Tower of Babel kids' Game.

This little game is so much fun, I want to do it myself right now! You'll need spaghetti and Jelly babies. One Jelly baby per strand of spaghetti. That's all.

Game: The Tower of Babel
Genesis 11
Share this story with the children: God had told people to spread over the whole earth, but they decided they had a better idea, to all stay in one place. So God confused their languages so they had to split up and go and do what he’d asked them to do in the first place! The point being that even if we are daft enough to go against God and choose our own ways instead, it will work out rather pointless in the end!
• 11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.
• 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
• 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
• 8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
This fun game is a great opportunity to share with the children what happened at the Tower of Babel.

Working alone or in groups, give each team to same quantity of Spaghetti and Jelly Babies. The object of the game is to build the tallest tower possible in the allotted time, pushing the ends of the spaghetti into the candy to join it together.

You could have winners for style and design as well as height!

*TOP TIP* if you’re struggling to get off the ground, try making the structures entirely of triangles, and you should have more success.

Once the children have all attempted the first tower and seen how the winning design works, have a speed trial. Give the children a meagre one minute event, and see who can build the biggest.

The Minister's Cat game rules

Sharing with your children is going to be a piece of cake today!  I'm not going to have you dancing, cutting, painting, mixing, baking or glueing!

Here's a classic game you may well know by another name, but we call it The Minister's Cat.

All you need is you and a child, or children.  The game is simple. Working through the alphabet, you take turns describing the personality traits of the wonderfully exotic 'Minister's Cat', in any way you choose, inventing as you go along.

The tricky part comes as you move through the alphabet; on each turn you have to remember and say the previous adjectives.

For example, player one may say:
'The Minister's Cat was annoying.'

Player two would then say:
'The Minister's Cat was annoying and brave.'

Player three may say:
'The Minister's Cat was annoying, brave and captivating.'

And so on!

If you are playing with more than one person, players drop out when they fail to remember the sequence correctly.  A two player game is simply lost by the person who forgets first!  It's a lot of fun, and can get very challenging.

Why not take this as an opportunity to talk with your kids about positive and negative behaviours, personality traits and choices?  Why not play two different kinds of cat, a real rotter and one which displays the characteristics of a good Christian?

Fun kids activity about making straight paths

Proverbs 10:9: Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

Anyone familiar with the show will know that Mr Bon-Hovis gets himself into all manner of difficulties walking the crooked path! Here's a great fun activity for today that your kids will love, and offers a great opportunity to discuss how walking the crooked path is difficult and pointless, and you will get caught out eventually!

So, find the longest and narrowest part of your home or building, and using masking tape, set up strips going accross from one wall to the other, all at different heights and angles.

You're going to have a little game of chase using the classic 'dodge the lasers' movie theme.

The child will be trying to escape from the truth (played by you) but isn't allowed to take down any of the tape.

At first, you can move very slowly, so the child has a chance of getting the through, but then put the tape back up and try again and again, with you (truth) moving faster until there's no way the child can escape without getting tangled in the web!

Write on the tape things like lies, stealing, anger, deceit, meanness, so they all represent behaviour we'd like to avoid.

Such fun SUCH FUN! Why not send us pictures of your webs?

Let your light shine kids craft

HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYBODY!

It's a beautiful morning, God loves you, the kingdom of heaven is among us, so let your light shine!

Matthew 5:16
New International Version (NIV)
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Now, I imagine we've all made one of these at some point haven't we? These little lanterns are so quick and easy, and present the perfect opportunity to share with your children about what it means to let your light shine! 

Doing good things which people can see glorifies God, it's like making the light of God which is inside you visible to others!

Take a strip of paper about 15cms x 30 cms, and decorate or pattern it your own way.

Fold it in half long-ways. Then, cut slits along the folded edge, about 2cms apart along the whole length of the paper.

Unfold the paper, and join the two ends together with glue or staples. The original fold should give the lamp its shape, if not then tweak the original folds to pull them out some more.

Glue or staple another strip of paper to the top to make a handle.

Put a child's torch inside to make a lovely night light!

Of course, be careful not not put light sources inside which might over-heat, and certainly not candles.

If you make one, send it in so we can see!

How to make a kids kite that actually flies.

IS IT JUST ME?

I've loved flying toys since I was very small. In fact, one of the Arty Crafty Time slots on the show covers how to make the perfect paper plane!

Often I find myself feeling so sorry for kids coming out of school or nursery with 'kites" they've made which never actually stood any chance of getting airborne! How often have you seen it? The poor little tackers belting around the playground full of hope, string in hand, as the sorry little 'kite" skittles and flaps along on the ground behind them. My heart really goes out to them!

So today, let's cover a few simple rules to ensure you can make easy kites which actually stand a chance of lifting, even though it's only the length of a bendy straw!

