American Girl Coloring Pages

Just for fun, I put together some more American Girl coloring pages. These are pretty simple. They remind me of my childhood, which is always a happy thing. 

I love the historical girls. 

I spent hours of my childhood reading book after book. I often did read along with my doll in hand. I love the original Pleasant Company logo that you see here.

I thought I would post a blank of the logo, so you can add in your own specialization or personalization.  These would make fun name tags, or I could even see them work as a birthday invitation!

These next coloring pages are super simple, and not meticulously done like usual. I think they are fun, and work just as they are. I LOVE American Girl. I am a child at heart I guess.

Meet Molly: An American Girl

Meet Molly, another very special American Girl! Molly McIntire is a girl growing up during the difficult days of World War II. 

I love that American Girl has released each historical character's set of 6 books into one convenient hardback book. I don't know if they still have the books in print, but I do know you can find them inexpensively on Amazon and Ebay if you don't mind used books. This makes it much easier to collect them all. In the past months, I have been able to purchase them all! I feel like a kid again, excited to read my favorite stories.

These past few days, I have worked on turning Molly into a fun coloring page too. This always takes hours and hours of time, and I've dedicated most of my days to getting this coloring sheet perfect. I think the hard work has paid off and it is worth it to see this beautiful picture ready to color. In the future, as I read more of the story collections, I will be turning each girl into a coloring sheet. You can check back later for more pages!

To tell you a little about Molly, I copied these words from American Girl Wiki which tells you a little about her stories...

To Molly, World War II is mostly a distant inconvenience in her daily life; it is only when she is introduced to Emily Bennett that she sees that the war is truly affecting other people. She is not very good at math (especially multiplication), hates turnips, and is afraid to swim underwater. She struggles with her looks later in the series, as she wants to look different with curls. Molly is a great tap dancer. In the book, she was the best dancer in her class, even over Alison. Molly misses her father very much. Even though she loves her parents, she often finds it hard to get along with her siblings, often getting into disagreements. Molly also finds it hard to get along with Alison, and even Emily Bennett at one point in the story because of their differences. She always wants to be original, and is obsessed with glamour, especially from England. Molly is a big schemer, often the ring leader when she and her friends make plans. Molly's mom calls her a "chatterbox," in comparison to Emily. She is prone to daydreaming and fanciful ideas. 

If case you haven't seen the books I was talking about, you can buy Molly's Story Collection on Amazon. This is such a great deal to get all 6 of Molly's beloved books in one convenient hardback book!

Who is your favorite American Girl?

Interested in some more American Girl coloring pages?

Felicity         Kirsten          Samantha          Kit

Meet Kit: An American Girl

Meet Kit, my daughter's favorite American girl! Several years ago, my daughter celebrated her 10th birthday with Kit Kittredge. I read all the books so I could gather enough information to put on an extra special party. I planned the party for months. My daughter loved it!

I love that American Girl has released each historical character's set of 6 books into one convenient hardback book. I don't know if they still have the books in print, but I do know you can find them inexpensively on Amazon and Ebay if you don't mind used books. This makes it much easier to collect them all. In the past months, I have been able to purchase them all! I feel like a kid again, excited to read my favorite stories.

These past couple weeks, I have worked on turning Kit into a fun coloring page too. This was no easy feat. I invested hours and hours working on the coloring sheet whenever I could spare some time. I think the hard work has paid off and it is worth it to see this beautiful picture ready to color. In the future, as I read more of the story collections, I will be turning each girl into a coloring sheet. You can check back later for more pages!

To tell you a little about Kit, I copied these words from American Girl Wiki which tells you a little about her story...

Kit is very much a tomboy who enjoys baseball, and her favorite player is Ernie Lombardi, the catcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Her stories take place during the Depression. Kit is interested in everything and fancies herself a reporter and factual writer. Her favorite place is the newsroom of the Cincinnati Register. Kit's father must close his car dealership and join the large number of unemployed. In an effort to make ends meet, her mother takes in boarders; Mrs. Howard and her son Stirling settle into Kit's newly redecorated bedroom, while the girl makes the best of her new space in the attic... Lots of adventures happen in the pages of Kit's books! 

If case you haven't seen the books I was talking about, you can buy Kit's Story Collection on Amazon. This is such a great deal to get all 6 of Kit's beloved books in one convenient hardback book!

Who is your favorite American Girl?

Interested in some more American Girl coloring pages?

Felicity         Kirsten          Samantha          Molly

Faith Game for Kids

I believe God spoke to me when I was planning my lesson to teach my 2nd and 3rd grade class at church. We are talking about faith and believing in Jesus when we cannot see Him. 

Our story is from John 20:19-31 about Thomas who needs proof that Jesus rose from the dead. Thomas has not yet seen Jesus and he says to the other disciples, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Jesus appears to Thomas and shows him exactly what he requested. Jesus goes on to say to Thomas an encouraging word and a special message that is meant for all of us, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We are blessed! We have not seen Jesus with our own eyes, but we still know Him to be real and alive. I'm so excited to share this lesson God gave me with each of you!

