Sir Teddy's Shortbread Cookies

Sir Teddy had a tea party last night, complete with shortbread cookies for everyone!

Shortbread Cookies 

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In large bowl, stir butter and sugar until well mixed. Stir in flour. (If dough is crumbly, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons more butter or margarine, softened.)

3. Roll dough 1/2 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into small shapes with knife or use cookie cutters. On ungreased cookie sheet, place shapes 1/2 inch apart.

4. Bake about 20 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

This recipe came from The Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Vacation Bible School: Day 3

We're having loads of fun at VBS! We have lots of girls attending while the same three boys keep coming day after day. After the welcome time, Miss Bessie taught the kids another verse. It was John 14:15 which says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

She played a game with them called, "Pick a friend." One child was chosen to say the verse. Then, they got to choose a friend to say it with them. It kept going like that, until all of the kids were up there. When the line started getting long, they held hands and said the verse while walking as a BIG circle.

Mrs. Richardson talked about Paul, the missionary, who told many people about Jesus.

 
Miss Fender's missionary story was about George Mueller who helped orphans in England. She made the story interactive when she shared about the time when all the children sat at the table with nothing to eat. As they prayed, someone knocked on the door saying that their milk truck broke down and decided to share the milk. Another person knocked on the door and had bread to share. A couple of the leaders knocked on the door and reenacted this story for the kids. I think they really understood it. At the end of the story, they enjoyed some crackers with a bit of milk.

For game time, Miss Katie showed them how to play, "Drop the Baton." It's very similar to "duck, duck, goose." The child with the baton walks around the circle. When they choose someone to run after them, they place the baton behind that person. Everyone has to be watching! 

Here's the baton I made for the game. It's made out of a cardboard tube. It's a very thin one that came from my aluminum foil that I just ran out of. Then, I taped red cellophane around it. I tied the ends with curling ribbon. 

For craft time, the kids colored a picture of Big Ben, the tall clock tower in England. I made clock hands and bought brad fasteners so that the hands could actually move! Go here if you're interested in seeing the free coloring sheet we used for this project.

Meet "Sir Teddy" the bear who tried to eat chopsticks the night before! The kids were to bring a tea bag to see what Sir Teddy would do with it. He decided to have a giant tea party--with a giant teacup that is! I made a handle out of cardboard, painted it, then taped it to this mixing bowl. His straw is made out of paper. The kids got a kick out of watching Sir Teddy slurp up the tea! I passed out homemade shortbread cookies to them so that they could be a part of this special tea party.

Next...Sir Teddy's shortbread cookies! (They are fantastic so I'll have to share them with you!)

Vacation Bible School: Day 2

The kids were excited as they came back for day 2 of VBS. I gave the welcome to the kids, then Miss Bessie taught them the new Bible verse. It was II Corinthians 5:17a which says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."

After reviewing the verse a few times and explaining what it means, she played a game with them using the memory verse cube. She called kids up one at a time to roll the cube. Whatever directions it landed on, that's how they were to say the verse. They had lots of fun with this activity.

I got this idea from Child Evangelism Fellowship. For years, I subscribed to their magazine called, Evangelizing Today's Child (It's now called, Teach Kids!). Each magazine includes a visualized story and resource cards for memory verse reviews, crafts, and lots of other children's ministry ideas. I made this cube using an empty tissue box. Then, I wrapped it with brown kraft paper. I glued on colored squares then wrote these things on them:

1. March in place while saying the verse.

2. Stand in the middle of the room and say the verse.

3. Raise your arms above your head and say the verse.

4. Sing the verse to a tune.

5. Close your eyes and say the verse.

6. Chose a friend and say the verse together.

To play: Throw the box in the air. When it lands, the side on top will point to a person who must follow the directions. That child then throws the box in the air. Whoever the arrow points to must perform the activity. Continue reviewing the verse until every side of box has been revealed. (Jose' Abraham, CEF, Jan/Feb., 1995)

Bessie didn't use the arrows in the game, but I think it would add some variety to the game, especially with older boys and girls.

