WorkshopCycles Single Units

WorkshopCycles Single Units

WorkshopCycles takes seriously the spiritual development of children while providing creative, hands-on activities to help children learn the stories of God and God's people. Children work on the same story or concept for several weeks, using different learning approaches each week. Each Unit includes workshops in Art, Drama,Music, Story, Computer, Movie and Kitchen. You can purchase individual units below or become a WorkshopCycles Member and have access to and use all of these units while your membership is active.

101 Ways to Pray

by Tracey E. Herzer

Children experience prayer methods from many different cultures - memorize the Lord's Prayer, walk a labyrinth, use yoga & guided meditation, understand intercessory prayer & prayer shawl ministries,  pray or chant the Psalms, modify Tibetan prayer flags and MORE!

12 Who Changed the World

A children's unit for Sunday School or other times to explore what it means to be a disciple and follower of Jesus. During the unit, we'll learn the names & characteristics of the ordinary men Jesus called to do God's extraordinary work and discuss what DOES it mean to "fish for people?"  Come and see...!

Advent - Stations of the Crèche

Similar to the way that Stations of the Cross helps tell the story leading to Easter, our Stations of the Crèche (a French word meaning "crib" or "cradle") will help children understand the nativity story. Walk the story from Old Testament prophets to the birth of a king, and discover how this story affects our lives today.

All About the Bible

Children explore the history, structure and meaning of our sacred text. They look at how the Bible came to be - when, where and how it was written, as well as how it is organized. They will learn how to find chapters and verses, memorize the books of the Bible in song and find out how to tell the Bible's story in just 50 words!

Baptism: Marked as Christ's Own Forever

WorkshopCycles unit that includes baptismal symbols and personal stories about the meaning of the sacrament.  It invites children to explore God's presence in wind and water -- and to appreciate the reality that God knows each of us by name.

Be Alert, Shepherds!

This unit helps children experience the Christmas story from the shepherds' unique point of view exploring questions like... What do Shepherds watch for? What do we watch for in Advent? What are a shepherd's responsibilities?  What tools does a shepherd use? How can we apply this to our Advent waiting?

Before Judge Judy

Many of our children only know about judges what they've seen on TV, but this unit teaches them the stories of three important Israelite judges: Deborah, Gideon and Samson.  They will learn about consequences and making choices, as well as what it means to try to listen and obey God's voice.

Body of Christ

We are the Body of Christ -- and in this unit, children explore this ancient metaphor to learn what the church is intended to be as we work together to become the hands, the feet, the voice, the presence of God in the world. Activities include mosaic work, puzzles and learning what gifts we can contribute to the church body.

Emmanuel: God With Us!

This Advent cycle is about the birth of Jesus and the amazing ways in which that Gift changed everything for all of us. It is not just the retelling of the central Christmas story, but also helps us dig deeper and think about  the gift of "God with us".

Esther: The Queen Who Saved Her People

Using games, food and theatrical readings from the Jewish celebration of Purim, we learn the story of Queen Esther and how she trusted God and saved her people.

Experiencing the Millennium Development Goals

In 2000, leaders from 190 countries met together and agreed on eight Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015 to eradicate extreme poverty, reduce child mortality rates and fight epidemic diseases such as AIDS and malaria. This unit helps us explore the MDGs and learn how WE can help!

Hurting Hearts and Helping Hands

Hurting Hearts and Helping Hands helps children learn about Haiti before and after the devastating earthquake in January 2010. Children hear stories and learn songs from Haiti, make mud cookies, take an imaginary boat trip and play games, while connecting Christ's command to help and serve others.

Jeremiah: The Prophet & The Potter

In the stories of Samuel, David, Mary, Esther and others - we are reminded that God often has special tasks for young people - even children. In this cycle, we study the story of Jeremiah, a prophet who was called as a child and told to bring God's messages to the kingdom of Judah.

John: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness

An Advent unit on John the Baptist and an introduction to baptism. The cycles addresses: How do prophets shine a light? What are prophets? Who was John the Baptist and what was his message? How was his message connected with the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah and with the birth of Jesus?

King David

 

David is one of the most beloved and well-known Bible characters. From the shepherd boy who played his lyre and fought Goliath, to the mighty king who reestablished the Israelite nation and envisioned a temple to bring God's people together, David is a significant part of our religious heritage.  A shrewd political leader and a flawed human being, he was still called "a man after God's own heart".

Let There Be Light [Epiphany]

Children discover creation stories and how we continue to care for the world God made for us. This cycle works well during Epiphany or during the Easter/spring season if the optional gardening workshop is used.

Miracles of Jesus

This is a FREE sample unit from the WorkshopCycles Membership. In it you will learn about the miraculous things that Jesus did and the lives he touched. Use these workshops for Sunday School or VBS. A favorite activity for this cycle is making fish prints from real fish!

Samuel: The Boy Who Listened to God

A children's unit about Samuel growing up in the temple and learning to hear God's voice.  Activities include investigating the role of priests & pastors, comparing themes from The Lion King movie to the Christian experience, and learning about the importance of our names.

The Beatitudes

The Sermon on the Mount includes some of Jesus' most well-known teachings, including what we now think of as The Beatitudes.  This children's unit helps us look at how Jesus changed our understanding of what it means to be blessed and how we can recognize the beatitudes in our world today.

The Good Shepherd

A fun Spring cycle for playing outside while learning about the Good Shepherd who cares for all of us. Activities include: making dioramas, sheep obstacle course and follow the leader, Disney's Finding Nemo (learning about the Parable of the Lost Sheep) and singing hymns and songs about shepherds. Perfect for VBS too!!

The Moses Chronicle

Children examine the life of Moses as the story for this cycle. Using everything from the well-known story of the baby in the bulrushes to clips from Dreamwork's popular Prince of Egypt movie, children will learn about how God called Moses and the encounters with Pharaoh, as well as the plagues, Exodus and Passover.

The Mystery of Easter

For centuries, Christians have walked Stations of the Cross as a way to engage in the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. This cycle uses some of the traditional stations to talk about what it means to fall down, to carry heavy burdens, to be a friend, to share comfort and to discover new life in unexpected ways.

This is My Body

Children learn about communion: what it means, why it is important and how the tradition was given to us. A great cycle for Lent, it includes: baking eucharistic bread, making things needed for worship, the movie Jesus and a Last Supper "picnic."

What is Worship?

We believe children can learn about worship and benefit from being a part of community worship, well before they would ever be able to define or explain it.  This unit examines some of what happens in a church service and helps children connect with it as their relationship with God grows.

What Makes My Church Special?

What Makes My Church Special teaches children about their church in a hands-on way. Activities include: a tour of special places in the church and interacting with parish leaders. Children learn about your church's history, get to meet some its ministers (ordained and lay) and explore hospitality in the Christian community.

When Jesus was a Child

This children's unit combines history and imagination... Using only what is found in scripture, we have almost no information about Jesus as a child, but by exploring the story of 12-year-old Jesus in the temple and our understanding of the ancient world, Jewish customs and the temple, we share theories about what Jesus' everyday life might have been like while he was growing up.