Meet My New Book ~ First Steps in Missions!

First Steps in Missions, Ideas and Activities for Preschoolers and Teachers

 by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

I'm honored to announce the release of First Steps in Missions, Ideas and Activities for Preschoolers and Teachers, Volume 22.

What? You already have a copy?

True. It was available in late summer. I was barely available. Thank you for going on without me and getting your copy!

My honey and I were eyebrow deep in cleaning, packing, sorting, storing, and donating our belongings. Why? We sold our home. I should say, God sold our home. In 3 days.

That was a quick sale and left us with no free time to do anything. Except move.

Never fear, we are not homeless. Many of you have already seen the pictures. We are full-time RV'ers living in a solid (though you can feel it move when walking inside), warm (we hope), and quite spacious RV with our 2 crazy kitties. The excitement and adventure is fantastic! Let's just not mention the period of adjustment, shall we?

In the midst of this transition, First Steps in Missions was released. I'm very excited to see this work in print.

In honor of this project, I am going to take a monthly walk through each chapter and area of the world, choose my favorite activity, and flesh out additional ways to use the activity with preschoolers. So much fun!

Coming soon: September fun in the Philippines.

If you would like your own copy, I'm thrilled to direct you on the right paths. First Steps in Missions, Volume 22

Thanks for stopping by!

Meet My Baby - The Stack (of Paper)

The completed manuscript with sources, sketches, and documents

This is what I've been up to. Instead of blogging.

There is not much time left in my days (weeks, months) after planning, writing, editing, printing, sourcing, compiling, emailing, packaging, and mailing this baby.

Oh, yes. This is my baby. The first half of a 12-month activity book for preschoolers and missions has been delivered (emailed and mailed) to my faithful preschool resource team at Woman's Missionary Union.

The completed manuscript package and its twin - the emergency copy that can be mailed if the PO loses the original

Now they get to do their huge part.

And I will continue on with the above steps for the second half of the book.

The writing life is grand.   

A glimpse of the chaos that is my office, including desk, side table, and floor

The Bear in the Book ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

The Bear in the Book
By Kate Banks
Illustrated by Georg Hallensleben
(Frances Foster Books, 2012)

Who doesn't love books about bears?

The Bear in the Book is a story of a boy, a book, and bedtime. Oh, and of course a big black bear features prominently in this tale of a mother convincing her child to go to sleep.

As the mother reads about the bear in the book, the little boy learns all about winter and hibernating bears and seasons. Winter turns to spring and the bear awakes, ready to cross the pages of the book to get into sunshine.

But the boy has fallen asleep.

Young readers will love the muted illustrations (though brightly colored), the snoozing bear, and all that goes on outside the den while the bear sleeps away the winter.

KID KANDY:

Make a Den

Bears spend winter hibernating in caves or dens. Make your own den.

Use a sheet or blanket (or several). Spread it over a table and let it hang over the edges. Or you can push furniture together to make the walls and use the sheet over the top. Clothespins will help hold the edges down.

Turn yourself into a bear. Creep around on your hands and knees. Pretend to eat lots of nuts and berries and fish to get fat for the winter (bears don't eat all winter long!). Fat enough? Now it's time to hibernate.

Crawl into your den. Make a cozy nest with pillows and blankets. Scooch around until you are comfy.

Shhh. Good-night, little bear. Good-night.

I Can Give - Terrific Tuesday Picture Book & KID KANDY Activity

I Can Give
By Angie Quantrell
Illustrated by Gayle Lopez
(Woman's Missionary Union, 2003)

I Can Give is the second/third book in the I Can Series (WMU Preschool Resources). I say second/third because I wrote two books at the same time - I Can Give and I Can Do It.

While challenging, and sometimes confusing, featuring a Hispanic family in I Can Give kept my brain from straying too often to I Can Do It, which features a Chinese American family.

I Can Give, colorfully illustrated by Gayle Lopez, is about Juan Carlos and his little sister, Gabriela. Juan Carlos is learning all of the different ways that we can give. With his family, he explores giving his time, energy, resources, and talents. Juan Carlos learns that giving can be about money, but is also so much more (friendship, help, flowers, and so on).

Learning how to give to others is an important character trait for young children to see and practice.

Besides being a book about giving, I Can Give is also a book about diversity. While the main story is in English, each page features a sentence in Spanish (complete with pronunciation guide). Boys and girls will enjoy both the story and learning to say some things in Spanish.

A note to parents (about giving), Bible thoughts to use with preschoolers, Bible verses for parents, and giving activities are included at the end of I Can Give.

I Can Give is available at www.wmustore.com under the Preschool Resources tab and by calling 1-800-968-7301.

