The Evidence Lab

Because the "Art & Snack" portion of GIFT is self-directed, some kids finish their projects quickly and have extra time on their hands.  So to keep them busy, I have a table in the back with an assortment of optional activities to choose from.  In keeping with our Faith Detectives theme this year, that table is called the "Evidence Lab."  The Lab always contains books related to that month's topic, a simple craft item for kids who like to make stuff, activity sheets such as word finds or mazes, and some special activities.  Here are photos of some of the activities from the Lab:

The photos on the sign are actually from our Sanctuary

Kids are invited to add prayer requests to the box.  

We do not open it or read them out loud, we just pray over the box.

The papers are printed on one side with teeny-tiny Bible verses that kids use the magnifying glass to read.  The other side has discussion questions for the kids & parents to talk about the verse.

These cross-shaped puzzles from OTC will premier in the Lab in January

November GIFT: Incarnation & Paschal Mystery

Yes, these are big topics for first-through-fourth graders; they are even big topics for the parents!  But a game and a (somewhat time-consuming) art project helped make these mysteries more accessible.

The Game: Incarnation Clue Hunt
     I posted "clues" on different colors of paper around the room.  The were just printed on a 1/4 sheet of paper and folded over, so kids could lift the flap to read them.  Staying with their parents, they needed to find 10 different colors of paper around the room (I had 2 of each color hanging to avoid traffic jams) and read the clues.  Each student had a tally sheet with 2 columns: God & Human.  For each clue, they marked a tally for whether it was evidence that Jesus was human or evidence that Jesus is God.  The clues were:
1. We pray to Jesus
2. Jesus died
3. Jesus felt pain
4. Jesus rose from the dead
5. Jesus walked on water
6. Jesus healed the blind, sick, & lame
7. Jesus turned water into wine
8. Jesus was born on Earth
9. Jesus got hungry and thirsty
10. Jesus had parents that he lived with while growing up
     Most of the kids decided that 5 of those were "human" clues, and 5 of them were "God" clues.  This was the introduction to our first Mystery: the Incarnation.  We talked about Mysteries as things in our faith that we believe but can't fully explain, and we read a simple definition of the Incarnation as Jesus becoming human but still being God.  Not half and half, but fully both.  We remembered that last month when we talked about Creation, we read that God said, "Let us create people in our image."  So Jesus as God has always existed and never stopped existing, but at the Incarnation Jesus also became human.  But why?  Well, for a clue to that answer, we went to the "end" of the story (or the new beginning, as it were): we talked about the Paschal Mystery of Jesus suffering, dying, rising, and ascending to bring us forgiveness & eternal life with God.
     OK, this part gets a little tough to explain, as Mysteries tend to do.  So I used this analogy with the kids (realizing it is imperfect): Have you ever been using a set of paints, and you try to use the white paint, but your brush isn't 100% clean, and you get a murky, icky color instead?  Well, God is like the white paint; God is perfect and without sin.  People are not perfect; we all make poor choices and do things we know are wrong - even the Pope sins!  Our imperfection can not live with God's perfection, or it wouldn't be perfection anymore - we would be like the dirty brush messing up the white paint.  When Jesus died but then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, he gave us a path to God that forgives all of our sin and "cleans our brushes."  Because of Jesus, we can live with our perfect God!
 
The Project: Life of Jesus Symbol Book
     For our art this month, we made a book that gives the "highlights" of the story of Jesus, emphasizing the Incarnation and Paschal Mystery.  To fit with our overall Faith Detectives theme of the year, I gave the cover the look of a mystery novel:

As I mentioned, the book was a pretty involved project.  It is 2 sheets of construction paper folded in the middle, making 6 interior pages.  For each page, the kids had text to cut out & paste in, as well as 2 symbols per page to make & mount on paperclips.  The tops of the text boxes were left unglued, so the symbols could be clipped on like this:

On the last page, they glue an envelope to hold all of the symbols:

To make this project, you need to download the instructions page, which also contains the cover, the text page, and the symbols for kids to color.  You also need 2 sheets of construction paper, sticky foam or felt harts (2 per child), sandpaper, and red and orange or yellow tissue squares.  We used both double-stick tape and glue sticks for adhesives (see instructions).  The instructions can be printed on regular weight paper, but the other 2 pages should be on card stock weight.

Finally, we ended with a prayer reflecting on some of Jesus' "I am" statements from the Gospel of John.  Click here to get the pdf of the prayer.

GIFT 2014/15: Family Faith Detectives!

