Easter is one of the seasons where beautiful, handmade gifts abound and are just as gratefully received as the commercial varieties. If you've looked recently on Pinterest you would have found endless boards filled with cute and creative gift ideas. 
But there are not quite as many Easter gifts, manufactured or handmade, that highlight the real Easter message.

Meaningful Easter Gifts

My daughter-in-law noted this fact recently and asked if I could find details of the M&Ms gift idea with message that I'd given to kidmin families one year. She was looking for a meaningful gift for their playgroup mothers. I could find it, of course, but it was a Christmas gift with message. See here..

The Easter Message in Jellybeans

But there is a poem, (and you can find various versions on the internet) that tells the Easter story with jelly beans so I suggested it to Jess. She was more than happy to use this idea so I created a little candy-bag topper that can easily be printed off.

If you'd like to create them yourself, download the pdf below and print onto heavy weight paper.(100-120gsm) Cut out the topper allowing extra as a fold-over piece for each. (I think they wind up being 14cm x 10.5cm.) Add the jellybean colours as indicated by the poem into the cellophane candybags, Fold the topper over the top of the bag and secure with staple at the top. I added a small bow to hide the staple but it's just an option.

Easter M&Ms poem
Oh.. I did locate an Easter M&Ms gospel poem, after I'd finished the Jellybeans design and if you're looking for it, you'll find it here by Bethany Tapp: The Sweet Truth of Easter

This Sunday marks the start of our Easter family experience- Walk with Jesus. Yes, I know it's not Easter yet but we've decided to take a longer lead-up to Easter and spend more time with this important season on the Christian calendar.

Celebrating Easter

Each year, the commercialisation of Easter, the Easter eggs, the bunnies and chicks start filling the store shelves soon after Valentine's Day but often, churches and children's ministries set aside just the Easter weekend. And.. there's nothing wrong with that, but we decided we wanted a stronger emphasis, this year.

Group's Walk with Jesus

So.. we're starting this Sunday and using Group's, Walk with Jesus. Have you checked it out? If you have, you'll know that this is designed as a thought-provoking Easter journey for families as they travel through five stations, each one an important part of the Easter story: the excitement of Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem, the significance of the Last Supper, the darkness of Gethsemane, the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and the joy of His resurrection.

We have altered the program slightly and we'll present one of these stations each week as the introduction to our church family worship time for the whole church family. There will be such a buzz as kids and families experience and learn together. Sometimes, as I talk with others about resources and kidmin programs, I learn that others are put off using some of these great programs because they don't exactly fit the type of program needed.

Alter to suit
Every church is different- every kidmin is different- every pastor, leader, family, child is different. As you evaluate the programs, look for ways that you can adapt and use the wonderful materials for your church's different needs. 

And the Walk with Jesus program includes some wonderful resources: great backdrops and scene setting ideas, presentation ideas and resources, background sounds, collector cards, family time together booklet with simple devotional activities, publicity posters and much more.

Our Sunday morning kidmin program will reinforce the story and the experiences from our church worship time, as will the 'big church' as they continue their sermon series on 'The Steps of Jesus'.

We will also be spending some time during the week posting additional content on our website and Facebook to reinforce Sunday's experience, to encourage discussion at home and to remind them all to return next week for the next Easter experience at church.

We're really looking forward to this special journey as we get ready to 'Walk with Jesus'. What are you doing for Easter this year? Last year, we presented Rock'nRoll Easter event and it was great! See here..

Board games area great fun for all ages and never seem to go out of style. An integral part of many board games is the dice but, like our kidmin team, you may have found that a die is useful for other games and activities, too. 

First, we up-size them. While board games are fun, super-sized board games are 'super fun'!  And kids love to throw dice that are big. You can buy these big dice or make your own.

But don't just stick to using numbers on dice, although that can be a great way to determine extra team points. Try these other uses:

• Throw an over-sized die labelled with team colours to determine which team goes next. 
  
• Add actions to your dice (Do 5 star jumps for 10 extra points, Miss a turn etc). You'll need a white or blackboard die for  this...see below.
• Use varied numbers on your dice: 1, 5, 10, 20 etc for added excitement to any game.
• Write the segments of your program on the dice to add variety. Kids throw the die to see what will happen next: craft activity, game, review and question time etc

If you're looking for an over-sized blackboard die, you can make your own in less than no time. Check it out.

