Ecclesiastes 4 - Three-Stranded Cord Quiet Book Page

 In Ecclesiastes 4, Solomon praises the value of a friend.

Memory Verse: "And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NRSV).

Materials needed to create the Three-Stranded cord quiet book page:

• my free Ecclesiastes 4 - Three-Stranded Cord Bible Quiet Book Page Template Pattern
• A4 felt background sheet - I used a marle grey
• three coloured shoelaces in blue, yellow and pink
• shank button
• sewing threads to best match the page
• scissors!

Firstly, measure the length of shoelace you will need to fit your page. Insert pins to mark the spot where you want to sew them to the page, and one on the page where the button at the bottom will go. Plait the strands so you can see what length you will need to reach the place where you want to put a button at the bottom and mark with a pin on each strand. Once unplaited again, I found my pins were at the length of the bottom of my page (about an inch or so below the position of the button).

Sew the top end of the shoelaces down to the page in the three positions marked on the pattern (or adjust as necessary to fit your page), using a zero stitch width zig zag stitch (so it goes back and forth over the same spot). Leave enough of a tail to tie a knot over the stitching to hide it. 

Fold the other ends of the shoelaces over themselves to form loops large enough to fit comfortably over the shank button. Sew the loop closed using the same zero-length zig zag stitch. 

Tie another knot over the stitching. Cut the remainder of the shoelace off with a short tail and melt the edges if made of suitable material - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying. 

Hand sew down a shank button where indicated on the pattern (or adjust to your page). The shank will allow enough room for all three loops to fit under the button.

Lastly, plait the shoelaces and loop them around the shank button to keep them in place.

Difficulty Level = Easy

One of the easiest pages to make!

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Ecclesiastes 4 - God designed us to have friends and family - we are stronger together
• Plaiting - learn how to do a three-stranded plait
• Buttoning - learn how to thread a loop over a shank button
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Ecclesiastes 4

Devotional

I got the idea for this page from a myriad of Christian wedding knot-tying ceremony boards I saw on Pinterest. I loved how they incorporated an Old Testament verse with the image of a cross and the Trinity, for indeed these concepts can be found throughout the Bible.

Cord of Three Strands - Tony Elenburg

I guess a wedding is a perfect example of the Trinity because marriage should be a unity of three - a man, a woman and God. The word used in the Shema to describe God being one is actually the same word used to describe Adam and Eve being one, so it in no way proves a unitarian viewpoint. 

The word Elohim is very interesting. "El" is singular, but the "im" suffix is plural. Although there is a Jewish view that God was speaking to the angels when He said "Let Us make man in Our image", I can't see that we were made in the image of a mixture of God and angels. 

Different versions differ in how Malachi 2:15 is translated, but the ESV is pretty awesome. "Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth."

We were created in God's image, and I believe this includes a tri-une relationship in marriage.

A three stranded cord is not easily broken.

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Do your little ones enjoy learning to plait? Comment below!

Vintage Felts - Creation Circles Day 1

This is Creation Day 1 of a vintage Creation Circles felt board set.

The set is intended to be used over several weeks of Bible Class lessons. Unfortunately I don't have the lessons that go with them, although I'm not even sure if they originally came with lessons. Felt pieces are glued into position on the felt circles (although there are no pieces which are glued onto Day 1). They are displayed for the class to see on a felt board.

The set comes with a set of numbers to match with the creation circles. I have a feeling that the numbers are not intended to be glued down like the other pieces because there is no outline indicating where to attach them like there is for everything else.

I'd say after the series of lessons are complete and the sets have been all put together, that they can be continued to be used and the activity can be matching the correct number to each circle from memory. Revision activities are very important to children's learning.

On Creation Day 1, God created light and separated light from darkness.

Notice that the sun does not appear until day 4... but a space for it to fill has been created.

I believe this set is a vintage version of these Creation Circles by Betty Lukens. I have written to them and received permission to share them with you.

You can get a cartoon type version, Beginner Bible Creation from Little Folk Visuals as well.

