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<>< <>< SSTN-Volume 1-Number 92 <>< <><
September 8, 2000
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
1) Harvest Feast
2) Clubs or programs
3) Inexpense gifts
4) Fall Festival
5) Wednesday Evening Programs
6) Fall Festival
7) Bible memorization/Bulletin Board ideas?
8) Fall Festival
9) Fall Festival - WHAT WE DID
10) Choosing a curriculum
* WHEN POSTING YOUR MESSAGES: Please use upper and lower
case letters, and a standard black font style such as 'Arial'. Thank you!
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1) Harvest Feast
Responding to "Lorrie" and theme to take the place of Halloween?
Our Pastor changed the name to "Harvest Feast." No scarry costumes or
monsters allowed. It is advertised in our church bulletin and by
distribution of flyers by our "Youth Missionary Department."
A lot of the games were handmade. The children went fishing in a small
children's blue plastic pool with plastic fish or other floating devices
for one booth. A big favorite with the adults was the "Musical Chairs."
(NOTE: Listen to a few musical bars to determine the name of the gospel
song). Winners receive a small Christian gift. Fun is the main thing
here.
There was the famous "Cake Walk." (NOTE: You use square construction
paper with numbers 1-50 or so. Tape securely to the floor. Certain
squares will have a drawing or picture of a cake. Play Christian music
allowing participates to walk around in a circle or whatever direction
you have your squares taped to the floor. When the music stops look down
at the square you are standing on and see if you have a picture of a cake
on it. If so, you win a SLICE of cake. Most folk play until the cake is
all GONE!
Our church has done this now for three years straight! It is a blessing.
Hope this helps. Ahreita Griffin - Charlotte, North Carolina
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2) Clubs or programs
Responding to "Chris Austin" in reference to Clubs or programs?
Here is a thought you may wish to consider for Wednesday nights. Now
that it is the end of Summer, have you considered contacting your local
or nearby Christian book store for any Vacation Bible School Programs
that were not sold in previous years or this year for that matter? Most
Vacation Bible School programs come with ten lessons. Our church will
use the same program two years in a row to take full benefit of the
program. Any lessons not taught during Vacation Bible School could
easily be used on a Wednesday night or in our case one years during a
week of Summer Enrichment Camp. God Bless!
Ahreita Griffin
Charlotte, North Carolina
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3) Inexpense gifts
Responding to "Virginia Evans" in reference to "inexpense gifts for class
of approximately 35 students.
Dear Virginia,
Don't short change yourself, this is a nice size group of Young Adults.
Attempting to purchase even a $4.95 coffee/tea mug would be expensive for
a group that size. I suggest making the gifts instead of purchasing.
Allow me to explain. There are several Christmas Crafts kits you can
purchase from craft stores like "Michael's" here in Charlotte. I had a
class of 25 students that I made Christmas ornaments for them using
plaster & molds. There are wooden clothes pin kits that come with the
paint, yarn & other necessary supplies to complete the kit. The best
part of all, you can add "scriptures, name tags, etc." for that personal
touch. Kits average $9.99 & up and usually accommodate 10 to 12
individual gift pieces when completed.
Ahreita Griffin
Charlotte, North Carolina
--From ChristianCrafters.Com: Thanks, Ahreita, for all the great ideas! Also, what if the kids made their own gifts, and you supply the kits?
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4) Fall Festival
> Any good idea's for a theme for a "Fall Festival" to take place of Halloween??
Last year, my daughter and I pulled off a "fall festival" at our church. We
asked the children to dress up as something or someone from the Bible. Bear
in mind, that we need to downplay the costumes as some families may not be
able to afford to make or rent costumes. We told the kids that if they
dressed up, it could not be scary or gross. We bought some cheap plastic
pumpkins, painted numbers on the bottoms, and floated them in a tub of water
(like the duck pond game). Goodies were numbered to correspond with the
pumpkin numbers. We had a fishing game where they "caught" a gift. We
played "Pin the nose on the Jack-o-lantern". If you didn't want a
Jack-o-lantern, use a scarecrow or the donkey game. We had a fall-themed
craft and ended the party with a weinie roast. We bought all of our "gifts"
from the local Dollar Tree.
