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SSTN # 36 - April 28, 2004


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


Prayer Wheel ... NEW!

1) Fruit of the Spirit Rap / Song
2) No Place To Teach
3) Unruly Child

Fruit of the Spirit Spinner ... NEW!

4) Teaching the Books of the Bible
5) Teaching Children To Pray
6) Teaching Children To Pray

Ascension Sunday Activity
 
7) No Place To Teach
8) Teaching the Books of the Bible
9) No Place To Teach

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Prayer Wheel ... NEW!

Children turn the wheel to learn "The Lord's Prayer", the prayer that
Jesus taught us to pray. Use the Prayer Wheel during class time, at the
dinner table, or for morning and bedtime prayers! Kids color, cut, and
assemble the easy-to-make patterns. Download an unlimited supply of
patterns for a onetime fee of only $3.00.

Learn more at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html 


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1) Fruit of the Spirit Rap / Song

>I am looking for the words to a chant or rap or song
>for learning the Fruit of the Spirit.

A great song can be found on the Crazy Praize: Songs from the Lighter
Side-Volume 2 cd (the one with the red cover) - the song is track number 6
titled " Fruit Of The Spirit".

It starts with... "The fruit of the spirit's not a coconut, the fruit of
the spirit's not a coconut, if you want a be a coconut, you might as well
hear it, you can't be a fruit of the spirit, 'cause the fruit is love,
joy,
peace, patience, kindness, etc. "

My kids love it and I find myself singing it over and over again. The
verses repeat with different fruits so it provides built-in repetition for
the list of the fruits of the spirit.

Amy from Austin

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2) No Place To Teach

>When I go to the Pastor on this she says that she does not want to make
>waves.

It sounds like Sunday School is not a high priority on your Pastor's list
and that is sad. The children are our future and they are important.  Is
this mainly an "older people? church? You should definitely have some spot
in the church where you can teach.  It should not be outside all the time.
(doesn't it ever rain?) But once in a while, as a treat,  on a nice day it
would be fun for the children.
God bless,
Joni

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3) Unruly Child

I am a mother of a child adopted from overseas and would like to suggest
that the child may be anxious that he is away from his parents.When the
children get used to having a one to one loving relationship with a
parent  and then they are separated from them for even a short time they
cannot relax.Maybe the child's mother could stay with him for a
while.Plenty of patience and love is needed.
Sue,Cyprus 


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Fruit of the Spirit Spinner ... NEW!

Children will learn the Fruit of the Spirit in a fun new way. Each
characteristic is illustrated with a whimsical cartoon fruit for kids to
color, cut, and spin. Download an unlimited supply of patterns for a
onetime fee of only $3.00.

Get a lesson and learn more here:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/lesson_spirit_fruit.html 


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4) Teaching the Books of the Bible

    We just completed learning the books of the Bible in our primary
Sunday school class; as a matter of fact our program was this past
Sunday.  We called it the "Great Book Challenge", I think I got the idea
right here from Christian Crafters.  I made a fishing game for learning
the books and the children couldn't wait to get to Sunday School to fish. 
I cut out 66 fish shapes out of poster board, I wrote the name of each of
the books on each fish with a magic marker and attached a paper clip to
the fish.  I took a small inexpensive kiddies fishing pole and instead of
using a fishing hook I attached a magnet to the line so it would pick up
the paper clip.  I then put the fish in a large plastic container to
resemble a pond.  The children then took turns fishing for the books of
the Bible.  You can either let each child fish all of the books out at one
time and place them in order or you can let each child take a turn fishing
out one at a time and putting that book where it should go.  I just let
them put them in order on the floor as they fished them out.  I didn't put
all 66 books in to start, I broke it down into groups of 8 - 10, the first
group we started with was Genesis - Ruth, etc.  After they memorized that
group we took the next group.  After we had gone through all the groups, I
put the whole 66 books in and they had to fish them out and put them all
in order.  I made a chart for the wall and put each child's name and each
group of the books on it, as each child memorized that group of books they
got a colored star.  Everyone stayed pretty close and got their stars
about the same time since we worked on it in Sunday School.  I always had
a short lesson that encouraged using the Bible to look up scripture. 
Also, the children learned the Books of the Bible medley of songs and on
Sunday evening they performed the song for our church to show what they
had learned, and boy was I proud of them!!  There is an award certificate
for learning the books, but I chose to give the children an age
appropriate Bible for their reward.  With our lessons and everything we
incorporated into the program it took us about 4 months to complete, but I
didn't rush the children and we had so much fun.  Hope this helps.  Debbie


