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SSTN  # 50 - May 15, 2002


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


1) Water Games
2) Pre-teen girls
3) PreTeen Girls   
4) Water games   
5) Pre-teen girls
6) Gifts for High School Graduates   
-> Gospel Catchers W.W.J.S.?
7) The Lords Prayer?
8) Pre-teen girls
9) Explaining Death To Children   
-> Ten Commandments Songs
10) Why have Children's Church   
11) Promotion Sunday?
12) King David?
13) Pre-teen girls...God ideas needed
14) Need music for VBS program?
15) New Mission Ideas Needed?

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1) Water Games   

In response to the following question:  
>>Hi, I'm getting ready to lead a children's camp this summer and I'm
>>some simple water games (games OUTSIDE the water, with the water).

We used the water balls you can get.  They are about the size of a
baseball and made to be wet and stay soaked. They usually come 2 to a
pack.  We then purchased over size plastic ball bats (in the toy section)
and the kids play water baseball.  Keep a large bucket or trashcan filled
with water so the pitcher can 'reload' his balls.  We bought several to
keep the game going more smoothly.  And of course there is always 'dodge
ball' using the same balls or water balloons. Hope this helps!  Chastity,
Greeneville, TN

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2) Pre-teen girls

>Our church has a Friday Night ministry geared to children of all ages.
>My biggest problem is Pre-teen girls. They want to be where the Pre-teen
>boys are, at that's usually playing Basketball. They want to play with
>them too, but we have so many boys, it too hard to add the girls too.
>I've tried doing, manicures, pedicures, facials too no avail...

1) Rotate the time on the Basketball court...WNBA has made it acceptable
for girls to enjoy BB:  you can have teams sign up and the winner plays
untill they lose.  It can be coed or boy/girl.

2) Also think about having a movie/book club.  Girls love to talk.  My
club started with several girls coming over to exchange books.  I started
asking questions about what they were reading and they were very happy to
share. It also gave me an opportunity to ministry while giving them a safe
way to ask "what if " questions

3) Another idea will be double dutch/volleyball etc...just think out the
box.  There will be some girls that enjoy the "female stuff" but there's
some who are still into the sports.

...hopes this helps

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3) PreTeen Girls   

This is in response to what to do with the preteen girls.  I was a preteen
not too long ago, I used to like to play with the boys (I was somewhat
athletic).  For the girls who may not want to play, let them cheer.  They
can make up some special cheers... I used to like doing that too.-Lynn


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4) Water games   

Here are a couple of ideas--
1.  Get a bunch of your husbands old sweatsocks and a bucket or pool.  Put
the socks in the bucket/pool and fill with water.  Divide the children
into 2 teams and line them up behind a jumprope line.  When you say go the
children run to the pool and grab a sock.  Then they "helicopter " it over
their heads as they run through the middle of the 2 lines of children and
around their group and back to a bucket placed beyond the pool.  Then they
run back and tag off with the next player. You may also have them hang
them on a clothesline instead of placing them in a bucket.  This is
difficult for them to do tho'.

2.  Fill a pool with soapy water and a bunch of water balloon fish.
(water balloons with faces if you wish).  Divide the children into teams
and have them line up with the leader next to the pool.  When you say go
the children pass the balloons one at a time to the next person in line.
When it gets to the end of the line they place them on a towel.  Have the
children pass them different ways--over their heads, between their
legs---with eyes closed--standing sideways--every other child facing the
other direction.  If a balloon is dropped it goes back into the pool.
They must only pass 1 balloon at a time.
Because of the dish soap the balloons get very slippery!!  It is really
fun.  At the end of an alloted time a whilstle blows and each team counts
their balloons to see who passed the quickest!!

Hope these ideas work for you!
Tammi in ND

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5) Pre-teen girls

>>Our church has a Friday Night ministry geared to children of all ages.
>>biggest problem is Pre-teen girls.

The best advice I can give is use this time to get them into in depth
study of the Word!!! Our youth ministries on Fridays are set up a lot like
our regular church services except the teens themselves help run
everything from the worship service to the sermons. And they split the
groups for Bible study according to grade level. We also do every couple
of months or so a special Youth Rally and have a special Christian music
band come in or have a drama or a movie. The teens really enjoy that too.
One really good book to use for doing a Bible study with teen girls would
be the book, "Bad Girls of the Bible, And What We Can Learn From Them" by
Liz Curtis Higgs. She has brought the stories of some of these women in
the Bible and showed their relevance to our world and our attitudes. It is
an excellent book and designed to be used for bible study. She also has a
sequel, I beleive it's called "The Really Bad Girls of the Bible." Hope
this helps!!! God Bless!!!!
And Keep Up The Good Work for the Kingdom!!!

Valerie

--from SSTN: you can find these "Bad Girl" books in the Bookstore, type
the titles into the search box here:

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

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6) Gifts for High School Graduates   

Last year we gave them one year subsciptions to a daily devotional for
young adults.  Their parents were able to get me college addresses and so
forth so they could receive them there.  They really appreciated it.

Dania
Québec Canada


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Gospel Catchers W.W.J.S.?

There's something worse than cooties...it's called sin!  Now kids can make
Gospel Catchers rather than Cootie Catchers! A fun and innovative way for
kids to learn to share their faith with their friends!  Includes 4 Gospel
Catcher patterns to make: the Colors of Christ (Gospel Colors), the Ten
Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the Promises of God. Follow this link to
learn more:

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


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7) The Lords Prayer?