It should be fairly easy to work from the simple diagram.

1: Using bendy straws will mean you can create the ESSENTIAL boat shape, which will give the kite balance in the wind.

2: Notice that the tissue will be facing you, when the kite is in the air the straws will be hidden BEHIND the tissue.

3: Use thin light cotton, not string!

4: A tail is essential, cut a 30 or 40 cm tail from the same tissue you used for the kite.

5: As per the diagram, the lead cotton length will need to be a little shorter than the rear length.

6: Use a thin, light craft tissue.

7: Keep the tissue as wrinkle free as possible, if you are very crafty cut a tiny thin dart or sliver along the rear spar to gather in excess loose tissue, and glue closed.

It really should be as simple as that. The most important things are the concave shape, the lightness of the tissue, the cotton thread, the tail on the kite and the point at which the main line joins the front and rear thread. You may need to attempt a few different lengths to get it right.

Using felt pens, follow the cross of the drinking straws to make a Christian cross motif on the kite! Talk to your children about being bold in sharing the love of Jesus and talking about him. Talk about how celebrating Jesus openly is like flying a kite all the time with his cross stamped on it!

Send us in your pics of your kite!

Making cupcakes with kids

It's Saturday!

Now then everybody, if you're not going to make cakes with your kids today, are you ever going to?

In our experience there are few things you can do which children will enjoy more than baking cakes with you, licking the bowl and then enjoying the gorgeous chocolatey goodness.

So today, make some cupcakes with your children. How is that Christian you might ask? Well it couldn't be more simple, make a batch of 12 and call them apostle cakes! Take the opportunity to talk with your children about what it must have been like to be one of the apostles, and how following Jesus is similar today to the way it was when he walked the earth.

Talk about what it must have been like to be Jesus' close friend, and share with them about how we are his close friend today!

Easy!

Here's an easy recipe which assumes you're not a baker! And Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew are all about keeping it simple...

For 12 nice big cupcakes try this:
2 medium eggs,
4 ounces butter
4 ounces sugar
4 ounces self raising flour.
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

How simple is that? Cream together the butter and sugar, and whisk the eggs so they contain bubbles. This will help them rise. Add the eggs carefully to the mix, folding in to keep the air.

Sieve the flower in to add more light airiness, and mix in. Add a little baking powder for extra lightness.

Divide your mix between 12 casings and bake on 160 degrees for about 20 mins.

For extra added yum-ability, remove the core in one piece, fill with scrummy chocolate spread, split the core in two and replace in a 'butterfly' shape.

Quick, easy and delicious apostle cakes that anyone can manage!

Send in your pics and share with us how it went!

Christian kids crafts and activities

In case you missed it last time, Jovis Bon-Hovis has started his own facebook page!

Why not connect right now? The page is aimed at parents, carers, leaders and teachers who are raising kids in the Christian faith. It's a great place to get together,share ideas and build a community of like-minded people.

Every day Jovis Bon-Hovis will be sharing a fun and quick activity, game, study or song to take the pressure off you and your time, enabling you to do what you do best, give your time ad your love to the kids that need it.

Follow Jovis Bon-Hovis today, and share the love of the Lord with your kids every day!

get on board the glory train with Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew!  All the things we share are aimed at busy people who don't want to spend the time trawling the net for something fun and godly to share with their kids every day.  Jovis has done it for you.  All the studies, songs, activities and games are quick, easy and fun and require little or no preparation.

Bring the love of the Lord Jesus into the lives of children in your care every day in a way they will remember and enjoy.

Follow Jovis Bon-Hovis on facebook TODAY!

Christian kids' crafts

The first instalment of Christian activities for kids has been posted on the new Jovis Bon-Hovis facebook page today!

Be sure to visit http://www.facebook.com/jovis.bonhovis and follow for daily fun stuff to share with your kids!

Beautiful new Christian Worship Music song.

Well here's something rather lovely, I'm delighted with this.  I don't think I've heard anything quite like this before.  Christian worship music can be a bit samey, so I make the point of trying to go for a unique style.  It sounds obvious, but in any business there are do's and don't's.

There are ways to make a Christian worship song, and on a very basic level there are formulas you could follow 1234 and bang you have a worship song. I didn't want to do that.  What I do is make music I want to listen to.  If I like it, then the chances are somebody else will too.  Hope it blesses you!  Don't forget to subscribe!

Christian Kids TV Jovis Bon-Hovis on facebook!

Great news to all the fans of Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew, you can now connect with us on facebook!

The Jovis Bon-Hovis facebook page will be used to support adults who are leading, teaching or raising children in the Christian faith with ideas, games, crafts and activities for daily use, making it easy for you to introduce fun and gospel truth into the lives of young children with a sense of joy and fun!

