So far, I’ve needed to suggest to the kids what to draw as “first” in the story.

Contents
A bunch of Christian picture books placed in a 12 x 12 inch tote

• My First Story of Christmas, by Tim Dowley
• Through the Roof, by Dr. Mary Manz Simon
• Thank You Jesus, by Dr. Mary Manz Simon
• Jesus and the Miracle, by Sophie Piper.  Covers Jesus and the paralytic.
• Loaves and Fishes, written by Helen Caswell.  Told from the point of view of the little boy whose lunch it was.
• This Is the Lunch That Jesus Served, by Dandi Daley Mackall
• Memory Cross: John 3:16.  Because the reason Christ came to earth was not just to do miracles.  The miracles were signs of who He was.
• Bible Times Cards.  To explain and discuss the culture of Israel – fishing, houses, and food.  They came from Lifeway’s curriculum.

Explanation
This bag was introduced in the months leading up to Easter.  Although I didn’t plan it this way, I did end up with two books on the Feeding of the 5000 and two books on Jesus Healing the Paralytic.  That covers healing miracles and power over nature miracles, but I’d like to add one about the resurrection of the dead — perhaps the daughter of Jairus or Lazarus.  It’s pretty difficult to find children’s books about Christ casting out demons, which be another category of miracle.

The Christmas book is because I have so very many of them and if I put them all in the same bag it would get repetitive.  So right now I have one Christmas book each in the Life of Christ and Miracles bag.

Contents
3 plastic boxes with filled with sand, blue and silver glitter (stars) and wooden Messiah figure, all from Michaels craft store

Trunk for oak tree of Mamre from Haba Middle Eastern blocks, and top of tree from Constructive Playthings Wood Block Nativity Set

Abram and Sarai figures from Worship Woodworks set 609

Angel figure is sadly not the same size as Abram and Sarai — it’s a good half inch thicker.  I wish I had known beforehand that the sets were not interchangeable.  But the angel is from Worship Woodworks set 637.

Tent is a square building block with a piece of scrap leather (available from craft stores) draped over it

Explanation
This was inspired by the Godly Play: Great Family story.  It sits on the Old Testament shelf in our Sunday School classroom.

Contents
All items placed in a 12 x 12 inch tote

• At Break of Day, by Nikki Grimes
• The Creation Story, illustrated by Norman Messenger
• Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals
• Shiny, Touchy, Smelly: Creation Story by Joanna Bicknell
• Yellow and Pink, by William Steig
• God Did, by Lifeway publishers
• Game: Habitats, by Lifeway.  Place each animal in its habitat.  What day did God make this animal on?
• Act It Out: Plants, by Lifeway.  The plants can be cut out and used in a block center.  I’ll have to find Adam and Eve figures to go with these.

Could Also Add

• Days of Creation Faith Bands
• Days of Creation Nesting Globes

Explanation
The books in this take-home bag run the gamut from a board book (Shiny Touchy) to a philosophical book about evolution (Yellow and Pink).  The book of poetry illustrated by Eric Carle celebrates the majesty of God’s creation.  The Norman Messenger book provides the backbone for this story bag, as it takes its text directly from the New Living Bible translation, with no additions.

One of my favorite bags, because the books complement each other perfectly by being so different stylistically.

Contents
All items placed in a 12 x 12 inch tote

• The True Story of Noah’s Ark, by Tom Dooley
• Noah’s Ark, illustrated by Peter Spier
• In the Time of Noah, by N.D. Wilson
• Noah’s Ark Pop-Up, by Tim Dowley
• Noah: Rescue Plan by Carine Mackenzie
• Game: Concentration with animal cards, from Lifeway
• Leftover craft.  I had a couple of extra crafts that weren’t enough to use for the whole class.  I put one in the bag each time it was checked out until they were gone.  The picture shows a wooden dinosaur and a foam animal mask.

