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SSTN # 35 - April 26, 2004


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


Prayer Wheel ... NEW!

1) Is There A Devil?
2) End of the year party
3) Tea Bag Lesson?

Fruit of the Spirit Spinner ... NEW!

4) Getting in Shape?
5) Teaching Children To Pray
6) Lava Lava Island VBS & Volcano Bird Feeder

Chalk-It-Up ... Encourages creativity in kids!  NEW!

7) Calming Kids?
8) Good News Club?
9) Treasures of the Nile?


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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) Is There A Devil?

I was very excited to hear how you have been able to reach the elementary
children in your area.  I work in an elementary school and have longed to
be able to speak to the students about God.  A kindergarten student has
recently asked the question, "Is there a devil?"   How can I answer the
child's question without breaking the rules concerning religion in
school?  The Child Evangelism Fellowship is not an organization I'm
familiar with.  Is there a Canadian division of this organization?  Who
would I have to contact?  We need a Good News Club in our area.
God Bless You
Susan E.W. 

--from SSTN: I would answer the student's question by saying, "I believe
the Bible to be true and the Bible says he is real." Here in Florida
religion may be discussed as long as it pertains to the lesson. However,
Judeo/Christian beliefs are rarely, if ever, a part of the lesson while
Buddhism and eastern Mysticism are frequently discussed with students
being required to commit doctrines of those "false faiths" to memory.
Christmas songs are allowed in music programs so long as other cultural
songs are also used.

Also, there is a Canadian div. of Child Evangelism Fellowship at:
http://www.cefcanada.org

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2) End of the year party

You said:
One idea I've come up with is fear factor
and have the kids to eat pickled ocra, baby food, etc. 
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. 
 
Sounds like a lot of fun. Her are a couple I thought of.
Avocadoes - an acquired taste (I like-um a lot cost is a little high)
Sour Kraut - by its self it is real sour - skip me on this one)
Cake made without sugar - (cookies work too, yuck 3X)
Noodles - You have to slurp slip them to eat-um
Kool-Aid - just open the pack and stick your finger in and taste it (do
each finger with a different flavor. Then have a laugh at the different
colored fingers.
 
Jan Rowan

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3) Tea Bag Lesson?

You have such a fantastic site!  Thank you for being there for dummies
like me.  I tried the tea bag lesson and could not make the "casing"
rise.  I used Lipton tea bags.  I was guessing the "casing" is the tea bag
itself after you pour the tea leaves out.  Any suggestions?  I tried it
several times before giving up.    


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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) Getting in Shape?

I am looking for a sermon about getting back in shape.  How when you quit
exercising, you loose muscle.  When you quit going to church, you loose
faith, etc. How hard it is to get back in shape.  Do you have any ideas? 
Thank you, Sherry Coleman


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5) Teaching children to pray
 
I teach children mainly from non-Christian homes, and in the approximate
age range 6 to 11. I have found that it is relatively easy to get the
younger children to pray out loud in class, but those aged about 8 and
above are more self-conscious, and so less inclined to do so. The
following is a technique that I have found to be very effective in
encouraging older children to pray in public.
 
With each new class, I start off the same way, by getting the children to
go through a simple routine. I say "God is good." The children have to
reply "All the time." I then say "All the time," and the children say "God
is good."When the children are used to this (just one or two weeks), I get
different children to do the leading instead of myself. Then after one or
two more weeks, I get the children who want to lead to think up their own
words to describe God, i.e. "God is wonderful, awesome, powerful,
marvellous" etc. etc.
 
When the children are used to this routine, I say  "Today, instead  of
starting by talking about God, I want you to start by talking to God, by
saying God, you're good, wonderful, awesome etc. We won't do the 'All the
time' part, but as many of you as want to can participate." Usually there
is no shortage of volunteers, and the children have actually started to
pray in public.
 
A few weeks later, I invite the children, if they wish, to make their
prayers a little longer, by thanking God for something. So they may pray
"God, you're wonderful, and I thank you for sending Jesus." "God you're
awesome, and thank you for my mum." etc. To encourage the children, I
often compliment them on their prayers. "What a great prayer." "That was a
wonderful thing to pray for." etc.
 
