Outreach and Get-Together Ideas

Is your Sunday school experiencing the summer slump?  Summer is a great time for activities, outreach, fellowship, and bringing in new prospects. Getting parents and children together for special events is a great way to get people excited about Sunday school and church.  Below are some fellowship ideas.  If you have any ideas or have recently had a get together we would love to hear from you.

Bean Bag Bash!

Games and activities:

1. Bean bag relays -  Use bean bags for all kinds of relays.  Players can hold bean bags between their knees or on their heads and race.
2. Bean bag toss games -  Bean bags can be tossed into or onto just about anything.
3. Bean bag juggling contest - See who can juggle the longest or best.
4. Guessing game -  Guess how many beans are in a bean bag.
5. Guessing game -  Collect a bunch of different kinds of beans who can guess the most.
6. Taste all different kinds of bean sprouts.
7. Bean bag throwing contest - See who can throw the bean bag the farthest.

Crafts:

1. Make bean bags - Go to the materials page to get directions and a pattern
2. Make a collage using all different kinds of beans.
3. Make a sprouting jar for sprouting beans.

Food:

1. Have everyone bring in food made with beans.

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Decorations and Prizes

Oriental Trading Company has balloons, plates and cups, banners, and lots of prizes with Christian sayings on them.

The Seven Days of Creation - Outreach Activities

 These ideas comes from Cheri off of our bulletin board

Set up 6 stations (one for each day of creation) and have the kids rotate between them. Each station should have a sign stating which day it is and what was created.

Day #1: Light and Darkness

1. Make sun prints - Use blueprint paper from the educational supply store, the type of paper that exposes in light. Sent in by Cheri

2. Play a memory game - Make cards out of black construction paper. On one side write different word "Night" or
"Day" with a white crayon making equal number of "day" and "night" cards. I told the kids God Created night and day and so they had to match one "night" and one "day" card for fun. This was on a card table so they could all gather around it. Sent in by Diana Romberg

Day #2: Sky and Water. 

1. Play a water game - Have the children run a relay race with a water-balloon balanced on a large plastic glass. If the balloon falls, the child is allowed to pick it up, but if it brakes, the child has to go back for another balloon. Sent in by Cheri

2. Relay race - We filled a bowl outside and had the kids fill up their spoons and run it to the other end of the yard trying to fill up their respective teams cups. Sent in by Diana Romberg

Day #3: Dry land and plants.

1. Make tissue paper flowers - Layer 4 sheets of tissue, folding like fan, tying in the middle, and shaping. Sent in by Cheri

2. Play "Pin the Fruit on the Tree" - For this game I made a tree out of poster board and had the kids "Pin the Fruit on the Tree" like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", but with double sticky tape on the fruit. (There is removable double sticky tape now, so if you want to recycle the game for later use, you can use that without ruining the tree. Sent in by Diana Romberg

Day #4: Sun and Moon.

1. Face painting - Paint suns and moons on the children’s faces. Sent in by Cheri

2. Toss game - I took a sun and moon that I made out of construction paper and glued them to a box lid. I had the kids toss those glow in the dark plastic stars, to see if they could get their stars closer to the moon. (Much like the game boule: which
you try and get your ball as near to the jack (the small red one) as you can.) The lip of the box lid kept the stars from flying all over the place. Sent in by Diana Romberg

Day #5: Animals. 

1. Create animals from balloons - Get a book on how to make balloon animals. Or you can use pink balloons and use a permanent marker to make pigs. They're easy to create. They have pointy ears (two sides of a triangle), two dots for eyes, a circle with two dots for a snout, and a curly tail. Sent in by Cheri

2.Flip game - we played game I found at the dollar store where you flip a lever and get these plastic fish into a preformed net. I included a picture because I couldn't describe it any better. Sent in by Diana Romberg

Day #6: Man.

1. Human obstacle course - The race course can consist of jumping over legs, running around a human pole, playing leap frog, etc. Sent in by Cheri

Day #7: Rest.

1. Snack time - Get back together and pass out snacks and lemonade. Sent in by Cheri

Bible Story Themes - Harvest Festival Activities

David and Goliath Ball Toss Game - Paint a large Goliath on a piece of masonite or smooth board.  Have the children throw sponge balls at him.  The object of the game is to hit him in the head like David did.

