Church Based After School: An Equipping Tool For Volunteers

Volunteers come to your ministry from many different places, stages of life and life experiences. This gives each one a different perspective on what can cause irritations amongst your team. Following is a tool that makes everyone aware of this challenge.

PERSPECTIVES

SUBJECTIVE:     To allow participants to experience how we view
things differently because of where God has placed
us in life, who He has created us to be.

OBJECTIVE:  To have the participants gain an ah-ha moment of how our view of a situation depends on where we are in life.     

Directions:

• Prior to the start of the exercise, pick a person from the staff team who will stand in the middle of a circle.
• Don’t have him/her go into the circle until all of the participants are arranged evenly around the circle.
• Have the circle be as large as possible to accommodate the class standing at various degrees of the circle.
• Begin the exercise by telling the participants that they cannot talk to each other.
• Tell them that you are going to ask each one of them a question and that they must wait their turn.
• After everyone is in the circle and evenly spaced around the circle, have them close their eyes.
• Place a pre-made sign, page 8, on the front of the staff member who is going to stand in the center.
• The sign must not be seen by anyone.
• The sign reads: “If the group finishes in 7 minutes, I will give you $10.00.  If not, I will spray you with this can of whipped cream.”
• Have the staff member enter the circle and stand in the middle, standing stationary and frozen.
• Have the group open their eyes.
• Begin by asking the person directly behind the staff in the center of the circle to describe what s/he sees.
• After s/he describes the person, ask him/her if there is anything else s/he needs to tell the group about this person.
  

◘    Work around the circle from the back.  Begin with the person facing the staff member’s back.
◘    Then have the person to the right of the first describer take a turn.

◘    Then the person to the left of the first describer.
◘    Go around the circle back and forth.

• As you approach the sides the description will begin to change the more you get to the front.  The people in the front (who see the sign and what it says) should be going nuts as time is running out knowing what the other people can’t figure out the problem.  Notice how some of them will begin to band together, even though they are not supposed to talk.
• After a front person announces that the staff in the center of the circle has a sign on him/her that says they are about to be sprayed with whipped cream, watch the reaction of the other people in the group.

DEBRIEF

1. What were the instructions?
a. This should receive agreement from all the participants.
2. What did you see?
a. Go around to each person.
3. Was anyone mistaken in what they saw?
4. Did what the people in the back see have any value to the people in the front?
5. What did you want to do but felt unable to do?
6. Did you understand what other people said they saw?
7. Was anyone confused regarding someone else’s reaction?
a. Did their behavior seem strange?
8. Did anyone grow impatient?
9. What did you do about your impatience?
10. Would you react similarly in a real emergency situation?
11. What did we learn from such an exercise that can be applied as we work together as team?

Church Based After School: Build a United Team

As you begin this new year be sure your team is united.

I will never forget taking one team through training – the poor director was blown away to discover he was continually inflicting emotional pain on his staff. This ah-ha came through a time when the staff was given tools that enabled them to sit down 0ne-on-one and share honestly in a non-threatening way.

How can you minister to the kids if your team isn’t united?

Here is ONE of the tools I used with this team before their time of one-on-one.

1. Have them read Romans 12:1-21 silently.  Suggest they make a list of action steps the passage gives us for relating to one another. Find an  example and give before they read
2. Have them listen as you read (without comment) A Call To Unity See Below
3. Have participants turn to James 5:13-18.  Ask one participant to read the passage out loud.
4. Encourage the participants to use A Call to Unity in the Body as they examine their own lives.  Encourage them to pray through areas of personal need.
5. Pray in short, simple sentences, such as, “Jesus, make me willing to know myself as you know me” or “Jesus, give me an appreciation for each person in this room.”  Model this. 