Our Bible verse today is Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see." (NIRV)

To get the kids to really understand this, I planned a game for them that uses their memory verse. For the game to work, the kids MUST FIRST KNOW THEIR BIBLE VERSE. This game will not work properly if they aren't familiar with how the verse should read.

Work on the verse with the kids until they have it memorized. This is a simple verse, so it shouldn't be too hard for the kids to get quickly.

Hide the pieces of the verse around the room for the kids to find. I purposely left out the end of the verse.  You want the kids to spend a bit of time searching for it. Don't give the answer right away. Make them keep looking and searching.

I didn't have to force my kids to keep looking. These kids would not give up!!

They looked everywhere in the room. Because they had memorized the Bible verse they knew that piece of the puzzle existed. Therefore, it must be in the room! They had faith that it was there, and they didn't even realize or understand they were illustrating my point even further.

Finally, after several minutes of both teams searching and searching, I called them back to the table. Some of the kids didn't want to come willingly. They refused to give up on the missing piece.

We started to talk about the missing piece. I asked each team,

 "What piece is missing?"

They were surprised to be missing the same piece, "What we do not see". I asked the kids a question again, okay so you have, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and ...Faith is being certain of what?"

"What we do not see!"

Only one boy figured it out.

"The piece is not here, is it? Because we do not see it?!"

YES!

I began to ask the kids more questions about their search. 

Why did you want to keep looking? 

Because I didn't find the last piece.

I know what piece is missing.

I know what the Bible says!  

EXACTLY! We knew what promise God gave us. We found it in our Bibles today. However, we didn't find every piece of the puzzle in this room.

Just like this game we played, there are times in our life where we don't know what we are supposed to do, or how things will turn out. We ask God for help. We search for answers in our Bibles and try to find clues to help us. We pray. Sometimes God doesn't answer how we expect. God is silent. He doesn't give us an exact answer. Instead, He says, "Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Wait."

We must believe Him. Even when we cannot see the missing puzzle piece, or find the missing piece, we know that part of the puzzle exists. God promised it in our Bibles, so we know it is true. Just like He spoke to the men who wrote the Bible, God still speaks to each of us.

When we have a problem, we can be certain that God has an answer. We know that the answer exists. We know that God knows exactly where the missing piece is and when it will appear. It's up to us to have FAITH and wait, believing that it will happen.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for. Faith is being certain that missing puzzle piece exists and continuing to look for it because you know God is good and has the answer.

We believe in faith when we cannot see with our physical eyes,
but our spiritual eyes can see the promises of God.

My kids were so inspired by this faith game being walked out. One little boy told me, "That was a really good trick you played on us." The game hit especially home with him because for years he has prayed for a dad. He said he prayed a thousand times for this. He believed that God had a dad for him. He didn't know exactly who he was, or when he would come. But he sure did hope for it and believe it would be true. He even had a specific man he hoped to one day call Daddy. Two months ago, God gave him that missing puzzle piece. He gave him a dad he could call his own. God did a miracle for him, and this little boy never gave up believing that it would happen. He believed even when he could not see!

I printed my special version of Hebrews 11:1 on a piece of brightly colored paper. I had two sets of the puzzle on different colored papers, so the kids could work together in two separate teams. After they found the puzzle pieces, they would need to put the verse together.

I cut each line into a puzzle piece. I made sure to cut the edges of "It is being certain" and "Hebrews 11:1" differently so they do NOT connect. You want the kids to believe there is another piece in between them.

Planning this lesson, I know God spoke to my heart. There are dreams I have spent months believing for. I know God gave me a vision, and I have been prayerfully waiting to see it come to pass. There are days that I struggle with doubt and wonder if I heard from God correctly. And there are days like today where I feel God's presence so strongly that I am certain it will be. Both kinds of days bring me to my knees as I cry before God.  I needed this reminder probably even more than the kids in my class. God give me faith to be sure of the things that I hope for and make me certain of what I do not see.

Resurrection Bingo

I had the most wonderful time teaching my 2nd and 3rd grade class at church. We were learning about the resurrection for Easter. I wanted to give the kids a fun way to learn all the details. Normally, I share my Resurrection Eggs with the class, which they love. I decided to do a little twist on that this year.

We played Resurrection Bingo instead! It was so much fun and for the first time ever, the kids were so into the lesson that not a single child asked if it was snack time. Even by the time they all left to go home, no one remembered snack time. That has never happened! 

You can feel free to use the Resurrection Bingo for your own PERSONAL use.  But please be kind and do not claim these pictures as your own or offer them for downloads.  

If you would like to download a complete PDF set of Resurrection Bingo, you can scroll down to the bottom of this post. 

Each child will get ONE blank bingo card

And TWO sets of the small pictures. There are 25 squares of Bingo, and only 12 small pictures. The free space says Jesus is Alive!

