16 children, aged 8-11
What we did:
1. Game - What's In It?
We had 9 pre-wrapped objects available for display on the table.
The kids have to guess what is in each wrapped present. No touching! Their answers are written on paper, we then go thru each one, seeing what people have & seeing who is right.
Kids loved this game, it had a Christmas feel!
Point of this was to introduce the idea of Christmas and waiting for it & waiting for good things
Items used included: Stapler, pen, computer mouse, DVD case, keys, skittle, Christmas tree (a small one, not a 6 foot one!)
2. Discussion - Who Does What at Advent?
We spoke about Advent, and it’s meaning.
Then thought about what we should be doing in the run up to Christmas.
The Children then had 3 post its, coloured Pink, Yellow and Green. On these they wrote down what their Mums/Aunts (pink), Dads/Uncles (green) and themselves (Yellow) would be doing on the run up to Christmas.
We then looked at how many of them are to do with Jesus – and not many of them were. Some examples are below. (Mums get stressed, Dads jump around happy and Children EAT CHOCOLATE)
3. Video - 'The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe' (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Clip played was from approx. 01:14 & showed the kids crossing the frozen lake as it melted.
Before this happened I gave them questions (to focus their attention)
¨ What are the signs of the spring coming?
¨ Why do you think Winter disappears after Aslan comes into Narnia?
¨ How has this affected the people of Narnia?
¨ What does it help them to believe about Aslan?
¨ Do you know how Aslan is like Jesus?
After the clip was shown we discussed the questions. The link between Jesus and light in a dark world was picked up by a couple of kids.
4. Christmas Worship & Calendar drawing
Whilst we played a “Christmas song”, the kids thought about how much God Loves them, not just at Christmas but all year. They drew a picture on some coloured card and stuck on a 2013 calendar on it. They all took this home.
We discussed the meaning of “Emmanuel” (used in this song a lot)
Some photos of the calendars are below.
6. Baby Taboo/Charades
To link back to the “baby” Jesus, we played a fun game of Taboo- where the kids have to describe a word without saying it. Words were baby related = Bib, Cot, High Chair, Nappy, Dummy and others….
7. Bible Story & with Actions
A story based on Luke 1:26-38 and Matthew 1:18-24 was read out. Actions for the words “Baby” “Angel” “Afraid” ”Holy” were made when those words were said. The kids liked that - they seem to love dramatic actions!
8. Final Prayer & finish
Lessons Learnt:
The kids were lively, but controllable. We didn’t get as much done as needed because of the time taken to be quiet.
The initial game took longer than expected, but they liked it.
Some kids clearly saw the link with the film with Jesus being the light.
