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SSTN # 60 - June 28, 2004


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


Patriotic Activity Download
1) Outreach
2) Deaf & Dumb
3) God's Word Bulletin Board
4) God's Word Bulletin Board

Chalk-It-Up ... Fellowship Fun!

5) God's Word Bulletin Board
6) Outreach Ideas
7) Outreach Ideas
8) Penpals / Spanish Materials / VBS

--> Bloom & Boom - Lessons for Teens

9) Courage Crafts?
10) Outreach
11) Children In Worship
12) Patriotic Theme


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Patriotic Activity Download

With the "USA Patriotic Catcher" kids will learn the answers to eight
basic USA citizenship questions such as, "Why did the Pilgrims come to
America?"; What is the US Constitution?, and "What does the First
Amendment guarantee?". A great activity for July 4th!
Download the pattern today...Kids can make it and take it!

Learn more at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html 
(you may need to copy and paste the address to your browser)


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1) Outreach

Lana,
 
For outreach, I would make a meal having the children help you.  Give the
children a box that they can write Bible verses on and color Bible
pictures and paste on the outside of the box.  Deliver the meal to a
shut-in or a sick member of your church, explaining that when one part of
the body is sick the other parts help and carry a larger load till that
sick part is better. It will be a lesson two-fold as you also explain Tis
better to give than receive!
 
Hope this is helpful to you,
Doreen in Indiana


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2) Deaf & Dumb

>what are you meaning when you say deaf and
>dumb.....My son is Deaf and he is not DUMB...

"Deaf & dumb" is an antiquated expression.  The "dumb" part doesn't mean
stupid, not intelligent.  It means the inability to speak.  My parents
(ages 67 & 81) say this expression was common as recently as the
60's-70's.  Not that it makes it less hurtful sounding to those who don't
know the meaning, but I'm sure the original poster didn't mean to offend! 
Folks in my parents age group, and even younger (I'm 26) usually
understand its meaning.  As a side note, there is a plant called "Dumb
Cane"...if you drink a tea made from the leaves, your tongue goes numb,
and you are unable to speak until it wears off!!

In Him,
Kristine Bell <><

 
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3) God's Word Bulletin Board

April, 
How about a picture of a large Bible in the center on top of a heart
surrounded by things like a picture of a clock (explain we need to set
aside a time each day for Bible time), a child praying (we need to talk to
God after God speaks to us thru His Word),  a couch (a specific quiet
place to read God's Word uninterrupted).   These are just a few pictures,
then you may choose to put up words in betwwen like MEDITATE,  READ,   
LISTEN,    OBEY,   LOVE.  
You could teach a few lessons just from the bulletin board prompting you!
 
Blessings from Indiana,
Doreen
 
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4) God's Word Bulletin Board

Here's a really easy way to make a bulletin board for this theme: Cover
your bulletin board in a dark, plain colored piece of paper (navy blue or
black works really well). Cut out a giant heart of white paper, cut a slit
in the middle of it, that stretches almost the full length of the
heart, and put the heart in the center of the bulletin board. Cut out the
shape of a closed Bible, or print a coloring page of a Bible and put the
Bible in the slit on the heart. Cut out the shape of an open book from
bright construction paper, you can make these really small so that each
child can have their own book. Yellow, red, orange, and green will show up
really well on the dark paper. Then have each child write his or her
favorite Bible verse, character from the Bible, or Bible story on their
book, and scatter these around your bulletin board. You could also make
this yourself by using the Bible verses that your class will be studying
during the unit on the books instead of letting the kids fill them in. For
a caption you can use "Hide God's Word in your heart" or "Tuck God's Word
in your heart".
Hope this helps!
Love in Christ,
Sarah in California


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Chalk-It-Up ... Great Fellowship Activities

Encourage creativity in kids with 22 Awesome Outdoor Games Kids Draw With
Chalk. Fun and wholesome 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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5) God's Word Bulletin Board

April S asked for ideas for the bulletin board.  I have no idea where I
got this but my kids loved it. Make an open Bible with four pockets, two
labeled Old Testament and the others New Testament.  Above that, print
God's Word.
 
I made cards using unlined file cards and made 2 sets of  all the books of
the Bible on them.  We shuffle them, lay them out on a table and two
teams compete to see which gets all of them in the right pockets the
quickest.  It really helped them learn the books.
 