A CALL TO UNITY IN THE BODY

Romans 12:1-21 (Paraphrased)

1.         Present ourselves as living sacrifices to God – dying to self.  vs.1

2.         Keep our thoughts on the things of God and not on the things of the world.  Prestige, power, and knowledge can be traps in ministry.  vs.2

3.         We must be sure we know ourselves.  Do I know what my real gifts and talents are?  Am I willing to submit to others who have different gifts and talents, or have a greater portion or measure of the same gift?  When I have a false perception of who I am, I can cause harm to others and myself.  Teenagers are known to be afflicted with this malaise, but sadly, many adults too believe they have more wisdom and/or knowledge than they really have.  Just as a teenager refuses to listen to the wisdom of Mom and Dad, adults will often refuse to listen to the wisdom of one whom God may have sent to direct them.  vs. 3 & 16

4.         Remember, there is a variety of giftedness.  vs. 6-8

5.         Be careful not to be hypocritical.  According to Webster, this is: “someone who pretends to be something he’s not.”  At times, we are hypocritical because we have fooled ourselves into believing we are someone we are not.  vs. 9

6.         Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  vs. 9

7.         Have a genuine love for one another.  Encourage one another, putting others first.  vs. 10

8.         Work hard; be persistent; know that all you do is for the Lord.  vs. 11

9.         Be aware of the hope we have in Christ.

10.       Be prepared for trying times with others in the body of Christ; be willing to work through them.  Don’t run from pain; walk into it.  Deal with it.  vs. 12 & 14

11.       Be devoted to prayer.  Spend quality time, every day, in prayer.

12.       Care for one another’s basic needs – health, food, clothing, housing, and emotional needs.  Know each other!  Build into each other’s lives.  vs. 13 & 15

13.       When difficulties arise, do not strike out at the other person – bless them.    vs. 14 & 17

KidTrek Training provides further tools to Build Your Team

Church Based After School: Walking Through Life With Kids

In 2012 how will you walk through life with the kids God has placed in your ministry?

Take some time to write out a plan for each kid for whom you are responsible. It is important that you minister to the whole child – address each area below for each kid.

SPIRITUAL

 MENTAL

EMOTIONAL

 PHYSICAL

 SOCIAL

I would love to hear how you do. If you need some help with brainstorming write me at wanda@kidtrek.org

Church Based After School Programs: SERVING TRAUMATIZED CHILDREN

The young couple came into the home excited to share their gifts with the boys. The foster parents called the boys into the living room to meet Dawn and Greg; one look at this young couple and the boys went wild running out of the room.

I immediately had a thought and leaned over to Ellen, the foster mom, and asked, “How did you first meet the boys? Was it just like this in the last foster home?” The light went on in Ellen’s eyes and she made the suggestion to her husband.

Antone, the foster dad, called the boys back and sat them on his lap, “These are our friends who wanted to meet you. I work with Dawn. You are not going anywhere; you are staying here with us.”

You could see the silent sigh as the boys relaxed.

As we serve traumatized kids, and if you are serving in an after school program you more than likely have a few who are, we must be continually aware of things we consider “normal” that may bring fear rushing into their little beings.

After an amazing Christmas Eve celebration at church, dinner with family and the opening of gifts it was time for bed. The boys didn’t want to go to bed, “Our gifts will leave.” They are still learning that they can trust in this home.

As you serve remember that even though a child may be 10 or 11 he still may be stuck emotionally in his first year of life where he never learned to trust. Kids who haven’t learned to trust need adults who are willing to walk through “hell” with them to bring them to a place of trust.

It is as though the child has built a brick wall of protection around himself. When you begin to get close, when the child thinks he just might be able to trust you, fear drives him to do something to make you angry, to get you to react.  You see, you are getting close to taking out a brick, or maybe you have removed several bricks and the wall is getting wobbly.

The child’s protection is that wall — he has to act out so the wall will stay standing. In his subconscious, he is now back in control, he is the one who made you angry — on purpose. If you reject him it won’t hurt as much because, in his faulty reasoning, he is the one who made you reject him.

This is why it is so important that those who serve traumatized children don’t ever give up. You must be willing to go through the same acting out over and over and over again until the child has proven to himself that it is safe to allow ALL the bricks to fall down.

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY —  for wisdom and strength to follow through on the wisdom the child’s Creator gives you.

Christian After School Programs: Amazing Love

I’m about ready to head out of town to be with my son and family for a time of celebrating God’s Amazing love for us.

Each day I grow more amazed at God’s love for me and what He did for me.

May the Lord give each of us the ability to share with the kids we serve the truth of who He is and what He did in such a way they will internalize it and make it their own.

May you have a blessed Christmas.