Mary Summers
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You Can Now Purchase:
** 'Family Celebrations at Thanksgiving and Alternatives to Halloween'
In the Holidays & Holy Days Section of
THE BOOKSTORE at ChristianCrafters.Com
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5) Wednesday Evening Programs
> Do any of you have ideas or other programs that work?
> Please let me know if you do.
We have a small church as well, but we have been looking at the AWANA
program. The acronym AWANA are the first letters in the words Approved
Workmen Are Not Ashamed based on 2 Timothy 2:15. The cost is minimum for
start up and seems to be a phenomenal outreach to the community. You can
find out more about them from their website www.awana.org
getting started at our church.
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6) Fall Festival
<< Any good idea's for a theme for a "Fall Festival" to take place of Halloween?? We would like the
Hi Lorrie:
Many years ago when I had the first grade I had them come dressed up as their favorite Bible character. We had angels, Mary, Joseph, Noah, shepherds, etc. Some of them were very creative.
God Bless,
Joni
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7) Bible memorization/Bulletin Board ideas?
I am teaching a 4th through 6th grade class for the first time this Fall.
I would like some hints on how to better get these kids acquainted with their Bibles
(being able to look things up). What is the best approach; having them
memorize the books of the Bible? or does it just take practice. Are there any
activities for assisting them to learn the books of the Bible?
Also, does anyone have any good bulletin board ideas for this age group?
Thanks.
GK-EUCC-Missouri
--From ChristianCrafters.Com: Make sure you check the Archives List, as well as the Bible Games
page for the Bible Book Name Game.
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8) Fall Festival
For the person having the Fall Festive why not have the kids wear customers
of they fav Bible hero or a fav famous christain like Bill Gramhan. You could play
games post on the Bible heros like make a gaint cutout of a lion with a whole
where his mouth should be. The kids could them trow bean bags in to it. They
could play a fishing game for Peter. I hope this helps some.
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9) Fall Festival - WHAT WE DID:
When my husband pastored a VERY small church in Missouri, I was head of the
children's ministries. We didn't have a budget or much to do anything with,
so we had a Wild West Round-Up. We decorated with bales of hay (donated by
farmers) and everyone dressed in cowboy/girl costumes. All of our games
were named around the theme, but were the basic festival-type games. My
husband (who is very crafty) used 2 x 4's and made a saw horse, which he
painted as a cow -- they kids "roped" the head with a hula hoop; we had
"target" practice, where they shot empty cups over with a Nerf bow & arrow
toy; we had a basketball shoot (can't remember the "western" name for this
one); a lollipop tree (where your prize is determined by the color on the
end of the stick for the lollipop you draw); the fishin' pond (they had a
"pole" with a string on the end, they put it over the cloth wall and a
person behind hooks on a prize or candy); and, of course, the sasparilla
stand where they all got drinks, hot dogs and cookies. We had additional
games which I can't remember, but you probably get the jest of what I'm
conveying. It was wonderfully fun and very easy to put together!
Tina Jackson
Peachtree City, GA
e-mail: revjacks@yahoo.com
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10) Choosing a curriculum
I also attend a small church, and I know the cost of ministry programs can be a deterrent when choosing a curriculum. I have a suggestion that we used recently in church camp that may help others.
First, instead of buying a teacher's lesson book for each class, one person was the storyteller for all the age groups. All the kids met in the chapel for story time together. Then each class met individually with a memory verse teacher and worked on their memory verse. This not only saves money by not buying all the teachers a lesson book, but it also lightens the load on each individual teacher. One storyteller for all, and one memory verse teacher for each age group. It worked so well that we may use this for our Wednesday night kid's group.
Hope this helps. Sarah
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