December 07, 2008
December 7, 2008
Issue #11
Christmas is upon us, and hopefully you have some fun things planned to celebrate Jesus' birthday in children's church!
I hope that you received and read our last newsletter ~ Top Ten Gift Ideas for Sunday School Students. If not, you can read the archived version here.
Did you know that we have a page of great Christmas party ideas on our website? I almost forgot about it myself, but I was able to dig it up and get great new inspiration for this year's "Birthday Party for Jesus." Here is our Christmas page!
Excerpt from Christmas Page
Games to Play at Your Children's Church Christmas Party:- Christmas Tree Rip -- Have players attempt to rip a piece of green construction paper into the shape of a Christmas tree... behind their backs! Players are not allowed to look at their creations until they are finished. Give prizes for the best-looking trees.
- Box Game -- Wrap up a small gift (CD, cassette, or candy). Then wrap this box in a succession of larger boxes. Use DUCT tape for the wrapping. Don't tell anyone about the layers of boxes. Get a pair of dice and a 9" x 13" baking pan to roll them in. We actually have some huge foam dice that I ordered from Oriental Trading. Get a coat, a pair of oven mitts, a scarf and a hat. Get everyone in a circle and put the box in the middle. Choose a number to roll for a person to get a chance at opening the box -- it is best to start with a rare number (like four) and move to a common number (like seven). Begin rolling the dice. Each person gets one roll then passes the dice. When someone rolls the number of choice, they have to put on all the clothes (coat, hat, scarf, mitts) and try to open the box. They only get to try until a new person rolls the same number; then they stop and pass the snow clothes to the next player, and the dice continues on around the circle.
- Christmas Card Toss -- Get about five Christmas cards of various sizes. Place a laundry basket about six feet away from the participants. Have each participant stand at a specific place and throw the cards at the basket. The person who gets the most cards in the basket wins the game. Trust me, this is extremely difficult to do! The cards seem to have a will of their own! Use ten cards for a longer version.
- Draw on Your Head Game -- Players place a book on their heads with pieces of blank paper on top. They each have a pen. Give a series of instructions. The players are to draw onto their page according to your instructions.Here are the instructions:
1. Draw a line for a floor. 2. Draw a Christmas tree. 3. Draw a star on top of your tree. 4. Draw a fireplace with a mantel next to the tree. 5. Draw a stocking hanging from the mantel of your fireplace. 6. Draw a present below the tree.
Have players remove their pictures from their heads. It can be pretty funny to see the drawings! Now offer points for random hits:
1. Two points if the tree touches the floor. 2. Two points if your stocking is touching your mantel. 3. One point if your star touches your tree. 4. One point if your star is above your tree 5. One point for every Christmas ornament ball that is ON your tree. 6. One point if your fireplace doesn't touch the tree (it's a fire hazard!) 7. One point if you actually drew something decorative on your stocking. 8. Two points if your present is under your tree.
The winner is then the person with the most points.
- Christmas Name a Song -- Choose any word from a Christmas carol; the other players have to think of a carol that has that word in it. Whoever gets it first takes a turn to choose a word. It's not as easy as you think...your mind actually goes blank. Now if the group never heard the song before, they can say, "I challenge you," and that person has to sing a piece of the carol.
- Christmas Tree Wrap -- Group players into teams of four. Each team selects someone to be the tree. Give each team green bulletin board paper, ornaments, tape, scissors, and construction paper. Send a judge out of the room. Each team gets five minutes to decorate their human tree. Then the judge returns and decides who wins.
Be sure to check out our other Christmas Party ideas!
I hope you gleaned some good ideas from this publication! You can find more helpful FREE info at www.childrens-church-ministry.com , as well as photographs and summaries of the weekly and quarterly activities in our personal ministry. I have been doing a lot of work on the site recently; so if you haven't visited in a while, I encourage you to come and check it out!
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