Before playing the game, have each child make his or her own specialized Bingo playing card. Cut out the pictures and glue them onto each square of the Bingo card. There is no specific order and the more random the cards are the better. Each child should make their own Bingo card different from everyone else and try not to have two of the same picture in each column. For example, if they put both donkey pictures in column “B”, when it is called they will automatically have two marked off. To make it fair to all the kids, I made sure they only had one picture of each thing per column.

Cut apart the Bingo Calling Cards that you will be drawing from.  

To Play the Game:

When you hold up a card for the kids to see, allow a child who could mark the picture on their Bingo card to explain the purpose behind the card.  

For instance, I draw a card that looks like this:

The child would explain that it is a crown of thorns and that the soldiers placed it on Jesus’ head to mock him.

Stop and discuss each card until you have made it all the way through the 12 different cards. You will be repeating some of the cards, and it isn’t necessary to explain them again, unless you would like a new child to have the chance to share the importance behind the card.

If you need help with the description for each picture, I have included a list, along with scripture references for further discussion.

Donkey – A lowly donkey was given to Jesus to ride into Jerusalem just before his death. (Matthew 21:1-9)

30 Silver Coins – Judas accepted 30 silver coins for betraying Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders. (Matthew 26:14-16, 46-50, 27:1-5)

Passover Cup - At Jesus’ last supper with his disciples before he died on the cross, He used the cup of wine to explain his death. (Matthew 26:17-19, 26-28)

Praying Hands – Reminds us that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with His disciples. (Mark 14:32-42)

Leather Whip – After His trial by Pilate, the Roman soldiers used leather ropes with rocks and metal woven in to whip Jesus.  (John 19:1-15)

Crown of Thorns – The soldiers who crucified Jesus placed a crown of thorns on His head, so they could mock Him. (Matthew 27: 29-31)

Nails in the Cross – Three large nails were driven into Jesus’ hands and feet to nail Him to the cross. (John 19: 16-22)

Dice for Gambling – The Roman soldiers used dice to gamble for Jesus’ robe.  (John 19:23-25)

Soldier’s Spear – Roman soldiers used a spear to pierce Jesus’ side when He was on the cross. (John 19: 31-37)

Linen cloth – Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of Jesus in a linen cloth after He died on the cross. (Matthew 27: 57-61)

Stone at the Tomb – The huge stone that had covered the tomb was found rolled away by an angel. (Matthew 28:1-3)

Jesus Loves Me – The whole reason Jesus died and rose again was because of His great love for us! (John 3:16)

You can use anything for the markers. I used some pony beads. You could even have the kids color in each picture as it gets called.

You can download a PDF of Resurrection Bingo

I Love You

For several years my family has been involved in child sponsorship. Child sponsorship is a type of ministry in which a charitable organization associates a donor sponsor with a particular child. The money can go towards the child's food, home life, school books, medications, and many more things. There are some really good child sponsorship organizations out there, World Vision and Compassion International are just a couple. Throughout the years we have sponsored several different kids. Already we have had one of our children graduate from the program where the need was no longer necessary. This was incredibly difficult to say goodbye, as we write letters to each other several times a year. You get to know the kids very well through the written word and photos. 

Through another organization, Hope Generation, we have grown to love a child who I am very proud to call my daughter. This child sponsorship program is EXTRA SPECIAL and holds my heart! Hope Generation has a child sponsorship program which allows you to partner with a child from the Home of Hope orphanage in Bangladesh. This orphanage provides a home for children without parents or children whose guardian can no longer care for them. The goal is not simply to rescue. They provide a beautiful home, Godly mentors, nutrition and medical aid, a full English education, life skills and, most importantly, an environment where they can know and grow in God. Currently, the Home of Hope has over 100 children.  Sponsoring a child through Hope Generation lets you be a part of raising up this generation. 

My sponsorship of my daughter, Naomee, has completely changed me. I have never been able to meet her face to face, but we meet in our letters each week, and give each other love across thousands of miles. She calls me mom, and I consider her one of my own. My heart is deeply connected to hers. We have exchanged many letters through the years. I cherish every single letter.  I read them over and over again. I have photos of her displayed all over my home. I talk about her with my friends. I read sweet things she has written to me to my family. Someday, my dream is to go visit her. I long to see her face to face, where I can finally give her a hug and let her know just how much she means to me. 

Naomee is an artist. In each letter she sends, I get a drawing of some kind. She has beautiful penmanship and writes English very well. In her last letter that she sent to me, she included some very detailed drawings for each member of the family. They were a gift for Valentine's day. Each was a little different and personalized for the member it belonged to.

I thought it was time I shared some coloring pages made by my daughter Naomee. Both of my daughters are very talented when it comes to drawing. They are creative and artistic. I love it! Each page was drawn with love by Naomee. She did an AMAZING job! I love her so much!

You can feel free to use the coloring pages for your own PERSONAL use.  But please be kind and do not claim these pictures as your own or offer them for downloads.  It makes me sad to see my pictures on a coloring page website run by someone else.

My heart is for kids and always will be

I love you, Naomee.