Sing! Play! Summer! Six Butterflyfish Songs for the Introduction Welcome to summer! “Sing! Play! Summer!” is designed to help you celebrate the summer season through the twin delights of faith and music, tapping your toes and singing along to the bluegrass-and-gospel sounds of SALT’s internationally-acclaimed house band, Butterflyfish! In these pages you’ll find over 50 summertime activity ideas, all organized around six Butterflyfish songs that’ll put pep in your step and faith in your heart. And don’t miss the lyric sheets at the end! Look no further: your family’s “Summer Soundtrack” is here. Each song brings a biblical story or theological idea to life, making it a springboard (or summerboard!) for activities individuals, families, congregations, and children of all ages can enjoy. So kick off your shoes, lay under the stars, or gather round the campfire: music is one of God’s greatest gifts, and this summer is the perfect time to savor it. Happy singing, playing, and summering! Lemonade and sparklers, The SALT Team 2 (Check out the The songs lyrics in the back!) Lemonade A playful jug-band romp through the perfect summer day What Jonah Learned Inside the Whale A bluegrass barnburner from the deep Noah’s Lullaby How Noah sang the animals to sleep on those forty rainy nights Room to Fall David and Goliath like you’ve never heard it before All Sad Songs A tender, soaring song about faith, loss, and believing again Music A soulful, epic anthem on the power of singing Want more Butterflyfish? These six songs are all from the band’s debut album, “Ladybug.” Check out all things BFF at saltproject.org (click on Shop 1A Music) 3 week one Lemonade Scripture Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. + Exodus 20:8 Meditation A weekly sabbath day is important (hey, it’s a commandment!), but summertime has the potential to be a whole season of sabbath like no other. The pressures of work and worry never stop, but that’s all the more reason to carve out time - sacred time - for even more fun, frolic, togetherness, and joy. After all, what we remember and treasure isn’t work and worry; it’s lemonade and porch swings, bumblebees and bubbles. So let’s make some memories! Remember the sabbath, and keep it holy! 4 Summer Fun This Week • Find a shady spot with good foot traffic, set up a lemonade stand, and give some or all of your earnings to a local cause • Do some Bee-Search: Learn five amazing facts about bees, and then get out there and find some (psst: follow the flowers!) • Bubble Up: Blow some beautiful bubbles, big and small - and see how many you can pop! • Get swinging in a hammock, porch swing, tire swing, or on an old fashioned swing set! Bring a few good books into the hammock, or plan a nighttime swingtime and try to touch the stars with your feet! • Try memorizing “Lemonade,” and see if you can sing it all the way through (lyrics in the back)! • Dinner conversation starters: o Describe your perfect summer day. What’s happening? Where are you? Who’s with you? How does it make you feel? o “Sabbath” comes from the word for “to stop.” What do we need to do less of in order to make room for having more fun together? Crazy-Delicious Lemonade Recipes It’s the archetypal summer treat – and tasty twists on a classic make a good thing even better! Try a different recipe every week this summer, and vote on which one you like the best. Here are three to get you started! classic lemonade 1 ½ cups of fresh-squeezed lemon juice ½ cup of sugar 6 cups of water + Ice strawberry lemonade Classic Lemonade + 1 ½ cups strawberries (blended or juiced) sparkling honey mint lemonade Classic Lemonade + 1 cup of fresh mint leaves Replace sugar with 1/3 cup of honey Replace about half the water with sparkling water 5 week two what jonah learned inside the whale Scripture Then Jonah prayed to God from the belly of the fish, saying, ‘I called to God out of my distress, and God answered me.’ + Jonah 2:1-2 Meditation Full of twists and turns, the story of Jonah is about at least two things: 1) God’s pervasive and persistent love, and 2) stepping up to the challenges that change can bring. Jonah tries to avoid God’s call at first, while the people of Nineveh embrace it, changing their lives for the better. The story ends with the idea that the God of love is at work in and through all the twists and turns in our lives, sometimes hidden, sometimes plain - and that God’s mercy knows no bounds! Summer Fun This Week • If you live in or near a city with an aquarium, go for a visit; if not, watch a nature documentary on whales, or on “every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm.” + Genesis 1:21 • Do some Sea-Search: Learn five mind-boggling facts about whales, and then