create a missionary map in the entryway of the church with a map of the world and a picture of each missionary with a blurb about where they serve and what their ministry is.
      • Get involved with a specific project. Raise money for a specific need that week, or help compile a New Testament in a new language to prepare it for printing. Shower a local ministry with needed supplies or manpower for a renovation/remodel/repairs. Hold a car wash or bake sale somewhere local to raise funds, if needed.
      • Prepare a children’s program for a church service. This could require more time, but could have a lasting impact. Having children participate by carrying and waving flags for missionary partners of your church is a great idea. You could encourage kids to dress up like someone from that country. Kids could sing a song about missions or in another language.
      • Provide ideas for children’s Sunday School teachers to use: coloring sheets, books about missionaries, websites, videos, and letters from missionaries are all possibilities.
      • Make postcards with a missionary picture and ministry description. Ask people in the church to choose one or two and commit to praying for that missionary for the following year.
    5. Contact missionaries to find out their availability and willingness to participate. Many times, they are only able to attend if they are on home assignment or furlough. If they are not able to attend, ask them about updates, Skype, or phone calls.
    6. Plan housing for visiting missionaries. Decide if your church can afford hotel accommodations or if there are members of the church that can host them. Ensure that there is a bed for each family member and that they do not have to sleep with a stranger!
    7. Plan special activities for the missionaries. Can your church take them shopping one day to the local mall? Can you provide a makeover, massage, or haircut for missionary wives? Can you provide babysitting for the missionary couple to go on a date night together? Can you offer to pay for car repairs for the visiting missionaries? Can you gift them with gift cards to use on their travels or for fun? Check with businesses of church members and see if they would be willing to donate services or provide them at a discount.
    8. Advertise the event! Let your church family know that you are planning a missions event. You definitely need to create some interest around the event and try to hype it up! You might even get more volunteers. 😊

 

So, you are probably reading this and thinking, “There is no way we could pull this off at my church.” I would encourage you to give it some more thought and talk to your pastor. You may need to start small – just a “Missions Sunday” may be all your church can handle to start off with. Don’t choose to do everything on the list. It is only meant to give you ideas and a place to start brainstorming. You will probably have your own ideas, too. Do what you can and encourage others to pitch in. You may be surprised at what you will accomplish.

What other ideas can you think of?

 

 

 

Learn about South Korea and the Winter Olympics

The 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea are a great opportunity to have some great family fun and learn about another country!

Here are some family activities for you to choose from: (Some of these are affiliate links, which means that if you click on them and purchase something, familiesformissions will be paid a small commission.)

Ideas about South Korea:

Ideas about the Winter Olympics:

Do you have other ideas?  Please share them with us!

Befriend an International Student

You may never be able to travel to exotic locations around the world. BUT this does not mean that you can only learn about other places by reading books and watching movies. You can learn about another country in your own home! Curious?

One of the best ways you can learn about another culture and country is to befriend an international student. Most cities with colleges or universities have many students from other countries. Some families choose to host a high school student for an entire year. (My grandparents did this.) Other families, like mine, just become friends with a local college student. We have been friends, now, for two years – meeting a couple of times a month on average. We love having him in our home, eating meals with him, and including him in our activities.  He loves our children and calls us his “American family”.

What does this relationship look like?  We are friends! We ask him about his culture and country.   We have tried to learn a few words in his native language. We try to learn about his religious beliefs. We have had many great conversations about what we believe and why we believe it. We have taken him to the airport, and picked him up again when he returned.  We have given him advice on job searches and interviews.  We have watched movies.  We have helped him move…several times.  I have cooked many meals (including one meal similar to one he might have gotten at home in his country). And recently he cooked for us!

The best part of this relationship is that my kids are learning about another culture.  They are also learning how to be respectful of someone with different beliefs. They have made a new friend, and they love having him come to our house.

If you need help to find a student to befriend, try contacting an organization like International Students, Inc.

 

Need Ideas for Travelling with Kids?