Here's what you'll need:

• scissors, ruler, cutting knife, craft glue, packaging tape, washi or decorative tape, pencil, rubber bands,
• foam-core cardboard, styrofoam or 12mm balsa wood  (materials that are reasonably sturdy but not too hard.)
• roll of adhesive blackboard

Start small and work up. To make a balsa wood die that is large enough for kids to hold in their hands you will need to use a craft knife to cut these pieces: 2 x 75mm square, 2 pieces 51mm x 75mm, 2 x 51mm square. 
Cut out 6 x 50mm square pieces of adhesive blackboard and attach one square to each piece of balsa. Assemble the cube and glue together. Use rubber bands to hold the pieces together until glued.

Making larger dice is actually easier. Decide the size you require. Cut out 6 equal squares of foam-core cardboard or styrofoam. Assemble your cube and secure with packaging tape. Cover the edges with washi or decorative tape. Measure and cut out 6 equal-sized squares and attach to each side of the cube. Finished!

What ways to you use dice in your programs?

Busy kidmin leaders rely on every resource they can find to help manage, organise and monitor the endless admin tasks that are a part of working with children and families. And apps can fill an important role in easing the load. They connect, they streamline, they organise. Here are five apps well-worth including in your kidmin toolbox.

POCKET  Doing research for an upcoming kidmin program? Found some interesting online videos? Read an article or two that you'd like to review later? Pop it all in your Pocket app. 

This app is available for iPad, iPhone and Android. Connect the Pocket button on your desktop or laptop, too, and save as you browse online. View your saved content on any device and share with others- Facebook, Twitter, email, Evernote and much more.

TRELLO   Trello certainly organises your tasks, projects, events or perhaps, just your shopping.  But it also allows others to worik together on these projects: make checklists, add comments to update co-workers, included images and videos and see who's working on the project. Everything is instantly synced to the cloud. Create boards, assign volunteers, rearrange tasks and add ideas.

Click the link here to see a movie clip overview of how Trello can help you.

MAILBOX  If, like me, you struggle to overcome the overwhelming number of emails in your Inbox then this app is for you. Add all your email accounts into the app and then, with a swipe and a tap, you can delete, save for reading later, snooze an email to think about this evening, tomorrow or even 'til the weekend, and much more.

In next to no time, you'll find your Inbox is back to manageable proportions and you'll have the tool to handle new information as if comes in. Mailbox also presents all the connected emails as a readable conversation so you'll never miss information or forget  what needs to be done.

IFTTT  'IFTT', pronounced as 'gift' without the 'g', is an acronym for 'If This Then That'. Signing up to this free service allows you to set up connections that will save you time and effort. It works by connecting channels you regularly use (such as Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, email and many more) with actions. These channels, triggers and action connections form the ingredients of a recipe that will occur automatically once it's set up, although you can turn it off or set it up for a certain duration. Confused? Don't be.. it's simple. And you don't have to create the recipes yourself.. there are plenty to select and use immediately.

For example, 'Autosave all my Instagram photos to Dropbox,' 'If I add an photo to Instagram, post it also to Facebook,' 'Send my favourites from Pocket to OneNote,' 'Tag a Instagram photo to send it straight to Twitter.'

Save time and effort by putting recipes in place to handle your workload and make your life easier. 

TICK  This is a customisable to-do app with reminders for those who love to create, and check off, lists of tasks.
Set up the interface with your favourite colours, set reminders, repeats and due dates for your tasks. Colours automatically change as you move from a dark to light environment and icons animate when a task has been marked as done.

Tick also integrates with Siri to enable you to add to your lists using voice. Sync with icloud and receive reminders on your computer. (iPhone app)

Do you list a leaf-blower as one of your children's ministry top tools? I think it's worth considering. 

Last Sunday, I opened the car door, dragged out my assorted collection of ministry resources and supplies needed for our program, and headed for the kidmin area. Silently, I wondered what it would be like to attend church without all the prep, planning and paraphernalia. 

"So... doing some gardening in kids' church, this morning, eh?" laughed someone from our church family, who had noticed the leaf-blower tucked under one arm.
 "What? Don't you use one in Big Church? You're missing out!" I retorted.

