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SSTN # 123 - December 6, 2002
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
--> Kids Can @ Christmas Time
1) Cheer Up Request
2) Free Bibles
3) Thank you
4) Disruptive children
5) Need ideas for flexibility
6) Disruptive students
7) Sheet Music for Happy Birthday Jesus
8) The Bible in 50 Words
9) How Do You Reach The Youth
10) Group games for a family style gathering
11) Group games for a family style gathering
12) How to Reach the Youth
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Kids Can @ Christmas Time
An Advent celebration of 28 crafts and recipes. Some of the projects
include: Epiphany Ornaments, Ribbon Stars, an Edible Nativity, and the
Jesus in the Manger cupcake, to name a few! To learn more, follow the
link below:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
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1) Cheer Up Request
I want to thank the literally HUNDREDS of people who responded to my
prayer and cheer up request of our daughter Laura. It has been
overwhelming and I wish I could personally thank everyone for the
gifts,cards,prayers,messages of hope that were sent to her. It truly shows
the kindness of God's children.
An update for all of you, Laura has finished chemotherapy, she is now
waiting until her counts rise high enough to start a six week, daily
course of radiation. Laura will go in every morning,except Sat and Sun. to
have radiation therapy and our prayers are to see her lungs healthy and
tumor free in the New Year.
Blessings to you all, if you ever want an update please feel free to
e-mail me at ajv1952@aol.com
Thanks again, In His name,
Sandy Valentine
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2) Free Bibles
We replaced our old pew bibles and have a quite a few Todays English (Good
News) bibles. Our church is in North Central Ohio and we could ship them
or if you are anywhere near.
Tina
TinaDJ@worldnet.att.net
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3) Thank you
I would like to thank all of you who responded to my request for advise
for misbehavior in my Sunday school class. I combined a couple of the
suggestions, and it worked. I set the law down told them what the
expected behavior was in God's house and said they had one chance. All
crafts and snacks were done after the lesson. Wow what a difference.
Thank you Thank you.
Pam/Arkansas
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4) Disruptive children
There's many things you can do to disruptive children. 1 ) before class
take them aside and let them know what is going on that day and let them
know what you expect. Yes, the rules should already be known but come-on
they are children. 2) give them something to do. Make up a packet of
things to do, coloring, word finds, quite puzzles. if this keeps the
disruptive child still, then the rest of the children will understand . 3)
Some children dont do well under busy situations its just to well busy,
and they may need just a few mins to collect them selves again. Get some
bible stories on tape if you have the books to its wonderful. Then set up
a spot (if you are understaffed let it be in eyes sight) where they can be
by them selves for a little while. Let them know they have 10 mins or one
story to get it together. 4) Reward them with praise and incentives (st!
ickers work well) Let them know you are proud of them when they have done
well. AND 5) PRAY and PRAY. God has given you authority over what ever is
coming against you that is trying to prevent you to get his word out.
PRAY peace over the children, their minds, hands and their hearts. Pray
against all strong holds, disruptions, chaos, and strife. If God had
angels close the mouths of lions then he can and will release the angels
over little feet and little mouths.
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5) Need ideas for flexibility
Hi,We are part of a small international church in Paris, France. We
currently have 2 Sunday School classes, and my question concerns the older
group, kids ages 7 to 11. We have a wide variation in attendance--often
there are about 10 children, but sometimes as few as 3 or as many as 18.I
would like to have some ideas for games or activities that can be done
with any size group without any preparation or special supplies, to fill
in the gaps when the number of kids prevents the teacher from doing
something she had planned. Obviously, they won't fit in with the lesson,
but if the teacher has to drop some parts of her lesson, she could finish
the time with some easy, fun games that work with any size group and don't
require more than pencils, pens or paper.Any help will be greatly
appreciated! Susie, in Paris
--from SSTN: make sure you check out the Games page. (esp. Jubilee Word
Search) and the Bookstore games section too:
http://www.ChristianCrafters.Com
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6) Disruptive students
> I was shocked and deeply saddened by some of the answers to this problem.
> Look deeply inside yourselves everyone. If there is a disruptive child,
> would Jesus "send him out?" or is that the one that REALLY needs us? I'm
I haven't followed every response to the "disruptive students" issue, but
I
felt a need to comment on Kym's response above. I co-teach with 2 other
ladies in a 5th-6th grade girls' GA's mission class on Wednesday nights
and
have had some experience with disruptive students. Some evenings we have
had 14-16 girls. A child who is deliberately disruptive, constantly
talking over the teacher, discussing/gossiping about other kids, never
listening to the stories, craft instructions or admonitions to please pay
attention, and instigates her buddies next to her to follow suit is not
the same as a child with ADHD or who is autistic. Certain behavior is
expected in any classroom setting, even at church, and at the 5th-6th
grade level the girls are certainly well aware of what those expectations
are - much time is spent on letting them know what we expect, and why.
