Hello again! As unbelievable as it is every year, now that our fall programs and events are (barely) underway, it's time to get Christmas together. Are you ready?
Thank you, Tarra, for sending in the following information about an easy-to-do bell choir for children. This is a very nice alternative to a traditional pageant; it is simple enough for children and yet sounds both beautiful and "Christmas-y". An extra bonus: it can be used any time of year, for other holidays, Sunday specials, outreach performances, etc. Here are Tarra's words:
"This year since we have decided to do a Christmas program with colored handbells. I hold up the note letter/color and those children holding that bell will ring until I flip the card. I have included a couple of websites for the product.
This year I will see how it is received by the kids and audience and have the option to add on additional bells. For this year I will alternate children between songs. These handbells look so simple that I am going to have our preschoolers join in.
I plan to purchase aditional music later and be able to have year around musical specials.
http://www.gph.org/handbells/
http://www.kidsplaymusic.org/id13.html
and of course be sure to seartch amazon.com
God bless you."
Again, thank you for the great idea! If there are other ideas/tips out there, big or small, please send them my way. As spread out as we all are geographically, it is still good for us to collaborate together in Christ.
May you all be blessed as you minister for our Lord.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Hello again! I must apologize that it has been so long since I've updated this site. As is true for all of you as well, I am sure, I have been busy! I have been meaning to put these couple of ideas online for a while, but just didn't get it done. So, there is my lame excuse. Here are my quick ideas.
Those who do a Vacation Bible School usually raise money for some kind of mission project. At our church we donate to the Nazarene VBS project for the year; this year it is for children's Quizzing materials on the mission field. To help create excitement and motivate the children (and the leaders!) to bring offering, we come up with some kind of contest. These contests work very well when they are set as boys vs. girls; even the leaders get involved this way. We come up with 2 displays to keep track of the amounts brought in by each team. Last year we had gas tanks to match our "Custom Garage" theme; this year we had canteens to fill with water (or water balloons, see below) to match Quizzing's theme.
Contest 1: You need two adult leaders, one male and one female, who are incredibly good sports. Leaders who are visible in the church work especially well(such as the pastor and his/her spouse, or the VBS director and spouse, or other volunteer). These each lead one of the teams, boys or girls, depending on gender. If they are the type that can "ham it up" it will make all the difference! All week the kids bring in offering, usually during the VBS opening. The winner for the day is announced in the VBS closing, if you have one.
At the end of the week, whichever team is ahead gets to (are you ready?!) put a pie in the face of the other team's leader. !!!!!!! This is very exciting for the kids and even for the adults. I will caution you, however, if you are one of the good-hearted volunteers who are leading one of the teams. Don't be too confident! No matter how far ahead your team is, there is a good chance that somehow your teams will tie, to the penny, on the very last day--and somehow your volunteers will be prepared ahead of time with a second pie!
A couple of Important Notes:
We used aluminum pie plates filled with whipped cream for our pies. As long as you stay with cream pies, you should be OK. We also covered our volunteers with a garbage bag, cutting out a space for thier head to stick through.
This is important! Be sure to instruct whichever child (or teen/adult) that has the honor of pie-ing the other team's leader in the practice of proper pie-ing. First, if you have them throw it, they will probably miss (what a downer!). The next thing to know is that they start at the chin, and carefully, gently moosh the pie onto the rest of the face. People tend to get excited and energetic when they push a pie into another's face, which can result in injured noses if caution is not taken. Thankfully, my husband, who is an ex-youth pastor, was well versed in the art of "pie-ing" before my turn came up!
Contest 2: Again, divide the kids into two teams. And again, if your groups are about even, it's hard to beat boys vs. girls. For every 50 cents each team raises (or whatever amount you choose), they earn 1 water balloon. At the end of the last day, they collect all of the balloons earned and have one gi-normous water balloon fight. It's nice if there is a team leader for each team, but not essential as in the last contest. If there is a leader who can build excitement with the kids throughout the week, however, that is a real plus.
