When your class time is over and the sermon isn't,
whaddaya do? Try a Plan in a Can!
It's Sunday morning and you've just finished
your entire lesson. You check the clock, and while the service
should be ending...you hear no music, see no parents coming down
the hall, discern no sounds of the benediction. What you
do hear is your senior pastor, still excited about the
message. And then you quickly begin trying to figure out what
you're going to do with a room full of kids and no lesson left --
without letting them see you sweat.
The temptation may be to run; it's not easy to think of creative
and interesting ideas to keep kids engaged when you have extra time
on your hands. But don't run -- think of it as an honor that God
chose you to have a few extra minutes with your kids.
You might be thinking, Holy buckets! Are you kidding me? I
signed up for one hour. It's been an hour and 20 minutes and these
kids are just staring at me. Well…they should be. You're
pretty special. You're the one person God selected for this moment.
Every extra minute kids get with you is his gift to them.
And you? You need a survival kit. A bucket of back up, a plan in
a can.
So we've created two kits you can build on your own and store in
your room. When you have extra time with kids, don't sweat it-just
pull out your plan in a can and get busy! And just in case you're
wondering, Why call it a can? Why not a box or a bin or a
bucket? It's because for those times when you're wondering if
you'll be able to keep kids' attention and bust their boredom, the
name is a sweet reminder that yes, you can!
PLAN IN A CAN: GAMES GALORE!
THE INGREDIENTS
• Faithful Faces cards (printed photos, poster board, adhesive,
and a laminator or clear adhesive vinyl) held together with a
rubber band
• Christian music CDs for kids
• Black light lamp
• Two large happy face images
• Two colors of plastic clothespins (enough for three per child;
available at Dollar Stores)
FAITHFUL FACES Kids love The Memory Game, where
you place a bunch of cards face down, shuffle them, and have kids
try to find matching cards by turning over two at a time. (If they
don't get a match, they turn the cards back face down and the next
person goes. If they do get a match, they get another turn.) So why
not capitalize on this fun game model and reinforce the important
faith faces in kids' lives? Just take pictures of the kids in your
class, missionaries in your church, Bible friends you've been
learning about, families you're praying for, and people in your
congregation. Then whip up your own version of the game.
Use photo paper or regular printer paper to print out two of
each photo, and mount them on poster board. Run the poster board
through a laminator or apply clear adhesive vinyl, and you've got a
game worth talking about. Kids will love finding their friends. And
when they get a match, throw in a little challenge by giving them
an extra point if they can remember who's on the cards and what
they know about them.
SIDEWALK CHALK OF TODAY'S TALK Form groups of
two to six. You can have as many or as few teams as you have
sidewalk for. Have your kids work together to draw one picture on
concrete that says something about the day's Bible story. Best of
all, when parents pick up their kids, you get a huge blessing: The
kids tell their parents what they learned without even being
prompted. And for a bonus, take photos of kids and their drawings
for a quick recap to start off the following week's lesson. You can
even make a Month-in-Review bulletin board starring your kids as
the teachers.
MUSIC FREEZE If you think an hour is a long
time for you, it's like dog years to kids. They have wiggles
they've got to get out. So when you have extra time, turn up the
music and let kids be as goofy as they want-until the music stops.
Then they have to freeze in place. Add a twist by adding a black
light (find black light lamps for $8 and up at online suppliers
such as lightsforalloccasions.com).
Changing your environment is a great break from the everyday, and
it lets kids know that you always have a few surprises in
store.
CLOTHESPIN TAG You can use this game to remind
kids that no thief can steal our joy when we go to the Joy Source:
God. Place the happy face images on the floor at opposite ends of a
play area. Form two teams, and have each team go to one happy face.
Assign each team a color of clothespin. Pin three clothespins to
the back of each child's clothing above the waist. The goal of the
game is for each team to try to steal the other team's clothespins
and drop them on their team's happy face. Play music to signal
"go." Let kids play for one minute or so, and then turn off the
music to signal "stop." After a few starts and stops, end the game,
declare the winning team with the most clothespins, and then let
kids get more "joy" on their backs and play again. When you're
done, remind kids that they can always find new joy with God.