Explanation
I got the idea for a Bible book bag from the literacy bags that are sometimes used as homework by schools.  When selecting the books in this bag, a main concern was that illustrations of the ark were realistically proportional to the animals.  I didn’t want a cartoonish ark to give the idea that this was a fictitious story.

Contents
All items placed in a 12″ x 12″ tote. I used a luggage tag saying “Abraham” on the handle. 

• Abraham’s Big Test, by Arch Books.
• Sarah & Abraham: The Wonderful Promise by Carine MacKenzie.
• Sarah Laughs, by Jacqueline Jules
• Foam stars and a larger foam star to stick them on, or Scratch art of a star (not shown in picture)
• Story Sequencing Cards, by Lifeway.  Four cards to sequence Abraham letting Lot choose the best land.
• Act It Out Animals, by Lifeway.  To act out the conflict between Abraham’s herdsman and Lot’s.

Explanation
These bags were designed to enhance the home church connection.  As I put together each story bag, my goal was to have them substantively different.  It would be easy, for example, to have an Arch book in each bag, felt pieces to act out the story, and a foam craft.  So I went further afield when looking for books.  If one of the books in the bag rhymes (Big Test), then the next one needs to be a point-of-view interpretation (Sarah Laughs), and so on and so forth.

This bag could be improved upon by adding a book specifically about Abram and Lot.

Target Age
Kindergarten, but would probably work with early elementary ages

Contents
A bunch of Christian books for children placed in a 12 x 12 inch tote

• David and Goliath, retold and illustrated by Jean Marzollo
• The 23rd Psalm, illustrated by Helen Caswell
• The Lord is My Shepherd (Little Golden Book), illustrated by Tom LaPadula

Details
This is an easy bag.  It’s designed to be done all in one go on a Sunday afternoon, with zero crafts.

Originally I planned to have one bag that was completely David books, and another bag that was completely Psalm 23 books.  That plan has changed, for several reasons.

1. The parents can read all the books aloud in one go, because the books aren’t too similar.
2. The child checks out the David bag this week, the Psalm 23 bag next week, and the Good Shepherd bag the following week.  He hears the same text over an extended period of time, and without consciously realizing it, begins to memorize a psalm.  This wouldn’t happen if all the Psalm 23 books were consolidated into one bag.

The Little Golden book was moved to this bag instead of the Good Shepherd bag because I decided the illustrations were specific to David.  None of my other Psalm 23 books have the shepherd playing a harp, but this one does.

I love the way the Jean Marzollo book interweaves Psalm 23 with the story of David and Goliath.  As David goes down by the stream bed to fill his pouch with stones in preparation for fighting Goliath, he sings to himself about the valley of the shadow of death.  Quite fitting!

Helen Caswell’s drawings evoke a sense of peace and contentment.  In terms of sheer beauty, this books pictures are the best.

Target Age
Kindergarten, but would probably work with early elementary ages

Contents
A bunch of Christian books for children placed in a 12 x 12 inch tote

• Bible Story Time: David and Goliath, by Sophie Piper
• Psalm 23, by Barry Moser
• David the Fugitive: True Friendship, by Carine MacKenzie

Details
This is a simple no-frills bag, with zero crafts.  It’s designed for the busy parent without much time (practically everybody!).  The Carine MacKenzie book is at a higher reading level, and contains some stories that aren’t usually covered, like David hiding in the same cave Saul was in, or David sneaking out a window to escape from Saul, and leaving a statue in his bed.  Little boys love those adventure stories.

The Sophie Piper book could also work for preschoolers, since it is a simplified retelling.  The last page contains a rewritten Psalm 23 in a rhyming form.

Originally I planned to have one bag that was completely David books, and another bag that was completely Psalm 23 books.  That plan has changed, for several reasons.

1. The parents can read all the books aloud in one go, because the books aren’t too similar.
2. The child checks out the David bag this week, the Psalm 23 bag next week, and the Good Shepherd bag the following week.  He hears the same text over an extended period of time, and without consciously realizing it, begins to memorize a psalm.  This wouldn’t happen if all the Psalm 23 books were consolidated into one bag.