All posts tagged party

Fall Festival Game Ideas

Flickr by mksfly

I love Pinterest.  Well, I love the idea of Pinterest.  I like bookmarking things and keeping collections of things I love.  I “pin” a lot of things, and then quickly forget about them and never look at my Pin page again (I’m not even sure how to directly access it!).  At any rate, I thought I’d actually use this fabulous site for something useful — finding great games for a Halloween Block Party or some other Fall Festival you’ll be holding at church. Check out the list of games and needed supplies below.

Toddler Skeeball: diaper box, empty yogurt containers, small balls, printer (might want to cover box with butcher paper)

Oscar’s Trash Can Toss: metal bucket, picture of Oscar the grouch, some crumpled paper wads.  Click on the game title and scroll down for a picture.

Super Hero Bean Bag Toss: Tall piece of cardboard, paint, bean bags.  All I could find was a picture, so you’ll have to wing it on this one!

Ball Toss and Quarterback Test: Laundry basket, whiffleballs, football, hoola hoop

Another Bean Bag Toss: Pumpkins: I don’ think this needs explaining.  :)  (Though, full instructions are here)

Star Seeker: Recruit some handy men to build this fun game!

Penny Pitch Game: You’ll need large Sheet of Foam Core or Wood, Paint or Polka Dot Tablecloth/Wrapping Paper, Duct Tape, Buckets, Dustpan and Broom, Pouch, A lot of Pennies

Can Toss: Kids either rack up a certain number of points or aim for a certain can — you decide!  You’ll need some old cans covered with orange construction paper or other fall colors with numbers written on the outside.  Check out the website for a sample picture.

Pass the Pumpkin: You’ll need a pumpkin and a place for kids to sit down.  Have the children sit in a circle. Start music and have them pass a small pumpkin around the circle. When the music stops, the one that is caught with the pumpkin is out. Continue to you have a winner.

Fall Themed Bingo: Make a card similar to this, but no witchy stuff.  Kids seem to love this game! Plus the cards are reusable if you cover them with poker chips or something similar (pennies maybe?).

Pumpkin Paper Plates: Here’s a cute craft made with orange paper plates.  The threading of the yarn would make it a longer project for older kids.  Looks like you also need a hole puncher, some construction paper, and a craft stick.   These can also be constructed as noise makers — check out the full instructions here.

 

A few more I thought of along the way: 

What Is It: Take close up pictures of every day items and then glue them to a poster board.  Try to have kids guess what the objects are.  If they can guess 3 correctly, they get a prize.

Candy Corn Toss: Toss Candy corn into pumpkins or buckets.  Have starting lines marked for different ages and set a goal amount — like 3 successful tosses gets you a piece of candy.  You could also use beads or pennies so people wouldn’t eat all the game pieces!

What about you?

What games have you found to be a real hit at the Fall Fest?

 

 

Princess and Warrior Party {Repost}

Crown, princess, king, queen

In 2009, for our Fall/Halloween party at church, we did a Princess and Warrior theme.  The girls came dressed as princesses, sat at lovely decorated tables and ate princess pink pancakes.  Afterwards, they watched a skit about Queen Esther.  The boys met at a “campsite” in the gym, with the lights dimmed and fake fires blazing.  They munched on hot dogs and then participated in a skit about Gideon.  It was a complete blast!   Check out some of the pictures below.

Princess Table

Warrior Table

Princesses eating pancakes

Warriors in battle

Want more details?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Back to School Bash!

Flickr by  Avolore

It’s that time of year again!  Backpacks are flying off the shelves, carts are being filled with crayons, kids are squeezing in last minute trips to amusement parks and swimming pools.  It’s coming! Back to School!   Of course, any change in the season like this is a great excuse to have a celebration.  (It’s also a great time to stock up on your kidmin supplies.  I recently picked up an off-brand of crayons at Wal-mart for 19 cents for a 24 -pack box, and K-mart has Crayola 24-packs on sale this week for 25 cents!)

So, what do you have planned for your Children’s Ministry Back to School Bash?

Last year, we did a Minute to Win It theme for our party (here’s some more back-to-school party ideas), but sometimes the kids watching the games get restless, so we thought we’d try something new this year.  Check out the schedule below:

Crayon Hide & Seek

Take 5-10 crayons and hide them around a large room or gymnasium.  Let the kids run around, searching for the crayons. Whoever finds the crayon hides it next. Non crayon-hiding-kids stay in a side classroom while crayons are being hidden (again).  Repeat until kids whine that they are bored.  :)

Friend Scavenger Hunt

Using this form, have kids get to know their friends and leaders a bit better.

Tower Builder

Using various school supplies and recycled materials (toilet paper rolls, water bottles, pop cans, etc), have kids work in groups to build a tower.  Appoint three leaders as judges and have them declare a winner in the following categories: height, creativity, and beauty.

Lesson: Armor of God

Are the kids in your ministry ready for the spiritual battle that awaits them in school?  They better suit up properly with the Armor found in Ephesians 6!  Check out the complete lesson here.

Classic Playground Games: Get ready for recess with these fun games!

Extreme Game: Try the Piñaqua: Directions here

 

Purim Celebration Ideas

Crown, princess, king, queen

Recently, we celebrated Purim in our Children’s Church program.  The kids had a blast and listened very attentively to the story of Esther and her nerve-wracking journey to save her people.  Here’s what our schedule looked like:

  • Making cookies: 10 minutes (Hamantashen are traditional, but we made Sugar and Oatmeal out of those bagged mixes)
  • Story of Esther: 10-15 minutes (make sure to hand out noise makers for the kids to shake when you say Haman!)
  • Making Crowns: 10 minutes (get a bunch of great crown templates here)

You could also play some games like “Pin the Crown on the Queen” or “The King Says” (instead of Simon Says).    There are few websites with coloring and activity pages (and review questions) geared specifically towards the Esther Story. Here’s a few of the best I’ve found:

Don’t forget to encourage the kids to dress up as royalty.  We had a few girls wear some elaborate costumes.  I called them up the front and introduced them to the rest of the crowd as “Madeline, the Egyptian Queen” or “Sydney the Pakistan Princess”.  They loved that!

What are some of your Purim ideas?

Party Pictures

Here are some pictures from our recent “Birthday Party for Jesus”.

Kids helped read the Bible Story

Decorating Cupcakes

Playing some Party Games

What kinds of things did your church do to bring this holiday home for the kids?

Birthday Party for Jesus!

We just finished up our kids Christmas Play and are not starting our new curriculum till the New Year.  We don’t have services the 22nd or 29th because of the holidays, so we’ve got one lonely Wednesday to fill with fun.  What better activity than a party?  And what better party, than a party for Jesus!

The Plan

Fill the gym with some balloons, play some party games, and have the kids frost cupcakes and decorate them.  We’ll read the Christmas story out of Read and Share Bible and then perhaps have the kids give “gifts” to Christ. These can be a talent, a song, a Bible verse, a joke, a prayer, or something along those lines.

The Games

Minute to Win it Games are always a hit.  Check out the Back to School Bash post for a list of games or click through the other Minute to Win it posts for ideas.

We might also try a few of these classic games: Limbo, Musical Chairs, Hot Potato (or hot Christmas ornament).

Also, the kids love this crazy “find the straw” game, so we might play that with some candy canes.

Other Posts You May Like:

Instant Christmas Pageant Review

Pumpkin and Pajama Party

Pictures from the Party!