I'm past shocked and on to planning...
So... I already have my first 10 lessons lined up.
Hee hee...
I want to do a "Fruits of the Spirit" theme. I'm going paint a mural on the children's church walls so that it looks like we're sitting in the middle of an orchard, and I'm going to put Styrofoam fruit trees on the stage.
I will also build a "fruit stand" which will be our puppet stage.
I'm going to break the kids up into groups by grade levels...
K5-1
2-3
4-5
...and assign each group a "fruit" that they will represent. (i.e. k5-1 could be the "oranges" or "apples" etc.)And I will seat them in their groups. That way, they are sitting with their age group and getting to know the kids their own age.
The first Sunday, each kid in each group will "decorate" one of their fruits (made out of construction paper, of course). These will be the "fruits" that we hang on our fruit trees.
*whoop whoooooop*
Aaaaaaand... I'll have a "prize tree" for kids who are good. This tree will be one of our Styrofoam trees with lots of little goodies hanging on it!
I honestly can't believe how excited I am about this! Who knew?!?
So... each week's lesson will be based on one of the Fruits of the Spirit. Adding the "introduction" week, that's 10 weeks already lined up!!!
So... if I start August 18, then my last "fruit of the spirit" lesson will be on October 14.
I'll take the 21st off.
Then we'll jump in on the 28th with a "fall/harvest" them to carry us through Thanksgiving (not sure what the teaching will be on that one).
BUT then all I have to do is repaint the existing props and murals with fall colors. (i.e. change green leaves to red/orange/yellow trees.) Easy enough transition, eh?
So... please comment and let me know what you think. OOOOORRRR if you have any creative ideas I can incorporate!