kid's Connection: Merry Christmas!

Although we haven't had kid's Connection due to various events, the children were so excited to get back in the swing of things and we were excited to get to hang out with them for the evening. We had a lovely party planned for them with fun, games and lessons to learn.

We started the evening with a Christmas Carol game. Each of the children had a number. As we played a familiar Christmas Carol, we would randomly call out a number and stop the music - while each child with that number would stand up and continue to sing the song. Then, the music would start again and we would go another round. The kids really got into it and enjoyed singing loudly and with gusto.

The next game was a Christmas card toss. They got into a line, were given a Christmas card and had to attempt to throw the card into a bin about 3 feet away from them - much harder than it sounds! The winning team was only able to get 2 cards in the bin!

Kirstyn, Collin, Brett, Cameron and others wait in line for Sister Shanna to give them their card.

The next game was the "big one"! The children sat around tables and picked up a small Christmas stocking, waiting anxiously for the next step.

Next, we placed a tray filled with candy, toys and goodies in the center of each table with instructions to NOT touch until instructed. They couldn't take their eyes off the prizes, though!

Caleb and Jeremiah eye up the goodies while Amber looks on:

Such a lot of good things to choose from:

Waiting patiently, kind of!

On the "Go" signal, each child had 30 seconds to fill their stocking with the goodies from the tray.

At the end of the time, they had to stop immediately and listen for the next instructions. This was where it got interesting. We reminded the children that Christmas is not about getting, but about giving, that it is better to give than receive and that sometimes, we can get too caught up in thinking about all that we can get to make ourselves happy. For that reason, they were asked to pass their stocking to the child on their right! Each child now still had a stocking, but it was different than the one they had filled. Some were not very happy with this arrangement, but were again reminded about the true meaning of Christmas. It is our prayer that they will have learned a valuable lesson from this experience that will go with them for the rest of their lives.

After finishing up with the stocking game, we moved to the front to have a snack of Christmas cookies and here a story - The Legend of the Candy Cane - that incorporated the true meaning of Christmas in a unique way. Each of the children was given their own candy cane at the end as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about. Again, it is our prayer that each child will remember the most important things about the Christmas season.

A few more random pictures. Evyn was a great help during the party: