Samarian Sun Chips & Messiah Salsa

Ingredients:
• Bag of Sun Chips
• Can of diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbs. minced onion
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 Tbs. finely chopped Cilantro
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. Lime Juice
This will feed approximately 6 students, so double as necessary

Snack Instructions:
Place Sun chips around on a serving tray. In the center place a dish for the Messiah Salsa.
Messiah Salsa is actually a recipe for “homemade kid salsa,” mild, without the jalapeño peppers! If you are pressed for time, you can buy fresh salsa in most supermarket’s fresh vegetable section.
Empty the tomatoes into the dish. Stir in garlic well. Stir in minced onion, salt and lime juice until all is even. Add cilantro last and save a few sprigs to sprinkle on the top for a fresh look. Add to dish.

Service:
Serving platter for chips
Dish for salsa
Bigger dish for stirring in ingredients
Knife for chopping
Plates for serving

When Jesus met the Samarian woman, (hold up on chip) she was surprised that Jesus would even speak to her. He told her that he would give her rivers of living water, (hold up bowl of salsa) implying it was perfectly all right for Jews and Samarians to mix up together. (Dip the chip in the salsa). Let’s pretend that Jesus is the Salsa, and we are the chips, so we can mix our lives together with His!

What do you think of using this snack to teach your lesson? Like it? Love it? Would never try it in a million years? Give me some feedback and let me know by leaving a comment in the box below!

We are providing links below to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.  These charities have been sponsored by the International Association of Philanthropy (AIP), or the Better Business Bureau. All charities listed have met the standards of at least one of these groups.

St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital
B+ Rating, Charity Watch Dog, AIP

http://www.stjude.org/volunteers

St. Jude’s is probably the most well-known hospital in America for treating children with catastrophic diseases. As no child is turned away for inability to pay, they rely heavily on donations, and they’re successful in getting them. While it isn’t the easiest page to find, the link above takes you to a database of ideas for fundraisers that span the imagination.

The instructions are fairly in depth, and one unique feature is charity events that can include children as young as three years old, such as its “Trike-a-thon.” St. Jude’s B+ rating (as opposed to A- or A) may have to do with the cost of hospital personnel and expenses, which makes
their operational costs astronomical.

 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
A-rating, Charity Watch Dog, AIP

http://www2.jdrf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=walk_homepage

In every community in America we’ll find kids living with Type 1 diabetes. One of the unique features of the JDRF website is the celebrity pull that might interest students. At the “donate now” link, you’ll find Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers narrating a video. Instruction is provided on several fundraisers including “Tools for Schools,” which could be easily translatable for Sunday School classes and Youth Ministries. You can also support a local child.

That’s how gossip works. Someone says something to someone else until the words get repeated and twisted into something completely different than the original statement.

Let’s say our friend tells another child about how much they liked a third child’s outfit the other day. The second child then goes to tell a fourth child, who tells a fifth child, and by the time it gets several more people, the first person’s nice compliment has turned into something completely opposite and maybe even a little mean.

Gossip Down the Lane Game
Learning how to ignore gossip.
Materials Needed: None
Object: Students will try to successfully pass on a message in a circle.

Instructions: Have the students sit in a circle and pick one child to start the game. Whisper a saying in the child’s ear or have the child make up their own.

Examples:
“I really liked Christina’s dress because it has stripes and plaids. However, I’m heavier than she is so I don’t think it would look good on me.”
“If I had a dog I would want it to look like Jasmine’s because he has perky ears and when he wags his tail, he knocks stuff off the coffee table. I think it’s hilarious.”

Instruct that child to whisper his/her saying into the child’s ear to the left of him/ her. Have the second child whisper the saying to the child next to them and so forth. Keep repeating this pattern until the saying gets to the last child. Instruct that child to say what he/she heard out loud. The saying will almost always be different than what was originally said.

Closing:
At times gossip can be hard to resist, but if we just remember how easy it is for words to be misunderstood or changed. If we could learn to listen better and repeat exactly what we hear—and only nice things!—the world would be a better place.

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Fishers-of-Men Banana Boats
Ingredients:
• Bananas (one for each child)
• Large Marshmallows (four for each child)
• Small chocolate chips
• Chocolate syrup

Snack Instructions:
Cut the knotty end of the banana peel off, then slit the peel on the inside of the curve. Loosen the peel but leave it on.
Between the peel and the banana, spoon in some chocolate chips.
Spear three marshmallows with three toothpicks, then attach them to the banana at the slit by spearing the banana. Lie the “boat with three men” on its side on a serving tray and repeat with each banana.

Serve onto plates. Add a bit of chocolate syrup to each plate for dipping.

Service:
Knife or scissors for cutting off knotty tail of banana peel
Toothpicks (buy kind with one blunt end)
Paper plates for serving

Children’s Community Service Project:  Alex’s Lemonade Stand
4-star rating, Charity Navigator

https://www.alexslemonade.org/ways-to-fundraise

This charity, started by 8-year-old Alexandra Scott, understands how greatly children can impact giving. With the use of lemonade stands and related products,   Alex’s Lemonade stand has raised over $40 million for children’s cancer research.

The site is very kid friendly, and the web page listed above offers charity fundraising tips and ideas for every age group. If a child in your class has cancer or knows of someone who does, this might be appealing. This charity seems especially sensitive to the fact that clubs may want to adopt them, and things are laid out very simply.

This contribution empowers your students and encourages them to help others.

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This means that if someone says something mean to you–how should you answer?  With something kind. This is very hard to do. It takes practice.