make a drawing or diagram displaying your new knowledge for all to see 6 • Go swimming in a pool, ocean, or pond - and play sharks and minnows! • Visit a pet store and check out the fish section. Can you see why God proclaimed these colorful creatures good? • Try memorizing “What Jonah Learned” - and see if you can sing it all the way through! • Dinner conversation starters: o How and where do you most experience God? How and where do you most experience love? o The story of Jonah is about changing for the better. How does the world need to change? What changes do you need to make for a better world, a better you? 55 Summer Attitude Hacks for Parents 1. Start Savoring 4. Be Realistic At the most, you’re only going You won’t be able to enjoy to have 18 summers together EVERY moment, but what you (give or take!) – so start can do is find little glimpses savoring them now! of delight between the typical struggles. Take each day, each 2. Let It Go hour, each minute as it comes, Dusting. Vacuuming. Dishes. always ready to savor those Laundry. Let it go! Summer magical little moments of should be a lazy, crazy time beauty when they come along. with less sweeping and more swimming. 5. Make Magic Fireflies, sparklers, campfires, 3. Make Memories s’mores, cannonballs, roller Think back to your childhood. coasters, and sand between What do you remember most your toes – the magic of about your summers? What summer is all around, and do you want your kids to it’s yours for the making! It remember about this summer? won’t happen without some Make a list, share it with your intentional hard work, of family and friends, and then course, but the magic is worth start checking things off! it. So: roll up your sleeves and – Abracadabra! 7 week three Noah’s lullaby Scripture When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. + Genesis 9:16 Meditation Most ancient cultures had a “great flood” story; what makes the version in Genesis distinctive is its strong emphasis on love and care for all creation. The ark is a sanctuary from the storm for every living thing (in some ancient versions, Noah’s wife, Naamah, is called by God to save each plant, seed, bulb, root, and spore), and the rainbow promise at the end of the story is an “everlasting covenant” between God and all life on earth. The story’s message is clear: God loves all creatures, great and small, and human beings have a special role in taking care of them all, from elephants to butterflies, coyotes to crickets, daffodils to dandelions! 8 Summer Fun This Week • Have a campfire sing-along under the stars, and be sure to include your favorite songs and lullabies (the more about animals the better!) • In Genesis, God’s “bow in the clouds” is an archer’s bow, a symbol of God saying “No” to violence by hanging up the bow once and for all. In this spirit, create an art project in rainbow colors showing your vision of a peaceful world. Put your masterpieces up on the fridge or on Instagram for the whole world to enjoy! • Whether a rowboat or raft, sailboat or canoe, get out on the water! Can you feel how the wind and waves might’ve rocked the ark full of animals asleep? • Visit a local animal shelter and find out what they might need – volunteers, dog walkers, food, cat litter? How can you help love and protect God’s creatures great and small? • Try memorizing “Noah’s Lullaby” – and see if you can sing it all the way through! • Dinner conversation starters: o What’s your favorite animal, and why? What’s your favorite plant, flower, and tree? Why? o Genesis paints a picture of human beings taking care of all of God’s creation in a special way. How are we living that out today? How can we improve? 9 Summer Bucket List! m Make a summer music playlist m Skype or Facetime a faraway m Climb a tree friend or family member m Go for a birding walk - and m Go through your clothes, toys, identify at least seven different and books, and donate some of birds them to a local shelter m Have a water balloon fight m Find your favorite food truck m Play hopscotch m Go on a hike m Write a story m Visit a waterfall m Solve a puzzle m Dance in the rain m Play charades m Epic Mad Libs session m Learn and perform a magic show m Mini Golf! m Play tag m Make homemade popsicles m Look for ladybugs m Pick wild flowers m Organize a baseball, soccer, or ultimate frisbee game m Draw each other's profile m Go berry picking m Jump rope m m Lay in the grass Make a summer gratitude journal m Make ice cream m Visit an art museum m Stargaze m m Visit your local farmers’ market Host a hula-hoop contest m Read out loud on a rainy day m Run through the sprinkler m Plant something m Learn to play the ukulele m Visit the nearest botanical m Go rollerskating gardens