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5) Lava Island

This is response to "Tina" who would like to use Lava Lava Island next
year.   We used it this year in our VBS.  I thought the materials were a
little confusing, and it is really made for a large congregation.  We had
about 25 kids at our VBS and we really had to change the curriculm  to
accomidate our small classes, and also for our pre-schoolers.  Also the
lessons take awhile to teach, and you need a lot of volunteers to put on
the skits that they have in there lessons.   If you choose to use this
curriculm make sure you have more than 2 1/2 hours to conduct your VBS
everyday, we found it wasn't suffient.
God Bless
Laci

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6) About Pirates

I would like to comment on the theme of "Pirates" for a children's musical
in church.

Oh for crying out loud.  Kids love pirates.  NOT real pirates, but
swordfights and sailing the high seas and all that.  I have a 3yr old boy
who often pretends to be a pirate.  Should I stop him?  Tell him Jesus
doesn't appreciate him acting like a pirate?  These are kids.  Imagination
is key!  Instead of casting out the idea of pirates, why not turn their
ways towards the will of God?  Instead of burning, raping and pillaging,
they could be preaching, baptizing, and praising!  People get so hung up
about little things like this.  Remember Paul's words about not arguing
about trivial things .  If you're going to be contentious, do it about
things that actually matter ETERNALLY.

In Him,
Kristine Bell <><


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7) Faith song

Dear Kris,
 
Regarding your request about the FAITH Song.  About 10-11 years ago I had
a cassette tape with it on.  It was produced by Jim Wideman, of Willie
George Ministries (Church on the Move).  Hope this helps you.
 
Blessings,
 
Bev,
Melbourne, Australia.


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8) Missionary club?

Our mid week program is King's Kid Club. We are trying something new and
wondered if any of you have tried or heard of something familiar to it. We
are wanting the children to form missionary clubs. Each set age group
would be picking a missionary supported by our church and corresponding
with them as pen pals and also hoping to exchange gifts from their area
and ours. I am just jumping into it with both feet not knowing how it will
turn out. Please pray for us and anyone with suggestions, I would
certainly welcome them.
Denise aiello Ocala,Fl   aielloboss@wmconnect.com


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--> Lessons For Fall Term

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9) Sock the Devil Song tune?

RE  "Sock the Devil Song" posted 29th July what melody do you sing with
words?????  Thanks  Nita

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10) Wanted items

http://www.childrensministry.net/ has a spot for listing wanted items as
well as things you want to get rid of.
 
Teresa
La Marque, TX

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11) Lock - Ins

As a veteran of the jr. high lock in, here's my advice.
First, have more than enough activities planned. There's nothing worse
than down time at 2 am for causing kids to get into trouble. Plan at least
3 games per hour, then change the games before everyone gets tired of
playing. If each game lasts about 30 minutes, you'll have plenty to choose
from. Second, have it age-appropriate. You mentioned preschool, do you
really think they're old enough As a veteran of the jr. high lock in,
here's my advice.
First, have more than enough activities planned. There's nothing worse
than down time at 2 am for causing kids to get into trouble. Plan at least
3 games per hour, then change the games before everyone gets tired of
playing. If each game lasts about 30 minutes, you'll have plenty to choose
from.
Second, have it age-appropriate. You mentioned preschool, do you really
think they're old enough to stay up all night? Even elementary age kids
can get pretty cranky & make you reconsider having another lock-in.
Third, have some sort of devotion, or a series of short devotions. Nothing
to "churchy", just short breaks during the games to focus them on whatever
your theme is.
Fourth, keep everything fast-paced. When transitioning to a new game,
don't wait for everyone to get there, jump in & start with those that are
ready, & maybe award them extra prizes for being ready. You'd be surprised
what blackmail can do for participation.

We're planning a lock-in around a Survivor theme, where the kids will be
divided into tribes that will compete for a grand prize. we're wanting to
focus on teamwork & how it takes everyone working together, so all of our
games & tasks will be teamwork-oriented.

Here's a list of some games that have worked for us in the past, or games
I'm planning on trying out at our lock-in. Check out egadideas.com for
tons more. I have a list of about 100+ games that I've swiped off various
internet sites, if you'd like a copy email me at jlhart76@hotmail with
"lock-in games" in the subject line & I'll send them to you.