Turn the Other Cheek Game
Warning: Messy game! Children should be dressed appropriately, and this is great for outside on a warm day!
Materials needed: A dozen raw eggs (or more, depending on the number of children you have), masking tape, soap and water to clean up afterward, containers for raw eggs
Preparation: Create a start line using the masking tape. Put eggs in containers for yourself and the assistant.

Object: To get to the finish line having broken the least amount of eggs

The comments friends make to each other are sort of like this egg.

Hold up an egg.

If we don’t think about what we’re doing and saying, we can say something that could cause relationships to get messy. We want to treat our friendships with care, so that even if fights “break out” we can turn the other cheek and still be friends.

It’s sort of like this game.

Instructions:

• Divide students up in pairs so that partners are closest in height.
• Have them line up at the start line.
• Give each team an egg.
• The partners must hold it between their cheeks without breaking it.
• Say, “Go!”. Teams must move to the far wall, touch it, turn, and return to the start
• line with the egg between their cheeks.
• If the egg breaks, the teammates should shout, “Turn the other cheek!”
• When you or the assistant hear it, one of you should run to them and replace the
• egg quickly.
• The teammates must stand still until they are given a new egg. They should then use their other cheeks and continue on their journey.
• As many times as teams break their egg, they should shout “Turn the other cheek!” and get a replacement egg.

When all teams return to the start, the pair that broke the least number of eggs wins.

Conclusion: In the week to come, let’s think of what the phrase really means and see if we can get a chance to respond nicely to meanness!

What do you think of the game? Like it? Love it? Would never try it in a million years? Give me some feedback and let me know by leaving a comment in the box below!

Promises of Angels Cake
Ingredients:
• Angel food cake
• Strawberry or raspberry jam
• Chocolate sauce

Snack Instructions:
Spread the jam generously on top of the angel food cake, maybe a half-inch thick. Let it sink in for a couple minutes.
Cut the cake into pieces and lay the pieces on their sides without spaces in between when possible. (Use a sharp knife to cut angel food cake, and saw it back and forth without putting pressure on it.)

Just before serving, make squiggly lines across all pieces with the chocolate syrup.

Service:
Serving platter for cake pieces
Knife for cutting and spreading jam
Plates and forks for children

It’s just soft and fluffy like angels are! Enjoy!

Service to Large Charities in America
Lately charitable giving is down, and it isn’t just tough economic times. We’ve all developed an awareness of stories in media about charities misappropriating funds or behaving in manners that compromise trust.

We are providing links to some of the biggest, most well-known and most trustworthy according to Forbes Top 200 Charities, Charity Navigation, Charity Watchdog, sponsored by the International Association of Philanthropy (AIP), or the Better Business Bureau.

We have searched the many pages of the sites ourselves to see that childfriendliness to the projects was present or that the charity provided clear ways to raise the funds.

Here are two of the top organizations we have found.

1. Make a Wish Foundation
4-Star Rating, Charity Navigator

http://www.wish.org/help/fundraising/kids_for_wish_kids

Gives chronically ill children a wish, often including traveling to a fun place or meeting an important person. If a child in your class has a chronically ill friend or sibling, this charity would be appealing. Make-A-Wish has a special section called “Kids for Wish Kids” (the direct link is above), which gives ideas for how children can raise money for a sick child. They help you find a local chapter, which will help you through the process of most any fundraiser. They have many projects listed online.

2. Habitat for Humanity
4-star rating, Charity Navigator

http://www.habitat.org/youthprograms/

A Christian ministry, Habitat for Humanity states its goal as seeking “to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action”. Most people know them as the homebuilders for those who could not afford a home. Habitat actually has web pages designated to support programs based on the ages of the children wanting to be involved, broken down as follows:

• Children 5-8
• Children 9-13
• People ages 14-25
• Teachers, Parents and Youth Leaders
A versatile list of programs ought to serve different capabilities and levels of involvement as well.

Do you think this type of service project would work in your church? Why or why not? I’m interested in hearing some feedback. Let me know by leaving a comment in the box below!

The Peace of God Treasure Hunt
Materials needed:
Pictures cut from magazines with peaceful settings such as sunsets, sunrises, lakes and peaceful waters of all kinds, a night sky with a full moon, a contented kitten, a sleeping baby etc. Also use pictures that are anything but peaceful, such as battle scenes, auto crashes, lightning and thunder storms, and any sort of violence. A timer, stop watch, or second hand on a clock.

Preparation:  Hide all the pictures around the room.

Object:  To collect all the pictures during the treasure hunt.

Instructions:
Explain to children that there are pictures of peace and pictures of storms hidden all over the room. They should see how many they can find.

Conclusion:
Do you feel like you have peace after looking at all the peaceful settings God has created? Everyone, pick a few and post them in your bedrooms. They will be treasures to you when you’re trying to get peaceful enough to go to sleep!

Did you enjoy that activity? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

Wheel of Time Chocolate Pie
Ingredients:
• Graham Cracker Pie Crust
• Instant Chocolate Pudding
• Cool Whip
• Chocolate Chips
• Rainbow Sprinkles

Snack Instructions:
Note: If you would rather, you can buy a chocolate pie in the supermarket and simply add chocolate chips and sprinkles to it.

Whip up instant chocolate pudding mix and chill until it no longer moves in the dish.
Spread evenly over the graham cracker pie crust. Top with cool whip.
Create a “wheel” of chocolate chips by sprinkling them along the circumference of the pie.

Create an “inner wheel” with the sprinkles, an inch or two in from the outer wheel.

If you have more than 8 students, repeat to feed all. Chill until ready.

Service:
Bowl for making pudding
Spoon for stirring and spreading
Knife or pie cutter
Plates for serving

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