After School Programs: The Challenge of the Pedestal

We who serve those in need are continually faced with the challenge of the pedestal.

We live in the warmth of others lifting us up, telling us we are doing things they could never do. IT FEELS SO GOOD.

Sitting on the top of the pedestal puts us in a dangerous place. We become so afraid of falling off that we have difficulty recognizing when we have failed.

If we do recognize our failure it is even more difficult to admit.

In a period of a couple of months I had three ministries approach me and ask if I could help them. Each one told me that they had been working with at-risk kids for 30 years but they had little or no results to show for it.

I gave them suggestions of what they could do to begin seeing results.

The cost was too high! None of them was willing to pay the price.

I came across this video this past week — it is a must see for anyone working in a non-profit organization.

International aid groups make the same mistakes over and over again. At TEDxYYC David Damberger uses his own engineering failure in India to call for the development sector to publicly admit, analyze, and learn from their missteps.

One day we will stand before Jesus and give an account

Church Based After School Program: A Letter From Dad

It had been a busy, exciting day, but now all was quiet in the center. Malia, the Center Director, read through the wish lists the kids had left. They were the typical things that kids everywhere have on their lists, until she picked up Tiffany’s list – immediately noticing there was only one request.

“I want my daddy to write me a letter telling me he loves me.
Can you find him for me?”

Think through all the kids you serve – what are their real needs this Christmas season?

Since so many kids don’t have dads actively involved in their lives how about getting a PRAYER CAMPAIGN going for more men to commit to walk through life with the kids in your center?

We serve the God of the impossible – this seems impossible.

Why not try it?

Church Based After School: Christmas Recreation Games

Rudolph Dash

Materials:  Circles cut from red construction paper, Vaseline

Rec Prep

Cut circles from red construction paper
Bowl of Vaseline for each mentoring group

The Activity

• Have each Trek Team stand in a relay line
• Each kid puts Vaseline on his/her nose and attaches a red circle to his/her nose
• When the adult yells “Go” the first player from each line runs to the opposite end, touches the mentor and returns to his/her team
• Then the second player goes
• If a red circle falls off, the kid returns to his/her line and gets more Vaseline, and goes out again

Christmas Stocking Relay

Materials:   Christmas stocking for each team, spoon for each team, bowl for     each team, wrapped candy

• Divide into your teams
• Kids line up at one end of room
• At opposite end, hang a Christmas stocking for each team
• Place a bowl of candy and a spoon in front of each team
• Each kid takes a turn taking a candy from the bowl with the spoon
• S/he then carries the candy on the spoon to the stocking and drops the candy in the stocking
• Race back to the next kid in line, give him/her the spoon
• First team to fill their stocking wins

Debriefing

1. Were today’s games, games of celebration?  How?
2. The items involved in today’s games – did they have anything to do with the Bible story
   No, they didn’t
3. How might they remind us of what Jesus did for us?
   In the story of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer he was different from the other reindeer, he was made fun of.  But it was his difference that Santa was able to use.  We need to celebrate how we are different.  The Christmas stocking is part of the celebration of giving as God has given to us
4. Did Jesus coming to earth have anything to do with His plan for you?
   The most important part of God’s plan for each of us is that we would give control of our lives to Him.  We give control of our lives to God by recognizing who Jesus is and what He came to earth to do for us.  Remind the kids that if they want to know more about this they can come and talk to you later.  The God and You booklet pages are at the back of this curriculum.

 Snowball Flood

Materials:   Newspapers

Designate an area of play

Rec Prep

• In the center of the play area make a line with chairs
• Gather a lot of newspapers

The Activity

• Play this in the two large teams
• Give each team a huge stack of newspapers
• The kids take the newspaper and wad it up into “snowballs”
• When the adult says, “Go” the kids begin to throw the “snowballs” over the chairs into their opponent’s court
• The winning team is the team with the least amount of “snowballs” in their court when the adult yells, “Stop”
• Play the game three times, the winner being the team that wins two of three

Debriefing

1. Do you feel like celebrating after playing this game?  Why or why not?
2. Can we celebrate even after losing a game?
   Yes, because our celebration should be due to the fun we have had – most important is not who won or lost, but the fun of participating.
3. God has a plan for each of our lives, do you make plans when you are playing a game?  How did your team plan during the playing of this game?

