Journey to the Manger: An Interactive Nativity

We made it through Christmas Eve!!

Wait... Did I sound a little too excited? Maybe that's because WE MADE IT THROUGH CHRISTMAS EVE! And now I can relaaaax for the rest of break. Whew!

At my church, there is a tradition of having a live animal nativity before the 4:00 Christmas Eve service. Throughout the years it's gone through a lot of incarnations - We started out using Group's all-inclusive "Miracle of Jesus", and have since tried various combinations of games, crafts, and of course, animals.

Well, this year I wanted to switch things up a bit and get rid of the very firm "nativity"/"craft" split of the gym. I was inspired by our incredible Christmas program, Journey to the Manger, which tells the story of a cynical artist who journeys back in time with Mary and Joseph to see Christmas at different time periods, all the way back to the first Christmas in the manger. It was an incredible show and I thought that "journey back in time" aspect would be perfect for our interactive nativity!

In order to accomplish this, I used risers to divide our gym up into five sections, one for each time period the characters traveled to. In each section were volunteers ready to help the kids with crafts and games relevant to that time period. (Okay, some of them were a bit of a stretch to make them "relevant" - but I tried my best!)

Here is a tour of our gym!

On walking in, guests were greeted by one riser that gave instructions and a welcome in case I had been called away from greeting duty by one emergency or another. (That only happens, like, a million times a night, right?) The time periods started with the most modern and went backwards in history going clockwise around the gym.

Our first step back in time was the Great Depression!

At this station, kids could play Depression-era games of jacks and hopscotch. We made a hopscotch with painter's tape and put rocks next to it.

For jacks, I found a ton of packets for very cheap on Oriental Trading. They were very cheap but the kids loved it! We pulled down a low table and a volunteer helped teach the kids jacks - They were able to figure out the hopscotch pretty independently.

Next: Victorian England!

Because Victorian England was right around the time that Christmas trees were starting, I decided to make a tinsel-themed craft. This was one of our most popular crafts - In fact, we ran out of supplies 45 minutes in! Each kid got a clear glass ornament (found cheapest at Meijer) and filled them with garland. A SUPER easy craft that looks really neat!

Moving onward to: The Renaissance!

The snippets about each time period (which I put up on the "wall") are actually quotes from the musical. Great, right?!

For the Renaissance - the "stained glass" era - I decided to go with two stained-glass crafts, both from Oriental Trading. We chose two different ones because one was a bit tougher than the other, and I wanted options for all ages.
#1 (for "big kids"): Stained glass nativity suncatchers. I have to admit, I had my doubts about this one because it was definitely tougher - but it was a HUGE hit! I got more compliments on this craft than any other activity. One important key was to make the glue very watery - and it did take a number of volunteers to make sure every kid had supplies and knew what to do!

#2 (for preschoolers and littler kids): "Stained glass" nativity ornaments. This craft was great for smaller kids, but was very short and involved very little crafting. Really, the only actions needed were to punch out holes in the silhouette and stick it on the background. While it was definitely easier for little kids than option #1, most of the kids attempted the harder one instead - It was definitely more of a craft than this!

The next step back in time was to Austria during the composition of "Silent Night," when a church organ was broken down so they had to have a simple carol to be accompanied by guitar.

This is definitely the one station that was least popular and less of a real time period, so looking back, if I had to nix one of the stations, it would definitely be this one! Because the story was music-related, we had music-related activities. Each kid got a jingle bell, and could do a simple craft by choosing ribbon to add on to it.

We also had our instrument bucket out for them to play. Don't worry- I took the cymbals out before anyone came in!

Finally, we make it to Christmas at the manger!

This "station" was really just one thing - the petting farm! We have a great petting farm that we use; they bring in "nativity animals" and set the whole thing up for us. They have sheep, donkeys, even alpacas! These are definitely a huge draw and families LOVE to see them.

We also set up a nativity scene for families to take pictures at!

Whew... It was a lot of work, but I was so proud of the turnout! We had around 75 kids this year, which is definitely an increase from last year.

Merry Christmas!

Tower of Babel with 5th and 6th Graders

Whew - What a lesson! The Tower of Babel is a crazy topic, and the 5th and 6th graders latched on to some of the key concepts with a ton of enthusiasm. We had some hands on activities and a lively discussion!

We started out with a warm up activity- building our own towers! We worked together to build tall structures out of marshmallows and Popsicle sticks. 

So serious!

Then we read and discussed the story of the Tower of Babel. The kids had a lot of thoughts about whether it was fair or God-like to confuse the people by giving them different languages. I heard a lot of "That isn't the God I know!" They had a difficult time connecting a vengeful God with the loving God we hear about all the time. It definitely made them think!

Then we built and knocked down some more towers... With Jenga! They LOVED it! We got a pretty serious tower going by the end. 

