Over the last couple days I have been working on a video for the introduction of the family service this weekend.  Its been funny to watch my sister get these ah-ha momments as she watched me. 

One of the things I do on a regular basis to keep up to date on what will work with kids is to watch all the things they watch.  It gives me all the up to date research for free.  You see, all these companies like Disney and Nick put millions of dollars into research every year.  They really do know what works and what dosen't.  The evidence?  Well, what are your kids watching?  So people poke fun at me for watching movies and kid's shows constantly.  I call it research but they don't understand.  This week my sister finally did.

The subject for the weekend is Noah's ark and we have to put on a production that kids and parents will both enjoy.  The first few momments will make or break the whole show, so an intro video is usually the way to go. 

Well this video starts with a booming voice that says "Noah....Noah.  Its going to rain."  then Noah pulls out an umbrella and the voice says "No...I mean its going to flood." Then Noah pulls out a float and the voice says "No...No I mean its going to flood like you have never seen."  The next part is where my sister got her ah-ha momment.  It has a picture of a field and says "If you build it they will come" and then a couple clips of someone building.  A narrator's voice comes on and says "Noah built the ark but all of his friends laughed at him."  Then it shows a short clip of the hyenas from Lion King laughing.  It has a clip of the Perfect Storm intro that says "A fury nature had never unleashed" and shows lots of storms.  Just as the storm gets really intense the intro to Gilligan's island comes on with the theme song and video of the boat rocking.  As the Gilligan song gets to the crew part a voice breaks in that says "A year on this boat and this is your crew."  We have animals dressed up for each part.  A dog in a suit for the billionare and so on.  The movie ends with a bird dancing to the end of the Gilligan's Island theme song.

I say all this to say, my sister finally understood why I spend so much time educating myself on what kids watch.  I now have a very funny video that will get both children and adults laughing and interested in what is about to happen.  Im not suggesting that you do this the way I do.  As homeschool parents you don't have to keep track of what hundreds of kids are watching but you do need to know what your kids are watching.  Take the time to watch the things they do and when and if you can make an example from something that has become dear to them, you will be supprised by the response you get.  Look for teachable momments while you are watching but if you don't see any don't worry.  Next time when you are trying to teach your child something use their favorite character as an example and that will have the same effect. 

Before I sign off let me give you an example from the Lion King.  While talking with a child who looked very scared, I realized they had done something and they were scared I would be angry.  Sometimes kids can be that way if they are often scolded by their parents, sometimes even if its just been a bad day for them.  I asked the child if he had seen the Lion King.  When I knew that we had common ground I asked him about the begining when Simba went somewhere he shoudn't have.  I asked him how Simba's father acted.  We talked through that scene for a bit and he understood that someone can be upset at an action and not be upset at the person.  Simba's dad still loved Simba even though  Simba did something wrong.  You can easily use something like this to talk about how God feels about our sin as well.  Hope that helps.