Helen Setser


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6) Outreach Ideas

>I'm looking for some crafts and lessons on teaching my children
>about Outreach and helping others. I want them to understand that we help
>others not just with their spiritual hunger but their need of natural food.
 
Here is an object lesson that you could use in your teaching about meeting
physical needs.
 
The fair distribution of food.
 
Many children believe that there are starving people in some countries
because there is a world-wide food shortage. Here is an illustration to
help children understand that the problem is not one of food shortage, but
rather one of unfair or unequal food distribution.
 
Preparation. Get a piece of cardboard, and write on it the letters and
numbers as shown below :

A      =      1
B      =      2
C      =      3
D      =      4
E      =      0
 
Cover each number with individual small pieces of card or paper.
 
Next, get as many pieces of plain paper as their are children in your
group, write on each one A,B,C,D, or E. Ensure you have far more E's than
the other letters, and the total of the corresponding numbers add up to
the total number of children. For example, if I have 30 children in my
group, I will write out three A's (total = 3), three B's (total = 6),
three C's (total = 9), three D's (total = 12) and eighteen E's (total =
0). Fold the papers over, and place in a box.
 
Get a bag of sweets (lollies / candies ), just enough for one per child.
 
Presentation. Produce your sweets, box of folded papers, and prepared
card. Announce that you are going to share the sweets with the group,
according to what is written on the paper each child is about to receive.
Let each child choose a paper and unfold it to reveal the letter.
 
Ask  "Who has got an 'A'?" Take the cover off the number next to your 'A' 
to reveal a '1'. "You will all get 1 sweet."
"Who has got a 'B'? ------------------------- You will all get 2 sweets."
"Who has got a 'C'? ------------------------- You will all get 3 sweets."
( By now, those with an 'E' will be getting excited).
"Who has got a 'D'? ------------------------- You will all get 4 sweets."
"Who has got an 'E'. More than half the children will put their hands up
in eager anticipation. Remove the last cover. ------------------ "Oh dear!
You will get no sweets!"
 
After the 'groans' have died down, ask the children if they think it fair
that some children should get 3 or 4 sweets while many others will get
none? Even those children due to get 3 or 4 sweets will usually agree that
this is not a fair way of sharing. Ask the children if they can think of a
fairer way of sharing the sweets? Mention that you have just noticed that
the total number of sweets is the same as the number of children present.
The children should soon come to a consensus that a better way of sharing
out the sweets is for each child to get one each. State that you agree
with them. and distribute accordingly.
 
Conclusion. "In some countries many boys and girls go to bed hungry every
night because they don't have enough food to eat. The problem is not
because of a world food shortage, but rather an unequal distribution of
the ample food that is grown. As Christians, we should be thinking of ways
in which we can make this distribution more fair, and ensure that everyone
gets enough food to eat."
 
Maurice Sweetsur
(This is one of fifty object lessons that I have sent out free on request.
Email me on mnmsweetsur@xtra.co.nz  for the complete list).


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7) Outreach Ideas

I also wanted the church school to "feed" others literally. I had a food
drive competition - over the course of 3 months I kept a tally of how many
items each class brought in on Sunday morning. The first time we did it,
160 items came in and the class that brought in the most had an ice cream
cake treat and the rest had a smaller treat. The second time I challenged
them, 462 items were brought in.This time everyone is getting ice cream
because each class did so much more. Our Sunday church school averages 50
children.
When I do it again, rather than have each class competing, I will set a
target goal of 500-600 items and we will all work as one. Either way will
work, but as always some parents complained when it was done as a
competition. Our youth also help out by taking food to the food bank and
stocking it on the shelves. My next idea is to try and get our church
school to sponsor two children through World Vision.
May God bless your outreach projects.
Trudy, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
 
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8) Penpals / Spanish Materials / VBS

>Four kids in my Church have been pen pals with kids in South Africa for
>the past 18 months.  But to our sorrow this year's gifts were never
>picked up at the postal service in South Africa. 
 
