It really warms my heart to hear that Sunday is my children’s favourite day of the week. They love wearing pretty dresses, seeing their little friends, and going to their Sunday School classes, but if you asked them they would probably tell you that their favourite part of church is the snacks that are served!

It is really important to me that my children love the Lord and His people, and I especially want them to grow up feeling at home and joyful among their church family. It is challenging though, both for them and for us as parents, to have a successful Sunday morning.

The most challenging part of our Sunday meetings with young children is often our worship meeting. Our church has two meetings Sunday morning; the first is the Lord’s Supper or our worship meeting, and the second is a teaching/preaching meeting while Sunday School is running for the children. The worship meeting is a mostly quiet meeting; comprised of singing, praying, scripture reading, and the sharing of thoughts concerning Christ. Children attend this meeting with their parents, but it is often hard for little ones to sit still and quiet, especially for that long. This is where our Sunday bags come in!

Each of my girls has their own “Chapel Bag” in which they carry their Bibles, colouring/activity books, notebooks, pencils and stickers. I mostly avoid putting any toys in the bags, but Little Sister does have a tin of magnet animals that she uses.

Here’s what’s currently in Big Sister’s bag:

1. ESV Seek & Find Bible
2. Lego Friends Sticker book
3. Small spiral notebook
4. pens/pencils
5. God & Me – Devotions for Girls

Here’s what’s currently in Little Sister’s bag:

1. The Jesus Storybook Bible
2. Small spiral notebook
3. pens/pencils
4. Littlest Petshop magnet tin
5. various stickers
6. The Beginner’s Bible Wild About Creation Sticker & Activity Book

Big sister will often read her Bible (or another book she has brought along) and sing the hymns along with the adults, but she does still occasionally draw or colour during the meeting. Little Sister has a much more difficult time in the meeting, and while she starts out by flipping through her story Bible, she quickly tires of that and her other activities and ends up on Daddy’s lap whispering “Is it almost over?”.

This week I have had the pleasure of reviewing a new activity book for Little Sister’s use; The Beginners Bible Wild About Creation Sticker and Activity Book. This book was provided to me free of charge from the publisher through BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.

I tucked this new book into Little Sister’s Sunday bag for a test run this week, and I had a very happy camper! The Wild About Creation Sticker and Activity Book is a 16 page, full colour, activity and sticker book for children aged 4-8. It has lovely, glossy pages, over 50 stickers, and a variety of activities to keep little ones busy and entertained. It was just perfect for my almost 5 year old – she loved the high quality stickers, and the traceable line drawings and words were perfectly suited to her developmental level and skill.

The activity book chronicles the Genesis account of the creation of the world, with activities such as using stickers to put the stars in the sky, tracing Adam’s name, finding the differences between two garden scenes, and a completing a maze to help Adam find Eve. It covers the first day of creation, through to the fall. It kept my daughter’s attention for the full hour, and at least half of the book still remains to be completed. She didn’t even get started on the colouring yet, and a good half or more of the stickers remain to be used. I do think that the book is well below the level of my 7 year old, although she would likely enjoy it just the same. I think it is ideally suited to preschool through first grade, and would make a lovely and affordable gift that would delight the recipient. And for us of course, it is just perfect to stuff into a little church bag! The only downside I can see to this book is its size – because we use this type of books regularly, I would love to see a larger book! With a relatively low price point, it’s definitely a good value for the money though.

If your young children sit with you in church, how do you help them to sit quietly and enjoy the experience?

This post in linked up at the Hip Homeschool Hop!