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SSTN - Number 149
January 29, 2001

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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
1) Writing VBS Curriculum
2) Writing curriculum for VBS
3) Bible resources written on a child's level
4) "Fun teacher" dilemma
5) How to color macaroni?
6) Pastor Leaving Gift
7) Bulletin board ideas
8) Unique fundraising ideas
9) Pastor Is Leaving Gift

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SSTN NOTES:


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1) Writing VBS Curriculum

> Due to the rising costs of curriculum, our church is considering writing
> our own curriculum for VBS. Some ideas are "Noah's Ark" and "Christmas in
> July". Has anyone ever done this?

I've written curriculum for our church. I am an editor for one of the
Curriculum publishing companies. I find that most churches bog down when
they try to write their own. Shop around for curriculum. There are lots
of good curricula available at affordable prices. Also - Order (or
purchase at the local Bible book store) VBS intro pak. There is enough in
there to get you started. You do not have to order every part of the VBS
packet. The craft items are usually expensive because the company pre
packages them. You can do most of this yourself & save a lot. Make your
own posters and fliers. There are enough ideas on this and other sites to
provide all the game, snack, and craft ideas you need. Hope this helps.
Teresa, TX

--from ChristianCrafters.Com: As a matter of fact, we are offering a
starter kit in our "Curriculum" section. This year's VBS is called, "A
Polar Expedition". It comes with lots of materials, music cassette, and
video, etc., to get you started. You can order all the extra stuff from
the kit...or improvise your own crafts, games and posters from the samples
they provide, as Teresa indicated. The starter kit goes for $49.00. We
have used this program for six years at our church and absolutely love it!

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2) Writing curriculum for VBS

> our church is considering writing our own curriculum for VBS. Some ideas > "Noah's Ark" and "Christmas in July". Any suggestions?

I have been involved with a church that has written its own VBS material
for several years with great success. We have done Joseph, Walls of
Jericho, Paul, Abraham and are considering Jesus for this summer. We do
various centers that all ages go to instead of keeping classes in rooms by
age with each teacher having to come up with all the curriculum. Each
year one center involves taking a picture of the child. The year we did
Joseph, someone painted a body with a mulitcolored coat on heavy cardboard
that stood up without a head. Each child stood behind it and put their
head in the spot and became "Joseph". A craft center could be to make a
frame for their picture. One center often is a movie of the story. One
center is a Bible story-telling center. For the Walls of Jericho, someone
made a city out of large boxes. The children were put in costumes to
match the people of the city. One teenager was dressed as the high
priest. They had made an ark to carry and they acted out the walking
around the wall. Boys were
inside to make the walls fall at the right time. In Paul, they converted
a room into a prison cell with prisoners, one with a very long beard. The
Children came in and listened as the prisoners acted out what was
happening to them. Walls crumbled and the jailer was converted to the
Lord. The kids loved it. We would do some kind of obstacle course
outside if the weather was good. Maybe using blindfolds and the idea of
trust. Since older children sometimes become bored with VBS, we had a
special center just for the oldest group. 6th grade for us. They made
marionettes and used them at the end of the week to act out the story for
the younger children. (That became a center for the younger children.)
They stayed with this center most of the time since it was very time
consuming. I got the pattern for the puppets from a book on making
various types of puppets at the Christian book store. With centers, each
set of helpers is only responsible for one activity. Create a game about
the story. Build a "Wheel of Fortune" for a center to reinforce memory
verses. Have a center especially for practicing for the closing program
if you are going to have one. We have helpers who stay with the age
groups to lead them to each center. There is a book called "VBS Smart
pages that helps with ideas and scheduling centers. Sherry-Indiana

--from ChristianCrafters.Com:
You can get VBS Smart pages in our bookstore.

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3) Bible resources written on a child's level

A great resource that my six-year-old daughter loves are Christian comic
books. They are cheap, small and fun looking, and each one has a
salvation message. (Some cover a Christian theme and some cover a Bible
story.) I've found old second hand ones called "Dennis the Menace and
the Bible Kids" (believe it or not), and a Christian book store in
Massachusetts had some new ones published by Barbour Christian Comics.