Come and be among the very first to get on board the Glory Train with Jovis Bon Hovis and the Creation Crew!

Christian worship songs

Dear lovely people,

A brand new release Christian worship song for you today, fresh from the UK.
This lovely passionate song is all about sharing God's love with joy and celebration, and not keeping it all to yourself. 'You're not a motionless reservoir, you're God's waterfall!'

Let's celebrate God's love together today and 'Give it away!'

Make sure you take the opportunity to share this lovely new song with your friends and family on your blogs, Facebook etc.

I really hope it blesses you all. God bless, Joe. xxx

Free Christian Worship Song Music

Check out the crazy keyboard solo, I dare you!

You know what?  I'm just gonna say it, this Christian worship song is not easy to like!  It's a real Marmite song.  I absolutely love it, it's one of my favourites and the keyboard gives me goosebumps.  But contrarily, my wife wants to punch me in the face whenever I play it.

So there is a danger of involuntary violent angst.

Well good!  I want my music to cause a strong emotional response!  Let's try to draw the line at actual GBH though shall we?

The words are very meaningful to me, and it's a real celebration of a Christian worship song, all about having discovered the real worth of Jesus.  Enjoy! Or not...

New Christian Worship Song

This is a brand new Christian Worship song video release, a never before heard song especially for the lovers of the Lord Jesus on the interweb!

It's a song about growing up, and realising what's important in life.  That the real treasure is a good relationship with God!

Have a look, and enjoy!  Copyright Joseph Cheetham-Wilkinson 2013, all rights reserved.

Science versus Religion

Science versus Religion...
And the winner is...neither.

Firstly, let's have both sides climb down from the imaginary intellectual and moral high-ground respectively. We both just end up sounding like der brains.  Der brains with flashy toys that make us think we've invented life or der brains who can just cry 'Anti-Christ' every time there's something we feel threatens our understanding of our religion.

PACK IT IN!  DER BRAINS!

Let's establish a couple of great key points to start our new journey of understanding from.

Science-types: You will never convince a believer that there is no God by showing him your new big equation that doesn't have a number for God and appears to work any way, not gonna happen so just take your broads, your strings and your Haricot Verts, pop them in a little bowl and stick them in your general purpose lab fridge.  What I'm saying here is chill your beans.

God Squad: Threatening an intelligent, analytical human being who seeks evidence, proof and logic with fire and torment from what sounds like some sort of fantasy from a fairy tail will probably lend you as much credibility as attempting to engage an Italian in conversation by just adding 'io' to the end of every word and wondering why they don't know what on earth you're on about and think you're a bit of a nob.

There is one simple fact that we all need to accommodate in our thinking as Chrsitians:  If and when science has crystal clarity and has finally figured out everything that it wanted to know, there will be no conflict, it's God's universe.  Truth is truth.  Unless you're worried that if they keep on discovering it'll turn out that God is not there after all?  Is that why we're feeling a little insecure?  Take heart, God will never disappear in a puff of logic, but we must always be prepared to accept who He really is, and not cling to what we hoped He would be or thought He was.  If you think you've got God figured out and need Him to just stay still, well that's a pretty dead faith isn't it? God, Scripture and Christ are cosmically awesome, and don't need to be pinned down by us.

There is another simple fact which we would all do well to accommodate as scientists and analytical thinkers:  There is a notion that where science leads, those of faith drag behind kicking and screaming against obvious truths.  This is false.  Numerous people throughout history believed or postulated that the earth was round, some were Christians, some lovers of science, but importantly there were always scientists who believed it was flat at the turning point of scientific understanding, and many more than would have thought it round, the majority at various points in history.  Fact.  The notion that the cutting edge of scientific discovery represents any sort of perpetual new era at any given time should be treated with much caution.  If history teaches us anything about science it's that we never know everything we think we know, we've never completely cracked it and there's always something else to discover.  Those not available to possibilities and maybes should not be scientists, but hard-line radical preachers.

To conclude this ridiculously brief blurt, consider this.  We have two apparently opposing points of view, one with creator and one without.  At the heart of the matter, there is no way in which either party fully understands that we, this universe and the incredible intelligent beings in it could possibly be here.  And yet here we are.  Creator or no Creator?  One is no more ridiculous than the other, both options are mind boggling, amazing,  phenomenal, ridiculous and requiring some level of wacky thinking to accommodate.

And if you're a Christian, then you at least should understand that at the end of it all science and religion are one and the same thing.  Not now sure, but in the end.

Personally, I'm a hard-core Bible bashing Jesus freak through and through, but as such I should be a lover of truth, whether it suits me or not, as should anybody saying the are a science type.

Working with Christian Businesses

This is just a little aside, but there are some people who, if given the chance would rather work with a Christian business where possible.  This can of course present it's own unique set of challenges, but perhaps it's worth persevering with.