Once published, I will link the other Creation Circle posts below (and try to include different information in each post):

• Vintage Felts - Creation Day 2
• Vintage Felts - Creation Day 3
• Vintage Felts - Creation Day 4
• Vintage Felts - Creation Day 5
• Vintage Felts - Creation Day 6
• Vintage Felts - Creation Day 7

Sabbath School Productions - Creation Circles Instruction Sheet

The information sheet suggests singing "This is my Father's World" as part of the lessons. I'm pretty sure this song forms the backbone of the music score used in the hopeful scenes of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy movies directed by Peter Jackson. Let me know if you can recognise it next time you watch!

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Romans 10 - Call on the Name of the LORD Quiet Book Page

In Romans 10, Paul explains what it means for us to call on the name of the LORD.

Memory Verse: For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13 NKJV.

Materials needed to create the Call on the LORD quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used turquoise
• my free Romans 10 - Call on the LORD Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern
• black hard felt
• white hard felt 
• sewing threads to best match the page
• black curly shoelaces - I bought this (not an affiliate link)
• wadding
• one large decorative button for the dial centre
• 14 smaller decorative buttons for the dial numbers
• 10cm of buttonhole elastic
• 2 small buttons to fit the elastic
• kam snap and tool and piercing rod (or darning needle etc)
• hot glue and glue gun
• scissors!

Firstly, cut out the pattern pieces. Cut out the back of the cradle (the larger cradle piece) from black hard felt and sew it onto your page (use the full phone pattern piece to position it where required).

Cut out two handset pieces and two layers of the slightly smaller wadding. Lay the wadding in between the two handset pieces and sew them together tucking in one end of a curly shoelace at the top left corner of the handset as you go.

Sew the smaller cradle piece to the top of your full phone piece leaving the bottom edge unsewn. Then sew the full phone piece onto your page along the top edge between the two pointy cradle pieces. Leave the two pointy cradle pieces as flaps to be used to house the handset. Sew from the bottom outside edge of one flap to around to the bottom outside edge of the other flap, tucking in the other end of your curly shoelace at the bottom right corner of your phone.

Use the full phone pattern piece to line up where to insert the piercing rod. Use the piercing rod to prepare a hole for your kam snap. Insert one half (male or female) of your kam snap. 

Cut out one side of your dial from the white hard felt and sew your large decorative button to the middle. Use the piercing rod to prepare a hole for your kam snap in the middle of a piece of white hard felt which is slightly larger than the dial. Insert the opposite half (male or female) of your kam snap. Add a little hot glue to the smooth back of the kam snap and glue it to the center of the white felt at the back of the button. Sew down the dial and trim off the excess. Sew down your smaller decorative buttons around the edge of the dial as buttons. I followed a North, South, East, West, etc pattern to try to keep the spacing even.

Lastly, sew a small button to the phone base behind the dial south-east of the kam snap, and another to the back of the dial north east of the kam snap. Button each end of the buttonhole elastic to opposite buttons and you are finished! The dial should spring back when you turn and release the dial.

Tahlia says Romans 10:13 and explains how to play with the retro phone quiet book page - call on the name of the LORD and be saved!

Difficulty Level = Easy

The most difficult part is lining the large button up on the dial with the kam snap underneath.

Tahlia shows off the retro phone quiet book page

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Romans 10 - we can call on God anytime through prayer
• Imaginative play - making pretend phone calls is always a fun thing to do for a child
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

The retro phone dial returns to the start like a real retro phone!

Read the Chapter

Romans 10

Devotional

God doesn't have favourites, and He will save those who call on Him.

Paul asks a series of questions:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

♫ Jimmy Little ♥ Royal Telephone ♫

We have been given the privilege of telling people the Good News. If people understand the Good News, they will have faith to call on the name of the LORD. 

That name is Jesus. 

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Have you ever called on the name of the LORD? How did it work out for you? 

Mini Sealed Scroll craft for Bible Class

These are a great craft to do with your Bible class if you want to encourage them to learn memory verses in a fun way. The wax seals really give a certain charm about them.