Jacob's Ladder

Our lesson this week was all about Jacob's dream and his wrestle with the angel. While the curriculum focused on the angel, our 2nd and 3rd-grade Sunday School teacher decided to think more about his dream - and his ladder up to heaven. She came up with this great craft!

To make Jacob's Ladders, you will need:

• craft sticks
• markers or pens
• glue (she used liquid glue)

The kids started by gluing the sticks in a ladder shape. They put one on each side and then glued rungs as they wanted up and down.

They ended by writing the sending message on the ladder - "God always keeps his promises!"

David and Goliath

This past week's lesson was all about David and Goliath, and I have to share one teacher's BRILLIANT method of simulating the David and Goliath story with our fourth graders!


They started by tracing the junior helper's silhouette on poster paper (she lay down on the floor and they traced around her). Then they cut it out and taped it to the wall. This became "Goliath"!

Next they made their "slingshots" - only 3 things needed! They used:

• uninflated balloons, with the top part cut off (they kept the part with the tie)
• paper cups with the bottom cut out
• staples
• marshmallows (or cotton balls work too!)

They prepped the cups by cutting out the bottom. After cutting the top off a balloon, they tied the bottom tight and stretched the top around the cut-out bottom of the cup.

Then they stuck a marshmallow or cotton ball inside the cup, pulled back the balloon, and "slingshot"-ed away! What a great idea!

Christmas Teacher Appreciation

I absolutely LOVE all of my Sunday school teachers- Seriously. Where would we be without them?? I cannot even. 

So, in order to attempt to demonstrate the depths of my gratitude for them, I spent some serious time this week making up some holiday presents. Here's what I ended up with:

There's all 9 of them!

Each teacher got a mug filled with hot cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, and

3 cake pops. I made them all over 2 days - one day to assemble the mugs, and then the other (muuuuuuch longer!) day I make the cake pops.

For the mugs, you need:

A mug (I got 9 super cute ones for $2 each at Family Dollar!)

1 1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix

A scoop of mini marshmallows

Clear cookie bag

Red ribbon

Tags (you can borrow mine here!)

I placed the bag into the mug, then filled it up with hot cocoa. I found that some mugs needed a little more or less cocoa powder because of their size or shape. You need to make sure it's a pretty dense layer so the cake pops won't fall over.

Add a scoop of mini marshmallows to the top- I filled until they just showed over the rim of the mug.

Tie the bag up with ribbon and attach a tag!

Easy, right?

Well, I wanted to make sure my teachers really felt the love- so I decided to go a step farther and add in cake pops. Do I regret this decision? Not entirely... But it definitely made the process 100x harder, longer, and more frustrating! On the other hand though, they looked REALLY cool and the teachers loved them.

I could attempt to teach you how to make cake pops... Or I could send you to Bakerella's site, which is way more helpful! One thing I will suggest: Read the directions. Seriously. We wasted a loooot of time and patience because we skipped steps!

We made each teacher a tree, reindeer, and snowman.

Needless to say, some turned out better than others... But all were greatly appreciated!

Stick the cake pops into the cocoa powder and there you have it!

Happy holidays!

Halloween Fun

This week we had our second annual Trunk or Treat, as well as our first ever Haunted Trail in the forest behind our building! We held them both the Wednesday before Halloween, which was on a Saturday this year. Despite the slightly drizzly and cold weather (which was only slightly better than the rain on Halloween), we had a pretty good turnout and the kids had a TERRIFIC time!

I was a little unsure about combining Trunk or Treat with the Haunted Forest, and it definitely gave us mixed results. On the one hand, the kids were psyched to try the haunted trail and it was VERY well done - all thanks to a super energetic, Halloween-spirited volunteer from our congregation! They all were excited to stay and try it out. On the other hand, the trail needed several "monsters," which definitely depleted our supplies of people who were willing to supply trunks. There were about 5 less trunks than we had last year, when we'd been really hoping for an increase. That being said, though, the weather may have discouraged some people too - it wasn't exactly the dream night for an outdoor event! However, we soldiered on!

We started out with pizza, games, and crafts in the gym at 6:00, giving the trunk decorators a chance to eat before the trick-or-treaters came around at 6:30. Most of the activities were a HIT, but I think if we're going to continue the half-hour window, we need a few more next year! Here's what we had out:

• Witch's Hat Toss - A ring-toss game I picked up at Meijer's last year for less than $10. The kids enjoyed it, but it didn't take very long for them to finish. I think it might help to have more than 3 rings, or maybe more than 5 targets.
  