Consequences should match the level of disruptiveness - appropriate
rewards for good behavior (like the numbered chairs/candy idea), splitting
up the talkers, separating the rowdy ones away from the group, calling on
our children's minister and finally asking the parent to come for their
child. Obviously, all that comes at the cost of lesson time for the other
girls. I believe Sunday schools, missions classes, choirs, all these group
times at church should be fun, open and loving, nobody wants to be beat
over the head or talked down to, least of all children, but allowing
disrespectful behavior to escalate to the point of being disruptive
diminishes the messages trying to be taught. It is a wonderful privilege
to find yourself in the position of being able to commit
the time and resources to teaching our children at church. But with that
comes the responsibility of maintaining an atmosphere where God's word can
be explored at the level appropriate for the age group. I agree that we
all benefit from an effort to find what works best, but it must be a joint
effort of parental involvement, teacher's commitment, church staff
support,
and child's accountability.
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7) Sheet Music for Happy Birthday Jesus
Shouldn't this be in the Archives? I thought this was discussed last
year, because I ordered the CD from the Brooklyn something or other choir
:) - don't have it here, but I know I got the info from SSTN. xxoo Kit
--from SSTN: thanks, Kit for the reminder. For those that aren't aware of
this, every SSTN article ever written is available online in a
search-by-topic database at:
http://christiancrafters.com/archives.html
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8) The Bible in 50 Words
*God made
*Adam bit
*Noah arked
*Abraham split
*Joseph ruled
*Jacob fooled
*Bush talked
*Moses balked
*Pharaoh plagued
*People walked
*Sea divided
*Tablets guided
*Promise landed
*Saul freaked
*David peeked
*Prophets warned
*Jesus born
*God walked
*Love talked
*Anger crucified
*Hope died
*Love rose
*Spirit flamed
*Word spread
*God remained...
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9) How Do You Reach The Youth
My husband is the Youth Pastor at our church. Our hearts have been broken
very much over the same things as you. The kids today really seem to have
an attitude of apathy. This is especially scary considering how
increasingly sinful our world is getting. We helped in the Youth group
for
about two years in our church in Atlanta and had a wonderful experience.
The kids (the majority of them) were really on fire and loved the Lord.
Now, three years since we've been gone, we still have contact with some of
the teens and it breaks our hearts how badly they are all doing. They
have
gotten into such terrible things that they know are wrong and harmful to
themselves. The youth group that we lead now seems to have no desire to
serve God or have any kind of relationship with Him. I think the first
thing we have to do is to commit to pray for these kids continually. I
believe in praying specifically by name for each child in our youth group.
I think this is the first and most important thing we can do for them. I
also think we have to go beyond being their youth leader and really try to
be a part of their lives. My husband and I try very hard to do things
with
the kids like invite them over to our house to watch a movie or just hang
out. We try to invite them over individually or maybe just a couple of
them so that they all get special attention from us. Whenever we have the
entire group together, the shy and younger ones tend to be left out. We
also try to go to any concerts or performances or games that they have.
We have a small youth group so we're able to do a lot with each child. We
also try to have
activities involving the entire youth group so they learn
to be friends with and depend on each other. We won't always be around,
so they need to learn to make good Christian friends and look to them for
encouragement and support. I think the third thing is to live your life
as an example. I don't think this means to act like you have all the
answers and you have it all together (because none of us do). I think we
have to be real and let the kids know that we struggle just like they do.
We have to let them know how we handle our temptations and trials. If
they think we're never tempted, then whey are they going to listen to what
we say about resisting temptation. I also think it's very discouraging to
the kids if they are failing in a certain area (or maybe several) and we
act like we are sinless. They think "what's wrong with me?" There are a
lot of other things that we feel are very important in dealing with the
youth group, but I really feel like these three things are the most
important. Just remember to be faithful and do what God has called you to
do. God hasn't called me or my husband to grow those kids, only to
minister to them. I Corinthians 3:7 says "So then neither is he that
planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the
increase." Just trust the Lord with them.
In Christ,
Tam
tambrown@brownsforchrist.com
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10) Group games for a family style gathering
Here are a few links to some websites with some good games that you could
use.
http://party-games.zaural.ru/kids-games.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/kidsandstuff/kidsandstuff5.html
http://www.geocities.com/buildakid/games.html
I also have some Word documents with a lot of games that I have compiled
from various websites. If you want to e-mail me, I will send them to you.
