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Product Review: An Illustrated Earth for Families

I was very excited, this week, to be given a review copy of the new resource from Illustrated Children's Ministry- An Illustrated Earth for Families and I have to say that we wasted no time in trying it out!
An Illustrated Earth For Families is a downloadable resource that includes 12 separate sessions for the whole family to use together.  Each session includes a Bible story, questions, storytelling cards, a prayer and two colouring sheets- a simple one for younger children and a more complex version for older children and adults. The sessions are split into 3 sections (Water stories, Plant and Food Stories and Animal stories) and each section finishes with four practical ideas for the family to do together.

 Some families from church had a go at one of the sessions and it's fair to say that they had a great time!

 Here's a review from Emma and her two boys..

 C (aged 5) was very excited when he saw the colouring and when I said 5000 he knew the story from School.  This, as much as the written story provided, influenced his retelling using the story boards.  Without me mentioning it C added in that the food had been a little boy's who was willing to share (obviously a school focus point!). 

In discussion while colouring C responded to the questions well and had picked up the central lessons of compassion and giving in relation to Jesus and family.
M, at 2 years old, enjoyed the colouring and listened to the prayer, joining in with a final amen.

I enjoyed all elements and would have liked to spend longer colouring as it is an act that allows for both discussion and a hint of quiet reflection while the boys were engaged in their own pictures.

With my young family it would have been nice for some of the language used, perhaps that on the story boards, to be simplified further allowing emerging readers to combine both the simple images and text together for the retelling.

 The scope of the suggested extra activities is brilliant and we will definitely be engaging in at least two of these activities this half term.  I can see both boys
getting very excited about flower bombing the neighbourhood!

Overall I thought the material was beautifully crafted and provided a good starting point for individual families to adapt to their needs.  I particularly like the overriding themes and the continuity this brings.

 Here's another family, trying out the 'Lost Sheep' session- both child and parent enjoyed the colouring and were inspired to act out being different creatures that God has created and cares for!


If you fancy getting your hands on this resource then you can buy it here and, what's more, we have a special code to claim a 15% discount on everything in the Illustrated Children's Ministry store until May 30th! Enjoy!

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