• Sensory Boxes - I was SO PROUD of my decorating jobs on the three sensory boxes! I worked SUPER hard on them and yes, it was probably more effort than it was worth, but the kids really enjoyed these! Check them out:

"Frankenstein brains": cold cooked spaghetti

This monster eats "eyeballs" - peeled grapes. Anyone know an easier, less messy and faster way to peel grapes?! My poor husband was roped into helping with this one and let me tell you, I'll be lucky if he ever volunteers to help me with anything again!

Squishy, messy "pumpkin guts" - Jell-O!

Their faces as they felt around in the bin were priceless!

• Candy Corn Sensory Bin: I found this cool idea to have a candy corn-rice sensory bin for the little ones on this awesome blog, but I have to say, mine did NOT look as cool as I was hoping! I dyed the rice just fine, and I was really excited about how "candy corn"-ish they looked - until I actually put the candy corn in. The candy corn stood out SO MUCH! I'm thinking my problem was either that my candy corn was too large (does candy corn come in sizes?) or I didn't have enough rice in there. Another problem I hadn't considered was that, when lots of kids are rummaging through a sensory bin, you don't really want them to eat the candy corn that's been touched by everybody else. Not the most sanitary activity. Oh well!

• Spiderweb Walk - This was a HIT! I used painters' tape to mark a spider web on the gym floor, and stuck plastic spiders all over it. The kids had to get from one side to the other without stepping off the web or stepping on a spider. They had so much fun with this!

 

• Make a Trick or Treat Bag - I think I'd also do this one again, because we ended up with quite a few people who came without their own bags. I gave them ideas, which they mostly pooh-poohed and made their own instead. I left out construction paper, glue, googly eyes and markers - they were all used!

• Monster Goo - Okay, this was the major hit of all the hits. I followed this recipe and holy awesomeness, Batman! They LOVED it! I ended up parceling up the "goo" because everybody needed to take some home with them. This slime in particular was great because it wasn't sticky or messy- so no costumes were at risk of being ruined. This is a must-have for next year!

Finally, we got to trick-or-treating. We marched the kids through the office at 6:30 so our lovely office staff could pass out candy; then it was outside to the trunks! Again, we had a few less trunks than we were hoping for, but the kids still had fun. And we had some great trunks!

Since the Haunted Forest started at 7, some kids ended up hanging around a bit without much to do. (Some went back into the gym for more slime time!) I think it might have worked to have the haunted forest run concurrently with the Trunk or Treating, because they were finished with every trunk within ten minutes - and had twenty more minutes to kill!

I also didn't do a costume contest this year, because I found it so difficult to manage last year. I'd love tips on how you manage a costume contest where not everyone knows each other!

Are you ready for fall?!

If you're asking me... Um, no. I am not at all ready to trade in my sleepy weekday mornings on the couch for 6AM alarms and countless cups of coffee so I'm ready for my 3rd graders. As much as I love cider mills and autumn colors, fall is not this teacher's favorite time of year!

One thing I do love about fall, though, is the joy of fresh and new school supplies! I've spent the last week getting my Sunday School classrooms all set up and ready to go. As of three days ago, I have JUST enough teachers to get Sunday School off the ground (WOOHOO! Cue HUGE sigh of relief) and now it's time to outfit their rooms so the year can start off with a bang!

Like most churches, we have a craft closet that absolutely. does. not. end. You could get lost in that room and never actually find what you were looking for. We have bins and bins of dried out paint, broken pencils, dead markers, and for some reason, a BAZILLION sheets of foam. It is not my favorite place to go, but to it I went! I spent some serious time in there today organizing, labeling, and clearing all the Sunday School rooms out of random craft supplies (including a bag of rice...?) so we can start fresh!

Once each room was clutter-free, I had to do some replacing to do so these teachers are ready for anything! We are using a new curriculum this year: Holy Moly, from Sparkhouse Online. I am both excited and nervous for this change! It's very leaflet-based, which means lots of busywork for me and unfortunately, most likely some unused materials :( But, those leaflets are really the only supplies the teachers will need! It even comes with a SUPER handy checklist of supplies, showing what lessons need which extra supplies. SO helpful that I don't have to do that myself! 

Since most supplies are only used once or twice, I just made sure the craft closet is fully stocked with those. Some supplies (gluesticks, pencils, markers, crayons, scissors, tape) are used almost every week, so those need to be in the classroom every week.

To Meijers! Don't you LOVE back to school sales?! Woo hoo!

Almost $100 and half an hour later....

Supplies! Bins! Crayons! Markers! Labels! Excitement!

I put together three bins for each of our four rooms: an open bin with scissors, glue sticks, adult scissors, and pencils...

A bin of markers and a bin of crayons.

And each one is CLEARLY labeled so, fingers crossed, they will STAY ORGANIZED ALL  YEAR LONG!
Thing we can make it? I sure hope so...

Each classroom also got a battery-operated pencil sharpener so they can actually use the pencils.

Okay, fall... I am ALMOST ready for you!