Barnyard game
There are several ways of doing this. Either in the dark or in a lighted
room. Dark is a lot more fun, but you need to make sure none of the adults
are playing (because of liability and Harassment). It does work well in a
lighted room too. While the 'kids' are coming into the room assign them
animals (i.e.: Donkey, Chicken, Horse, Elephant - get creative). Tell them
not to tell anyone what animal they are. They have to find everyone else
with the same animal that they have. They do this by making the animal
sounds (They may NOT talk). Give them a while, and when it seems like
they've all found their groups, let them stop. You can also play other
games with they groups they've made. They can do some mixers in the small
groups - get to know each other. NOTE: You can have each group hold hands
once they've found their group - Jr. Hi Usually Loves the idea, and High
School usually doesn't really care.


Rhythm
Sit the group in a circle. Pick the 'leader', who will pick a topic (like
names, or things you can eat). The leader starts the rhythm, which is -
clap your hands onto your thigh tops twice, then hand-clap twice, then
finger-snap once on the left and then on the right, then hand-clap once.
The leader begins and by the last hand-clap must name something that
begins with the letter “a”. The person next to the leader will then name
something that begins with the letter “b” on the next sequence. Whoever is
unable to name something beginning with that letter is out, and the next
person starts the rhythm again where they left off.

Sardines
Can only be played if you have a lot of room, but not open space. This is
sometimes called 'Seek and Go Hide'. One person is picked to be 'it'. This
person must find a very good hiding place while everyone else sits in a
neutral spot with their eyes closed for a specified amount of time. When
the time is up, everyone goes looking for 'it'. If 'it' is found, you try
not to let other people know where 'it' is and YOU HIDE WITH 'IT'. The
object is to not be the last one left. The first person that found 'it'
gets to be 'it' the next time.

Shuffle Your Buns
(10-20 players) The chairs are arranged in a circle. (We find a carpeted
room sometimes works better.) One person is It and stands in the center of
the circle. Everyone else sits down on a chair. One chair will be empty.
The object of the game is for the sitting players to prevent It from
sitting down. They do this by 'hustling their buns' and moving either left
or right to occupy the empty chair before It can sit down. Players may
only move one chair left or right. Eventually someone isn't fast enough
and It sits down. The person on his or her left (or right) now becomes
'It'.

War
Collect a ton of scrap paper (in most churches, just place a box next to
the copier for 3 or 4 days!) Have the group divide in half and
strategically place themselves around the room. Give the room a middle
border. They aren't allowed to move and there should be an ammo pile
towards the back. Give them 5 minutes to crumble all their ammo, and then
cry WAR! After ten minutes of throwing paper, whomever has the most on the
their side is the losing team.


Train Wreck
Have two rows of chairs, one less then the number of people playing.
Number off the chairs, so that evens are on one side, and odds on the
other. The person who is it, stands in front, and calls out numbers, or
something of that sort, to the whole "Train." Those numbers then have to
get up and switch with another person. The person in front tries to get in
one of the open seats. If "it" succeeds, the person left standing is it.
Start out with only calling out two numbers, but let it get harder as it
goes along (three, four, seven, etc... different numbers called out. Or
any number divisible by three! Cruel things like that) To keep it lively,
the people do not keep their numbers, the chairs do. After they switch
chairs, they have to figure out what their new number is. Also, to keep
everyone moving, the person in front can yell, "Train Wreck!" At which
point every one gets up and runs to a different chair.


Spoons
Materials: metal spoons and a deck of playing cards
Arrange players in a circle sitting on floor. (4-12 players is
recommended) Place spoons in the middle of the circle with their ends
touching (have one less spoon for the number of players). Deal everyone
two cards. Then the dealer takes one card from the top of the deck and if
he/she doesn't want or need it he/she passes it on to the next player in a
clockwise manner. The first player to get four of a kind grabs a spoon.
The player who doesn't get a spoon is out of the game. Play resumes with
one less player and one less spoon. Play continues until there is only one
player left, the winner. I recommend not playing with plastic spoons
because they might break and injure someone. I also suggest that all
watches, rings, bracelets, etc. should be removed to prevent injury.

Task Relay
Materials: hat, paper slips
This game is a relay. Divide kids up into 2 teams. Have a volunteer stand
about 15 feet in front of the line holding a basket or hat with each hand.
In the basket are 10 or 12 (depending on how many kids you have) slips of
paper with things the kids must do or perform. When we have done this game
in the past, some of the items have been "Get your whole team to sing the
Brady Bunch theme song with you," "Name 5 US Presidents" "Run around the
church 5 times screaming "I Love Jesus" "Form a pyramid with everyone on
your team" and so on. The papers can really say almost ANYTHING which is
what makes this game fun. Be creative. The first team to finish wins.