David and Goliath Sling shot booth - sling shot booth aiming at a giant. Use bean bags for the stones. Decorate a sheet of paper to look like a giant or use a punching bag. I've seen them in dollars stores. Jamie Morrel

Decorations and Prizes

Oriental Trading Company has balloons, plates and cups, banners, and lots of prizes with Christian sayings on them.

Noah's Ark

Toss Game - This game was designed for our annual Harvest Festival thathad a Bible Story Theme. Make an ark out of cardboard boxes and wood (I used a lot of craft sticks)  or draw an ark on a large piece of wood and cut holes in it for the door and windows.  The object of the games is to get a beanie baby animal into the ark by throwing the animal through the hole.

Toss Game - I used large sheets of cardboard and traced the designs using an overhead and then painted them using a very simple coloring book. Cut out holes in the faces and use as a toss game.  The prize for participating?  Animal crackers, of course!! Carol Weddle

Balloon Game - Divide the children into two teams.  Blow up balloons and put into piles.  Give the first child in line a balloon and a broom.  Each child must "herd" their balloon onto the ark (a cardboard box or a clothes basket).  Great time to talk about how difficult it is for us to follow God leading our lives when we want to go another way.

Toss Game - Float a boat in a tub and from a distance, kids try to throw a ping-pong ball into the boat. Jamie Morrel

Daniel and the Lions Den

Throw bean bags at stand up lions. Decorate 2 liter bottles with fun foam to make them look like lions. Jamie Morrel

I found a piece of clip art of a lion with it's mouth wide open.  I purchased a rubber steak dog toy and they were able to feed the lion.  It ended up they wanted to hide behind it and stick their heads out.  A great opportunity to share about Daniel. Carol Weddle

Peter Walking on Water - place a ping-pong ball in a tub of water. Two kids, one on each side, armed with squirt guns try to squirt Peter (the ball) until he gets to the other side. Jamie Morrel

Water Into Wine - refreshment booth where kids get to pour some Kool-Aid mix into a cup of water to see it "change" and then they have a drink to enjoy. Jamie Morrel

Tower of Babel - Play Jenga, the stacking block game where kids keep removing a block and adding it to the top until it finally crashes down on someone. Jamie Morrel

David and Jonathan - a bow and arrow target booth (toy bow and arrow). Jamie Morrel

Jesus and the Five Loaves and Three Fishes - put out baskets and make "loaves and fishes" (bean bags) that the kids try to toss into one of the 12 left over baskets from a distance that will make it challenging. Jamie Morrel

Zacchaeus - an "I WILL GUESS YOUR HEIGHT" booth. A leader tries to guess kids heights, if right within two inches, the leader wins, if not, the kid gets a prize.Jamie Morrel


Door Prize - Have each kid fill out a registration card (name, address, phone, and age) to win door prizes. The cards will then be used as a follow up outreach for Sunday School and church prospects.Jamie Morrel

Carve Pumpkins using The Pumpkin Prayer -

Dear God,
As I carve my pumpkin, help me say this prayer:
Open my mind so I can learn about You; (Cut the top of the pumpkin)
Take away all my sin and forgive me for the wrong things I do; (Clean out the inside)
Open my eyes so Your Love I will see; (Cut eyes shaped like hearts)
I'm sorry for turning up my nose to all You've given me; (Cut a nose in the shape of the cross)
Open my ears so Your Word I will hear; (Cut ears shaped like the Bible)
Open my mouth so I can tell others You're near; (Cut mouth in the shape of a fish)
Let Your Light shine in all I say and do! Amen. (Place a candle and light it)
Sent in by Nance from Reno

Our church recently held a Fire Fest in our city with Teen Challenge. We had a booth set up advertising our KIDS Club. We had several games there for children in the neighborhood to win prizes. We had a boat set up with a blue tarp underneath representing water. We cut out different sizes and shapes of fish (Catch at Caperneum) On each fish we had a Bible scripture verse written and a hole punched in it with a paper clip through it. The kids used a fishing pole with a magnet on the line to catch the fish.

