Connect


March 2009 Welcome to Connect, the monthly Kid Connection eNewsletter for those who minister to children in small Sunday schools, midweek programs, and new church plants. Invite others to receive this free eNewsletter! Time Well Spent Imagine that Jesus called and asked to spend the whole day with you—from before breakfast until bedtime. What would you like the two of you to do together? What would you talk about? Is there anyone you would like Jesus to meet? Are there any places you’d like to take him? Make a plan for your day together. So began a recent journal assignment for the older kids’ small group at my church (Kid Connection, Year 2, Unit 5). Before you read on, think about your own answer. What would your day with Jesus look like? Here’s my “Jesus and Me” agenda: Wake up to put the final touches on an extraordinary breakfast. Double-check that the house is clean. Stand in awe as Jesus arrives on my doorstep. Gather myself, welcome him in. Get down to business. Find things out like the best way to pray, how often I should read the Bible, the exact date and time of his return to earth, and where I lost my glasses. Serve bread and fish for lunch. Discuss world issues. Find out why bad things happen to good people. Apologize for the bad stuff I keep doing. Get tips on handling discipline issues in Sunday school. Graciously thank Jesus for coming. Here’s how a ten-year-old at my church said she’d spend her day with Jesus: Go to the park. Meet some of my friends there. Go out for lunch. Play a game. Pray. Go shopping. Read together. Swim. Play basketball. Play Guitar Hero. Say goodbye. She invites Jesus into her life, introduces him to her friends, and sets aside time to talk to God together. Looks a little different than my jam-packed agenda, doesn’t it? One of the blessings of teaching kids is being taught by kids. KC Unit 5, Session 4 was a teachable moment—for me! As a result, this spring, as the winter weather finally melts away, I plan to take more time to just hang out with Jesus—I hope you take that opportunity too! Speaking of spring. . . . Palm Sunday and Easter fall on April 5 and 12 this year. Depending on your children’s ministry schedule some of you may be teaching Year 2, Unit 6 (the Easter stories) before Easter. For those who want to do something extra to celebrate Easter with your kids, check out the following ideas. You can use them to create a full 45-60 minute program or add them to whatever else you are doing on those days. Surprise your kids with a decorated room on Easter Sunday. Decorations mean “party,” and you’re kids will instantly know that Easter is something to celebrate! Throw a colorful tablecloth on the table, add some streamers or balloons, and serve a special snack. For a real special treat, add these easy-to-make butterflies: Pleat or scrunch up colorful wrapping paper and clip a clothespin to the middle. Tape the butterflies to your walls, add magnets and stick them to the whiteboard or any magnetic trim you can find in the room, dangle them on string from the windows, and attach some to yourself! Tip: Before kids go, let them each choose two butterflies—one to keep and one to give away! Purchase one of the Easter units available from Faith Alive; with a few simple modifications there are plenty of materials you can use in a Kid Connection setting. Here’s how we used the unit called King Jesus in my church last year. On Palm Sunday we told the story using the drama found on page 47. After deleting some lines and the italicized directions we had a few preteens present it in a reader’s theater style. We ordered palm stems from the florist (very inexpensive) and waved them as we sang the songs provided on the CD that came with the King Jesus book. For one song we lined the kids up in two rows, each facing the other, and had kids take turns walking in pairs in between the singing, branch-waving “crowd.” On Easter Sunday we told the Easter story using The Jesus Storybook Bible. It has a fabulous retelling of the Easter story that you could use with a group of any age. (Alternatively, use an easy-to-understand translation like The Message.) We used the step 3 small group activity provided after each story in the Easter units and then did a modified version of the crafts. (Like the other Easter units, King Jesus breaks into a small group time for ages K-3 and 4-6.) We gave kids copies of the reproducible story booklets that come with each of these units. (We encouraged our older kids to find someone younger to read it to.) Paint a mural together. Roll out a long sheet of mural paper and assign each group of kids a different section. One group could show Jesus entering Jerusalem in a Palm Sunday parade; another could show Jesus dying on the cross and the observing crowd; another could show the tomb where Jesus was buried with the guards posted there; another could show the angel announcing that Jesus is alive. Tip: Save a section of the mural for each child to write or draw what Jesus’ death and return to life means to them! Bring in a bouquet of flowers and give each child a stem to take home along with a note card that you’ve tied on to each stem that says, “Jesus is Alive!” Save some of the celebratory activities found on pages 160-163 of the Kid Connection Leader’s Guide for Year 2, Unit 6 and do them as part of your Easter Sunday celebration. I began this newsletter with a story that came out of a Kid Connection unit. In January I got to meet some of our fabulous KC leaders live and in person at the APCE conference in Texas and hear their stories about the kids and about what God is doing in their ministry. I would love to hear from you too! Please email me and tell me about your kids and maybe what they have taught YOU this year! Blessings, Karen DeBoer Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you try to reply, you will not receive a response. You are receiving Connect because you either signed up on our website or talked with a customer service rep, asking to be subscribed to our mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to this address or click here to edit your member profile or change your e-mail address. If you have questions or comments about this list, email us or call 1-800-333-8300.

