EDUCATION: Bible/World Timeline Resources

When teaching kids (and adults) about the Bible, especially when reading the Old Testament, visuals help. Actually, pictures always increase learning because we remember more when we can attach a picture to words. When I was young my dad had a Bible history timeline that fascinated me because it connected Old Testament events with what was going on in the rest of the world, for example, Daniel lived at the same time as Confucius and Buddha. Dad had this one from Rose Publishing that I found on Amazon.com for about $4. It's not tall, but stretches out and is also available on CD  (about $40) in the form of PowerPoint slides. Actually, Rose Publishing has a number of great resources for Bible maps. 

There's also another one I've seen recently called the Amazing Bible Timeline. It's a large poster (37" x 45") and is in a circular format. Right now it also comes with a few bonus items: 1) Interactive Maps of the Holy Land that can be downloaded, and 2) Digital Amazing Bible Timeline that is also downloadable for projecting in larger rooms or classes. It's all for about $20 and is worth checking out. I don't know how long the bonuses will be available. 

This is the only photo I could find that
shows the whole timeline well.

These can all be used for middle or high school Bible study, adult Bible study, and even would be very beneficial for a sermon. Don't forget the power of visuals in sermons. 

EDUCATION: Luther's Prayers for Younger Kids

I love Luther's morning and evening prayers. I think they are something we should teach our children and when I taught 7th and 8th grades in a Lutheran school, every morning we would say the morning prayer before we began the day. I created an 18" x 24" poster to make it easier for the kids to remember. You can see them below and get a file on my posters page.

The problem with the younger children is that the way they're worded makes them difficult to understand. Valuing the prayers and wanting younger children to be able to say them and understand them more easily, I reworded them for a children's message. I tried to keep the message while using simpler, more understandable words for younger children. Posters for each prayer are below and can be found on my posters page along with directions about how to order them for $4 each. For the children's message on Sunday I created some cards for each of them to take home and put in their bedrooms to remind them to say the prayers every day/night. People have been asking for them ever since so I thought they might be worth a share.

Feel free to download Luther's Evening Prayer Card and Luther's Morning Prayer Card for your the kids in your church or school. There are two on one page so they can be printed back to back and you'll get both prayers on one card. (I know, I should charge for these things!)

Luther's Prayers

 

Kids version of Luther's Prayers

 

CONFIRMATION: Six Chief Parts Posters

I am a huge believer in educational posters. Around the classroom, posters give students something valuable to look at when they take a mental or brain break. When kids get bored they look around the room and it never hurts to give them something to look at that relates to what they're learning. I haven't seen a lot of really good educational resources for the church, so am slowly creating more and more. I've created posters for the church year, posters of Martin Luther's morning and evening prayers, and now have created posters of the Six Chief Parts of the catechism.

You can buy the pdf files from me (see posters page) for $2 each ($12) and have 18"x24" posters professionally printed. Once I get your order I'll send the pdf's and my recommended printer is Short Run Posters. They'll print them for about $4 each. It's a good deal, and the posters are a good quality.

EDUCATION: Church Year Posters for Sunday School

One of the things students forget regularly is information regarding the church year. Yes, we talk about it once or twice, but it's not really information they remember. One way to get it to stick a little better is to put up posters around your Sunday school classroom(s) and youth room. When kids get bored they look around the room so you might as well have them look at something educational and faith building.

I posted on these before but the posters were the kind that can be printed on standard paper which means they weren't very sturdy and/or needed to be laminated. They are simple to design on your own or you can turn what I have created into an 18"x24" poster and have them professionally printed. My design costs only $2 per poster. Simply go to my posters page and once ordered I'll send the pdf's and you can have them printed at a place like Short Run Posters for about $4 each. I've found the pdf works best at Short Run Posters, it's a good deal, and the posters are a good quality.

EDUCATION: Martin Luther's Prayers in Sunday School Classrooms

There are two particularly wonderful prayers that will help everybody start and end the day if they know about them. They are prayers we've long stopped using and sharing; Martin Luther's Morning and Evening Prayers. One way to help kids become more familiar with them is to simply put posters of them on the walls of your youth room and classrooms. When kids get bored they look around the room so you might as well have them look at something educational and faith building.

They are simple to design on your own or you can turn what I have created into an 18"x24" poster for $2 each. Go to my posters page and once you've ordered them I'll send pdf's and you can have them printed at a place like Short Run Posters for about $4 each. I've found the pdf works best at Short Run Posters, it's a good deal, and the posters are a good quality.

YOUTH: Digital Citizenship - Talk about it!

It's time we start talking about digital citizenship and how kids use the internet and social media more in church, not so that our kids become good citizens with regard to how they use technology and social media but so that they become savvy thinkers of what it actually is and how it can drastically affect their lives and the lives of others and so that they realize that evil online is still evil.  The key to all of this is PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. Parents must be encouraged to start paying attention to how kids use their computers and their cell phones.

These days kids use social media as if they're talking to a friend when in reality they're talking to a friend and 500 to 1000 people they probably don't know very well and who don't really care about them. Kids will also share inappropriate information and personal feelings online. To help with this educational process I created a few posters that might help. They can be posted in classrooms and youth rooms if you have them printed at Short Run Posters where you can have posters printed for about $3 each.



The posters I've created are for:

• Facebook Status Updates
• Sharing Photos and Videos
• Tweeting on Twitter

Don't fall into the trap of believing that kids these days are smarter about technology just because they were born in the digital age. It doesn't matter in what year we were born; we all start out knowing nothing. They're no smarter than what they've been taught! 

EDUCATION: Custom Posters Provide Unity

One I designed for Camp Omega.

Did you know you can make your own posters (18"x 24") for about $3 each at SHORT RUN POSTERS? Why would we want to do that? You might be asking. Well, as a teacher in a school I like to make my own posters because I want them to send specific messages and my classroom rules (all 3 of them) are always posted professionally. But there are many ways Lutheran schools or churches might want to use them.

Lutheran Schools

• Posting the school mission statement all around the school.
• School rules consistently posted in every classroom.
• Annual Biblical themes.  Every Sunday School and school should have a theme verse students memorize.
• Fundraising. Create posters of events students can collect or allow them to purchase the theme verse posters each year.

SAMPLE

Churches

• Annual Biblical themes in each Sunday School classroom (including adult classrooms).
• Fundraising. Youth groups can design one that has photos or original art and prayers or Bible verses on it that kids can hang in their bedrooms.
• Create one for the rules of using the church kitchen.
• Annual Events. They can be created new every year or re-used from year to year.

Though there are many design programs I use PowerPoint and save them as a PDF or JPEG to upload them. Before you start designing either set your page size to 18" x 24" or set it proportionally to that. I recommend sending all the designs in at one time or the shipping may cost more than the posters.

If you like the idea but get stuck in the process feel free to drop me an email.