I recently stumbled upon a fast and free way to make Scripture slides for Children’s Ministry (or any other ministry, for that matter) with an array of free and attractive backgrounds.
And it may already be in your phone/device.
It’s built into one of the popular apps out there – the free YouVersion app of the Bible (they’re not paying me to post this, btw 🙂 I just really like this feature and want to share about it).
I was using the app recently and saw a button I had never seen before. So I clicked on it. What I found was amazing. It was an option to make an image of any selected Bible verse over any background of your choice (your own or from their library). The settings make it easy to change the font, the font size, the colors, etc. Below are some steps and pics to show you how to do it.
Once you familiarize yourself with how to find a certain verse (which is intuitive), select a verse by tapping it. It will underline the verse with a dotted line and then give you a selection of options on the right.
Then tap on the orange button (of a photograph), which will lead you through the step-by-step editing process.
Once you have your slide, share it as you like! See the images below for a more detailed look at how it works.
Tap a verse you want to turn into a slide. It will underline it will dotted lines. Then click on the orange button on the right – the one with the image of a photograph.Select an image from their gallery. Or you can use your own (the very first option).Use the options under the image to change the font, size, and color of the verse.When you’re ready, tap “save.” Then you will see this image. Tap the “share” button to see your sharing options.
Then you can share the image by email, message, or social media. You can also save the image to your device and hence drop it into any slide show you are making (such as Keynote or ProPresenter).
I love to use it to share a quick verse on social media or as a slide when I’m speaking or teaching about the Bible. It’s super easy to use and best of all, it’s free!
Bonus: Many of the most popular Bible verses (John 3:16, for example) have special pre-made images with artsy fonts and backgrounds. Those are fun to discover and you just have to stumble upon them when you go to those verses and then go to this “edit image” process.
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Are you looking for some ideas for the bring me game? You’ve come to the right place! I’ve got both free and for-purchase options. Read on….
Maligayang pagdating sa lahat ng aking mga kaibigan sa Pilipinas!
(a message to my friends in the Philippines)
The Bring Me! Slideshow
I created a slideshow of the Bring Me! game so that you can project the game on a screen for your party. There are 20 unique objects or commands (some not in the list below) with lots of pop and color to make your event as fun as possible! Only $5!
Purchase the full game slideshow at Deeper KidMin by clicking here or click the large image below. You get 20 colorful rounds of the game plus instructions so you can have a great party! The slides are JPEGS, so they are easy to use on just about any computer or application (such as Keynote, Power Point, ProPresenter, etc).
What do you do when you have a room full of children causing havoc (or could potentially do so) and need to engage them in a way that is both fun and simple to execute? Well, education is a good idea. But perhaps you’ve taught and they’ve learned all day and it’s time to kick back and play a good old-fashioned group game.
Play the “Bring Me” Game!
The Bring Me Game concept is simple and the variations are endless. You, the game leader, should stand up front with a microphone (or not if your group is small enough) and ask for random objects/items. I’ve got a list to get you going below.
The first person or group or team to produce the requested item and bring it to you gets a point for their team. WARNING: Kids tend to RUN a lot in this game. So make sure you remind them to not trample one another or trip over anything in their effort to bring the items up to you. You can decide how long to play the bring me game (such as “first team to ten points wins”).
One major thing to keep in mind when playing the game and coming up with ideas is the fact that nearly everyone has a device these days (even youth). If you’re at an event where most everyone has a device on them or at least some representatives of each team (such as adults in mostly-kid events) have devices, then make the most of technology in your requests. The internet is an endless supply of “scavenger-hunt” challenges. Just ask for a picture of BB-8 from Star Wars or a map of the country of Malaysia or any other fun idea they can search for.
The types of things you call up in the bring me game will vary depending on the size and the average age of your group. For example, not many kids will have a credit card on them if you ask for one. So be creative with ideas that fit what you think is out there in everyone’s pockets, purses, and accessories.