 Christmas Walk

Materials:   Lots of little wrapped gifts, suggestions: pencils, erasers, school      paper, school folders, Pictures of: manger, Christmas tree, a present, a wreath, a star, wrapping paper, Christmas music on tape

Rec Prep

• This is like a cake walk
• Lay the pictures out in a circle
• Have a different picture for every square
• You can have blank squares too (use blank pieces
  of paper
• Paper bag with the name of each square written on a
  piece of paper

The Activity

• Have each kid stand on a square
• When the music begins they begin to walk around the circle
• When the music stops they stop
• The adult pulls from paper bag the name of one of the squares – the kid standing on that square gets to draw one of the wrapped gifts
• Play until all the gifts are gone

Debriefing

1. What did the different squares have to do with the celebration of Jesus birthday?
2. Was this a game of celebration?  Why or why not?
3. How do you feel if you didn’t win a gift? 
4. Is there reason to celebrate even when life doesn’t seem fair?
   Yes, we do know that Jesus loves us and has our best in mind – even when it doesn’t feel like it,  we can’t compare ourselves with others, we don’t know what their pains are
5. How does knowing God has a plan for our life help us to deal with a difficult world?
   Knowing that God has a purpose and a plan for our lives keeps us looking forward even in the midst of difficulties, Jeremiah 29:11
   

Church Based After School Programs: Decorating for Christmas

Have the kids decorate your center for Christmas.

MATERIALS: Popcorn Garland: popcorn, needles, thread/dental floss; Window Paint: powdered paint, dish soap, bowls, brushes; Christmas Ornaments: flour, water, salt, holiday themed cookie cutters, wax paper, pencils, brushes, tempera paint;Christmas Chain: red and green construction paper, scissors, glue; Christmas Snowflakes: white paper, scissors; Crèche: three recipes of art dough, yellow paper, butter or cream cheese box, two cereal boxes, stones/dirt, brown construction paper, crayolas, sheet of cardboard, glue, tooth picks, scissors,

(The directions below were taken from the Kidtrek Life Skills Curriculum)

 Prep

• Plan to continue this activity in your craft time – there are no other craft suggestions this week
• Split your Life Skills/Craft time to have one day be the making (crafts) of the decorations and one day be the decorating of the KidTrek Center(Life Skills)
• This week you will have the kids decorate your center
• A survey was once taken of elementary kids.  The question was, “What do you most like about Christmas?”  The overwhelming response was, “Decorating the house.”  Decorating the house was overwhelmingly more popular than opening gifts
• Today you may want to spend the majority of your time planning
• This is a great activity to do as a KidTrek Center family – thus there are no directions for teens.  Have everyone participate together if possible
• If your teens meet at a different time than the younger kids, have all the ornaments made one day, then during a Family Time that week have a celebration decorating the center
• Be flexible with your scheduling this month – it is a month of celebration
• Decide which decorations will be made
•   As a group decide how you will work the day
• It will run most smoothly if an adult is responsible to oversee the making of each decoration
• The greatest Life Skills lesson the kids will learn may be how the Secondary Nurturers deal with the need to be flexible; how do the Secondary Nurturers deal with organized chaos?

 Popcorn Garland

• Have a volunteer pop popcorn – make enough to eat too
• Thread needles with thread or dental floss
• Make a sample  (Directions on page 23  )

Window Paint

• Gather needed materials  (Recipe in PDF below )

Christmas Ornaments

•  Have a volunteer make the dough and samples (Recipe in PDF below  )

Christmas Chain

• Make a sample  (Directions below  )

Christmas Snowflakes

• Have a volunteer make circle patterns
• Make a sample (Directions in PDF below  )

Crèche

•   Have a volunteer make a sample
• Gather all the materials  (Directions in PDF below  )

Guided Conversation

1. What is Christmas?
   It is the celebrations of Christ – the celebration of Jesus the Messiah coming to pay the price for our sins
2. In everything we do at Christmas it is important for us to remember why we are celebrating.  Our decorations can be a message to others of what Jesus means to us.  As we plan our decoration today lets remember we want to bring honor and glory to Jesus.