It was a very fun day for all and the fishing game was the hit of the day. We also made a Giant (David and Goliath) for the kids to throw bean bags through a hole in his head. Bev

Fruit of the Spirit Mini-golf Game

We did a Hallelujah party on Halloween. One of the most succesful games we had was a 'fruit of the spirit' mini-golf game. I cut out fruit shapes from plywood, then an artistic friend painted them to match. We then painted the different 'fruit's' on each one. We cut a small hole on the bottom, for the golf ball to go through. We then built simple triangle support & attached them to the back; these served double duty, as they caught the ball too. The kids had a lot of fun with this, plus the older ones learned the fruits of the spirit! The 9 fruits were all cut out of one sheet of 3/4 inch plywood. Total cost was about $45, this includes the acrylic paint we used. I even had enough plywood left to cut out Noah's ark, for a Noah's ark beanie baby toss. (see picture above) This project took a little time, but we will be able to use them for years to come.
Natalie from Julesburg Christian Church, Julesburg, Co

Pickle Night

We used this as an outreach from the church and got the biggest crowd ever.  They came just to see what in the world we were doing with pickles!!   Kathy

Decorations:

1. Decorate with green balloons and green crepe paper.

Entertainment:

1.Use the movie  “Dave & the Giant Pickle.” It is about 30 minutes.

Games

1.  Pickle Person Contest - Give each child a giant dill on a paper plate with pins, yarn, beads, etc. (Seat the children according to age groups – have plenty of helpers for small children!)  Be sure to provide pencils so they can write their names on the paper plates. Try to keep these “Pickle People” grouped together by age group and move them to a different table where they will be judged.  There should be a winner for each age group. Special note: Instead of using straight pins to decorate the Pickle People, let your pickles sit out for a period of time and dry out.  You can then use Tacky glue to attach the decorations.

2. Pickle Spitting Contest - Have a long roll of butcher paper rolled and taped to the floor for each age group. Line the children up according to ages and give each child one slice of dill.  On their turn they spit their pickle as far down the white paper as possible.  Have helpers ready  with a pencil ready to mark each child’s “hit” and their name.   Have a winner in each age group.

3. Pickle Eating Contest - Each child should have a paper with sliced pickles on it.  Have a race to see who can eat all their pickles first and then whistle.  (younger kids can raise their hand if they can’t whistle or you could provide toy whistles.  Ages 2 yrs. – K:   6 slices , Ages 1^st gr – 5^th gr.:  10 slices

4.  Pickle Relay -  Have 2 teams: boys on one side, girls on other.   Give each child a toothpick. Each team is given a small sweet pickle and they must pass the pickle down the line using only their toothpick.  No hands!

5. Drawing - Have drawings from your registration cards for any left over jars of pickles,  a Veggie Video, Larry or Larry Boy (Veggie Tales) puppets or games.

6. Play Hot Potato with a "Hot Cucumber".

7. Pickle Plunge - Kids had to take off shoes and socks and dig pickles out of
a tub of ice with their toes.

8. Pickle drop - kids get partners and one lays on floor and the other stands above them and tries to drop dill pickles in their mouth

Extra Tips:

1. Take lots of pictures, these will turn out great! 
2. Have game/teacher/helper assignments done ahead of time, giving each their jobs and a schedule for each one.   You have to keep everything moving!
3. You might want to crown a Pickle King & Queen!
4. Use your registration forms for follow up contacts.
5. Hand out salvation packets and green balloons to the kids as they leave. (with parents permission) Our salvation packets included:  A brightly colored bag with a computer generated quarter – fold card.  The first page said : Now that you have asked Jesus in your heart: (picture of heart)  you need to go to church, (had a picture of a church)  Page 2: Talk to God, (picture of person praying)  Page 3:  Read God’s Word  (picture of a Bible)   Page 4 : And be baptized  (picture of person baptized)     We then had something in the bag to reinforce each thing: (bought at bookstore) a Bible pencil sharpener, ribbon with the Lord’s Prayer or New Testament or inexpensive Bible praying hands eraser, certificate saying they asked Jesus into their life.  
6. We also had a devotion and talked about people in the Bible who found themselves in a "Pickle". Shared scriptures about God being with us always. Even when we are going through times of trouble.