This is my first time doing this so i hope its right! I'm a Sunday School
teacher and Kidz Church leader, for a small church. What i need is some
ideas on The Lords Prayer, maybe games we can play to help them memorize
the scriptures, and a few craft ideas!                            Thanks!
Lisa

--from SSTN: you did just fine, Lisa. ;o)) ysic, sarah <><

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8) Pre-teen girls

I'm 16, so I thought I might be able to offer a young person's perspective
to the lady who was looking for ideas for her pre-teen girls.:o) Perhaps
you could have a coffee house. You wouldn't need very many supplies, just
some snacks and drinks(not necessarily coffee) and a place to set it up.
Add a few tables, a Cd player with some cool Christian cds (try the WOW
cds) and a few board games, and you're all set.  If you have the budget,
you might even set up a Tv/VCR with a movie, or add some comfy couches or
chairs. The coffee house would provide a great way to let the guys and
girls interact. This type of thing would also let the kids feel really
grown-up, something pre-teens absolutely love!
-Nora, 3-K Ohio

--from SSTN: we've got a great selection of Christian board games in the
site:   http://www.christiancrafters.com/toys.html 

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9) Explaining Death To Children   

RE:  "The Fall of Freddie the Leaf", Leo Buscaglia, Ph.d.  I don't know if
the book was written from a Christian perspective, but the point of the
story is that there is a season for everything, and death is a season of
life.  It also conveys that all of creation has an important purpose in
life.  I recommend reading it.  The story is lovely!

Blessings!
Jeanne


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Ten Commandments Songs

God's Top Ten: Teach your kids The Ten Commandments with this
easy-to-learn, easy-to-sing, unforgettable choral collection. God's Top 10
is designed specifically to help your kids learn and understand the
timeless truths contained in The Ten Commandments. In the Bookstore-Music
Section of the website:

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


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10)  Why have Children's Church   

To MAW, the lady inquiring about why having Children's Church.  I am from
a small rural church with approximately 10 children ranging in age from 3
years old to 5th grade that attend on a regular basis.  We have grappled
over this as well, but as parents we do not feel we are taking a break
from our responsibilties by putting the children in Sunday
School/Children's church.  As parents we rotate who is upstairs with the
children each week so we are not off the hook and on occassion the
children are in the actual church service for all or part of the service.
Also, children have a short attention span and are easily distracted or
bored when they are in a restricted environment such as church.  It is
distracting for parents and other church members to have children figeting
and making noise during the service.  Children learn better when in
environments geared more to their learning styles.  You wouldn't put a
children in a college environment to learn about math or science, so why
put them in BIG church to learn about God.  It may in the long run turn
them off to church and religion altogether. As parents we need to lead by
example and by attending church regularly may also be a way of teaching
them the value of worship and Jesus.

Hope that helps.
Sheila.
Children's Director
Canyon Lake, CA

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"Get em' in the LOOP!" 

L-eading kids to Christ,
O-ffering advice
O-pen discussion forum
P-roviding free resources

Invite your friends, pastors, and coworkers
to join our discussion in SSTN.

http://www.christiancrafters.com/page3.html 


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11) Promotion Sunday?   

Hi Everyone,
I love these newsletters and receive so many cool ideas.  Our church has 5
children that will be entering Jr High the next school term and we would
like to have a promotion Sunday for them to honor this milestone in their
life.   Since the church has not done this before and I am new to the
Children's Director role, we are bit lost as what we want and should do.
Any suggestions, would be greatly appreciated.  We plan on doing this
towards the end of June after this semester is over.

Thanks,
Sheila Lowe
Canyon Lake, CA

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12) King David?

I was looking for information on teaching about King David.  Any
information you can supply would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Carol McNair

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13)  Pre-teen girls

>Our church has a Friday Night ministry geared to children of all ages.
>My biggest problem is Pre-teen girls.  They want to be where the
>Pre-teen boys are, at that's usually playing Basketball. 

In our youth group we usually organise to accomodate both genders. This
way if any of them are coming for fellowship they get it, and if any
are coming to meet new guys or girls they also get that too.

Things we do are ice-skating, 2 hours video game lock-ins, messy games,
army pursuits/war games. etc Anything that both sexes don't normally do
each week. Each thing we do ties in somehow with God.

It's not good ideas, its God ideas you need. Pray more than you already
are. It works every time.
STEVE

--from SSTN: Amen, Steve, on all of us needing "God" ideas!
ysic, sarah <><

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14) Need music for VBS program?

Our church is lending our copy of "Can Do Kids" VBS program (Cokesbury
Publishing) to another church, but I found out we're missing the music cd.
I've checked with the local Cokesbury store & they can't get it for me. If
anyone has a copy I can borrow or buy, please let me know as soon as
possible. My address is   jlhart76@hotmail.com
Thank you so much.

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15) New Mission Ideas Needed?

To Christian Crafters
I am a Methodist living in a very rural area of eastern KY.  I have felt a
call to explore working with Hispanic children (and their parents) who are
just beginning to enter this area.  Many do not speak English well, yet.
I
have had 3 years of college Spanish and feel I may be able to help a bit
with the language barrier.  I would like to find a way to work out some
type of VBS for the children that includes a separate class for the
adults.  I also see some benefits to help set up a Christian support group
that could meet weekly/monthly during the rest of the year.  I need some
ideas on how to bridge the gap.  To be very clear, I am not interested in
converting those who are Catholic to Methodism.  I just see the need to
help share Christ's love and God's Word with new comers to our area.  He
wants all of us to find comfort and acceptance through Him.

Thanks in advance for your loving suggestions

Linda

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