Party in a Box

Prepare for this party several weeks in advance by collecting boxes of all sizes. Look over the game rules to get an idea of the kind of boxes you'll need. Save them as you empty them, ask the children's parents to save them, and ask store managers to save them for you. Prepare six bean bags (six socks full of dried beans or corn kernels or pebbles). Ask church members to donate shoe boxes and small toys and toiletries to fill the boxes. Choose an organization where you will donate the boxes when they are assembled. Decorate your room with wrapped boxes and ribbon streamers. Visit eChurchDepot.com for additional decoration ideas.

Up And Over

Divide into two teams. Place bean bags in two shoe boxes and put lids on the boxes. The members of each team stand in a line facing the front of your play area. The leader gives the first person on each team a shoe box with a bean bag inside. At the starting signal, the first player on each team person passes the box back over his head. The second person passes it back through his legs. Continue to pass the box back in this fashion (over head, through legs, over head, etc.) to the end of the line. When the box gets to the last player in line, he runs to the front of the line and starts the passing process over again, passing it over his head. If anyone in line drops the bean bag or box, he must pick it up and give it to the first person in line again. If anyone in line passes over his head when he should have passed through his legs, etc., the box goes back to the first person in line. The winning team is the first team to have all their players back in their starting positions. Sing OH, HOW I LOVE JESUS.

Bag In The Box

Place an open box about ten feet from the first person on each team. Have the children each toss three bean bags into the box. After the bean bags are tossed, retrieve them and give them to the next person in line. A leader keeps score for each team. See which team can toss the most bags into the box. Sing I AM A “C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.”

Refreshments

Prepare boxes of refreshments for the children. Each box will hold a cookie, a napkin, and a juice box. Have volunteers say a prayer of thanks before the snacks are served. Recycle the snack boxes to use for the next activity.

Pack The Box

Fill the empty shoe boxes you've collected with a number of small gift items, school supplies, and toiletries to be donated to a local mission or to an organization such as Samaritan’s Purse (samaritanspurse.org). Set up an assembly line so each child picks up a box and then fills it with assorted items (one item from each section of the table).

Devotion

Before the party, fill one box with trash. Fill the other with enough candy for each child to have one. Wrap both packages. Show the children two wrapped boxes. Talk about boxes being used to wrap packages. Ask the children if they can always tell what is in the wrapped presents. Read I Samuel 16:7, explaining that God makes it clear that He doesn't look at what people are on the outside, but at what they are on the inside. He sees each child exactly as he or she is. Let the children guess what’s in the wrapped boxes. Then show them the boxes. Let them look inside. Say, “Sometimes we look nice on the outside with the clothes we wear, but what comes out of our mouths can be like this stinky trash.” Challenge the children to be kind and loving to others on the outside so people will be able to tell that they love Jesus. Encourage them to do and say things Jesus would do and say. Explain the purpose of the gift boxes they packed for charity. Let them know that the toys and gifts they provided will help others to have a special Christmas. 


Close in prayer.

Setting Up Your Preschool Bible Club Room

It is extremely important that your Bible club classroom provides a bright, cheerful, welcoming environment where the children want to stay. Following are some basic guidelines for setting up your preschool room:

Space

Thirty-five square feet is recommended for each child in a preschool class. Toddlers and preschoolers are very active and require plenty of space for active movement. As much as possible, do not use a room that is smaller than 12 x 16 feet for your Honeybees or Cubby Bears classroom. Ideally, for a class of 12 children, you should have a room with a minimum size of 15 x 30 feet or larger. (A rectangular room gives a much more open appearance than does a square room.)

The room should be on the ground floor, if possible, and restrooms should be close by. A Dutch door is useful so the parents do not enter the room when they bring their children to the meeting. Electrical outlets should be above the children’s reach or kept capped with safety covers.

Floor coverings

Floor coverings should allow children to participate freely and sit on the floor. Floors should be spot-resistant and relatively easy to clean so the children can participate in “messy” activities freely. For colder climates, carpet is much warmer and will allow more freedom to use the floor year around. (You may wish to have a non-carpeted area for “messy” activities and snacks.)

No matter what your floor covering is, a large story rug, big enough for all the children and teachers to sit on, is necessary as a “gathering spot” for stories and group activities. A large flower-shaped rug could be created from burlap-backed felt or colorful carpet scraps sewed together.

Ventilation and lighting

There should be plenty of fresh air and light, but windows should open from the top only so little ones cannot accidentally fall out.

Wall coverings

Light colors are airy and restful, while bright colors may over-stimulate the children and cause behavior problems; use bright colors for accents. Choose paint or wallpaper that is non-toxic. Do not use murals as they can be a distraction to toddlers. However, a black-and-white coloring mural can be a fun area for your little ones to scribble color or add stickers. You will need two bulletin boards or other areas where posters, the Honeybees or Cubby Bears Attendance Chart, and other materials may be mounted on the wall.

Room layout

See the illustration in the PDF article below for a suggested room layout suitable for a class of up to 12 children using three learning centers.

Download FREE report

For more information about setting up your preschool Bible Club room, download the FREE PDF "How to Set Up Your Preschool Classrooms."