This past weekend we hosted an outreach for our community.  We sent out flyers to a local school and hosted a parent shopping day for Christmas.  I used your  pickle night idea.  I just wanted to thank you for all of the great ideas.  The  kids had a great time as well as all of the adult and youth helpers I had.  I attached a few pictures also.  Thank you again and my God richly bless your ministry. Sent in by Marchie Nehr

We had a pickle nite for our TEAMKids on Wed. night. The kids had a great time! We added an idea. We printed off "medals" for the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners for each activity. The "medals" were made of card stock picture of a jar of pickles with the name of the activity and which place. Hole punch the top and and use yard for the necklace. The relay race with boys vs. girls provided an opportunity for every participant to be awarded a "medal". Thank you for the great ideas. The kids had a GREAT time. Deanna

WE HAD A PICKLE NIIGHT A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO. IT WAS REAL CUTE AND FUN. WE USED THE IDEA OF A BIBLE CHARACTER WHO FIND THEMSELF IN A PICKLE. WE PLAYED SEVERAL OF THE GAMES THAT WERE SUGGESTED ON YOUR WEBSITE AND IT WENT WELL. NANCY WATERS

We have been having “Pickle Night” for 4 years now and the Kids love it.  The highlight of the evening is always pickle ball which is base ball using a tennis racket and a pickle as the ball.  To tag anyone out the team must collect all the pieces of pickle. (Helps with the cleanup) We also have a person dressed up as dill pickle and another as professor gherkin. (orange coverall instead of green).  The professor always saves dill pickle from a bad ending or something like that and they both give thanks to God.  ~Cindy M

Decorations and Prizes

Oriental Trading Company has balloons, plates and cups, banners, and lots of prizes with Christian sayings on them.

Winter Party Ideas

Games 

1. Play “Pin the Hat on the Snowman” - Print out the Snowman patterns, pattern 1 and pattern 2, and tape them together, color them and glue the snowman to a foam core board.  Print out the hat patterns, one for each child plus one to glue onto the snowman.  Cut out the snowman hats, color one and glue it to the snowman.  Have each child color a hat and then play like “Pin the tail on the donkey”. The child that gets the hat closest to the hat that is on the snowman wins. 

2. Have Snowman making contest - Divide the kids into teams of three or four and give them materials to make a  garbage bag snowman.  See which team can make the best snowman in a certain amount of time.  The children can make the snowmen anyway they want.  Have the children fill white garbage bags up with wrinkled up newspaper.  Place them on  top of each other to make a huge snowman.  Use construction paper, crayons, markers, ribbon, glue, tape, etc. to decorate the snowman.

3. Have a snowball fight -   Divide the kids up into two teams and divide the playing area in half.  Give each team a certain amount of snowballs (White socks rolled up into a ball)  On the word go the teams throw the snowballs  across to the other teams side.  After about one minute stop the play and see which team has the least amount of snowballs on their side of  the room.  That team is the winner.

4. Have a sled race.  Use large cardboard boxes.  Divide the children up into teams and have a relay race.  Each team member takes a turn in  the sled "box or piece of cardboard”.  The other team members have to push or  pull the person in the sled to a line marked across the room and back to the  start.  Another team member gets into the sled and they do the same thing.  Keep playing until one team has pushed all their team mates across the room and back to the start line.

5. If you have a big enough room or if you can play outside in  the snow, you could play "Cut the Pie".  You need a huge circle cut into pie  pieces.  One child is "it".  The other children stand around the outside of the circle.  On the word "go" the child that is "it" tries to tag one of the other children.  The children can only run on the circle line and the lines that go through the circle.  They can't  go around someone.  When a child is tagged he becomes "it" and tries to tag someone else.

6. Play “Winter Bingo” Buy stickers with winter themes, snowmen, snowflakes, etc. Make up Bingo cards with 3 rows down and 4 across. Place stickers on the cards to fill up the squares.  Make sure no two cards are exactly alike.  You can use some of the same stickers on each card but put them in different places.  You can also use clipart if you don’t want to buy stickers.  Write on separate pieces of paper the name of each kind of sticker or picture. Fold up the papers, mix them up, and put them in a bowl or bag.  The bingo caller mixes up the papers and reaches in the bag and calls out the picture.  The first child to get 4 pictures in a row wins.

7. Ice Skate with waxed paper.

8. Make snowflakes by putting paint in the children's palms. Show them how to make a snowflake by placing their hand prints on a piece of paper overlapping them slightly.

9. Make snowflakes using fancy craft sticks.

10. Make "Snowcream" in a Ziplock Bag. Place 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 cup milk in a small Ziplock bag. Place 6 tablespoons of rock salt and some ice in a gallon-size Ziplock bag. Seal the small bag and place it in the gallon-size bag with the ice and salt. Rock the bags back and forth for about five minutes to make the "snowcream".

For more winter party ideas go to Group Publishing's web site.

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