March 2009

Welcome to Connect, the monthly Kid Connection eNewsletter for those who minister to children in small Sunday schools, midweek programs, and new church plants. Invite others to receive this free eNewsletter!

Time Well Spent

Imagine that Jesus called and asked to spend the whole day with you—from before breakfast until bedtime. What would you like the two of you to do together? What would you talk about? Is there anyone you would like Jesus to meet? Are there any places you’d like to take him? Make a plan for your day together.

So began a recent journal assignment for the older kids’ small group at my church (Kid Connection, Year 2, Unit 5). Before you read on, think about your own answer. What would your day with Jesus look like?

Here’s my “Jesus and Me” agenda:

Wake up to put the final touches on an extraordinary breakfast. Double-check that the house is clean.
Stand in awe as Jesus arrives on my doorstep. Gather myself, welcome him in.
Get down to business. Find things out like the best way to pray, how often I should read the Bible, the exact date and time of his return to earth, and where I lost my glasses.
Serve bread and fish for lunch.
Discuss world issues. Find out why bad things happen to good people. Apologize for the bad stuff I keep doing. Get tips on handling discipline issues in Sunday school.
Graciously thank Jesus for coming.

Here’s how a ten-year-old at my church said she’d spend her day with Jesus:

Go to the park.
Meet some of my friends there.
Go out for lunch.
Play a game.
Pray.
Go shopping.
Read together.
Swim.
Play basketball.
Play Guitar Hero.
Say goodbye.

She invites Jesus into her life, introduces him to her friends, and sets aside time to talk to God together. Looks a little different than my jam-packed agenda, doesn’t it?

One of the blessings of teaching kids is being taught by kids. KC Unit 5, Session 4 was a teachable moment—for me! As a result, this spring, as the winter weather finally melts away, I plan to take more time to just hang out with Jesus—I hope you take that opportunity too!

Speaking of spring. . . . Palm Sunday and Easter fall on April 5 and 12 this year. Depending on your children’s ministry schedule some of you may be teaching Year 2, Unit 6 (the Easter stories) before Easter. For those who want to do something extra to celebrate Easter with your kids, check out the following ideas. You can use them to create a full 45-60 minute program or add them to whatever else you are doing on those days.

Surprise your kids with a decorated room on Easter Sunday. Decorations mean “party,” and you’re kids will instantly know that Easter is something to celebrate! Throw a colorful tablecloth on the table, add some streamers or balloons, and serve a special snack. For a real special treat, add these easy-to-make butterflies:
- Pleat or scrunch up colorful wrapping paper and clip a clothespin to the middle. Tape the butterflies to your walls, add magnets and stick them to the whiteboard or any magnetic trim you can find in the room, dangle them on string from the windows, and attach some to yourself! Tip: Before kids go, let them each choose two butterflies—one to keep and one to give away!
Purchase one of the Easter units available from Faith Alive; with a few simple modifications there are plenty of materials you can use in a Kid Connection setting. Here’s how we used the unit called King Jesus in my church last year.
- On Palm Sunday we told the story using the drama found on page 47. After deleting some lines and the italicized directions we had a few preteens present it in a reader’s theater style. We ordered palm stems from the florist (very inexpensive) and waved them as we sang the songs provided on the CD that came with the King Jesus book. For one song we lined the kids up in two rows, each facing the other, and had kids take turns walking in pairs in between the singing, branch-waving “crowd.”
- On Easter Sunday we told the Easter story using The Jesus Storybook Bible. It has a fabulous retelling of the Easter story that you could use with a group of any age. (Alternatively, use an easy-to-understand translation like The Message.)
- We used the step 3 small group activity provided after each story in the Easter units and then did a modified version of the crafts. (Like the other Easter units, King Jesus breaks into a small group time for ages K-3 and 4-6.)
- We gave kids copies of the reproducible story booklets that come with each of these units. (We encouraged our older kids to find someone younger to read it to.)
Paint a mural together. Roll out a long sheet of mural paper and assign each group of kids a different section. One group could show Jesus entering Jerusalem in a Palm Sunday parade; another could show Jesus dying on the cross and the observing crowd; another could show the tomb where Jesus was buried with the guards posted there; another could show the angel announcing that Jesus is alive. Tip: Save a section of the mural for each child to write or draw what Jesus’ death and return to life means to them!
Bring in a bouquet of flowers and give each child a stem to take home along with a note card that you’ve tied on to each stem that says, “Jesus is Alive!”
Save some of the celebratory activities found on pages 160-163 of the Kid Connection Leader’s Guide for Year 2, Unit 6 and do them as part of your Easter Sunday celebration.

I began this newsletter with a story that came out of a Kid Connection unit. In January I got to meet some of our fabulous KC leaders live and in person at the APCE conference in Texas and hear their stories about the kids and about what God is doing in their ministry. I would love to hear from you too! Please email me and tell me about your kids and maybe what they have taught YOU this year!

Blessings,

Karen DeBoer

Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you try to reply, you will not receive a response. You are receiving Connect because you either signed up on our website or talked with a customer service rep, asking to be subscribed to our mailing list.

To unsubscribe, send a blank email to this address or click here to edit your member profile or change your e-mail address.

If you have questions or comments about this list, email us or call 1-800-333-8300.