After this game, Mrs. Richardson continued her story on the life of Paul. She shared with them the part about how his name used to be "Saul" then was blinded by the light. God changed his life and he became a follower of Jesus. Then, his name was changed to Paul.

The mini racers are making their way up the track! The kids are getting really excited about this.

Snack time is always fun! They get a pack of two cookies and a drink. The game for the night was called, "Wild Animal Hunt." Bean bag animals were hidden all over the gym and the kids had to go find them. They were divided into teams, so the team who collected the most animals won!

The missionary story was on the life of Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma. So, we made these lanterns to go along with that theme. Miss Rachel and I cut the slits on the paper before craft time. We had the kids place shiny star stickers on it, before the leaders help tape it all together. After this, we had our closing assembly. We sang songs, passed out prizes and saw Sir Teddy (the puppet) try to eat chopsticks. He was confused on to how to use them, so he thought he would try eating them!

Next time....day 3!

Vacation Bible School: Day 1

Last night, we began this year's VBS. Some of the kids arrived early and had big smiles on their faces when they walked into the room. I have only a few pictures to show you and they are mostly of the center time. I'll try to get more pictures of some of the different parts of the program during the week. Since yesterday was the first day and I'm running it, it was a challenge to take lots of pictures...but I'll try to take more tonight!

The girls worked on coloring their little "racers" to go on the race track on the mural. When they were done with that, they colored a picture of China's flag. I was able to get coloring sheets from Crayola.com. They've got a huge selection of crafts and coloring sheets, suitable for any kids' activity.

This is Benjamin with one of our leaders, Miss Katie. The boys got to play with play-doh or look at books. Each kid gets to keep their bag of play-doh at the end of the week. I had the leaders write their name on their bag so that we can keep track of it. 

When the girls were done coloring, they went to the missionary corner with me. They really enjoyed playing with my nesting dolls and playing with the rice bucket. I'll rotate the girls and the boys so that they can be at each station at least two times during the week.

After the center time, it was time for our opening assembly. I'll write down what we did for each part of the program. 

6:15-6:30 registration/check-in

6:30-6:40 center time

6:40-6:55 opening assembly: welcome, songs, and Bible memory time

6:55-7:10 Bible story time

7:10-7:25 snacks/bathroom break 

7:25-7:45 game time (On this day, we played a game called, "beans in the bucket." It was a relay race to see which team could fill their buckets with the beans the fastest.)

7:45-7:55 missionary story (This day's story was on the life of Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China.)

7:55-8:20 craft time (This craft went along with the missionary story--rice shakers!)

8:20-8:30 closing assembly: songs, puppet skit, prizes and closing prayer

My craft helper, Miss Rachel, made this sample rice shaker to show the kids before we had them make their own. We used toilet paper tubes, rice and cellophane to make these. They were pre-made before last night. What we had the kids do was color a yellow sheet of paper and place a couple stickers on it. The leaders helped them secure the paper on with tape. When they were done, they had a blast making music with these shakers!

Next time...day 2 of VBS!

Getting ready for VBS

Between Sunday and Monday, I spent several long hours setting up the room for VBS. I enjoy painting and creating things for teaching young children. 

This year's program is called, "Cross training-focus on the finish." The theme verse and song is from II Timothy 4:7a which says, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." This curriculum which has a racing theme, also weaves in Bible stories on the life of Paul, as well as modern-day missionaries. Q found this program on-line for a minimal fee through Quality Speech Materials. Check it out if you're looking for a great detailed program for four and five-year-olds.

I used paint to create this mural that serves as the back ground for our stage area. I placed strips of construction paper all around it, using Olympic colors. The race track is an interactive thing we've already started using. Each child colored  their very own "racer" and we've placed them at the starting line. Every night, I'll move the "racers" (backed with sticky tack) up the race track. On the last night, we'll reach the finish line!