Tennis Baseball
Materials: tennis racket, tennis ball, something for bases
Divide your group into 2 teams, one team "bats" and the other is in the
outfield. The batter grabs the tennis racket, and the pitcher the tennis
ball. The pitch is a one bounce pitch. The batter gets only 1 shot at the
ball. A bad pitch is a walk, and a strike or foul ball is an out. In stead
of infielders to guard the bases, just get the ball back to the pitcher
for the out. If the ball gets to the pitcher before the runner gets to
first base, the batter is out. If they make it past first, then instead of
being out, if the pitcher gets the ball before they get to base, they
return to the last base. Remember not to throw the ball at the runner.

Station Game
Materials: collection of fun social games like scattergories, catch
phrase, bunko, guesstures, pictionary, scrabble, jenga
Assign as many stations as games and leaders available. Put one game at
each station and "tweak it" as to create an aggressive 4 minute point
earning encounter. Ex. Guesstures: everyone takes a turn acting an item
from a card. You get 1 point for a correct answer and minus 2 for a pass.
Jenga: as soon as a team arrives at the station they must erect the tower.
then each person takes a turn at pulling a piece out. 1 point for each
piece taken out, minus 5 for knocking the tower over. (You have to figure
out how to score each station w/ each game. Make it your own) Break group
into even numbered teams. each team starts at one station, then has 4
minutes to accumulate as many points as possible. at 4 minutes a
timekeeper yells, "Switch!!!" then they must move to next station. when
all the teams have done each station, you add up all the points from each
station and then you have your winner. It involves some set-up work, but
once the game is going everyone has a great time. KEYS: "Don't lose time
in between stations, your next 4 minutes starts at "Switch" / "Get to the
next station quick and quiet so that the station can be explained to you
as quick as possible" "Don't be to loud or another team may eavesdrop some
answers from you".

Seven Eleven
Come up with a category such as "Famous Cats". The player must come up
with the names of 7 famous cats in 11 seconds.
If he wins, give him a prize. If he loses, pick another contestant. This
can go on as long as you want it to.

Maze Tag
Played just like tag, only you have a maze on the floor made of masking
tape which represents a wall. They can not jump or "climb" walls. "It" has
to run around the maze and can not jump "walls" either. This is a good one
to use on with a devotional on tearing down walls in relationships if your
youth group is going through problems with cliques.

Watch the net!
Play this game with the same rules as volleyball except with 3 teams. Have
2 teams play against one another while the third team acts as the net. the
"net" team can play a big part in this game as they give a good twist to
an old game. The "net" can take one step in any direction (only one step)
to hit the ball. The "net" can change direction of play at any time.

Ups and downs
Materials: 25 or more full size cups not glass
Put your youth group into two teams, one side is the up side and the other
side is the down side you place cups in the middle all around. Yell
"Start" and each teams has to see how many cups they can turn over or set
up.. for ex. the ups side has to get all the cups turned up while the
downs side are turning them over at the end you count and see which team
won, so it there is 20 cups turned over then the down side wins. it is fun
and youth love it

Flip Flop Scavenger Hunt

Split the teens into small groups.  Give each group a flip flop and a list
of clues.  Each clue leads to a specific item.  Once the team finds that
item they measure it with the flip flop.  For example here's a clue I used
at camp.  "If we're making s'mores we're probably sitting around this..."
They groups would be led to the campfire and measure the fire pit area
(make sure it's cooled off!).  The first group back with the answers and
flop measurements win!

Bible Tic Tac Toe

This game is played just like the childhood favorite.  Use masking tape to
make a large tic tac toe board on the floor.  Divide the children into two
groups.  To differentiate between the X's and the O's, you can use those
adhesive hole reinforcers to place on the O team's foreheads.  Ask
biblical questions that you have prepared beforehand (I like to put the
questions on strips of paper in a bag so I can pull them out randomly.)
The children can work as a team to answer the questions but once they take
their place on the Tic-tac-toe board, they can't help their team.  Just as
in the game, the team that gets three in a row wins! Questions that
neither team is able to answer will give you an idea of what you need to
teach or review for the next Sunday school class! The difficulty of the
questions will depend upon the age and knowledge of your group.  The
teamwork allows visitors who may not be familiar with the Bible to
participate.

Make up games based on popular TV shows, like Whose Line, Amazing Race,
Survivor, etc. Modify the rules to fit your group. Ex: With Survivor, have
teams compete for prizes, but instead of voting someone “off”, they have
to vote for someone to win the grand prize


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12) F-A-I-T-H  Song

 This is in response to Kris (SSTN#67 - Point #6)
 
The song that you are talking about can be found on the Gospel Light VBS
CD (Great Balloon Adventure -- I can't remember the name exactly). We used
it for VBS several years ago and the kids loved it and the hand motions.
 
Anyway..I am sure it is by Gospel Light.
 
Hope this helps.
Rhonda


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