Bulletin Board Ideas

A simple and attractive way to decorate your Bible club classroom is with bulletin boards. Place the bulletin board(s) near the door so they will catch the children's interest as they enter. The hallway outside your Bible club room is also a great place for bulletin boards and a handy spot to post announcements and upcoming Bible club parties and events. Some simple bulletin board ideas:

• Print the All-Stars for Jesus banner from the Bible Club Director's Manual CD in color or print it onto colored paper in black and white. Place this banner at the top of your bulletin board and over each club room door. You can also cut out the individual banner letters and attach them to the top of the bulletin board in an arch.
• Cover the bulletin board with a large sheet of butcher paper, gift wrap, or cloth for a colorful background. Add a star trim border around the edges of the board.
• Make a colorful border by cutting construction paper strips. You can be as creative as you want by cutting the border strips in fancy or decorative shapes. Add Bible stickers or glue star cutouts around the border to make it pop.
• A three-dimensional effect is attractive to children. Make flowers out of egg carton cups. Put a layer of thick cardboard behind some of your bulletin board figures to make them stand out.
• Attach materials to the bulletin boards using staples, as they are much more difficult for younger children to remove and swallow. Be sure that no loose staples are left on the floor after you've completed the board.
• Make interactive bulletin boards: Mount a mirror on the board, covered with a piece of cloth. Place a picture of Jesus beside the mirror. Guide the children to the board. Ask, Who is important to Jesus? Look and see.
• When new children join All-Stars for Jesus, make a bulletin board titled, “We are special to Jesus.” Mount a picture of Jesus and a picture of each child along with the child’s name. (Take instant photos or photograph the class and print out the photos) During class or learning center time, guide the children to the board and help them identify their classmates by name. (Get permission from parents or caregivers before posting pictures of your students.)

• Make this special Happy Honeybees bulletin board: Cut out one Happy Honeybee for each child. Label the honeybee with the child's name. Cut flowers and stems from construction paper or craft foam. Title the board, “We are Happy Honeybees.” As new children are enrolled in Honeybees, add more bees to the bulletin board.

Decorating Your Bible Club Room

You'll want a cheerful, well-lighted, well-ventilated room for your Bible Club meetings. The room should be equipped with bulletin boards, a chalkboard or whiteboard, or a screen (or white wall) where you can show computer presentations, tables, and enough chairs for everyone. The elementary department of your Sunday school or kids worship program may have furniture ideal for your needs.

Wherever you do meet, use your imagination to make the room interesting for your students. Use lots of color in wall and bulletin board decorations, and invite the children to help decorate. Your meeting room should say “Welcome! This is a great place to be!”

Does your meeting room have bulletin boards? Are all of them being used? Nothing is quite so depressing as a blank bulletin board, unless it’s one that hasn’t been changed in months. Have you ever visited a church and found outdated notices and posters displayed on the walls for all to see? It seems to say, “Nobody cares.”

Children care, and they appreciate attractive posters and bulletin boards. If you have several boards available for your use, you’re fortunate. If you don’t have a bulletin board you can make one out of fiberboard or cork squares. Edges of fiberboard can be bound with colorful cloth tape or finished off with wood strips. Cork can be purchased in large sheets or small squares and can be painted or left a natural color. Cork squares can be arranged in a variety of patterns or used in blocks to create a large surface.

Plain cork or fiberboard bulletin boards are most attractive when covered with paper or burlap for a colorful background. Borders of paper, yarn, or corrugated edging give a finished look. Backgrounds and borders can be changed for the various seasons and holidays.

Taping colored paper to a large area on a wall can give the look of a bulletin board without the expense. Use heavy tape to hold up your background. Then simply tape your visuals to the background paper. Or tape a border to the wall to form a large rectangular shape, and tape the visuals directly to the empty wall inside the border.

Hang a few All-Stars for Jesus posters in the room and in the hallway to remind the children and visitors of the places and times of your weekly meetings. Take a photo of each child and glue it to his pennant. Hang the pennants around the room and iron the embroidered awards as they are earned.

Eye-catching posters can help publicize upcoming parties and Bible club activities. Give your youngsters the chance to make posters and publicity pieces, too. Neatness and imagination are far more important than artistic abilities, but you may be surprised at the abilities your students will display and develop. Invite high school and college students to help you decorate. Tap into the artistic members of your congregation for creative ideas.

Posters don’t need to be limited to the traditional sheet of poster board. Use unusual geometric shapes, cut-outs of animals or other objects, mobiles, banners, sandwich boards—anything that will catch the eye and attract attention.

You may want to add a few Bible charts, timelines and maps to your meeting rooms for older students. Children will enjoy making charts and posters showing Paul’s journeys, creation, the building of the temple, etc. Create a missionary map for your meeting rooms. Mount a map on fiberboard and place pictures of your church’s missionaries around the border. Run a ribbon from each picture to the country in which that person serves. Be sure to identify each missionary and keep current locations by each picture.

Colorful bulletin board trims, cut-outs, borders, and banners can be ordered from eChurchDepot.com. Check out the 50% off decorations section for some great bargains! Here's a fun set that fits the All-Stars for Jesus theme: All-Star Students Set.