KidSpring Blog

Elementary-age kids in ImagiNation, Jump Street and Shockwave learned the meaning of confidence today during the third week of our Dojo series. The dojo is a place for learning, and today students learned that being confident in our own ability is not real confidence--real confidence comes from believing in God and obeying Him.

So here's what we Need to Know this week: "Confidence – When I am obedient to God, I know He willbe with me in whatever I do."

The sensei at the dojo taught us about real confidence through the true story of Gideon in Judges 6 & 7. 

We are starting a new series for our preschoolers in SpringTown and Treehouse called Dojo, Jr. This super fun karate-themed series will get all of our 2 year old - PreK kids in the mood for training! A dojo is a place for training, and over the next eight weeks your preschooler will train and learn the following:

Week 1:  I Will Wait

Week 2:  I Will Take Care of My Body

Week 3:  I Will Help

Week 4:  I Will Use Good Words

Week 5:  I Will Obey

Week 6:  I Will Learn

Week 7:  I Will Pray

Week 8  God Has Big Plans For Me

We've begun a new series called Dojo for K-5th graders in ImagiNation, Jump Street and Shockwave!  We learned that a dojo is a place for training.  Over the next eight weeks, we are going to be training to have the following:

Week 1:  Discipline -  I will spend time every day doing the things God wants me to do.

Week 2:  Self-Respect -  I will take care of my body because God gave it to me.

Week 3:  Confidence -  When I am obedient to God, I know He will be with me in whatever I do.

Week 4:  Respect for Others -  I will treat other people the way God wants me to treat them!

Week 5:  Endurance -  I will keep doing what is right no matter what happens.

Week 6:  Integrity -  I will be honest with my words and my actions.

Week 7:  Loyalty -  I will be faithful to the people and things I have made commitments to.

Week 8:  Leadership -  I will use what I have learned to be a good example for others.

This week we ended our Back to School Survival Guide series for K-5th grade kids in ImagiNation, Jump Street and Shockwave. We've learned so many great Bible stories and Survival Tips that we took time to review and celebrate all seven of them!  We had fun playing these games in a "Minute to Win It" style.  We thought you might like to give these a try as a family, too.  You never know what you might learn together!  Here are the games and teaching points we reviewed as we "Celebrated the Small Things" this week...

Survival Tip #1: Make New Friends (starburst candy)

Ask each player in a circle to hold one hand behind their back.  Go around the circle and place one starburst in each person’s hand.  Next, each child must look at their starburst and find a friend who has the same color (or similar color).  Then the pair must lock right arms together and try to unwrap the candy with their left hand.  Make a new friend and complete this task in one minute!

Survival Tip #2: We’re In This Together (spoons, cup, marshmallows)

Give each player in the circle a spoon.  Place one marshmallow on your spoon and pass the marshmallow to the person on your right, spoon to spoon. Continue passing the marshmallow around the circle. The last person will have a cup next to them, and will dump the marshmallow in the cup. Continue passing additional marshmallows, and see how many you can get in the cup in ONE MINUTE! As you play, remember "We're In This Together".

Survival Tip #3: It’s About Who You Know! (3 cups, 1 marshmallow)

Place all three cups upside-down in a line, and put one marshmallow under one of the cups. Have your group turn around or close their eyes. Then move the cups around for several seconds to mix their order.  Then ask the players, "Do you know which cup has the marshmallow in it?"  See how many times they can guess correctly in ONE MINUTE!

Survival Tip #4: You Can’t Stay The Same (legos or other building blocks)

Give about 10 legos (or other building blocks) to each player, and have them place the pile behind their back.  See who can change their pile of blocks into the tallest tower in ONE MINUTE!

Survival Tip #5: Give Your Best, Nothing Less! (Oreo cookies)

Give each player one Oreo cookie.  Who can give their best and be the fastest to lick all the frosting off the cookie in ONE MINUTE?

Survival Tip #6: See A Need, Meet A Need! (straws, cups, marshmallows)

Give each player one straw and one cup, and place the bag of marshmallows in the center of your circle.  The marshmallows "need" to get into the cup.  See a need and meet a need by sucking the marshmallows onto the end of the straw and putting them in the cup.  How many can you get in your cup in ONE MINUTE!

Survival Tip #7: Take Care Of What You’ve Got (marshmallows, spoons)

Give each player one spoon. Place a bag of marshmallows in the center of your circle. Allow the players to put as little or as many marshmallows they want on their spoon, but only as many as they think they can “take care of”. Have the players stand up and do different actions to see if they can “take care of” the marshmallows on their spoon. They CANNOT pick up what they drop! See how well each player took care of his or her marshmallows at the end of ONE MINUTE!

This week in SpringTown and Treehouse, preschoolers talked about all reasons why they love church! We saw how much Jesus loves church in this Bible story by the campfire from Luke 2:41-52.