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SSTN - Number 225
September 7, 2001
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
1) Beach Trek VBS
2) Fall Festival?
3) Beach Trek
4) Interview With God
5) Beach Trek
6) Christian Books?
7) Spiritual Baby Shower
8) Burning Bush Idea
9) Fund Raising Ideas
10) 12 months-3 years - Repetition the key
11) Bible Science
12) Autism and special needs children in Sunday school
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1) Beach Trek VBS
>> Our church is thinking of purchasing Augburg Fortress's Beach Trek VBS
>> If anyone used this program this year, I would
>> love to hear your opinion of it.
Dear Diane -NJ :
We used The Beach Trek theme this year and it was great! I personally
taught grades 3rd,4th, and 5th. I decorated the room in a Beach Theme
with stuffed animals sitting in beach chairs reading the Bible. We had
beach balls hanging from the ceiling in the room. The music with the
curriculum was so much fun! All the age groups loved the song,"Bugs". We
did drama, games ,bible stories and the crafts we came up were a huge hit!
I hope this helps you a little bit.
In His Love,
Cindy,Ft.Lauderdale
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2) Fall Festival?
Please send me any new & exciting games or activities you have for a fall
festival. I am considering doing ours on a Saturday, during the day this
year. Thanks-Teresa McLeod, Texas
--from SSTN: make sure you check the Children's Sermons section of the
site for Pumpkin Parables & Activities, as well as the Archives List for a
goldmine of ideas from previous SSTNs at: www.christiancrafters.com
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3) Beach Trek
I read on a recent ChristianCrafters.com email that someone was
considering using BeachTrek for the VBS (or VBE as referred to with
BeachTrek).
Our church used it and everyone loved it! The material is great and easy
to use, the music is fabulous. The kids had a blast and learned so much,
too!
I recommend it!
Teresa Anderson
Music and Children's Director
Bowling Green Cumberland Presbyterian Church
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4) Interview With God
A good friend sent the following web address to me last week. It's not
directly Sunday School related, but I can't resist passing it on to SSTN.
You won't believe the beautiful photography of God's creation!
Enjoy! Sarah Keith <><
http://www.trademasterz.com/interview
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5) Beach Trek
Our church used it and everyone loved it! We did Habitat for Humanity
last year and I thought it was way over the younger kids' heads. Beach
Trek was great! Cindy in Dayton
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6) Christian Books?
Does anyone have a good Christian book that teaches children (ages 8 - 10)
about sex. I would like to discuss this with my children in a healthy
Christian way. Any suggestions or website that would be good?
Thanks..........Barb S.
--from SSTN: "Almost 12 - The Story of Sex." is in the Christian Education
section of the Bookstore. It's published by Tyndale and handles the topic
well. Your webservant, sarah http://www.christiancrafters.com
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7) Spiritual Baby Shower
>For my son's baby shower, I took 3X5 unlined index cards and
>rubber-stamped a cute light-blue baby in a blanket in the upper right
>corner. Then I used deckle-scissors to make the bottom edge ragged. I
>took a light-blue marker and ran it along the deckled edge for
highlights.
> Each guest (it was a coed shower) was asked to write a message to Gabriel
>(not advice to me) on the card. It was amazing how seriously each person
>took the task - all of the messages were very endearing and many of the
>guests referred to particular bible verses. Now Gabe has a collection of
>personal messages from his aunts, uncles, grandmother, godparents, and
>many other significant people in his life.
What a great idea! It could be adapted to be used in the baptism service
as
well, helping the congregation give a real welcome to the child (or
adult!!)which can be reflected on later.
Mary in London
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Precepts for Children's Ministry
Kay Arthur's children's ministry books are now available in the Christian
Education section of the Bookstore at: http://christiancrafters.com
Buy two or more books and shipping is FREE!
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8) Burning Bush Idea
Hi I went out side and cut small two inch peices from a small pine tree.
