First night of regular kids’ church tonight! We have an English/Spanish Bible study and music session every Wednesday, and we’ve been madly moving furniture about in order to create a dedicated kids space. A room on the bottom floor is being set up for the process. We’ll set a TV/PS2/GameCube in the closet. We’re talking about table options – possibly a low table arrangement so that the kids can sit on the floor while we have lessons, crafts, and movie times.
Starting in January, we will be using the Wise Guys program. It invites kids to learn principles and verses and apply them in their daily lives each week. Different activities let them earn Wise Guys currency with which they can purchase items from the Wise Guys store. Handy!
For now, though, I’m working with basic crafts, games, movies (Veggie Tales!), and memorization activities. That’ll get us through the holiday season while we translate Wise Guys into Spanish. Wednesday is mostly in English, because our crowd is a mixture of gringos and Spanish-speakers who want to learn/practice/improve their English. Still, I’m not about to bring a bunch of children in a room and jabber at them in an unknown language! By incorporating English elements we can supplement the English they learn in their schools and help them with their early language acquisition.
Tonight was a success; the kids had fun and the grownups liked seeing the kids have a good time.