Into the Wilderness

Today was Wilderness Sunday. We celebrated the wonderful wild places God has created, and the critters that inhabit them. We heard the birdsong of a tui, kiwi and ruru (morepork) and tried to guess which bird they were.

Tying in with our environmental theme, we watched a video Izak had made of his school speech he'd written, Plant a Tree, Plant Hope. 

Upstairs, during Awesome Time, we made our own little critter fridge magnets, by recycling old bottle tops. Thanks to everyone who drank loads of milk this week, so they could contribute plastic lids!

A Right Royal Piratical Rumbustification!

This morning we had a Pirates and Princesses Right Royal Piratical Rumbustification! Everyone (grown-ups too!) donned pirate patches, tiaras and wielded a cutlass or fairy wand. 

We sang Little Pirates, Princess Pat & Captain Jack, Row your boat (and had to keep a lookout for Erin with croc!), The Big Ship Sails, Pirates Like Sailing on the Deep Blue Sea. Dominic, Laura and Amelia were very helpful puppeteers as we sang the story/song of Sleeping Beauty, There was a Princess Long Ago.

Check out Pirate Di swabbing the decks afterwards!

Amazing Places

Last Sunday Funday we celebrated 'Land Sunday' and talked about some of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Upstairs our Awesome Kids created beautiful crayon and dye paintings of their own amazing places.

...and this is my picture!

Such concentration from Andrew!

Celebrating Forest Sunday!

7th September was the first Sunday in The Season of Creation Celebration, Forest Sunday.

Here are some of our Awesome Kids making pine cone bird feeders and planting trees (looking after the wonderful forests and wildlife God has given us)!

They even made 'grizzly bear' cupcakes and 'pine tree' cookies to feed our own 'wildlife' and there were enough to share with the men in the congregation (since it was Fathers' Day!)

Get out yer pirate gear me hearties!

This morning at Musikool Kids some of our favourite songs were 'The Big Ship Sails' with the parachute, 'Galoop went the Little Green Frog', 'Takahia means Stamp' and 'The Bean Bag Bop'.

It's hard to believe there are only two more Fridays left in the term. This coming Friday 19 September, we will have a Pirates and Princesses Day. So, yo ho ho! Slap on a pirate hat and eye patch, or a princess dress and tiara and join us for a fun filled royal piratical rumbustification!

Friday 26 September will be the last session of the term. Unfortunately, Merilyn, Bob and myself won't be there as we'll be watching my daughter run in the primary schools cross country champs. We'll leave you in the very capable hands of Amanda and team.

Term 4 starts back on 17 October and ends on 5 December.

Bubble fun at Musikool Kids

Let love shine through you

This morning we talked about what it means to follow Jesus, and the things we can do to show God's love to other people. 

We heard the story from the bible about Moses and the burning bush... and made some 'burning bush cupcakes' which were delicious!

Each of our Awesome Kids received a special little notebook (hand-made in Nepal).
We wrote notes to remind us of ways we can live in God's love, and let God'

We asked members of the congregation to write messages in our books...
to help remind us how special and loved each one of us is.

 

Funny Little Circus Clowns

This morning at Musikool Kids we sang Julie Wylie's song, Funny Clowns. It was great fun dancing with our partners, wobbling side to side, to and fro and tumbling to the floor! Afterwards, some helpers used mini puppet clowns to help us sing the clown song again. Well done everyone!

"See the funny laughing clowns, see the way they wobble,
side to side and to and fro, over they topple!"

You ROCK!

Sometimes, we feel about as special as an ordinary rock. But God made us this way, and uses very ordinary 'rock-y' people to do God's work in the world. This morning Richard told a story about Peter (his name meant 'rock'). A rock is something strong that can last through any storm... just like God's love. 

When we love others, when we forgive, when we share, we are building our lives on the foundation (rock) of God's love. And that love is everlasting!

To remind us of this, our Awesome Kids made pet rocks. Check out these amazing creations in the photos below!

Music and mischief at Musikool Kids

Storylines Family Day

The annual Storylines Festival Free Family Day is on this Sunday, so if you're looking for something to do after church this week head along to the Upper Riccarton Library.

There is a treasure hunt, face painting, authors reading their stories, artists in action and drama groups performing.

Julie Wylie will be performing musical story sessions at 12.30pm and 2pm.

Click here for more information

Rave reviews for Joseph!

This morning we were treated to a brilliant performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. The star-studded cast's modern interpretation of the age-old story of Joseph and his jealous brothers received rave reviews from the Awesome Kids.

"It was hilarious!"    "It was really good."

"They sounded like they knew the lines off-by-heart."

"Dave's acting skills were superb!"

"Joseph's coat was... um... well... colourful..."

"I think Grandad might have pushed Dave a bit too hard!"

"We wouldn't like to have 11 brothers!"

"It was really cool to see all the men up there!"

"They were awesome!"

In actual fact, these very good-natured gentlemen were pulled up out of the congregation and handed a script only a minute before the show commenced. No warning, no rehearsal, and none of them said 'No!' 

What great sports they all were, huge thanks to all of them for helping our Kids' Ministry this morning.