children's ministry Archives - Page 48 of 51

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Activities for Children

12/10/201212/10/2012 Kathie Phillips

“Let every heart prepare Him room…”

Last week, I introduced our Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room series, posts dedicated to Christmas reflections. Starting today, and continuing on each Monday through Christmas, we’ll look at different ways that you can make room for Jesus this Christmas. Today’s guest post is written by Jeanna Bruce-Wilson, owner of Splendid Events Project by Jeanna. You can visit her website here.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the Inn,

Not a baby was crying, not even a grin.

As baby Jesus’ parents arrived after long travel,

Little do they know all that was to unravel.

The Inn Keeper explained there was no more room.

What were Mary and Joseph going to do with the baby in her womb?

A stable in the back was available with hay.

The excited parents were grateful as they began to pray.

Three wise men followed a star that led them to the Prince of Peace.

All night they walked with gifts and walked far without cease.

Just as they showed up, our Savior Jesus Christ the Lord was here on earth.

For many years to come we recognize Christmas as the reason we celebrate his birth.

Isn’t it amazing how children retell the story of Jesus’ birth? It wasn’t until this year that my 5 year-old daughter thought that our Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ, was forever a baby. Little did she know that He grew into a man who performed many miracles, forgave many (and still forgives to this day), showed remarkable acts of kindness and gave His life on our behalf so that one day we can join Him in heaven. This time of year is about so much more then bringing and receiving gifts; it’s a time to reflect on the most blessed time that started our journey with experiencing Jesus in every area of our lives.

As an event creator, I desire to use my God-given talents, gifts and spiritual gifts to bring glory to His name. I’d like to share three great ideas that you can do at home with your children ages 4-18. These ideas can also be used in your church or school classroom to enhance their knowledge of Jesus’ Birthday. Get ready—it’s time to celebrate!

Pin the Baby in the Manger (For children ages 4 to 8)

This game is modeled after a popular game played at most children’s birthday parties. Does “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” sound familiar? Well how about “Pin the Baby in the Manger”? Here’s how you play:

Create a manger out of poster board. (You can draw hay or get extra creative by cutting strips of colored construction paper and gluing it onto the poster board).
Next take large popsicle sticks and place them strategically in the shape of a feeding trough to represent Jesus’ bed.
Don’t forget about the baby Jesus! Locate a black and white picture on the internet. Print off the number of copies needed for each child and have them color and cut out baby Jesus. This allows for each child to use his or her imagination about what they believe He looked like and also makes it easy for each picture to be differentiated once pinned to the board!
Break out the blind fold and see who can get baby Jesus closest to his bed!

12 Days of Birthday Gifts (For children ages 9-13)

Throughout your child’s Sunday school years and also what has been reinforced at home, many stories told throughout the bible tell of Jesus healing the sick, helping the poor and befriending the friendless. Each night at dinner or bedtime, have your child recount a story in the bible and ask them what gift they would give to God to aid him in accomplishing his many great deeds.

For example, in the story about Jesus healing the blind man, ask your child what gift they would give God to aid him in making that possible, knowing the things that are available today. Your child might respond by saying medicine or even eye glasses. Help your child mentally visualize a place where they are giving for 12 days and not only looking or talking about receiving. By doing so, you’ll strengthen their bible knowledge as well as their relationship with you.

Journal Joys (ages 13+)

Keeping a journal in high school is almost a must! How cool would it be for your teen to keep a journal filled with things that keep them in good spirits around the Christmas holiday and reminds them of how much God loves them? This is an activity that actually can be carried into their adult years because it never gets old. As you read back from year to year of what they were thankful for about that particular Christmas, you’ll see how much your child has grown emotionally, mentally and spiritually. You, too, can take part in this activity by writing a few lines in the morning while they are in school so they can read it when they arrive home. It’s a great way of constant connection and to re-emphasize how much their walk with the Lord brings you so much joy.

We here at Splendid Events Project by Jeanna want you to have the most wonderful Christmas experience yet. Open up doors for those both in and out of your life that have a hurting heart or spirit, just as God has opened His arms to us to receive His precious Son who was born to be our Savior.

Merry Christmas and have an awesome New Year!

S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Ministry Dollars

11/26/201211/26/2012 Kathie Phillips 10 Comments

People all across America waited in long lines this past Thursday and Friday to snatch up good deals for Black Friday. And today, Cyber Monday is in full effect. The bottom line is that we are looking for great deals to stretch our dollars a little further.

This is nothing new for those of us in Children’s Ministry. It really doesn’t matter how big or small our churches are…Children’s Ministry leaders want to get the most bang for our limited bucks.

Here are a few tips for stretching your ministry dollars in three of the biggest expense areas: curriculum, snacks, and crafts.

