Here are links to videos relating to Christmas that we have made with our children:
2009
Creating the Star
Decorating the Tree
2008
Decorating the Tree
Meeting Mocha
MacDonald Grandkids | Christmas Play
MacDonald Grandkids | Away in a Manger
Friday, December 18, 2009
Children's Worship | Music Suggestions
Here are some of the albums we currently use songs from in our children's large group worship time at New Minas Baptist Church.
1. Great Big God [Cds 1, 2, 3 and Preschool]. These songs are excellent content from England with fun tunes. They are not as high energy for the most part as the Hillsong Kids series [below]. In my opinion, the songs appeal to a target age of grade p-2 with the obvious exception of the preschool cd.
2. Hillsong Kids. HK is from Hillsong Church in Austrailia. The HK music is the most upbeat [rock and roll oriented] children's music that I am aware of. Children absolutely love these songs and ask for them over and over - Superhero and One Way are the run away favorites in our children's ministry. Like most children's worship cds there are songs on each disc which are fantastic and some that you'll listen to and never do live. The median age target, in my opinion, is about grade 3-5. These songs have great content, but whereas some [many] of them are children's adaptations of Hillsong United songs they do often have larger words.
3. Shout Praises Kids. This series is a middle of the road between the previous 2 options in terms of age target and energy level. Many of the songs are children's adaptations of adult worship songs. This isn't a philosophy that I always prefer - sometimes adult songs do not transfer to children's ministry well. That said, some songs are a fantastic fit and can be used in both adult services and children's worship. Recently for a series on Love in our church the adults used the song Love the Lord by Lincoln Brewster, in our children's ministry we used the SPK version and the connection of children going home singing what the adults also sang was excellent!
4. Deliberate Kids by Phil Joel. Phil formerly is a member of the Newsboys and has since launched his own ministry called Deliberate People. The Dk songs are a lot of fun with great content. Some of them are not all that singable, but other are. In our children's ministry right now we play the Good Morning Song every single week to launch our large group time. We have also used the New Testament song as a tool to learn the order of the books.
Those are the main sources of recorded music we use in our children's ministry right now. We do have a few other songs that we use by the Penny Merchants, by Doug Horley and Scripture Rock.
1. Great Big God [Cds 1, 2, 3 and Preschool]. These songs are excellent content from England with fun tunes. They are not as high energy for the most part as the Hillsong Kids series [below]. In my opinion, the songs appeal to a target age of grade p-2 with the obvious exception of the preschool cd.
2. Hillsong Kids. HK is from Hillsong Church in Austrailia. The HK music is the most upbeat [rock and roll oriented] children's music that I am aware of. Children absolutely love these songs and ask for them over and over - Superhero and One Way are the run away favorites in our children's ministry. Like most children's worship cds there are songs on each disc which are fantastic and some that you'll listen to and never do live. The median age target, in my opinion, is about grade 3-5. These songs have great content, but whereas some [many] of them are children's adaptations of Hillsong United songs they do often have larger words.
3. Shout Praises Kids. This series is a middle of the road between the previous 2 options in terms of age target and energy level. Many of the songs are children's adaptations of adult worship songs. This isn't a philosophy that I always prefer - sometimes adult songs do not transfer to children's ministry well. That said, some songs are a fantastic fit and can be used in both adult services and children's worship. Recently for a series on Love in our church the adults used the song Love the Lord by Lincoln Brewster, in our children's ministry we used the SPK version and the connection of children going home singing what the adults also sang was excellent!
4. Deliberate Kids by Phil Joel. Phil formerly is a member of the Newsboys and has since launched his own ministry called Deliberate People. The Dk songs are a lot of fun with great content. Some of them are not all that singable, but other are. In our children's ministry right now we play the Good Morning Song every single week to launch our large group time. We have also used the New Testament song as a tool to learn the order of the books.
Those are the main sources of recorded music we use in our children's ministry right now. We do have a few other songs that we use by the Penny Merchants, by Doug Horley and Scripture Rock.
Labels:
Children's Ministry,
Worship
Children's Worship | Live or Recorded Music?
In the children's ministry at New Minas Baptist Church we switched almost a year ago to exclusively use recorded music. We used a live worship leader [guitar] for the first 4 years of our large group children's worship time and have now switched. There are advantages and disadvantages that I have seen, here are some comments in no particular order:
1. A live musician can interact with the children more and play to / with them. This interactivity adds some to the children's focus and engagement. There is a more personal feel to worship with a live musician.
2. A live musician has better control of the attention of the children.
3. A live musician get sick sometimes... this leads to an advantage of recorded music in that if the regular worship leaders using recorded music are unavailable, someone else can step in and the songs stay the same.
4. Recorded music is always the same, the quality doesn't rise or fall basic on the quality of the musician, their energy level or focus.
5. Recorded music can be chosen which is more energetic, includes more instruments, etc.
6. Recorded music tends to have children respond more by doing actions and live musicians seem to have children respond more by singing.
7. Live musicians can write their own songs for the children specific to your worship setting / church.
8. Recorded music can be purchased on itunes or elsewhere. This is a significant plus as your children will go home singing the songs and you can point the parents in the right direction to purchase them for their children to listen to at home. This increases saturation at home.