Besides doing some general cleaning in the room, I set up a few rows of chairs, divided by an aisle. The yellow chairs are for the girls, and the blue chairs are for the boys. When the children first come into the room after they check in, they get to go to centers. I placed two tables in an "L" shape for these centers. Centers A and B share a table, while Center C is by itself. Center A is a book corner (books on countries and the Olympics). Center B is a play doh center, where I've placed cookie cutters for them to use. Center C is the coloring table, where they color their "racers" and coloring sheets on countries of the world and sports. The tables are also used for our craft time.

Center D is this missionary corner. I've placed items from around the world for the children to look at and/or touch. Do you remember that cloth world map that I found a couple months ago? It's tacked onto cardboard. Around it, I placed missionary cards.

The children may go to the missionary corner with a leader to do some activities. Each one was printed and laminated.  I came up with three activities that I'd like to share with you.

Activity #1: Look at the missionary cards one at a time. Have your leader tell you who the missionaries are, what they do, and where they are telling people about Jesus. Then, see if you can find their country on the globe. Pick one card and pray for that missionary family. Pray that God will keep them safe as they tell others about God.

Activity #2: These things are from different countries around the world. Your leader will ask you where you think the object is from. They will give you a few choices to choose from, so listen carefully. (Leaders: the correct answer is in all CAPS.) I then listed the items on the table, and wrote out three choices. The correct one is printed in all caps.

Activity #3: All of the objects on the table come from places around the world. You may look at all of them, but you may only touch these things:

Try on the silly hats! Look at yourself in the mirror.

Look at the Spanish books. Do the letters look the same as our alphabet?

With your leader, you may play with the nesting dolls. Be careful! These come all the way from Russia, and Mrs. Johnson doesn't want anything to happen to them.

You may hold the money and sea shells in your hand. Aren't they neat looking? What things do you see on the coins? 

If there is a box of rice on the table, you may play with it using the cups and spoons. Try not to spill! The people of China and Burma eat lots of rice. Do you like to eat it?

Here's that box full of rice. I placed measuring cups, spoons and a scoop for the children to enjoy while at the missionary corner.

It's going to be lots of fun....next post--Day one of our VBS!

The puffy green tree

I absolutely love this wall decoration. I saw it each week this spring as I went to a Bible study held in another church.

I examined it closely to see how it was made. The trunk is just crinkled brown paper. The puffiness on the tree is made by stuffing two parts together with more paper, then stapling it together. The apples and the sun complete this neat project. And that's it!

At first I thought it would be fun to make something like this for VBS, but as I was working on this year's theme, it just didn't fit. So, I stuck to doing another mural this year, which I'll show you later on.

Wouldn't this tree look awesome for any kid's classroom, Sunday School room--or perhaps your child's playroom or bedroom? I'm sure the possibilities are endless in creating something colorful and 3D!

It's time for VBS!

We are having Vacation Bible School at our church this week. I thought it would be fun to devote most of this week to sharing pictures and ideas from last year and this year's preschool VBS.

Our preschool program last year was called, "Cactus Caravan." Every Bible lesson focused on how Jesus lived in the desert. The crafts, games and science experiment time had a lot of the same focus--the desert!

Here's the mural I made for the week. I used paint and chalk to create the cactus, sun and desert sand. On the first day, I had the kids color in a desert animal to put on the mural. Fruit snacks were attached on the cactus on one of the days as a surprise!

After the kids signed in, they walked into the room and could go to a center and do an activity. These young ladies are at the coloring table.

Play-doh was a big hit that week! Cookie cutters were available for them to use for this activity.

One of our teens, Nikki, did a science experiment with the kids. They loved getting involved with this.

Mrs. Richardson did the Bible story each day. We also sang songs, had a puppet time, and gave away prizes! This was my first year heading this up and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A couple months ago, Q asked me if I would do it again this year. As each day is completed, I'll be sharing more pictures. I hope that some of these things will give you ideas for VBS or other children's ministries.