Honestly, if you want to add a heap of interest and excitement to your kidmin program, include a leaf-blower. I first discovered this useful teaching device, while presenting a Group vbs program (I think it was Group's Pandamania). It's helpful to note that, although you can use the leaf-blower 'as is', the potential is increased if you add a couple of plastic pipe segments readily found at your local hardware store. 

See below... Use packaging tape to join up the segments.

Tip #1    Introduce your Bible point/verse for the day. (You'll need a soft toy small enough to fit the diameter of the pipe.)
Write out your Bible point on a stick-it note or label and attach to the toy. Tell the kids to try and catch the toy to discover the Bible point. Switch on the leaf-blower. Aim over the kids' heads, drop the toy through the T-section and it should shoot out over your group of kids. There should be an excited scrabble to retrieve the toy and read the Bible point.

Tip #2     Bible point. You'll need 10-12 pingpong/table tennis balls. Write the Bible point on a handful of balls but leave some blank. Shoot them through the leaf-blower as above. Award points for any collected balls but extra points for those found with the Bible point/verse printed.

Tip #3   Add an element of difficulty and develop some teamwork. Give a tablecloth to a group of kids to hold out and try to catch the balls from the leaf-blower.

Tip #4    Gospel message. Wrap a white sheet around one of your volunteers. Ask kids for words about things that they have done that are wrong.. eg telling lies, disobeying, stealing,.... Write these words on the sheet with invisible ink. Talk about how Jesus can wash away our sins. Use the leaf-blower to dry the ink while you speak until all the black words disappear leaving the sheet clean and white.

What other uses have you found for a leaf-blower in your ministry?

I love sourcing, preparing or creating great resources that will help, encourage, and equip kidmin leaders or families. And there is so much useful content produced and readily available now that we have effortless access to these resources via the internet. Gone are the days when samples of new products needed to be ordered to evaluate a resource's potential before ordering and implementing these materials. Now, you can readily find and access information, see Youtube clips of the resource in use and download samples within minutes.

The real issue now is 'information overload'. Most people have very little time to sit to read more than their Facebook updates. This is one of the reasons that we've produced a simple,weekly one-page newsletter for parents to enjoy- The Macaron Approach. We're hoping parents will enjoy the small articles, as much as a macaron, with their morning coffee. The newsletter's filled with small bite-sized snippets of information: parenting hints, helpful apps, family resources and even a regular idea and inspiration for grandparents. If you'd like more information about these newsletters see here..

But the difficulty is developing the awareness of this, or any, newsletter and encouraging families to take them home each week. It's been said that a person needs to see something 7 times before they actually take note. So.. if you're using this newsletter, or another resource, you'll be wanting to draw attention to it during the church announcements, handing out a flyer with information, adding details to your website and Facebook page, handing out copies, including information in your church emails and listing it on your ministry information handout.

And, if you're using The Macaron Approach yourself, you can find a free powerpoint slide and flyer download below to help communicate this information to your families.

It's been a long and exhausting week.... culminating in the church's Vision Dinner, an annual event, filled with wonderful testimonies, inspiring messages and a time of sharing and building community. We need these places in our journey to pause and evaluate, to recall why we started the journey in the first place, how far we have come, and to look ahead to where God is leading us.

But these events take a lot of work and I'd been asked to prepare the powerpoint presentation and handout materials that would tie everything together.. a big job, especially with my normal ministry and family commitments to maintain.

If you find yourself in a similar position and need  to present a quality presentation for a special church family event, ministry conference or other important occasion, don't despair. There are some resources that can help you.

Graphic River is a marketplace for design templates, textures, vectors, icons, infographic elements, images and yes, Powerpoint or Keynote templates. Yes, you do have to pay for them but prices start from $1 and are based on the complexity, quality and use of the file. (They do offer a monthly free file.)

You can start looking for Powerpoint/keynote templates here and prices are around $12-$15 for about 30-50 unique slides and usually contain 2 versions. When you consider the saving of your time and the professional end-result, it's well worth the money. 

Take a look below at some of the slides I created for our Vision Dinner using a template from Graphic River. The design template comes as a dark and a light background presentation. This, of course, is the light coloured template. It certainly made my job easier.

You can also find links to Photodune, Audiojungle, Videohive, Themeforest and more providing other graphic and audio resources. And.. if you want to learn more and gain some extra creative skills, you can find plenty of tutorials, ebooks and courseshere.