Using this procedure, I find that most children are eager to participate
in our opening prayer to God. I have had one or two classes where only a
few children would volunteer to pray, but this was easily overcome by
offering an incentive. I say, "I have a piece of paper in my pocket, with
a number on it. If the number is 1, the first person who prays will get a
little prize (e.g. a bookmark), if the number is 10, the tenth person to
pray will get the prize, etc." I have never needed an incentive for the
following week. Once children "take the plunge" and pray out loud for the
first time, they are eager to keep doing it. I usually find that after a
few weeks, whenever I enter a class, the hands of about half the children
shoot up, indicating that they want to participate in the opening prayer!
 
Maurice Sweetsur.


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6) Lava Lava Island VBS & Volcano Bird Feeder

We are getting ready for Group Publishing Lava Lava Island VBS. The craft
ideas in the curriculum are not really crafts, they are more like "some
assembly
required" kits.

We are searching for nightly theme related crafts or tropical and volcano
craft ideas that can be wall hangings or put to use in some way.
Here are the nightly themes:
Day 1 Jesus is born
Day 2 Jesus fights temptation
Day 3 Jesus give us courage/Jesus sends out the disciples
Day 4 Jesus saves us/Jesus dies and rises again
Day 5 Jesus gives us a reason to celebrate/ Jesus ascends to heaven

Here is one idea we have:

Volcano Bird Feeder

Take a little terra cotta pot and turn it upside down. Thread a wire or
rope through the bottom hole to create a loop for hanging. Then using a
waterproof, thick glue, glue the pot (upside down) in the center of a
terra cotta dish. Use a texturing compound to create your "volcano." Have
the kids paint them like oozing volcanos. Then they can take them home,
fill the dish with birdseed, hang them in a tree and watch the birds.


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Chalk-It-Up ... Encourages creativity in kids! 

Have fellowship fun with 22 Awesome Outdoor Games Kids Draw With Chalk.
Great activities for parties, icebreakers, and friendship building!
Use them at church, school, youth groups, or for family-time
get-togethers! Comes with a pack of marble sidewalk chalk, a recipe to
make your own chalk, and directions to make some unique game
accessories. Includes games for older and younger kids (K-5th grade)!
Get two sample games and learn more at:

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

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7) Calming Kids?

I am a youth leader at a rural church that has recently, thank God, seen
an explosion in youth attendance.  The majority of these children attend
our church alone without their families and most come from homes who are
not members of any church. Though we are blessed to have so many youth who
want to be a part of our church and learn about the Lord, we are having a
problem when they are all together, whether it be at the church or on the
bus.  Does anyone have any suggestions, especially for the bus trips, to
keep the kids calm during the long trip back to their homes?  There are
only four youth leaders and we are at our wit's end on the bus with the
children as they are unruly and some are combative to correction.  We want
the kids to have fun, but not be as unruly as they have been and we don't
want to spend the limited time we have with them during these trips
getting on to them, but we do want peace when they are all together.
Thanks so much ahead of time for any help you may be able to offer and
God's blessings to you all.  If you would prefer to answer me directly,
please write me at lakeviewbaptist@hotmail.com.

Anita  Joshua 24:15

--from SSTN: please remember, if you reply directly and not through SSTN,
thousands of other teachers will miss the information.


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8) Good News Club?

This is a request for further info on the Good News Club in the local
schools.  Our ladies ministry was just discussing ideas recently about
this same subject matter and it's need in our area.  Anyone with any
information, please contact me at lakeviewbaptist@hotmail.com.  Thanks
alot ahead of time and God's blessings to you.

Anita  Joshua 24:15

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9) Treasures of the Nile?

Our small church is in a financial crisis this year.  So, I've pulled out
a VBS Starter Kit that was donated to us last year (we didn't use it,
because we had already purchased something else) and now I want to use it
for our curriculum this summer.  The Kit is Standard Publishing's 2003 VBS
program "Treasures of the Nile on an Expedition to Jesus."  Does anyone
who used this program last summer have any of the following that they
could loan or donate to us?  If you do, please contact me by email:
ltillner@yahoo.com  -- I can work out a way to pay postage if needed.

We would like to find: 

Theme Pak, Poster Pak, Puppet Pak, Skits Guide, and Nile Skits Video.  The
inflatable Crocodile and Camel would be cool too, if someone has them!

Any of these or other items that are reusable and could be loaned or
donated to us would be a great blessing!

Thank you in advance!

It would be great if we could also find the Visuals/Learning Resources for
Pre-school, Primary and Middler or 5th/6th

Thanks again!

Lynette Tillner
Club Jam Coordinator
Living Faith Community Church
Modesto, CA
ltillner@yahoo.com

 
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