Just the tips of the branches, they look like tiny Christmas trees when
you cut them off. Then I took elmers school glue and had the children dip
the little trees into the glue and then the bright red glitter. You could
let the children go out and cut there own if you have a small pine tree at
the church. to save time I brought them with me. You could also try using
yellow,orange and red glitter mixed together. I also cut small peices of
heavy construction paper into squares and punched wholes in the middle of
the paper to put the stem of the bush through to help it to stand up to
dry. Hope this helps Kim Cole Mebane NC
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9) Fund Raising Ideas
An excellent fund raiser for our Sunday School/ Youth Group, was selling
Krispy Kreme Donuts. They have a wonderful program for organizations. If
you have Krispy Kreme in your location, check them out. Our youth group
made $1500 and only spent 4 hours on 2 different Saturday mornings. The
community really liked this fund raiser!! Judy
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10) 12 months-3 years - Repetition the key
In response to what to do with this age group, we have a baby class at our
church for this age and we usually start the class with short prayer, read
from The Toddlers Bible which is really good for this age group because it
is simple, short, and has age appealing lessons. Then we a few short
songs. We try to use songs that require hand or body movement, but are
also related to the lesson. Then we do a short activity or craft related
to the lesson. Finally we end in prayer and have a snack. If the
attention wanes, we remind them if they do the activity, they get a snack.
All this is done in 20-30 minutes. Also, we do the same
lesson each week for 1 month, and we try to keep basically the same songs
all the time with a new one introduced just every now and then. With this
age group you don't need new songs and Bible studies each week.
Repetition and routine works well for us. However, we have a different
teacher each week (a parent) so the same lesson may be presented a little
different and the activity or craft is always different. It is also
important to have the same songs because as they start to learn them, they
look forward to singing them. In fact, my son who is in this class
associates church with the songs he gets to sing and sometimes happily
sings them at home.
--from SSTN: you make a VERY good point about repetition! With this method
you only need 12 lessons for the year! Excellent! Also, if anyone needs to
purchase the Toddler Bible, it is available in the Bible section of the
Bookstore at: http://christiancrafters.com
--sarah <><
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150 Best Ever Ideas
The best of the best! Teacher-tested, winning ideas from Children's
Ministry Magazine. You'll find creative games, crafts, and ideas for
special seasons. Available now in the Christian Education section of the
Bookstore at: http://christiancrafters.com
Buy two or more books and shipping is FREE!
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11) Bible Science
>>
>> This is a good one to do with your class. I used it to demonstrate how
>if we sin we become further away from God. You take a clear glass bowl
>fill it with water... Then sprinkle pepper in it... without the kids
>seeing you (or before the experiment) add a small amount of dish
>detergent on your finger. put the tip of your finger in the water the
>pepper will move to> the edge of the bowl. <<
<<
Take it the next step sprinkle sugar in the bowl and the pepper will
come
back together. The sugar can represent Godıs sweet grace, forgiveness and
love which through Jesus provided a way for us to be reconciled to God.
This idea comes from Friendmakers and Crowd Breakers for Childrenıs
Ministry by Group Publishing. Itıs a great book, full of simple devotions
with hands on activities to illustrate the message.
Jaymie Derden-Bristol, VA
--from SSTN: 'Friendmakers and Crowd Breakers' is available in the Bible
Games section of the Bookstore at: http://christiancrafters.com
Buy two or more books and shipping is FREE!
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12) Autism and special needs children in Sunday school
In response to the question about incorporating autistic/special needs
children in Sunday school, here is some information someone found for me:
http://www.thelutheran.org/9710/page39.html
an article about including special needs children in sunday school
http://www.jafministies.com
dallas disability ministry...I think they work
w/ churches to set up programs for the disabled in the church
http://www.parentspark.com
asperger's support site
http://www.youthchg.com
solutions for dealing with "problem kids"
http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger
asperger's syndrome resources
Mary Quick
Round Grove United Church, UCC
Lewisville, TX
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