Now--maybe some SSTN readers can help me find a new source. That
Christian bookstore closed, and I'd like to buy more for my church
classes (as well as my daughter). Dana- St. Clair Shores, MI

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4)"Fun teacher" dilemma (4th & 5th graders)

I've found that competition motivates the kids I work with at this age
level. An easy competition that's grabbed the attention of some of my
students is "Around the World." You can use this to test any kind of
knowledge. Ahead of time, make up some "teacher cards" with questions
testing what you want them to learn (Bible facts, Bible verses...). Sit
the kids in a circle. Stand up two kids "against" each other--they get
the first question. The quickest correct answer gets to keep standing
against the next kid. (Continue that way around the whole circle.
Whoever is left standing at the end is the winner.) You may want to spring
the game on the kids the first time unannounced. Then, after they've done
terrible on all the questions, tell them they'll get another chance next
week. I bet they'll study! Another idea--have the kids each make up a
few question cards from a given subject. Theneach kid will know at lease
a couple answers, the teacher doesn't have to work so hard, and the kids
feel like it's THEIR game. You can keep adding to your deck of cards
every time you study something new. Dana-St. Clair Shores, MI

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5) How to color macaroni?

Dear contributors...I'm having a small problem... I would like to make
faith necklaces using colored macaroni... does anyone know how to color
macaroni and pastas? ..My son's teacher told me once how to do it by
soaking them in Food coloring .. but i don't know how or how long...etc.
Please if anyone knows HELP? : )Torri - Las Vegas Bible Church

--from ChristianCrafters.Com: Torri, you got me curious...so just this
morning before I sent SSTN out I tried coloring some ziti pasta. Here's
what I did: Two drops of green food coloring into a few drops of water.
Rolled the pasta around in it till it was covered inside and out (less
than a minute). Poured the green liquid off and rinsed the noodle. Layed
it out to dry and now it is a beautiful grass green color! It was very
easy! But, if kids will be doing the coloring...do it outdoors in old
clothes. Sarah Keith-your moderator.

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6) Pastor Leaving Gift

Our senior and founding pastor left after 15 years - we wanted to all
offer our expression of love to him and his family - we all created
scrapbook pages and made them into one big album. Scrapbook pages were
available for anyone interested. They took them home and designed them
however they chose and all the pages were collected and placed in an album
- presented at their going-away party. Lauren S. Hudson Ma

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7) Bulletin board ideas

In response to the need for bulletin board ideas, I'd like to share a
website that has some very good ideas, and they all can be adapted to
different age groups. Hope this helps! www.perpetualpreschool.com
Diane Turnbow

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8) Unique fundraising ideas

Something that has always worked well for our youth is a carwash. We
usually have it after the Sunday morning service. While the adults wait
they are served a meal, something like hot dogs, chips and sodas. These
items are donated by local businesses so there is no cost to provide this.
There is no charge for the carwash or meal, but donations are accepted.
This is something that we have found to work really well for our small
rural church. Last summer several of our young people were able to go on
a mission trip to Mexico!

Also our church has a couples' sweetheart banquet in which the teens serve
the tables and clean up. Any "tips" that are received goes to their youth
fund. Hope this helps! Yvette, Lilly Dale Church of Christ, Tell City,
Indiana

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* PRAISE-AMATIONS! (TM) is a fun and unique way for children to praise the
LORD. Click on 'Curriculum' from the home page of
www.ChristianCrafters.Com for a free pattern and more info...

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9) Pastor Is Leaving Gift

Amber, When our minister left, our class made a gigantic picture card. We
took two large identical cutouts of the outline of our church with bristol
board. One was for the background the other would be the foreground.
On the front one we cut out little window openings (just like the
chocolate advent calendars) which would cover a small polaroid of each
of the kids in the class pasted on the background piece. The kids
finished colouring the front so it looked like the church and everyone
signed it the back. He loved it!

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--Copyright 2001 S.A. Keith--All Rights Reserved. ----

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