I had a great conversation with my friend Ally yesterday. We were talking about family small groups. She asked me if I knew of any video based curriculum for family small groups. Essentially the teaching is geared to all ages. I’ve heard of some curriculum for these types of groups, but nothing video related. I thought I’d throw it out to my community here.
Do you know of any family small group curriculum? Any of it video based?
I know that Focus on the Family worked on a “Family Night Tool Chest” series of books at one point that was geared at doing family nights and devotions. I think I’ve come across some sort of family night activity that involved video, but don’t remember much and could be quite off on that. I’d definitely be interested in follow-ups along these lines.
Be better to know what sort of “all ages” this encompasses. My biggest challenge seems to be the “all ages” including those < 2. 🙂
Peter,
I don’t know of any myself. I know of sources for great teach videos for kids ranging from 5 yrs to 5th grade (i.e. http://www.lifekids.tv & http://www.jellytelly.com) Though great for teaching/entertainment, they’re not geared toward small group curriculum. However, is it possible they could be tweaked for this purpose? Am I oversimplifying it?
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LifeWay has a new small group resource call Small Group Life that includes a free downloadable kids (k-6) lesson that integrates what the adults will be studying. There is also a page in each session with family devotional ideas and missional opportunities. This study launches in the fall but you can learn more and get a free sample at http://lifeway.com/smallgrouplife. Would love to hear your thoughts!
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Gina,
I don’t think you’re oversimplifying. I know about JellyTelly and they do some cool stuff. If we could watch it through our TV, we’d probably be more likely to see it on a regular basis. I didn’t know about lifekids.tv. I will check them out soon. My major problem as a parent just coming out of the toddler/pre-K phase is that so much stuff out there is geared towards “older” kids that we feel pretty left out when trying to find resources to help us with the really young ones. Trying to do a small group with a bunch of younger parents w/ kids < 2 is difficult if someone’s not caring for those kids.
Phil,
Thanks for the reminder on the Lifeway resource. I think I actually did come across that before and think that’s probably worth checking out for us in the future.
I understand your frustration that there not being much stuff out there right now. I’m pretty sure that will be changing soon. I remember 6 or 7 years ago when there wasn’t really any good music geared to elementary age kids, now there’s tons. I think that as we’re in this time where there is a lot more focus on family ministry, we’ll start to see more resources come out (like video) that fit what we’re trying to do.
You are all on to something. It is so great to have your kids as a part of your small group. It is how we raised our two girls and think those were some of the best experiences ever. That is why we developed familysmallgroups.com to fill this need for curriculum. Give it a look and watch the intro video.
I agree, Family Small Groups is a need in our Churches and Church families. familysmallgroups.com is awesome
Standard Publishing has two books one Family Style Small Groups. They don’t have a DVD though 🙁 they are studies that incorporate board games. Great books and cheap.
Our church has also used BIBLESENSE Series from Group before for family small groups.