9. Recorded music more easily allows children to experiment with leadership from the stage as a part of a worship team.
10. Live worship allows a culture in your children's ministry of building musicians younger.
These comments are not intended to convey a strong opinion for one direction or the other. We have done both at our church and I like both for different reasons. When we had a live musician I wished for some of the benefits that recorded music would bring. Now that we have recorded music I miss some of the benefits of a live setting.
For those who are in churches where having a live energetic worship leader for children isn't possible, recorded music is a great option. For everyone who has both options, there is a choice to make, with benefits to both sides of the decision.
For those looking for recorded music, over the past few years there have been several fantastic additions to the genre of children's worship music. Many are available on itunes, and it not, can be ordered online. [Another post to follow with song suggestions.]
1. A live musician can interact with the children more and play to / with them. This interactivity adds some to the children's focus and engagement. There is a more personal feel to worship with a live musician.
2. A live musician has better control of the attention of the children.
3. A live musician get sick sometimes... this leads to an advantage of recorded music in that if the regular worship leaders using recorded music are unavailable, someone else can step in and the songs stay the same.
4. Recorded music is always the same, the quality doesn't rise or fall basic on the quality of the musician, their energy level or focus.
5. Recorded music can be chosen which is more energetic, includes more instruments, etc.
6. Recorded music tends to have children respond more by doing actions and live musicians seem to have children respond more by singing.
7. Live musicians can write their own songs for the children specific to your worship setting / church.
8. Recorded music can be purchased on itunes or elsewhere. This is a significant plus as your children will go home singing the songs and you can point the parents in the right direction to purchase them for their children to listen to at home. This increases saturation at home.
9. Recorded music more easily allows children to experiment with leadership from the stage as a part of a worship team.
10. Live worship allows a culture in your children's ministry of building musicians younger.
These comments are not intended to convey a strong opinion for one direction or the other. We have done both at our church and I like both for different reasons. When we had a live musician I wished for some of the benefits that recorded music would bring. Now that we have recorded music I miss some of the benefits of a live setting.
For those who are in churches where having a live energetic worship leader for children isn't possible, recorded music is a great option. For everyone who has both options, there is a choice to make, with benefits to both sides of the decision.
For those looking for recorded music, over the past few years there have been several fantastic additions to the genre of children's worship music. Many are available on itunes, and it not, can be ordered online. [Another post to follow with song suggestions.]
Labels:
Children's Ministry
Christmas Memories
When it comes right down to it, Christmas the event is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. As a parent, I want my children to have no doubt about the season's purpose - I want them to look back as adults on their childhood Christmas celebrations and see the significant family memories we created which point to Jesus.
In order to make Christmas a very memorable occasion we do several things as a family. one of those memory makers is gift giving. I know that this seams like a bit of a distraction from the focus on Jesus, but I'm not so sure it has to be. For the past few years we have drawn names for stockings. This year we've added a tradition of a Daddy Date. I'll be taking each child out to go shopping and then to Tim Hortons for a date. The emphasis I'll be making is lets buy the perfect 10 things for the person we are shopping for - our goal is to give them good gifts. In doing this, we remind ourselves that Christmas isn't about our greed, its about giving good things to someone else.
Another tradition we have is that the children make the star for the top of the Christmas tree. Each year its become more elaborate - last year involved my inventing a 4 sided 3 dimensional contraption. This year it was finger painting [video below]. The point is two fold, first, the star points us to Jesus - something that we emphasize throughout our family devotions each night. Second, it allows for another memory to be made, something that elevates the family oriented celebration of the season.
These two small parts of our Christmas celebrations as a family are intentional ways that we are seeking to make have significant family memories with a Jesus focus during the Christmas season. We're not done, there are more memories to be made, perhaps to be shared here. How did you celebrate the Jesus focus of Christmas as a child, how are you inspiring a focus on Jesus at Christmas in your children?
In order to make Christmas a very memorable occasion we do several things as a family. one of those memory makers is gift giving. I know that this seams like a bit of a distraction from the focus on Jesus, but I'm not so sure it has to be. For the past few years we have drawn names for stockings. This year we've added a tradition of a Daddy Date. I'll be taking each child out to go shopping and then to Tim Hortons for a date. The emphasis I'll be making is lets buy the perfect 10 things for the person we are shopping for - our goal is to give them good gifts. In doing this, we remind ourselves that Christmas isn't about our greed, its about giving good things to someone else.Another tradition we have is that the children make the star for the top of the Christmas tree. Each year its become more elaborate - last year involved my inventing a 4 sided 3 dimensional contraption. This year it was finger painting [video below]. The point is two fold, first, the star points us to Jesus - something that we emphasize throughout our family devotions each night. Second, it allows for another memory to be made, something that elevates the family oriented celebration of the season.
These two small parts of our Christmas celebrations as a family are intentional ways that we are seeking to make have significant family memories with a Jesus focus during the Christmas season. We're not done, there are more memories to be made, perhaps to be shared here. How did you celebrate the Jesus focus of Christmas as a child, how are you inspiring a focus on Jesus at Christmas in your children?
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