Schoolhouse Review Crew: Christianity Cove

Christianity Cove offers more than 700 free Sunday School lessons and 26 best selling resources to revitalize Children's Ministry programs.  As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I had the opportunity to use and review two of their resources: Bible Science Experiments and 100 Simple Service Projects.

Bible Science: 25 Fun and Easy Science Experiments That Show the Nature of God is a 55 page e-book that was written to use with children of all ages.  Each of the experiments contain a Scripture Verse, an Understanding God section, a List of Materials, set of Steps to follow, an Answer section to questions the experiment may raise and an Explanation of why the answer is correct.  Each experiments uses easy to find items that you probably already have in your house or can be found at a local store.  The experiments only take a few minutes to set up and complete and are very easy to clean up and put away.

There are 5 experiments in each of the five categories:

Using Light
Water, Light, and Optical Illusions
Making Water Stand Up
Using Water As a Magnifier
Understanding Shadows
Defining Light and Dark Through Shadow People

Using Color
Using a Color Wheel
Understanding How Rainbows are Made
Separating Colors
Using Bubbles to See Colors
Using Dye to Dilute Color

Using Motion
Demonstrating and Breaking Inertia
Harnessing the Power of Air to Move Things
Spinning Buttons to Understand the Importance of Good Behavior
Using the Wind's Motion to Understand God's Will
Coins in Motion Show God's Protection

Using Magnetism
Seeing How One Magnet Creates Another Magnet
A Maze-ing Magnets
Can a Magnet Rescue a Drowning Paperclip
Creating an Electromagnet
Showing How Opposites Attract in Magnets

Experiments Using Gravity
Gravity Doesn't Care About Weight
Finding the Center of Gravity to Create Balance
Changing the Center of Gravity Keeps the Disciple Standing
How Heat Affects Gravity
Putting a Spin on Gravity

You can purchase Bible Science for $25 by clicking here.

I downloaded the e-book to my computer and then emailed it to my iPad to for easier reading.  I used Bible Science in my home with my children.  We tried several of the experiments listed in the book over the last several weeks, reading and discussing the Scripture verse, explanations, and Understanding God sections. The experiments did not take long  to set up, complete, discuss, and put away.

Making Water Stand Up

Using Bubbles to See Colors

I really liked the idea of a book directed at using Science to point children to God. Each experiment is based on a Scripture Verse that is in the lesson.  I found the directions very easy to follow and appreciate that most of the supplies I already had at home and didn't have to go searching for.  I like that what is supposed to happen is included for those of us (like me) who are not always successful at having experiments turn out the way they are supposed to, and also an explanation of why it turned out the way it did.

I think pinning down an age range is hard for this book.  It is supposed to be for a wide range of ages allowing older students to do more "hands on" activities and digging deeper into the discussion.  But, many of the experiments are very simplistic and not very interesting to older children.  At the same time, many of the Understanding God sections are a little complex for younger children.  I would aim at using these with children in the Pre-K-2nd grade range and adjusting the Understanding God section as necessary.

100 Simple Service Projects  a 56 page ebook was written to help those in Children's Ministry with teaching children ages pre-K-6th grade turn their hearts toward giving.  The guide has been divided into 5 sections:

1. Service to the Family
2. Service to Those in the Neighborhood
3. Service to the Community
4. Service to Large Charities in America and Overseas
5. Service of a Child's Own Design

Service to the Family focuses on using a "coupon program" for children to complete a chore, help mom or dad with a chore, help a sibling, or help grandma/grandpa day.  It includes a page of sample coupons that you can print and you or your child can fill in.  Service to Those in the Neighborhood gives suggestions for outdoor chores that a child and parent can do together for people in their neighborhood and also discusses and ideas for a Neighborhood Day.  Service to the Community lists suggestions in 6 sub categories:  Serving the Elderly, Services For Children, Services For Animals, Services For the Environment, Services For Wildlife, and Services to Community Shelters with 3-10 suggestions for each.  Service to Large Charities in America and Overseas lists 18 of the best known, well rated, trusted, and child friendly charities with links to their websites to help you figure out where to start.  They also include links to charity navigators if none of their suggestions are what you were looking for.  Service of a Child's Own Design lists 6 different charities that were started by children to encourage those wishing to start their own charities.

You can purchase for $19.95 by clicking here.

I chose 100 Simple Service Projects because between being a mom, being in Children's Ministry in Church, and being a 4 H Leader, I am always looking for ideas for Community Service Projects.  I think it is very important to get children involved in service projects and that they can begin at a very young age.  I downloaded the ebook and read it on my iPad.  The book was easy to read through.  I liked her idea of having the children complete on of each type of service during the school year.  I think that would give the children a little bit of variety in their service projects.  I think the book is laid out and divided nicely so you can find what you are looking for, or just read all the way through and get ideas for the future.

It is my opinion that this book would benefit those who are brand new to doing service projects with kids the most.  I have done many projects with kids over the years, and I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know or get any new ideas, but it would've been a great resource for me when I was first starting out.

The Crew reviewed a variety of products from Christianity Cove.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, click on the banner below.