Curriculum

Order enough materials for children who attend 75% of the time, plus 2 or 3 more.
Better yet, consider switching over to digital curriculum. While you will spend time printing and purchasing paper, this will help reduce overall costs for take home pages and in-class activity sheets.
Search for free lessons online. Check out Ministry-to-Children to get started.
Invest in reproducible books.

Snacks

Have your congregation or parents donate frequently used items, such as napkins/paper towels, cups, crackers and O-shaped cereal.
Serve water instead of juice.
Buy in bulk from a membership warehouse.
Find people who love to bake and ask them to bake cupcakes, cookies, brownies, etc.
Purchase generic brand snacks.

Crafts/Craft Supplies

Shop end-of-season and post-holiday sales for seasonal items.
Alert your church of needed items and allow them the privilege of donating.
Shop early enough to avoid rushed or overnight shipping costs.
Buy crayons, glue sticks, and scissors before the school year starts (when school supplies are dirt cheap.)
Again, reproducible craft books are a good investment.

General Money-Saving Tips

Use email, your website and social media for publicity.
Swap items with another church.
Save money on DVD’s by borrowing them from your local library.
Ask professionals in your church to teach their specialty to your children, parents and volunteers.
Maintain your resources. For example, keep caps on craft supplies and properly wrap food.
Print your own brochures, handbooks, business cards, flyers, etc.
Make black and white copies instead of color.
Use white paper instead of colored.
When photocopying, use both sides of the paper if you can.
Consider using 1/2 sheets of paper to get your message out. That way, you get 2-for-1 sheet of paper!

How do you stretch your ministry dollars? Share your ideas below!

Thankful Thursday: Week 3

11/15/201211/15/2012 Kathie Phillips 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, I planned to set aside every Thursday in November to share some of the many things I’m thankful for. You can read about Week 1 here and Week 2 here.

“I have found the one my soul loves.”

Song of Solomon 3:4

This weekend, my husband, Lance, and I will be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. So, this week, I’d like to share with you why I am thankful for my husband.

Lance and I met 19 years ago while we were in college. He was a junior; I was a freshman. We were total opposites. He was from the South; I was from the East Coast. He was outgoing; I was more reserved. He was very athletic; I was in the band. It makes me believe that in some ways, opposites really do attract.

Over the years, our life together has been filled with highs and lows, blessings and heartaches. Moving to a new state, moving to another state a few months later, children, losing a child, new jobs, losing jobs, death of beloved family members, health challenges, dreaming new dreams, seeing other dreams put on hold.

Despite it all, I would not want to have experienced all of that with anyone else but Lance. Somehow, no matter what comes our way, life is so much better because I have him in my life.

As the scope of my ministry has expanded and I have taken on more projects, he has supported me every step of the way. People have always said how awesome it is that Lance and I serve side by side. (Just for the record, he is not on staff with me at our church. However, he is my favorite volunteer!) But side by side is the unspoken motto of our marriage. We are partners in every sense of the word.

I am thankful for a husband who loves me, provides for me, listens to me, encourages me, challenges me, fights for me. He is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me and for that, I am truly thankful.

Engage Conference: Workshop Notes

11/14/201211/14/2012 Kathie Phillips

Yesterday, I posted notes from the three main sessions that Sue Miller led at the Engage Conference, which took place this past weekend in Mechanicsburg, PA. You can read about that here.

Today I wanted to share a little bit about one of the workshops that I attended. It was fantastic and very hands on!

Instructing Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Children’s Ministry

This workshop was led by a Messiah College Professor and three of her students. I took this workshop because I wanted to equip my volunteers to better serve children in our ministry with ASD. This workshop had two objectives:

Help us classify 3 types of learners
Demonstrate multiple instructional strategies through the use of “make and takes”

Engage conference goodie bag — When we arrived, there were goodie bags for each participant in the center of each table.

Engage conference schedule — Our schedule for the workshop

The young women began our workshop by defining autism and identifying three (3) types of learners: auditory, kinesthetic/tactile and visual. We learned how each learner learns best and strategies to use in helping each type of learner learn.

Auditory learners learn best through verbal input. One strategy you can try is classroom positioning. Have the child sit or stand close to the teacher.

Kinesthetic/tactile learners learn best through their body, hands and sense of touch. One strategy you can try is by bringing in sensory manipulatives. We made one in class by filling an uninflated balloon with rice and tying off the balloon. (The balloon and rice were provided for us in our goodie bag.)

Visual learners learn best through written word or pictures. There are two strategies that you can try:

Use picture cards (laminated on a ring) to flash to the children when you need them to get refocused. You could also flash a card to let them know what’s coming up without having to say it aloud. I thought this idea was brilliant.

Engage conference reminder cards — Reminder cards

2. The “First/Then” strategy shows an expectation followed by something preferred. “First we’ll…then we’ll…” Keep in mind that you must follow through with what you say. Otherwise, this strategy will become ineffective.