Free CM Stuff» Entertainment

Minute to Win It Games

Andy Johnson — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Have you heard of this new Game Show on NBC called “Minute to Win It?” It’s really cool and features a ton of games we can use in Children’s Ministry. Most of the games do not involve any elaborate set up or props, so they are very doable. You can check out videos on each of the games (instructions) here. Check out an example below. If you can figure out a way to pull the NBC videos off of their site to use them in kids church, let me know!

The Lads Band-Free Songs

Andy Johnson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:54:49 +0000

I’ve come across this really awesome band for kids called The Lads. They are from New Zealand and have a great sound. There is a movement in Children’s and Family music to make music more culturally relevant and this is a great thing! On their site, you can download several of their songs. Just look for the brown box with the orange arrow at the top of their site. I can’t link you straight to them because the site is flash based.

Games that Grow a Kid’s Faith

Andy Johnson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:00:16 +0000

A ministry called Faith Inkubators has a unique game site called FaithInk Games. They are pretty cool and a great resource to have on ministry computers or to share with parents.

Free Christian Audio

Andy Johnson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:00:30 +0000

Christianaudio.com provides a free book download per month. They are usually pretty good. Check them out and grow your walk!

Game Show Software (updated with link)

Andy Johnson — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:00:27 +0000

This blog post is going to be a little different. I have found a website with various “game show controls” for games like Deal or No Deal, Wheel of Fortune, Press Your Luck, Family Feud, and others. These are downloadable applications which you can customize to fit your needs. You could use them for review games in a kids class, for fun games at a retreat or camp, or with your volunteers at an appreciation event.

I’m not giving the link yet, though. In order to get the link posted, I have to see 10 comments about the picture above. Just jot a quick comment about what you sarcastically like the best about that pic. I’ll get the ball rolling:

“I like the energy, however, I’m wondering if I am pushing the limits by showing adult “midriff” on a Children’s Ministry site!”

Give me 10 comments, I’ll give you the link!

Congrats, you did it, here’s the link:

Game Show Controls

Week 1, Post 1–21 Days to a “Freed Up” Ministry (21DFM)

Andy Johnson — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:00:42 +0000

This week, I am starting a series of blog posts, something I have never done before. This first series of mine is called “21 Days to a ‘Freed Up’ Ministry.” The point of the series is to highlight 9 incredible free resources for your ministry (3 posts a week x 3 weeks=9 posts over 21 days, get it?). Basically, I see these as “must haves” for your ministry. Some may be new, and some may be a re-hash of an old post. My goal is to bring you as many new things as I can.

This series will get very specific. Whereas most of my posts will point you to a general website where you can get a number of things for free, these posts will point to specific mostly downloadable resources.

The first out of this world resource that I reccomend you do not do without is Brain Drain from Five AM Productions. If you do any type of game in your ministry, this nifty little program will be beneficial in helping you keep tabs on team scores.

MP3 Bible Stories

Andy Johnson — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:00:07 +0000

Today’s post comes from a post by Tony Kumner at Ministry To Children.

Tony came across some great free MP3 Bible stories told by a grandmother who wanted to record the Bible for her grandchildren. You can check out Tony’s post here. From his post you can read his take on the MP3′s as well as follow the link to download them.

I’ve listened to a few of them and they are pretty cool. They would be great for car rides. I plan on putting them on a CD and letting my preschool daughters listen to them for quiet times and on trips. There are no copyright issues here, you are free to copy and distribute to parents and kids as you would like.

Bass Pro Shops Family Activities–All Summer!

Andy Johnson — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:00:45 +0000

Bass Pro Shops is doing free family activities on Saturdays during the summer. Not everyone has the luxury of having a Bass Pro Shops in their area, but if you live in a metropolitan area, you are likely to be near one. Activities include laser shooting, archery clinics, outdoor crafts and a s’mores cookout!

It seems that with our economy, there are a lot of businesses offering free items to get people into their stores to buy from them. This is no doubt a plan of Bass Pro Shops. I recently posted about free kids movies at theaters all around the country as well.These types of things are great to pass on to your families in newsletters or weekly announcement emails.

If you know of any other opportunities for free kids or family activities throughout the summer, drop a comment and let us know!

Yes it’s odd…a Saturday post…but I couldn’t resist!

Andy Johnson — Sat, 23 May 2009 11:00:19 +0000

I try to stay on schedule with posting Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but I came across this forum post on Kidology, and just could not resist the urge to pass it on. I actually saw the link to it on the Kidology Facebook Fan Page. I don’t know why I did not think to throw this up on the blog because my wife has been doing this with my two girls for 3 years now! What I’m talking about is free kids movies throughout the summer!

Nancy Keith posted a nice list of free and VERY cheap movie deals with Cinemas around the country. I have not checked all of them, but I looked at the one in my area (Regal) and it is legit. Obviously, given the nature of this blog, I can only with good conscience endorse the no-cost ones! You could advertise this to your families as a summer activity or arrange for kids within your ministry to meet up at the theaters for a ministry fun day. Here’s the list:

Regal Cinemas Free Family Film Festival

AMC Theaters $1 Summer Movie

Cinemark $1 Summer Movie Clubhouse

Clearview Cinemas Free Summer Movies

Kerasotes Theaters Free Summer Movies

Cobb Theaters Free Summer Kids Shows

Marcus Theaters $3 Kids Rule Summer Film Festival

Rave Motion Pictures Free Family Film Festival

Dickonson Theaters Summer Vacation Family Movies

National Amusements Kidtoons

Harkins Theaters Summer Movie Fun

Malco Theaters Summerfest

Bow-Tie Cinemas Free Summer Kids Film Series

Classic Cinemas $1 Wednesday Morning Movie Series

His Kids Radio

Andy Johnson — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:00:55 +0000

Cornerstone University Radio has a great resource out there for you to pass along to families. It is a place where a good deal of Christian radio progamming for kids comes together. This is a quote from their site:

We’ve gathered the best in children’s Christian programming and put it in one place so you can easily find safe, entertaining, and enriching content just for kids! Our alliance of broadcasters and partners work hard to make HisKids.net a place you and your child want to be.

Kids can listen to shows like “Down Gilead Lane” and “Paws and Tales” on demand. Or you can stream the His Kids Radio station. If you contact them, they will set up a custom logo of your church on a special site of theirs. You can provide a link in your own website to the His Kids Radio site with your logo on it. You can see an example of mine here. This is all free, however, they do offer a paid service where you can stream your sermons, podcasts and trainings if you would like. This particular aspect of their service is charged by how large your church is.