Here is a link to a great series of videos about a family that travels with their kids.  You can get some great ideas or just watch for fun!  These are free right now with Amazon Prime.  (Pricing on Amazon changes frequently, so make sure you double-check the price before watching!)  You may also be able to find some episodes on your local PBS station. 

Season 5: Includes videos about Cabo Mexico, Wales UK, Rome Italy, Churches of Rome, Tahiti French Polynesia, Moorea Island French Polynesia, The Yangtze River and 3 Gorges Dam, Vietnam – Hanoi & Ha Long Bay Adventure, Bangkok, Jungles & Elephant Adventures, Hawaii – Oahu & Honolulu for Kids, Park City Utah Ski Family Adventure, South Africa Safari Family Adventure, South Africa Cape Town and Sharks.

Season 6: Travel With Kids takes you to the Big Island of Hawaii for Families, Los Angeles California with kids, South Africa’s Garden Coast, South Africa’s Wildlife Adventures, Bora Bora Island French Polynesia, Cancun Mexico With Kids, Huatulco Pacific Coast of Mexico, Belize Islands and Jungles With Kids, Belize Caribbean Coast With Kids, Beijing & The Great Wall of China with Kids, Fiji & Castaway Island, Botswana, Africa Safari Adventure, Maui Hawaii For Kids.

 

(This post contains affiliate links.  If you click on a link and make a purchase, familiesformissions.com may receive a small compensation.)

 

Brazil Resources and Printables

Looking for ways to teach your kids about Brazil?

Check out these printables from Homeschool Creations.  They are FREE!

Homeschool Creations also has a great post with a lesson plan for how to study Brazil in a homeschool family!

You can also check out my post with activities about Brazil here.

The National Geographic Kids Brazil page has lots more info, too.

Need some ideas for books about Brazil? Here are some links:

Missionary Kid Stories by [Brannon, Jennifer]           

 

     

     

      

 

These are only a few of the books available.  You don’t have to spend a fortune either…check out your local library to find free books and resources to check out!

 

(This post contains some affiliate links.  If you click on some links and make a purchase, familiesformissions.com may receive a small compensation.)

 

 

Family Activity – King Tut and Ancient Egypt

My oldest child is learning about Ancient Egypt and at the same time reading through Genesis and Exodus at school.  This has been a great way for her to learn about the environment and culture during the time of the old Bible stories about Abraham, Joseph, and Moses.

Our whole family has learned a lot during this time, and we have watched several interesting documentaries about Egypt during our family movie nights. Here are some links to some of the videos we have watched:

  • A Film about how Egyptian chariots may have been constructed
  • A Documentary about how the pyramids may have been built
  • And this short video about where the Israelites most likely crossed the Red Sea

NOVA (PBS) also has a neat interactive feature on their website where you can explore many different historical sites in Egypt.

We also read a book about King Tut,

and checked out another book at the library. 

We have mummified a chicken leg and have built a pyramid with sugar cubes, too. 

I recently found another neat project at a local thrift store.  I thought it would be a fun thing to do with my kids, and they loved it.

We spent several days painting the different parts of the kit and putting them together.  They were able to make the mummy and decorate the coffin with all the supplies included.  My kids thought this was great and plan to take King Tut’s coffin to school as “show-and-tell”.

If you want to purchase a similar activity for your kids, you can find one on Amazon here.

We have used this to talk about Ancient Egypt, but also to learn a little about modern-day Egypt.  Currently, Egypt is a country rich in history and with many popular museums and historical sites.  It is an Islamic country where Christians seem to be facing more and more persecution.  We can pray for missionaries there to be brave in sharing the Good News about Jesus.

We can also pray for ministries like SAT-7 to reach many more people. This is a Christian television ministry that shares about Jesus in Arabic and other languages all over the Middle East.  They even have a SAT-7 KIDS channel that broadcasts children’s programming in Arabic!

 

(This post contains some affiliate links.  If you click on some links and make a purchase, familiesformissions may receive a small compensation.)