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5) Teaching Children To Pray

We are starting the Lords Prayer next month and are introducing Prayer
Shawls. They will be large enough for the children to have some privacy in
their prayer. During the Prayer Shawl time we will be playing the music
 Lord of all Creation and I could sing of your love forever which will
hopefully help them to be calm and pray from their hearts.

Nancy Fidler
Sunday Kids Club Director


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6) Teaching Children To Pray

Children should be taught the model for prayer that Jesus taught his
disciples. See Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

Check out the Plaster Prayer Hand in the crafts section at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/page6.html 

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Ascension Sunday
 
May 23 is Ascension Sunday. This day celebrates the ascension of Jesus
into heaven, recorded in Acts 1:1-11. Have your class make and take the
"Jesus Ascending Flip Card" to coordinate with your lesson. Learn more at:

http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html 


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7) No Place To Teach

I understand what you mean about the kids not coming to sunday school and
the parents not being any help.  The kids at my church is a large amount
but only a few come to sunday school.  It's mostly the same one.  Then
ever once in awhile you have extras and you haven't planned for that
many.  Not that I'm complaining.  I'm glad for them to come and learn. 

As for you being put out of your teaching spot; that's not right.  This
renting space at the church is not as important as the children learning
the Bible and the goodness of the Lord.  We need to learn if we pay our
thithes and offering the Lord will provide the rest.  
Also if you just keep looking to the Lord, and not to man the Lord is
going to fix it.  And I'm speaking from expierence.
 
Yours in Christ
Snd9CO@aol

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8) Teaching the Books of the Bible

I recently received a donation of VHS tape cases that I'm covering and
labeling with names of the books of the Bible - the children will see the
order of the books visually as well as "unscramble" them. They can be
divided into OT and NT, Books of Law, The Gospels, etc or whatever smaller
set is appropriate for your age group. For those not reading, the starting
sound of the book may be enough of a clue and pointing at them as they go
could help with recitation.  As we teach stories from the Bible, we can
show them which book it comes from. There are lots of memory games and
activities in the archives and I've been able to adapt many of them to
work on books of the Bible.  Hope the music people are using the OT and NT
songs - a great memory tool!

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9) No Place To Teach

I went through a similar situation when we built a new church.  I was
allowed to continue the children's church but was not allowed to decorate
in any way (nothing on the walls, ceiling, no floor mats, nothing) ...I
ended up making easels to put posters on....children need stimulation,
milk not steak, as they are still young and learning...This became a very
tedious job every week and I lost many children because of the lack of
room, decorations and loss of being able to make a little noise when
needed ( I like a lot of stimulation, cheers, songs, etc. with the
children)  I tried very carefully not to express any ill feelings in front
of the children....and it was hard when they would ask why they couldn't
do certain things any longer....It became so difficult I finally gave
in....we started a "Children's Moment" in front of the church....I would
do an object lesson, sing a children's song (with the adults; with
actions, with noise) and tell a very short lesson (all of this lasted
about 10 minutes) There were no crafts, of course, but craft kits
sometimes were passed out at the end of the service for them to take home
and complete. (A ziplock bag with everything needed to complete a very
small craft that went along with the lesson).  This went on for about 6
months, when finally the pastor said it had to stop....(the sanctuary was
no place for such shenanigans)   With sadness I felt my time was limited
at the church...I left right after Father's day (my parents attended there
and supported me) and moved to another church...
You say you don't have a place....but tables outside?  What happens
when bad weather occurs?   Have you attempted the "Children's Moment"
approach yet?   You may want to try that idea first...then if that does
not work..it sounds like a move is in the making to me, God will deal with
the pastor and church, ......Good luck. DAR
 
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