Cookie Baking Night 03/09/15

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar. We've been experiencing unseasonably warm weather in Minnesota this week (very spring like) so in light of that (and because my Dad-Larry loves these and requested them), tonight we made our springtime tradition the "Spring Bird Nest" cookies just a little earlier than usual.

Chow mien noodles, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and candy eggs is what it takes to make this recipe. 

Favorite part: putting on the candy eggs

Tonight was the first night this year we were able to get out for a walk, and it felt good. 

As one who is always looking for resources to teach children about God, tonight I decided to try out a new resource that I heard very good reviews about: Everything a Child Should Know About God by Kenneth A. Taylor. It is designed for ages 3-6 years old, but upon reading a few pages, I think 6 years old might be pushing it. It is geared to the understanding of a very, very young child. The ideas in it are good (of what I've read so far) but very simple.  

Example: Page 1

Here is a picture of a Bible. (picture shown on following page)

It is the best book in the whole world. It tells us about God, who is the most important person in the world. 

Question: Who does the Bible tell us about?

I did find that it worked well with Alli and Rylar. It was definitely right at their level, but I was unsuccessful at elevating the information to the level of the older children.  In the end we went back to Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland and read lesson 5 "God Talks to Us". 

In my experience, when reading theological material to children it is better to aim a little above their heads because you can always explain the concepts in simpler terms if need be, but if you start out too simple it doesn't challenge them and it seems to imply that God is too easy to understand and, therefore, not a great God, a transcendent God, an all worthy God. 

So, the bottom line on this resource is that I will probably use it on nights when I am babysitting the younger children but retire it from use at Cookie Baking Nights while we still have an older crowd attending. (P.S. The pictures in this book are a lot of fun. I really wanted this resource to work for us). 

We managed to squeeze a lot into this Cookie Baking Night and, as usual, a fun time was had by all.