The Activity

• Listed below are several different types of decorations that the kids can make and then put up in the center
• Before you begin show the kids the possible decorations they can make
• Give time for each Trek Team to come up with three suggestions of
  how the KidTrek Center should be decorated
• They are also to tell how this will bring honor and glory to Jesus
• Each Trek Team appoints a spokesperson to share their three
  suggestions to the group
• Have butcher paper/black board or white board on which you can write the suggestions and how the suggestion will bring glory to Jesus
• When you have put down all the suggestions discuss which ones are possible
• Remind the kids that after Christmas they will also have to take the decorations down and clean up everything
• If you are able, and the kids want to, let them make extra decorations that they can take home and decorate their own homes

Popcorn Garlands

• This may be an activity only for the older kids
• Show them how to use the needle and thread to string the popcorn together
• You can also alternate different colored jelly beans, jujubes, or cranberries to add color to your garland
• Let the kids decide where they want to drape their garlands

Christmas Windows

• Mix together the paint powder and dishwashing soap
• Experiment with amounts to get the consistency you desire
• Discuss with the kids what kinds of painting they would like to do on the windows
• How might the pictures share Christ with people who drive or walk past?
• After Christmas the pictures will wipe off easily with a wet rag

Dough Christmas Ornaments

• Show the kids the various cookie cutters from which they can
  choose
• Show the kids how to cut out designs using the cookie cutters
• Use a pencil to poke holes in the top of each ornament
• Paint the ornaments as desired
• Tie a colored ribbon through the hole in the ornament and hang
  on the Christmas tree
• The kids can also make free form decorations
• The Art Dough will dry over night

Christmas Chain

• Cut strips (across the width of paper, 1 inch thick) of red and green
  construction paper
• Take one end and glue to opposite end
• The second strip loop through the first – and so forth
• Have the kids connect their chains
• Let the kids decide where they want their chains to be hung

Christmas Snowflakes

• Cut out a circle of white paper
• You can have cardboard shapes for them to trace
• OR let them cut the circles free hand (it will make them even more creative
• Fold in half, then in half again and for a third time in half
• Cut triangles, squares, etc. out of each side, being careful not to cut completely across
• Each one will open to being a unique snowflake

Crèche
(There is a second Creche in the PDF below)

• The crèche can be as large or as small as you desire
• CHARACTERS: Using Art Dough make images of Mary,
  Joseph, Jesus as a baby (make sure the kids understand
  Jesus is no longer a baby), shepherds, three wise men, camels,
  donkeys, cows, lambs,
• STRAW: Cut thin strips of yellow paper for the straw
• CRADLE: use a butter box or cream cheese box, cut off the top; glue toothpicks on the box; let dry then paint brown; add “straw” to the “cradle”
• BARN: two identical cereal boxes, put stones or dirt in boxes so they will stand, cover boxes with brown construction paper – color paper to look like wood; stand boxes apart from each other distance will depend on size of art dough characters;  large sheet of cardboard folded to make shape of roof, cover with
  ”straw”; place straw on floor of manger
• Put baby Jesus in cradle and place in barn, place all the other art
  dough characters in the manger

Recipes, Directions and a second Creche PDF

Church Based After School Ministry: How Do I Gain Control?

Do you sometimes feel as though you are at a complete loss of how to gain control? Katie Weatherbee offers an awesome tool.

Teaching Tips: How can a teacher get a group of kids to settle down?

Posted on November 16, 2011

Anyone who has taught kids knows how hard it can be to help them transition to a time of learning. Whether they’re returning from recess or PE, bouncing after a rowdy worship session, or just plain excited because it’s snowing outside, kids sometimes need help settling down!

About 10 years ago, I had a class of ALL boys…the energy level was high almost all of the time, and transitions were particularly difficult. This was a self-contained class for kids with special needs, and at least half of my students struggled with maintaining attention. I often felt that I spent the majority of the day directing them (okay, nagging and pleading…) to settle down so that we could get some work done. I used to periodically tape-record our class so I could listen to my interactions with the kids and analyze my teaching.** When I listened to those tapes, I was appalled at how much “nagging” I was doing. No wonder the boys were tuning me out!

Read Katie’s entire post at DIVING FOR PEARLS - you will be glad you did.