If you were to join us on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning at 10:30am you would be greeted by the sounds of children signing and Pastor Glen’s guitar strumming as Preschool at The Fount enjoys Chapel and worship. Our preschool time to praise the Lord with Pastor Glen never ceases to be a good time! During Chapel, we model to the children how to pray, participate in worship songs together and hear a short story from the bible. Now, if you know small children, you may know they have a tendency to experience slight difficulties in the area of self-control. This means during the Bible story, some children listen attentively paying close attention to the pictures, and others… well…not so much. As the Preschool Director, I wanted to do something that would build upon their understanding of the story. How could we assist the children in really understanding the Word of God? One in which brings the story down to a level they can really make sense of? One that they will remember?  Perhaps you have heard the famous quote of Confucius, “What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember.  What I do, I understand.” Our preschool welcome packet shares with new families “we believe children learn through hands on experiences”.  This presented us an opportunity for children to do the Bible.

In an effort to accomplish this, I have implemented a Bible curriculum that correlates with the story the children have heard Pastor Glen read at chapel. Each week, the children participate in an activity that helps them engage in hands on Bible experiences. One of my favorites, is the beloved story of Noah. We know this is a favorite in part due to the colorful illustrations of animals trotting side by side as they enter the arc. But expanding on the story, and utilizing early childhood concepts, the children were able to build an ark. They were able to select from various materials: cardboard, toilet paper rolls, wooden pieces, small pieces of cloth to build their arks. One bright child, even decorated a wooden spool and pretended this was Noah! We utilized our sensory bins, filled them with water and experimented with whether the ark’s would sink or float. The children whose ark sank, experimented with removing materials in an effort to make their ark’s float. Not only did the children learn more about the story, but they engaged in a science experiment.

Another favorite activity, one in which helps children to learn about what sin is and how easy it can be to get entangled in sin, is our Entangler game. The teacher starts out as the “Entangler” and the children run across the yard. If they are tagged, they fall to sin and become an “Entangler” as well. The remaining children, run through the yard and try to not get tagged.

Our “Stop and Go” Commandment Activity aides the children in learning about the commandments of God. Similar to Red Light, Green light, when the children hear a “true” commandment they are able to go and if they hear a “false” commandment they stop. Through these activities the children have had fun, learned new skills and built their connection to the word of God.

Please feel free to join us at Chapel to participate with our preschoolers in praising the Lord!