Blessings Bags

When LB's Book Club read The Family Under the Bridge a few months ago, the idea was brought up to make bags to give people who were homeless.  Earlier this summer, Lexi attended a session at FHU's GO camp where they talked about making bags to give the homeless and the spark was lit again.  The girls began making lists of things that they needed to do and get.  They began asking people to help them with this project and people responded. Some of the items that were brought included:

packs of tissues            small bottles of hand sanitizer

wash cloths         peppermints and hard candy

packs of gum       combs     shampoo

razors and shaving cream       toothpaste and toothbrushes

chap stick      bars of soap

granola bars      packs of crackers

band aids     water bottles

packs of peanuts and raisins       deodorant

Two of the girls made cloth bags to put everything in and each girl wrote notes to put in the bags wishing the person a great day and reminding them that God loves them.  Lexi and her family are taking these bags to our nation's capital this weekend when they go for a conference up there but plans are already under way for what they can do for those in our own town.

LB and Cecily writing notes

A great group of girls!

Ready to pack the bags!

Cecily adds packs of tissues and hand sanitizer

Lexi adds wash cloths, peppermints and packs of gum

Ivy added combs, shaving cream and toothpaste

Rachel Grace added shampoo and deodorant.

LB added razors and toothbrushes

LeighAnne added soap and chap stick

Mary Katherine added granola bars and hard candy

Sara added bandaids

What an assembly line!

The notes were put in each bag.

The girls made at least 30 bags!
The water bottles and packs of crackers are going to be added later so they don't get crushed!

To end the work party, we all celebrated sweet Lexi's 10th birthday with an amazing fruit pizza!

So proud of these girls and the hard work they put into this project! Can't wait to see what else they can come up with!

Bible Class Christmas Party

Sunday was a very busy day. I had a baby shower after church and then spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for the 4 and 5 year old Christmas party. My friends, Kim and Sandy, who teach these ages as well, helped get the party together. We wanted to have some fun with the kids as well as teach the children about giving as well. We had 13 precious little ones around for the afternoon as we made reindeer food, snowman soup, Christmas cards, a patterned necklace, sequined Christmas trees, a Santa Christmas countdown calendar, and we ate, of course!! The kids had a blast. We covered #10 cans with wrapping paper so the kids could place the things they made down in them as they finished. After the party, the kids took their snowman soup up to the auditorium where some of the older members of church were already there. Each child gave an older member their Christmas card and snowman soup. They were all so sweet. I was especially glad to be able to spend the afternoon with my Carter.

Blessings for Bible Teachers Begins

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been thinking about starting a blog for Bible teachers with Bible school ideas. My poll was answered with a definite "YES!" to see if this would even be worth the time. Therefore, I am pleased to let you know that Blessings for Bible Teachers has begun!! I hope you will find this to be a blessing to you and those precious souls you teach. Please feel free to browse and be patient as we begin to post ideas for you to use. Thanks for the encouragement!

Just an Idea . . .

So, I am fairly new to this blogging thing and I must say I am LOVING it!! I have loved being able to look at other people and their creative works on gift ideas, card making, scrapbooking and anything like that. I have been so inspired and can honestly say I have done better about doing things like that now. However, another love of mine is teaching Sunday School. I am always looking for creative ideas on how to teach the lessons, song ideas, craft ideas, etc. I have thought about starting a blog to house ideas for teaching Bible school. It would primarily be ages 3/4 years -5/6 grade. I would try to post an idea every day or so for the first little while. I would be more than happy to post other ideas from people out there. However, before I started this I wanted to know if it would even be needed or liked. Please leave a comment or vote in my poll for whether or not you would like this or not. Thank you so much!

Oh How We Shone in VBS!!!!

What a wonderful 4 days of VBS we have had this year! Yes, we are all tired and feel like we could not move if we had to, but it was deemed a great success!!! The last night of VBS this year we learned about how an angel helped Peter escape from jail in Acts 12. Peter came one, last time, to tell the story. Then we made angels, acted out the story and dressed up like angels. The kids adored Peter and always looked forwards to seeing him.
In our drama center, we had one child be Paul asleep in the jail. One child, being the angel, would go into the jail and wake him up. We took pictures in the drama center each night and turned them into a paper bag scrapbook for the kids to take home. You can click here to see how to make the paper bag scrapbooks. They are always a huge hit with the parents and the kids!!
Peter with his favorite 3 year olds!!!
My sweet Laura Beth was a good friend to Lexie this week at VBS. Lexie has brittle bone disease and has to be careful. Laura Beth helped her go up and down the stairs slowly. It made my heart smile to see her be such a good friend.
These 2 little angels look like they are up to something!!! Carter and Lawson were so good during VBS. They are wonderful helpers.

We made these angel wings for all the 2s, 3s, and 4s to help them remember how the angel helped Peter out of jail.

Shine Like Stars - Day 3

Tonight was our 3rd night in VBS and we focused our study on Dorcas. We did go see a puppet show to review our lesson from last night's lesson on the crippled man being cured. When we go back from the puppet show, we had another visit from Peter telling us about the time he healed Dorcas. The kids did such a good job listening to him and remembered so much information just from Peter!! We all enjoyed button cookies to help us remember that Dorcas sewed clothes for the poor. We took sugar cookies, baked them and then poked holes in them with a straw to look like a button.
Our drama center for the night was sewing like Dorcas. We made lacing cards for each child to sew and then take home.
Each child made a potholder with their handprint and name on one side. The other side said, "I am a helper. VBS 2008." We talked about how Dorcas was a helper and how we can help. We bought the potholders from Oriental Trading.
We also made paper doll keychains. We had the children color the clothes on them to help us remember how Dorcas made clothes for others. We found the keychains from Oriental Trading, also.
We played a game where we had different color robes. They played a matching game finding their special color robe that Dorcas made for them. Then, while we reviewed, my helpers hid them all over the room. The kids went looking for the clothes Dorcas had made.