October Lesson: Mystery of Creation
This month, we kicked off a brand new theme for GIFT: Family Faith Detectives.  I have lots of fun spy-themed projects and activities for the families to do this year, and to start us out, every child got a "decoder ring."  I found some foam decoders at Oriental Trading Company, which as of the date of this post are still available.  But it would be quite easy to make your own!  You just need a symbol for each letter of the alphabet.  (With the OTC version, I pre-assembled just the ring part, saving the clip & magnet for some future project and discarding the pre-printed clue.)  Here's the photo and link from their website:


http://www.orientaltrading.com/agents-of-truth-clip-magnet-vbs-craft-kit-a2-13647851.fltr?Ntt=agent

I also made "Detective's Guide" booklets for each grade, which they received with their textbooks.  In the Guides are there homework schedules, the clue page for each month (to go with the decoder ring), and an extra activity page in case they need more to do while waiting for the program to begin.  For October, we learned about Creation, so the clue spelled out: "All Life Comes From God."  After letting one of the children share the answer, we talked about the 2 Creation stories in the Bible, and then I showed a fossil sample and talked about what science has told us about how the Earth was formed.  So here was our first mystery for the year: Which of these 3 stories is true?  The answer - they all are!  The Biblical creation stories are myths that teach us some very important Truths about God, Life, and humankind's place in the world and in relation to our God.  We talked about how being made in God's image means we can all "show" God to others through our actions, and we can look for signs of God in the people around us.  We started doing just that in our own little GIFT community, playing the game "Getting to Know You BINGO"

Click here to download a pdf of Getting to Know You BINGO



Security Badges with a Secret Message

As everyone arrived, they made Security Badges for each family member at GIFT.  These are basically just clip-on name tags that they wear each month, so I can call on people by name.  But I like to make them fit the theme, so this year they are Security Badges.  After playing the BINGO game, I asked the kids to take a closer look and find the "secret message" hidden on their badges!

Click here to download a pdf of the Security Badges



Progressive Craft
A progressive craft is one that we begin at our first session, and then we add to it each month.  By the end of the year, the project is complete.  This year, we are making Braided Bookmarks.  We made the braid and added the first charm - the globe - this month.  We will add the other charms as the year goes on, for a total of 6 charms.

Hands of God/ Fruit of the Spirit

For our April GIFT Session, the last of this school year, we wrapped up our "Family Faith Under Construction" theme with the verse: "You are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus..."  We talked about how everyone is created by God's hands, and then we learned about the "Fruit of the Spirit" (from Galatians 5).  Families played a board game that I found at this link:
http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Pages/FileFolderGames/FruitoftheSpirit.html

In the game, kids get to practice sharing the Fruit of the Spirit by answering "What would you do" morality questions suitable for children.  We had 2-5 kids per game board, with parents helping, and they used wrapped LifeSavers candy as game pieces.

For art, kids made a "paintbrush person" as a reminder of the message that each of us is uniquely created by God to love and serve through the Holy Spirit.  I found inexpensive brushes in 15-packs at Home Depot, and we used eye stickers, paint pens, and foam shapes to decorate.  Here's a picture of one that my son made:

We also used finger-paints to create a mural of how kids share the Fruit of the Spirit in their homes, schools, and community.

Lastly, for prayer, I asked kids to examine and think about their hands, and to compare them to their parents' hands.  We noted that although all hands are different, they have 2 things in common: they were given to us by God, and we can use them to share God's love with others.  We ended the session by handing out clappers - on one side, they say "Made by God's hands..."  On the other side: "...to be God's hands!"

Last Supper Wheel

This is a project I used for children preparing for First Eucharist.  It goes together very quickly with just a little cutting and a brad.  I pre-punched the holes in each piece with a Crop-A-Dile tool before giving them to the kids.  They also had the option of coloring the top piece.

The top piece is supposed to look a little like a plate.  As you turn the wheel, information about different elements of the Last Supper show in the cut-out space.  The 4 sections of the bottom piece are: Eucharist, Passover, Upper Room, and "Only Human" (about Judas betraying Jesus, and Peter denying Him 3 times.)



Here are the links to the pattern pages:

Top Page

Bottom Page w/ Instructions

Family Creed Tiles

At our February GIFT Session, we learned about the Apostle's Creed.  We played a ball-toss game in which each group of 6-9 people attempted to toss multiple balls across a circle to each other.  Done randomly, this was quite a challenge.  But when we set some guidelines for everyone to follow - establish a pattern of who throws to whom, and say the person's name and make eye contact before tossing - the groups were able to get up to 3 balls sailing fairly smoothly through the air.  Then, we talked about how helpful it is for a group of people trying to accomplish a task together to have a strong foundation, or to all be on the same page about things.  In the case of the Church, we are trying to accomplish the mission of spreading the Gospel.  One of our shared foundations is the Creed, our statement of basic beliefs for everyone in the Church.

After taking a closer look at the text of the Creed, I shared with families a wall-hanging I had noticed at a friend's house that said, "In This House..." and went on to list things like "We do I'm sorry," "We do grace," and "We do loud really well."  The list reminded me of a creed.  So I asked our families to think about: What does your family believe in?  What's important to you?  How do you choose to live?  They took these ideas and made "Family Creed Tiles," using basic white 6x6-inch tiles and acrylic paint pens.  This was a very popular project, so I wanted to share it here.  Here are some samples I made for the class:

GIFT Families: If you missed this session and would like to pick up a tile and some paint pens, please contact Dez