From the Back Cover
The remedy to ho-hum, not-again, “Do we have to?” family devotions.
Regular family devotions are important. Unfortunately, they’re often . . . boring. But what if devotions looked less like sitting still and listening to someone read and more like, say, electrocuting a pickle? Or converting a leaf blower into a toilet paper launcher? Or lighting toothpaste on fire?
These hands-on, kinda dangerous, totally unforgettable object lessons (along with nearly fifty others) are not only more fun than other family devotions–they actually deliver the spiritual impact you desire for your kids. So put away the flannelgraph, get out the safety goggles, and start bringing the truths of Scripture to vivid life in your household. Just remember to change out of your Sunday clothes first.
The Format
While the family devotions in this book can be worked through in the order they appear in the book, they can also be done in whatever order best suits your family. A detailed “Table of Contents” with a teaser giving an idea of what will be needed and the point being communicated as well as icons telling if the devotion is on the more dangerous side or for an older child makes choosing a devotion for your family easy.
Each devotional chapter contains the following sections:
- “Theme”- This is the message being communicated.
- “Things You’ll Need”- Some lessons take items you might need to pick up at the store or dig out of the garage.
- “Advance Prep”- Anything you need to do before you can teach the lesson.
- “Running the Activity”- Exactly how to pull of the object lesson
- “Teaching the Lesson”- This is where the fun stuff connects with the deep stuff of scripture.
- “Summing it Up”-Tying it all together and sometimes additional ideas.
Occasional “A Special Word for Parents” sections help to further reinforce the point of the devotion, provide greater insight into the topic of discussion, or prepare for another future family devotion. “Keep It Safe” boxes provide tips to make sure the lesson doesn’t go from “kinda dangerous” to actually dangerous.
Our Experience
Our children are still quite young (7,5,3, and 8 months) so not all of the devotions at their age level (though most can be adapted to suit their ages), but many of the devotions are right on target for their age already. We had a busy week this week with our oldest attending day camp at a local Bible camp, a dentist visit for me and the three-year-old, and the usual life stuff, so we needed something with little prep that could be done quickly but still pack a powerful message. Hence, my husband chose to do devotion #31 “Bean Bag Bucket.” The point of this devotion was “aiming at the kind of character we want to develop.”
All it took to prepare for the family devotion was to grab a couple of bean bags from our Corn Hole game, an empty Christmas popcorn tin we use to store mittens and hats, and one of my scarves to use as a blindfold. Not only did the blindfolded children wildly miss their mark, but their wobbles and stumbles provided plenty of laughs. All of this led naturally into the discussion outlined in the book about character and a nice little side conversation about friends.
I call that a win!
Final Thoughts
The Very Best, Hands-on, Kinda Dangerous family Devotions: 52 Activities Your Kids Will Never Forget is a great tool for families, youth worker, children’s worker, and even grandparents who want to make a lasting impact on their children by imparting the truth of God’s word in memorable ways. The way the devotions are laid out makes them relatively easy to pull off even with the advance thought and preparations are required for many of them. I am looking forward to doing more of “very best, hands-on, kinda dangerous” family devotions with our own children and seeing all of us connect the dots between the “kinda dangerous” activities and the truths found in scripture.
Giveaway
Enter below to win your own copy of The Very Best, Hands-on, Kinda Dangerous Family Devotions. I will be announcing the winner on Monday, July 8, 2019!
Or if you can’t wait to see if you win, grab your own copy here:
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book to review from the publisher. However, the views expressed in this review are my own from my own reading of the book and participating in the activities.
