For families with little ones (preschool age), this could be a 3-5 minute talk! It doesn’t have to be much. For older children, you can opt in for more of these options to extend your study time together. I recommend doing this with (especially little) children over a meal – whichever meal is the least chaotic in your home (for my family right now, that’s lunch), or saving the questions for while you’re on a walk or playing outside together. Have fun!
1. Read the scripture together: Acts 2:1-21. The important thing is that you’re reading scripture together! If you’re looking for different ways to engage your children while reading, here are some fun ways to read scripture as a family
Every Reader takes a verse
Ask each child to pick two words they don’t understand to talk about after you read it. (For longer scriptures and younger children, you may need to split up the reading in order to do this.)
Draw a picture of what you read
Act it out as a family (And please send documentation of this to children.sjumc@gmail.com because we could all use a laugh right now!)
Sing it!
Use Legos or dolls to tell the story
2. Tell your kids this this scripture is for Pentecost Sunday (yesterday, May 31st.) It is a day we remember and talk about the Holy Spirit, who is God that lives within us and through us and all around us!
3. Discussion Questions (as always, pick and choose which questions you’d like to discuss!):
Do you know anyone that speaks a different language than you? What are ways we can communicate with other people who don’t speak the same language as us?
How would you feel if you could suddenly understand a new language?
What is one thing we all have in common, no matter our differences? Do you think there is more than one thing we can find we have in common, with someone new?
Do you have a story in your life that involves wind? Ever caught in a wind storm?
How do you think the wind might remind us of the Holy Spirit?
4. Close in Prayer: God, thank you for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, that connects us all. Amen.
~ Erynne DeVore, director of Children’s Ministry