Sunday 27 April 2008

???????????

You probably aren't supposed to ask questions on a blog, but I thought this would be the best place to ask.
I am putting together kids classes and need some ideas. It is difficult for me to come up with things that are fun, for children other then age four. I tend to think of things that would be fun for Benjamin to do but not fun for a 12 year old. I have two classes, from ages 8-10 and 11-12. I am teaching on the creation and Adam and Eve's sin and on Cain and Able and probably on down through Noah maybe even to Joseph. If anyone has ANY ideas please share them. They don't even necessarily have to correspond with the themes. I have a few ideas nothing relating to the lesson, I am just looking for something. I have tried to look for curriculum for these age groups, but it always seems like curriculum written for the age group, is written in language that is too difficult.
Games or crafts are both welcome.
I also wanted to ask anybody out there, mothers of these ages or teachers, if making figures from clay and painting them would be boring, or beads or making things with magnets. Boys and girls are different too. I can't really see 12 year old boys interested in making necklaces and bracelets with beads. Then again I could be wrong.
Thankyou

3 comments:

Paul Barber said...

I will try to come up with some ideas for you - that is the age I teach at church. Making bracelets and necklaces is not bad for boys -as long as you have boy colors and shapes. I know Josh would think it was cool. Maybe some baseball stuff - a ball etc. Or whatever is popular for boys there. Relay type games are popular for them too.

Emily said...

I read your post a while ago....and here I am.....trying to think of some "brilliant" ideas! ha ha
I teach younger (5-12) and have yet to figure out what is really good teaching. Here are some ideas though:
Hands on learning....for creation, have a shoebox etc with objects inside. Have them stick their hand in without looking, and guess.
Go on a nature hike...have them draw a picture or write a story about what they see that God has made.
Have them do pantomimes.
Bible jeapordy (questions about your story with treats for winning questions - more jelly beans = harder question)
Bible baseball
Make sand vases
Fruit Basket upset using Bible names
Write a Psalm....read Psalms from the Message Bible
Make friendship bracelets
Do treasure hunts/scavenger hunts (can do inside classroom)
Have them read in class
Measure how tall Goliath was
Make sling shots
Build....have them create their own versions of Noah's Ark, Jericho, etc
Puppets
Oragami Frogs (races)
Have visual Aids: maps, charts, flannelgraph
Plant some seeds
Tug of War (battles between Israelites and others)

Abbi said...

I think the crafts you mentioned would definetely be enjoyed by the girls and I don't really know on the boys. (My Jonathan would enjoy it but he is only 6).
Games do seem to be enjoyed be that age group. A lot of times I have found you can somehow (with some good imagination) make a normal game (such as hide and seek, tag, red rover or charades) go along with the topic to reinforce the lesson.
Origami could be fun with that age group and would be very easy to tie in with creation as there are lots of plants and animals. If you google origami you will find lots of patterns.
For the actual story for that age group over here it often works to read straight from the Bible and then just discuss it, over there if the kids haven't heard the stories before you might want to simplify it.
I don't know if any of that will help but I do hope your lessons go well!