A page I recently wrote about, Letters to Early Christians quiet book page - Interview with Jessica, has inspired a whole lot of scroll creations. This was not the first, but it seems to be the first I am going to post.

I kinda really like these Mini Sealed Scrolls and I kinda don't. 

They are really cute and fun, but they don't demonstrate that a seal can't be re-sealed after it has been opened...

(Have I mentioned before that I like toys that "work")?

Oh well, they are helping us learn more memory verses.

We used a Posca fabric marker to write the Bible verse. You need to iron it to set it so it doesn't wash out if you need to clean the scroll. But I have used regular pen before and it seems to work fine as well (not sure about the wash-ability though).

Here is a tutorial on how to do the wax seal (I just used felt instead of paper):

Wax Seals for Beginners - Everything You Need to Know! Channel: Katrina Crouch

For the first version I tried making I sewed press studs down on a single sheet of felt, but then I realised that the cotton showed through to the other side - right in the middle of where I wanted to write the Bible verse.

I tried hot gluing the press studs onto felt instead. That seems to have worked, but I am not confident it would last, and this is of course dangerous for small children, so I didn't proceed with that idea.

I tried using Velcro dots instead. Just make sure you set the pen with an iron before adding the Velcro dots or the iron will melt the hot glue and it may come through onto the side with the Bible verse written on it (as you can see below).

I had hoped that using a Velcro dot would make the seal sit flush with the rest of the felt underneath so it looked like it was doing more of the job a seal should be doing, but it is rather thick and the press stud actually looks better.

My stick of seal wax ran low pretty quickly, so I looked up if you can use candle wax instead. You can't - it's not flexible enough. So now I am hankering to try using cheese wax... wish me well!

Now we can't wait to make a bunch of these with everyone in Bible Class!

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Which Bible verse would you choose to write on one of these?

Isaiah 54 - A Promise of Peace Quiet Book Page

God promises a covenant of peace in Isaiah 54. 

Memory Verse: “The Lord says, “This day is like the time of Noah to me. I promised then that I would never flood the world again. In the same way, I promise I will not be angry with you or punish you again. The mountains may disappear, and the hills may come to an end, but my love will never disappear; my promise of peace will not come to an end,” says the Lord who shows mercy to you.” Isaiah:54-9-10 (NCV).

Materials needed to create A Promise of Peace quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used green
• Betty Lukens Felt book 00001 Bible Stories Felt Activity Kit (not an affiliate link)
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!
• pony beads in rainbow colours
• 1.5mm black elastic
• alphabet beads
• small button tie tie off elastic at the back
• two 3mm grommets (and grommet tool set)

Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.

Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. 

Add two grommets to the top right and top left of the Betty Lukens page. I went through both the pocket and background page together (you will still be able to open the pocket. You can google how to do this - it is not as scary as it looks!

Thread the elastic through the grommet from the back of the page and thread on some pony beads in rainbow order (I used two beads per colour), followed by the word 'promise' using your alphabet beads, and then more rainbow beads in reverse order. Thread the elastic back through the other grommet and tie it off through a button at the back (like I did on the Leviticus 25 - Jubilee Calendar Quiet Book Page). This is to prevent the knot coming through the grommets to the front of your page.

Pop the animal pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page! Grommets are not as intimidating as they appear.
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Isaiah 54 - Learn about the Covenant of Peace promised by God
• Imaginative Play - position the animals around Noah's ark and remember God keeps His promises - just like He kept His promise to never again flood the entire Earth like He did in the days of Noah
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Isaiah 54

Devotional

Whilst Isaiah was speaking to the Israelites about the captivity and those that God would bring back afterwards, they prefigure the goodness God will bring upon all believers in the covenant of peace made with blood in the previous chapter (prophesying Jesus' death). This covenant is certain because it is not built on our merit, which is a changeable thing, but on God's mercy, which is from everlasting to everlasting.

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Has this page inspired you?