Christianity Cove {a review}

Christianity Cove is an online resource where you can find free Sunday school lessons, Bible games, crafts, and activities, as well as electronic Sunday school products for purchase.  I was given the opportunity to review two of their products for purchase – Bible Memory Games and The 10 Commandments Activity Kit.

Bible Memory Games consists of 42 games that help children memorize scripture using visual, audible, and hands-on techniques.  Your child will have the opportunity to learn 50 scriptures that are broken down into 7 categories – Salvation, Love, Faith, Good Behavior, Heaven, Faith Over Fear, and Seeking God.  In each category, you will find 6 games – 2 visual games, 2 audible games, and 2 hands-on games.

Here is a list of some of the games –

• Unscramble the Words – write each word of the scripture on an index card and have the kids put them in the correct order.
• Spot Light on You – Dim the lights and have the children stand in a circle.  When you shine the flash light on a child, it is their turn to say the scripture.
• Pass the Torch – Have children stand in a line and the first person says the first word of the scripture and then passes the “torch” to the next child who says the first word and the second word of the scripture and then passes the torch to the third child who says the first, second, and third word of the scripture, and so on.
• Clap Clap to the Scriptures – Pair up children and have them say the scripture to the rhythm of a clap sequence.
• Index Card Treasure Hunt -write each word of the scripture on an index card.  Hide the index cards around the room and have the children find them.  After all of the cards have been found, have the children put the cards in the correct order.
• Point it Out Mural Making – Children place the words in the right order by drawing a line to the appropriate spot, then they color in the spaces between the lines, creating a colorful mural.

Check out the video on the website to see three games from this program.

Each week we focused on a different category and chose one scripture from that category to learn.  We learned the scripture in 3-4 days by doing 3-4 different games that week.  Even though the games are geared toward Sunday school classes, the games were easily adaptable for home use and in my opinion can be used with kids ages 3 and older.  I loved that there was very little preparation required for these games, and most importantly, the kids enjoyed the games and learned the scriptures in no time.  I would often catch my 4-year-old reciting the scriptures she had learned when she thought no one was looking!  Some of the things I didn’t like about the program (but you can easily work around) was the competition aspect of the games.  Most of the time the games are to be played with two teams competing with candy as a reward; I didn’t like the idea of candy as a reward or that kids were competing against one another.  We did without the candy or the teams and just focused on learning the scriptures.  Learning the scriptures and having fun as a family were the real rewards for us.  I also felt that the quality of the printables (some of the games are printable worksheets) were poor and I feel that the price of $29 is a little steep.

The 10 Commandments Activity Kit is “an in-depth study” of the 10 Commandments for ages 4-11 that includes games, crafts, songs, snacks, and worksheets.

The kit consists of 2 lessons, 3 games, 3 crafts, 2 songs, 2 snack ideas, 1 science project, and 3 worksheets.  Our family took two weeks to go through this kit.  We did one lesson per week and several of the other activities each week to reinforce the lessons.  Our favorite parts were the games and the crafts.  And as a busy mom, I loved that all of the activities in the kit were easy to implement and required very little preparation time.  I really didn’t feel that this kit provided “an in-depth study” of the 10 Commandments, but was rather a way for kids to learn and memorize the 10 Commandments.  Right now the kit is available for $27 as an early bird special for the first 250 orders, and then the price goes up to $47.  I feel that the regular price of the product is very high and even feel that the early bird pricing is a little high as well.

Overall, our family enjoyed both of these products from Christianity Cove.  The ease of use was great, it was fun for all ages, and we loved learning God’s word together.  However, I feel that the prices are quite high for these products, and as a mom who watches what she spends, I would not pay this price for these products.