Having been a missionary in Africa perhaps I can explain this.  We lived
in Kenya, and when a package arrived we received a notice. We took the
notice to the post office and had to go through 11 different areas to
receive the package (each had to examine and stamp the paper). You also
have to pay duty on anything coming in. The duty seemed to be determined
by how much the person inspecting the package decided it was worth.
so... the duty could be higher than the original costs of the items. 
Also, if you ship it boat mail (regular mail, not air) it takes 3-4 months
to arrive.
I do not suggest sending money either.  You can ship small stuff in a
regular envelope, or send an 8 x 11 padded envelope (nothing larger, the
duty gets high).  Our kids enjoyed kool aid (which was not available) and
friends often shipped 2 packages of kool aid in an airmail envelope along
with a letter (or a couple bags of spice tea - which was for me).
 
Maybe your kids could be penpals with someone in another part of the US. 
I read a while back about someone working with underprivileged kids in KY
(or somewhere).  I can see where this could be a real encouragement (and
perhaps your students could send SS supplies to help out).  Just a
thought! 
 
 
Teresa
la Marque, TX
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Spanish Materials
 
One Way Street has materials in Spanish - lessons and songs.
 
Teresa
La Marque, TX

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VBS Alternative

Used VBS Materials

There are several websites with free curriculum that can be used for VBS. 
Lack of funds are really not a hindrance if you want to do something.  We
have done wonderful things with no budget, just a lot of prayer and
creativity!
 

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--> Bloom & Boom - Lessons for Teens

A girls and guys guide to growing up. Practical advice from a Christian
viewpoint about the internal and external changes experienced by
teenagers. Learn more in the Christian Education section of our bookstore:

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



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9) Courage Crafts

I am in need of craft ideas for fourth and fifth grade students. The
topic is courage.  Please help!!

Thanks,
Angie
Chillicothe, Ohio

--from SSTN: create medals or trophies with the following Bible verse:
"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men (people) of courage;
be strong."  1Corinthians 16:13

Your webservant,
Sarah Keith <><


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10) Outreach

Lana, I have found the most wonderful way of teaching children about
outreach - by getting them to actually DO it! It's a project called
Operation Christmas Child - where kids pack shoeboxes full of gifts for
needy boys and girls which are distributed around the world at
Christmas time. It's not too early to start now: Each child could pack
a box by buying one item per week, or the whole class can bring in
small items like toys, personal items, clothes, candy etc and then the
whole class can be involved in making up the gift boxes together. The
earlier you start, the more boxes you will be able to fill by the end
of the year! It's a fantastic project run by Samaritan's Purse. And
it's something that anyone can do - not just kids!! Find out more on
http://samaritanspurse.org/home.asp  Click on the country you're from
then click on Operation Christmas Child.
I've been doing it for 5 years now and love it!! Your kids will love it
too. There are great materials and videos available for you to share
with your class. Just contact Samaritan's Purse and they will send you
some!
God bless you in your efforts to teach kids to look outside of
themselves and realize there's a hurting world out there who need to
know that Jesus loves them!
Sharon (Australia)


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11) Children in Worship

Hi,
Our children's ministry worked like this for about 2 years and here is
what we found. This idea can work really well it just depends on some
variables. Firstly if the children are to stay for the worship service
consistently is your pastor reliable to release the children every week?
The senior pastor in our church would get so excited about his sermon that
he would forget to release the children - this caused much discomfort for
the parents and children and wasted much time that leaders had spent in
preparation. Second how far away are your Sunday School rooms from the
church? Our rooms were down a 'hill' and walking the children down the
hill sometimes caused much frustration. Bottom line make sure you think
this through - how are you going to move the children from the adults
service with out to much disruption to the service?

The idea has some very good principles - like how are children going to
learn to worship if they are not seeing adults demonstrat worship -
especially at the moment when it seems that children don't attened church
at night? But it requires alot of orgaisation and every one knowing what
will happen and when.

Rachel Onions


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12) Patriotic Theme

For your nonsingers : how about reciting or reading a poem or short story?
http://www.kidscookiemix.com/seasonal/july/julypoems.htm#Am 
has several poems ... I think the one "I am the flag" would be a neat
presentation, also Red Skelton's "Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance",
which explains each word/phrase of the Pledge.
 
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/Newszine/Archive/2001/Oct.4/ent/1.htm  has stories
about the writing of some patriotic songs. If your group is singing one of
them, perhaps a non-singer could read/tell the story before you sing it.
 
or you might find something here you could use
http://www.jeannepasero.com/patpoems.html
 
(or maybe they'd like to write something themselves to read/recite?)
 
Linda in OhiO

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