We have had a good time with these precious little souls this week. Tomorrow will conclude our VBS Shine Like Stars 2008.

Shine Like Stars - Day 2

Last night's VBS lesson centered on Peter and John going to the temple and meeting the crippled man at gate Beautiful. We talked about how the crippled man asked for money, but Peter and John gave him something even better - they healed him with God's help!! The kids enjoyed tonight's activities helping them remember the lesson.

Peter and John walking up to the crippled man to help him walk.

"Get up and walk!"
Our snack tonight was a crippled man (pretzels and cheerios) on a mat (graham cracker)
This little boy was very taken with "Peter." He told Peter, "You are in here!" (Pointing to his Bible!)

Shine Like Stars - Day 2 cont.

Going through the Beautiful gate
Pretending to be the crippled man
Making our own crippled man and helping him walk again.
Putting a puzzle together to help us remember the story.
Playing a matching game to help review the special parts of the story.

Shine Like Stars - VBS 2008

I forgot to put this in the first batch of pictures from the centers. At this art center, the kids made their own sea using snack size ziploc bags and toothpaste. Place a line of toothpaste at the bottom of the bag and close the bag. Have the children use their fingers to spread the toothpaste in the bag. Once the toothpaste is spread, we placed a Swedish Fish inside the bag with the toothpaste. Then we placed fish stickers on the outside. You can use this activity with any sea lesson. You can buy the red toothpaste Crest puts out and make the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross.

Today began our VBS at Henderson. The theme this year is Shine like Stars: Stars Through Acts. " My good friends, Kim and Sandy, and I are teaching the 2's, 3's and 4's during VBS this year. We decided to focus on one character for the week and the different stories that revolve around him. We choose Peter. Tonight's lesson for each class was "Peter was Jesus' Friend." We talked about how Peter was a fisherman and how he left everything to follow Jesus. We had a special guest to come and tell the lesson - "Peter" himself!!!! Peter told his story and then visited each class as the kids participated in different centers revolving around the lesson. Peter talks to a 3 year old while she eats her snack - a fishing pole (pretzel log) and fish (goldfish).
At the art center, the children colored a magnetic fish and a picture from the story of Jesus calling Peter. We got the fuzzy magnetic fish from Oriental Trading.

At the drama center, the children pretended to be fishermen like Peter. The children wanted to keep fishing in the boat!
At the game center, the children answered questions about the story and then tried to throw a ring around the fish. We got this from Oriental Trading, as well. They loved it!!

We have decorated the lobby of the church building with a red carpet made from plastic tablecloths and star squares with Bible names on them. I hope to have pictures of those up tomorrow. I hope you enjoy your look at our VBS through the blog.

Paper Bag Scrapbooks

To begin making a paper bag scrapbook, you will 2 or 3 lunch size paper bags. You will place them in opposite directions (as seen in the picture) and place them on top of each other.
When you have placed the bags on top of each other, fold the bags in half to form a book (see above picture). Once the bags are folded, you can sew a straight line right up on the side near the fold (see below picture). You can also punch 2-3 holes in the sides and run ribbon through the holes to hold it together.
Once you have the bags put together, you may use scrapbook paper and accessories to decorate the different pages of your book. The only limit is your imagination!!
Some pages will have an opening on the side. From this opening, you can cut a piece of cardstock (the size will depend on the size paper bag, so you will need to measure yours) that is decorated as well. (see above picture) Some bags I have made will have a piece of ribbon or fancy fiber attached to the end to use as a pull.
Though not shown, you can even place pictures and decorations on the back cover if you so desire.

This book shown was made by my good friend, Kim, who happens to be Laura Beth's Kindergarten teacher. She used the books to record different events over the school year. We started making these 3 years ago for our Vacation Bible School Preschool classes. We had drama centers each night where the kids could dress up and act out the part of the story we had heard that night. We took pictures at this center each night and placed the pictures in the paper bag scrapbooks. At the end of the week, the children took them to home and used them to review that week's lessons. We added pictures, die cuts and captions to the books. The parents love them just as much as the children do, so we have begun gathering and assembling them for this year. The great thing about these books are you can do them for any kind of theme. I have made a Mother's Day one for my mom, a baseball one, an FHU one, etc. The possiblities are endless and all you need are 2 paper bags.

Gran and the Scientist of the Day

Today Laura Beth was the Scientist of the Day in her Kindergarten class. Being the mother who waited until her junior and senior year to take any sciences in college, I asked Gran if she would like to do this with Laura Beth. Of course, Gran (being the biology college teacher) jumped at that chance!!! The experiment they chose to do was "Dancing Raisins." How to do it you might ask? Well, here you go . . . .
Mix 1/3 c. water and 1 t. baking soda together for solution A.
Pour this into a clear plastic cup.
Add 1/8 c. of vinegar (Solution B) to solution A.
Immediately place 3-4 raisins (small ones work the best) into the solution.
After a few minutes you will see the raisins begin to dance around the solution.

The kids loved being scientists and using their sense of sight to see what would happen. Laura Beth and Gran demonstrated the experiment and then each table got to do their own. Thanks, Gran, for sharing your love of science!!

I have also seen this used in Bible class while teaching about the resurrection of Jesus - "We serve a 'raisin' Savior!"