In Christ,
Tam
tambrown@brownsforchrist.com
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11) Group games for a family style gathering
>Does anyone have a fun, indoor game (teams
>or individuals) that can be played indoors? It is ok if there is action
>involved, running, jumping, or whatever. I have read some of the ideas in
Hi Becca!
Haven't looked in the archives - here are some indoor games we have
played:
Relay races with air filled balloons. Divide into two teams. Each team
stands in a line (behind each other, not next to). First person gets
balloon and has to pass it over their head to next person, that person has
to pass it between their legs to next person, that person over their head
and so on. When balloon gets to last person they have to run to the front
of the line and pop it. Kids had a blast playing this game.
Teams. Had them run around cones to line, at line had to pick up the
jumprope, complete 2 jumps, bring rope back to next person.
We've had jumproping inside with a long rope so multiple people can fit
in. That was fun for kids and adults.
Relay race... Put a piece of bubble gum (ball or the bazooka style - not
stick) into a pie plate. Squirt whipped cream to fill the plate. Hands
behind their backs... first one to find the gum and blow a bubble wins.
Have paper towels handy!
Charades.
My kindergarten Sunday School - on our first day which is a short lesson
and then play - I played a shoe game with them. Everyone took off their
shoes and threw them in a pile. I then blindfolded everyone, counted to 3
and they had to find their own shoes and put them back on. It was funny
to watch.
At our picnics we have old standby games... clothespin in the bottle,
knock over bottles or cans stacked up with a ball or bean bag, face
painting, tug of war, musical chairs, hula hoop, bozo buckets, apple
bobbing, football toss thru a ring.
"Wolleyball". Our version of anything goes volleyball. We play it with a
huge beach ball - about 48" or 52"! The only rule is get it over the net
before it hits the floor.
Fish pond. I remember loving it as a kid in school. They would put up a
huge decorated piece of cardboard in front of a classroom doorway.
Someone (usually older kids) would be on other side and we would "cast" or
fishing line over the cardboard and it would come back with a prize
clipped in it (with clothespin). You could use different color poles or
clothespins for girl or boy if you wanted. That was fun when I was
younger and older. As an older kid it was fun to be the one to get to run
the game.
Mr. Wolf... One person is the wolf and stands with his/her back to others.
Others stand back on a line...back quite a bit. They say "Mr Wolf what
time is it" Mr Wolf says 1 o'clock. So everyone takes 1 step off the
line. "Mr Wolf what time is it?" Mr Wolf says 2 o'clock, they take 2
steps. and so on. At any time Mr. Wolf can yell "DINNERTIME!" and then
turns around and chases. They must make it past the original "safe" line.
Anyone he catches comes back with him and stands with their backs to
others and helps Mr. Wolf catch more. Last one remaining wins. This is a
very loud, frenzied game. Lots of screaming and giggling for sure. All
the kids are usually begging to be the wolf so it could go on for a while.
Craft table.
Golf putt - someone had an indoor putting game.
Karaoke.
Hope this helps or sparks a new idea!!
God's blessings,
Michelle
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12) How to Reach the Youth
I have a 13 year old who attends public school and is emerged in the going
on of the world. We are in prayer over her. Between my husband and myself
we have found in the quiet times between commutes to sports or church
activities and loud Christian rock! it is easier to speak to her on her
level. At the same time it gives us an opportunity to speak about things
that happen that day and allows us to Minster as sly as a fox. This has
allow us to help her spiritually grow by Gods time. It has also helped her
make that spiritual connection with the youth pastors in general. You see
we are her youth pastors which can be super difficult for any PK. We are
blessed that God has created that commute time as busy as it is can be
used
effectively. You raise a concern that is deep in my heart everyday with
her
and the youth group my husband and I minister to. Our group is small so I
have the opportunity to speak with each of our youth after Rap Sessions
over chips and spilt soda. I encourage the youth parents to minister with
love to their kids not peach to them. They can get that at church.
Encourage her to offer Godly ideas and to participate. Some of the best
Ideas We get are from the youth. Who better? I agree with Sarah Scripture
reading, prayer, creative lessons, music, Bible games, planning, and
sheparding/discipling by our Youth Leaders, pastors, and parents. After
all when we read the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John they all each written
differently but, the truth is the same so that they may appeal to all who
seeks his word.
I hope this helps. God Bless
dabecerril@kelsey-seybold.com
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