I'm sure there's an argument both ways, perhaps as Christians we should be looking out into the world and try to avoid being insular altogether, letting our light shine so to speak.  That's a fair point.   But one might also argue that community and fellowship are crucial to the Christian life, and opportunities for such should be nurtured wherever possible.

I'm comfortable that there is a middle ground.  Perhaps when we make a choice as to which business to hire or work with as Christians we may draw several points together for balanced consideration.  Quality, value, desire to encourage and support...

As long as we're aware of the potential dangers of the choices we face to lead us into being people we may not choose to be.  It might be very good to say 'I like to encourage Christians...' fair enough.  Could that fan into flame an unrelated, unhelpful little spark; 'I only use Christians.'? Sounds like the same thing but is actually coming from a very different place, that's not about love, community and caring, that's about exclusion, fear and judgement.  So we must be very careful.

How quickly might we then say 'I don't use people of other faiths?'  Unless we allow God in to judge the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts Christians can and do end up doing very much the wrong things for what seem on the surface to be the right reasons.

With that in mind, if you feel you can support a Christian business from a good heart then try these;
http://www.fencingstafford.co.uk
http://www.builder-stafford.co.uk

How to make the perfect paper plane.

How to make a perfect paper plane. 

A surprise win for our Christian kids' TV show Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew.  It seems that for all the videos we're putting on Youtube from the show, the two types which are the most successful are firstly the songs, and then secondly the Arty-Crafty Time slot!

That's great, I'm comfortable with that.  We've even had feedback from people talking to us about how their kids have engaged with the show and tried out some of the arts and crafts.

They were designed to be very simple and straightforward  for the most part crafts that the kids would be able to do without any adult help at all with the exception perhaps of younger ones needing help with scissors.

Anyway, have a look at this paper craft video which shows you how to make what I think is the best paper plane.  You will have more success with the glide if you make the wings wider, but for the show and demonstrating the folds in the paper on TV I needed to have the wing fold match up with the bottom of the fuselage.  Give it a go and let us know how your flew!

New Christian Worship Video

Hello to all my viewers today in the world-o-sphere!

I have spent yesterday filming and editing a new worship video for your delight and delectation, and I hope you enjoy it!  It's close to my heart this one, as it speaks all about how Jesus sometimes becomes the most visible when we are in our most desperate state.

What I mean by that is that the power of the gospel is found in our need for it, and Gods amazing grace is revealed in our weakness.  Of course Jesus came to save sinners, not the righteous, and so sometimes when we slip and stumble, the love of God and His wonderful forgiveness can be all the more vivid.

The song tells of beautiful good intentions, the desire never to sleep as a metaphor for our relationship with God, and the sincere wish to be in constant perfect communion with Christ, whilst confessing to a reality of failures in which Jesus shows us all too clearly that our righteousness is not our own, but His.

I really hope you enjoy this song today, and do be sure to share it on your website and Facebook etc.

Christian kids songs site.

If you ever lose my thread, or have forgotten to bookmark the site for example, then you can always find your way back home by visiting http://www.christiankidssongs.info . It's just a one page site that will help you find your way back to our Youtube clips. It's easy to remember eh?

Christian kids songs .info.  Who could ever forget that?

Comments on Christian kids' TV, Worship and kids' songs.

Just a great big thank you for all your lovely comments.

In a world of internet trolling and silly people saying naughty things on-line, it's very encouraging to note that the vast majority of comments we're getting for our work is positive and genuine.

I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage YOU to comment more.  We are not a very large team, and we don't have a huge audience.  We're also quite unusual in that our primary motivation for producing Christian worship music, Christian kids' songs and Christian kids' TV isn't to make money.  Of course we hope that there will be income from it, but first we do it for love.

So your input means the world to us.  I suppose I'm as guilty as anybody, it's not often that I comment on videos I've seen on-line, even if I've thought it was wonderful.  I reckon we're used to thinking there is a kind of distance between us and the producers, which is far more true of traditional television and music than it is of Youtube and websites like this one for example.

So please, do comment, it really spurs us on and we read and reply to every genuine one.  And don't forget to subscribe right here! http://www.youtube.com/user/ChristianMoviesUK?feature=mhee

Stafford Gardening Serivces

Just to put it out there, you may or may not know I run a small business contacting out gardening work to trusted local businesses, and now is the time you really need to be starting to think about your gardens!

There are all sorts of little gardening jobs that need to be done, as well as the patio, some new decking, or getting the fence fixed before BBQ season kicks in!

If you like dealing with a Christian business then I'd love to help you get the work done right if you live inor around Stafford in the UK.

You can see our website here: http://staffordgardener.co.uk/  Nothing to do with Christian kids' songs or Christian kids' TV this one!