A Starter List
Here is a FREE list of ideas to get you going. You can come up with your own ideas by thinking of other things similar to or related to items on this list.
two different shoelaces tied together
five different socks bundled up in a ball
a selfie on a device
a photograph of exactly ten people on a device
something edible
chocolate
something that has a picture of a rainbow on it
a double-A battery and a triple-A battery
something that is completely blue
two people wearing glasses doing jumping jacks next to one another
two unrelated people with red hair
a human hair
a non-human living thing (this will usually be a bug or insect found on the floor)
lipstick
chapstick
nail clippers
six people forming a human pyramid
a red pen or marker
something with a Disney symbol or character on it
two unrelated people with braces
a nail file
a one dollar bill, a five dollar bill, and a ten dollar bill (exactly)
a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter (exactly)
a liquid
something that feels cold
something that feels warm
something that lights up (that is not a phone or tablet device)
ten people in a line that goes from tallest person to shortest person
a pencil
a tissue
a crumpled up piece of paper
something silver
something gold
a person wearing two different kinds of shoes
a rock
a visible piece of dust/dustball
something sharp (and if it is a dangerous/forbidden object, you can confiscate it 🙂
something conical
something circular
something in the shape of a cube
a ball of some sort
something chewable
five breath mints
three different kinds of breath mints
a picture on a device of the White House in Washington D.C.
a picture on a device of a mother and a son
someone who can say the alphabet backwards (for real, not someone saying, “alphabet backwards”)
pocket fuzz/lint
a device playing the United States’ National Anthem
I performed at a company holiday banquet on Sunday night in Pennsylvania. As I was eating dinner with the owner and his family, one of his children asked me, “Do you ever get nervous before your shows?” My answer was a quick and simple, “Yes.” Then I explained a little more.
Looking out at my audience before going on stage for my show at the Weaver Markets banquet in Pennsylvania.
Yes, I still get nervous before my performances even after nearly years of on-stage experience (which is most of my life) and over eight years of full-time one-man show performances.
Why do I get nervous? Frankly, I’m afraid the audience won’t like me. I’m afraid I’ll let down their expectations. I’m afraid I’ll mess up. I’m afraid I’ll injure someone. I’m afraid that it will be the last performance of my career for whatever reason.
And then I do the show…and they love it. I love it. Everybody has a great time. I realize that it was all in my head. And here’s a key thing to consider: Is that really a bad thing?
I would suggest, “No.”
Call it nervousness, call it stage fright, call it butterflies. We all know the feeling. And I believe it is a very normal and human thing. It is the desire to pursue excellence and to deliver something that is beneficial to others. And there will always be the risk of failure. I believe that if we don’t feel at least a little fear or nervousness in the things we strive for in life, then we might not be challenging ourselves enough.
But the fright is still there. Knowing that it is a very common feeling does not make it go away. How do we overcome stage fright?
I think that’s the wrong question.
The question should be, “How can we use stage fright to our advantage?”
So here are some things that I do in order to work through stage fright and use it to my advantage…..
Just do it – Nike was right. When I just get up and do my show, all the jitters go away. The jitters are usually the worst right before I go out on stage. But within a few seconds of starting my rehearsed routine, I’m all good. Speaking of rehearsed….
Practice – It sounds trite, but the more you practice, the less you need to worry about them not liking you. If you practice a ton for your presentation, you’ll do great. And even if you mess up, the audience will easily forgive you because they have a sixth sense that knows whether you’re practiced up or not. They can tell when you’ve worked hard on something and that they probably couldn’t do it themselves anyway, so they will appreciate you. Believe me, audiences are a lot nicer than we as performers usually think they will be.
Look out at the audience before your performance – This may not be the right ritual for everyone, but it helps me. If possible, peek through the curtain to see who you’re about to perform for. Or at least get as good a look as you can at people as they come into the event. The more I see who I’m playing to and the more I gaze into their eyes and expressions, the more at ease I become because I realize that these are normal human beings who just want to enjoy a performance. They’re not out to get me. They’re not out to boo the performer off the stage. They’re on my side. And that helps me tremendously.
Transfer the nervousness into energy – This is easier said than done. But it really it a mental exercise. Tell yourself that the nervous jitters are going to help you do great because you can go out there with excitement and anticipation for a great show.
Pray – I am a person of faith who prays. I am part of a larger community of faith that supports me and prays for what I do. I can say from experience that prayer does amazing things – especially when it comes to stage fright and gearing up for presentations. Knowing that God made me and has called me to this vocation helps me focus my thoughts and energy on Him rather than myself. I believe that life is not about me anyway – it’s about bringing glory to God. If you have any inkling in you that there is a God (or even if you don’t believe in God), give prayer a chance and see what happens….
Having fun up close with my audience at the New Year’s Eve masquerade in Williamsburg, VA.