KID KANDY:

Giving 4 Ways

Consider each of the following four areas in which to give. Brainstorm with your family and choose one way to give for each. Some ideas are listed to get you started. Work together to practice giving!

TIME
How can you give your time to others?

~ helping neighbors pick up trash, visiting nursing home residents, help babysit so a single-parent can have a night out

ENERGY
What ways can you use your energy to give to others?

~ play with a child who does not have a friend, help grandma clean her yard, push a baby in a stroller for a walk

TALENT
How can you use your talents to help others?

~ help wash the car, make pictures for someone who is sick, sing songs for the neighbors

RESOURCES
How can you give of your resources to help others?

~ collect money to send to hungry children, gather food items for the food bank, do chores to earn money to give to people in other countries for fresh water


Angie Quantrell enjoyed imagining Juan Carlos and his family as she wrote I Can Give. She loves helping boys and girls learn how to give and help others.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm - Books You Can Sing

Old MacDonald Had a Farm with Pictures By Holly Berry (Scholastic, 1994).

I may have had this book since it was published in 1994! The edges certainly look well loved.

I love singing books, which leads to children memorizing the words and singing books, which leads to children connecting memorized words to text on pages, which leads to reading and the love of books! What a fun and amazing ride!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm makes its appearance each fall when the FARM theme comes to life. Most students and children are familiar with this song utilizing farm animal sounds. We have a grand time singing, making animal noises, and acting out animal movements.

Berry enlivens this popular children's song by adding the element of animal participation - by allowing them to become band members who play and sing with the Old MacDonald. And a fun time was had by all . . .

You know it. You are humming the song. E-I-E-I-O.

Families on Mission, Ideas for Teaching Your Preschooler to Love, Share, and Care

Families on Mission, Ideas for Teaching Your Preschooler to Love, Share, and Care by Angie Quantrell (Woman's Missionary Union, New Hope Publishing, 2005)

Families on Mission, Ideas for Teaching Your Preschooler to Love, Share, and Care was written when I was deep in the midst of preschool and early childhood education. After teaching four and five-year-olds for several years, I was full of ideas of ways to involve preschoolers in missions. This book is a catalog of simple activities for families to do along with their young children.

For preschoolers, missions is loving, caring, and sharing. Learning to reach out to other people in loving ways, helping them, praying for them, and caring for them, are important concepts that families need to teach and live out as they raise children that grow up to continue doing the same thing. The world is really a small place. Becoming a caring member of any community is important in our world.

Loving, caring, sharing, praying, giving, doing, helping, my friends, my church, my neighborhood, and my world are the themes for the eleven chapters in this book. Each topic has multiple activities, ideas, and suggestions for parents. This book is also appropriate for teachers, grandparents, families, daycare workers, and anyone else who works with young children and wants to model a lifestyle of reaching out and loving others. The ideas are geared for young children. Some activities revolve around the nuclear family. Other ideas involve extended family, church members, or community members.

Make a difference in the life of your preschooler. Choose and adapt the ideas for your situation. Have fun!

Enjoy missions - loving, caring, sharing, praying - with your preschooler.

Reaching the World's Hungry

FYI - There are two new and wonderful resources available in the flick of a fleas' foot (downloadable from the Internet). Check these out if you want to teach a group about world hunger and get some discussion going on what to do to help.

Both are available from www.wmustore.com.


World Hunger 101 - World Hunger Event Promotion Pack by Angie Quantrell (gee, that name sounds familiar, hmmmm), $9.99. This downloadable booklet, posters, and plans give directions and information for a two-hour reality experience about hunger. Ideas and suggestions are given for ages preschool through adult. In our area, the northwest, October and November are months that reflect harvest, thankfulness, and giving to help those in need. This hunger experience and discussion will surely lead your group to reaching out to others.

Teaching Preschoolers About Hunger by Jennifer Cox (I know her, too!) is available for a longer focus on hunger. This resource will help preschoolers understand hunger in our country and world in an interactive 4-week study. This resource is also $9.99.

Ready to make an impact? Now you have the help to get going. Check them out!

Tip: Want to have a collection container that tells exactly what the money is for? www.wmustore.com also has the perfect savings bank - in the shape of a loaf of bread! It's called the World Hunger Bread Bank.

London - 2011 International Mission Study

I adore London! The history, the Underground, tea and scones, jam and clotted cream, museums, shopping...the people!

I just received my copy of the new International Mission Study 2011 Teaching Guide for Preschoolers. Now, seriously, who else is going to enjoy learning about London and the culture of families that live there MORE than preschoolers? Well, maybe the teachers and helpers!

Check out this resource, by yours truly, for some great ideas on things to do with preschoolers while they learn about and experience different facets of life in London. ;0

Look for Mission Friends (preschoolers) resources at www.wmustore.com and www.wmu.com.