A fun session for children on Advent and Christmas using
Launchpad
On your marks:
Launchpad is a superb resource for anyone wanting a series of child-friendly services. It can also be used as a basis for holiday clubs or one-off fun days. Here we take three of the Launchpad sessions on Advent and Christmas) and adapt them for use at a holiday club session.
Get set:
You’ll need a copy of
Launchpad available from this website at a promotional price of
only £7.50 (reduced from £15.99) when you quote ‘Getting Going Offer’ on your order. (Offer available while stocks last)
You’ll also need craft books or ideas.
The Bible Make and Do series has many lovely ideas or you can download them from the Web.
It’s difficult to compress three services into one session and you may need to pick and choose from the suggestions below. The basic format is that of a live tv broadcast with the children as studio audience taking an active role, and the input provided as different programmes with links from two cool presenters.
If you decide to do three shorter sessions instead, you could expand on the ideas below. The divisions between the three outlines are marked with ------.
You’ll need two on-the-ball presenters who can really keep things moving and get across the points in as lively a way as possible, plus a studio manager who is in charge of the rules and regulations, a tv cook, a tv artist, various camera operators and sound crew (for real or fake equipment) and small group leaders to look after the small group activities – perhaps 8-10 children per group.
Go!
1 Decide what your tv studio could be called: St Cuthbert’s Live or Puddletown Primetime or whatever. The décor of your room might include fake or real video cameras, (remember to get parental permission for filming) and clapper boards, tv sets of the presenters’ couch, the art / cookery table and Soap Street.
2
Introductory activity
As children come in, have an activity such as designing name badges in the shape of TV studio security identification cards, or making tv sets out of cardboard boxes in their small groups.
3
Welcome and introduce theme
From the moment the children come altogether for the first time, try to keep the illusion of a tv programme going. They are the studio audience for this morning’s live broadcast and will be doing all sorts of things to help the programmes run swimmingly. Bring the children altogether, as if the leader is the studio manger giving them a pep talk. Welcome everyone and set out any rules for the day, then encourage them to help make the broadcast a huge success. As you go ‘on air’, two lively trendy leaders, in the role of children’s tv presenters, welcome the viewers to the show and introduce the morning’s special broadcast on ‘Giftbox!’ where you’ll be looking at some very special presents. Hold up three gift wrapped parcels containing the three gifts as described in Launchpad. Make a big thing of inviting a studio guest up to open the first one. Gold. So we’re thinking first about what’s precious to us. Oh, it’s already time for the adverts…
4
Art in small groups
Send the children into small groups to draw and colour pictures of what is precious to them. ‘You have three minutes while the adverts are on to get your pictures finished!’
Back together, use the Arty Fax section on p98 to introduce the idea that things which appear most precious may not be.
5
Singing
Let’s switch to Praise TV and the live band to sing about what’s precious to us. Sing worship songs from the selection on p98.
6
Drama
Now it’s time for our Soap. Presenters give it a good build up. Run the Soap Street 1 script and have your presenters unpack it in a dialogue p99 talk outline and talk about the story of Zacchaeus as on p99: perhaps with some pictures up on the main screen to illustrate it.
7
Link to frankincense
Presenters move on to the next of the three gifts. Invite a child up to open it and smell it. Use talk outline p105 to introduce it, and link to your next programme: the cookery programme.
8
Cookery slot
If time allows, have a short slapstick cookery slot with lots of silly messy things happening to a cook and his / her food. Or say that your celebrity chef couldn’t make it today, so the children will all have to cook instead of him. In small groups do a simple short cookery activity like peppermint creams or dipping grapes in chocolate. During this, talk in small groups about the Bible stories that show Jesus as God: calming the storm, doing healing miracles, feeding five thousand, resurrection.
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9 Juice and toilet break sometime in here
10
Drama 2
Come back together to run Soap Street 2 p108-9
11
Link and vox pop
Presenters follow up briefly with talk as on p106 but open up to do a vox pop around the studio audience, to find out stories they know of, where Jesus showed he was God. Refer back to the frankincense and what this symbolises.
-----
11 (continued) Presenters discover the third gift, as on p111.
12
Art
Now it’s time for the Art programme. Your ‘celebrity artist’ makes a slapstick mess of it as described and is sacked. Presenters discuss as on p111. Make the nativity set in small groups, if time permits.
13
Drama 3
Run the final soap: Soap Street 3 p114 and follow up with the presenters discussing the talk outlines p112.
14
Singing
Follow with Praise TV and sing some Christmas songs p112/113.
15
End programme
Summarise everything you’ve learned about the three gifts, wish everyone happy Christmas, say good bye, advertise other Christmas activities and make sure the children are collected from their group leaders safely with all their crafts.
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