ApRIL 2006
Welcome to WWM Talk, the e-newsletter for Walk With Me curriculum. If you have any questions about information in this issue (or anything else), give us a call at 1-800-333-8300 or e-mail us.
In This Issue
- For Teachers: How to stay connected with the kids you teach
- For Coordinators: Tips about celebrating and planning ahead
Spring Things
If you’re a kid, spring means marbles, puddles, kites, and bikes. If you’re a children’s ministry leader, spring might mean Easter celebrations and for many, the approaching end of regular weekly programs. Whether you’re closing up shop for the summer or just taking a deep breath before you jump in for more, read on for ideas teachers and co-coordinators can use to encourage kids and celebrate God’s goodness over the past year.
Teacher Tips
Picture This
Take a photo of your class now and have it ready to give to kids on the last day you’re together.
Tip: If you’re team teaching, you’ll want to include both teachers and any helpers.
Glue photos on top of a piece of cardstock to form a “frame” around the picture. Spend time at the end of class autographing each other’s frame!
Tip: Print out a short memory verse you’ve learned together for kids to glue onto their frame.
Postcard Pals
Show kids you care by providing each child with a pre-stamped postcard addressed to you! Encourage kids to write you a note and mail it during the summer to let you know how things are going. Be sure to pop a postcard in the mail to them too!
Prayer Prints
Trace the hand of each child onto a separate sheet of paper. Invite kids to sign their names inside their handprint and to add any prayer requests they have. As you collect the handprints, promise to pray for each child over the summer. Let kids know that as you pray for them, you’ll be placing your hand over theirs!
Coordinators’ Corner
Faith Milestones
Celebrate church school graduates with a simple ceremony. Use a computer to create a “Celebration Certificate” (check out www.certificatemaker.com) and ask a church member with great penmanship to write the kid’s names. Include a Bible verse teachers have chosen for each child.
Present graduates with a cool kids’ devotional, a Bible, or a gift certificate to a Christian bookstore. Remind kids that graduating doesn’t mean they have reached the end of their faith journey . . . they are just beginning a lifetime walk with God!
Great Graffiti
Hang a large strip of butcher paper or posterboard on a prominent wall in your children’s ministry area. Attach pencils to lengths of string and dangle them from the wall. Add a caption like “God Is Good Graffiti” and invite teachers and kids to doodle.
Teachers can praise God for classroom blessings, brag about their great kids, and post photos of the past year. Kids can use pictures or words to share a church school memory, a Bible verse they ’ve learned, or to thank their teacher.
Tip: Invite church members to add encouraging words too!
See You in September!
Get a head start on planning for fall by sending teachers a simple fill-in-the-blank note on which they can indicate whether or not they’d like to be on the children’s ministry team next term. Invite them to share any recommendations about placement of kids in classes and provide space for feedback and suggestions for next year.
Now is also the time to begin writing each member of your children ’s ministry team a personal note of thanks!
More Great Ideas
John, a WWM Talk subscriber, told us about “Encounter,” a fun night that marks the end of the year and welcomes the new grade 6 kids to the junior high program. Kids play games, do devotions, and feast on spaghetti (with no utensils) and rain gutter sundaes (no hands)!
Wanted: Memorable Moments!
We want to hear about those wonderful moments of grace you’ve experienced in kid’s ministry: listening to the heartfelt prayer of a child, seeing God’s love in action as kids run with a service project, watching one child minister to another, having a child whisper in your ear, “Last night I asked Jesus to live in my heart. E-mail us to share the memorable moments God sent your way as you ministered to his kids!
What Do You Do?
We want to serve you in the best possible way with these newsletters, so let us know how we can help! What are some issues those of you in the trenches would like to know more about? Don’t be shy! We LOVE hearing from you! E-mail us!
Keep Your Kids Safe!
Safekeeping, a new two-week, stand-alone abuse prevention curriculum, will help you keep kids in your program safe from abuse. Written from a faith perspective, these sessions are designed to equip children and youth with an awareness of abuse and provide strategies to deal with potentially dangerous situations. Each kit includes a leader’s guide containing two sessions per level (K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8), reproducible handouts, and six picture books that help explain this sensitive topic to younger children. Click here to view a sample chapter.
You are subscribed as wwmtalk@faithaliveresources.org. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to leave-wwmtalk-31005A@lists.faithaliveresources.org. If you have questions or comments about this list, e-mail us or call 1-800-333-8300.