A couple of Important Notes:
Start filling the water balloons at least a day before, and have some "muscles" around to carry them. This will take time and yes, strength!
This is important! Be sure that the teams are situated close enough that they can throw the balloons to the other team, but not so close that they can injure each other with the balloons. In the same vein, we allowed our teen/adult volunteers to be hit with the balloons, but not to throw the balloons. It is easy to get carried away. We also positioned the younger kids across from the younger kids and the older across from the older.
If anyone was seen to be aiming for someone's head/face, they were pulled from the game. As the kids were warned of this before beginning, it wasn't an issue.
We were safety-consious, and our kids had a fantastic time! I hope you have a chance to do the same!
Those who do a Vacation Bible School usually raise money for some kind of mission project. At our church we donate to the Nazarene VBS project for the year; this year it is for children's Quizzing materials on the mission field. To help create excitement and motivate the children (and the leaders!) to bring offering, we come up with some kind of contest. These contests work very well when they are set as boys vs. girls; even the leaders get involved this way. We come up with 2 displays to keep track of the amounts brought in by each team. Last year we had gas tanks to match our "Custom Garage" theme; this year we had canteens to fill with water (or water balloons, see below) to match Quizzing's theme.
Contest 1: You need two adult leaders, one male and one female, who are incredibly good sports. Leaders who are visible in the church work especially well(such as the pastor and his/her spouse, or the VBS director and spouse, or other volunteer). These each lead one of the teams, boys or girls, depending on gender. If they are the type that can "ham it up" it will make all the difference! All week the kids bring in offering, usually during the VBS opening. The winner for the day is announced in the VBS closing, if you have one.
At the end of the week, whichever team is ahead gets to (are you ready?!) put a pie in the face of the other team's leader. !!!!!!! This is very exciting for the kids and even for the adults. I will caution you, however, if you are one of the good-hearted volunteers who are leading one of the teams. Don't be too confident! No matter how far ahead your team is, there is a good chance that somehow your teams will tie, to the penny, on the very last day--and somehow your volunteers will be prepared ahead of time with a second pie!
A couple of Important Notes:
We used aluminum pie plates filled with whipped cream for our pies. As long as you stay with cream pies, you should be OK. We also covered our volunteers with a garbage bag, cutting out a space for thier head to stick through.
This is important! Be sure to instruct whichever child (or teen/adult) that has the honor of pie-ing the other team's leader in the practice of proper pie-ing. First, if you have them throw it, they will probably miss (what a downer!). The next thing to know is that they start at the chin, and carefully, gently moosh the pie onto the rest of the face. People tend to get excited and energetic when they push a pie into another's face, which can result in injured noses if caution is not taken. Thankfully, my husband, who is an ex-youth pastor, was well versed in the art of "pie-ing" before my turn came up!
Contest 2: Again, divide the kids into two teams. And again, if your groups are about even, it's hard to beat boys vs. girls. For every 50 cents each team raises (or whatever amount you choose), they earn 1 water balloon. At the end of the last day, they collect all of the balloons earned and have one gi-normous water balloon fight. It's nice if there is a team leader for each team, but not essential as in the last contest. If there is a leader who can build excitement with the kids throughout the week, however, that is a real plus.
A couple of Important Notes:
Start filling the water balloons at least a day before, and have some "muscles" around to carry them. This will take time and yes, strength!
This is important! Be sure that the teams are situated close enough that they can throw the balloons to the other team, but not so close that they can injure each other with the balloons. In the same vein, we allowed our teen/adult volunteers to be hit with the balloons, but not to throw the balloons. It is easy to get carried away. We also positioned the younger kids across from the younger kids and the older across from the older.
If anyone was seen to be aiming for someone's head/face, they were pulled from the game. As the kids were warned of this before beginning, it wasn't an issue.
We were safety-consious, and our kids had a fantastic time! I hope you have a chance to do the same!
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