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GROW PARTY

Start the new Sunday school year with a celebration that introduces your children to the new Grow! Proclaim! Serve! resources. Build excitement with decorations, games, crafts, and, of course, food.

The theme of the Grow Party centers around the Bible verse, "Your faithfulness is growing by leaps and bounds." (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

The mascot is a frog. Of course the frog is great at leaping and bounding, but did you know it is also a sign of new life? The frog changes from a tadpole into a frog, reminding us that new life is found in God's creation and in God's Word.

Here are several suggestions to help you plan your Grow Party. Use the ones that fi t your church's needs. Add your own ideas. Leap! Bound! Grow!

In this Grow Party download,you will fi nd suggestions for:

Publicity

Decorations

Food

Art

Crafts

Games

A Frog-Puppet Script

Music

The Bible Verse

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PUBLICITY

Plan your party for the Sunday or the mid-week night before you begin Grow! Proclaim! Serve! Here is a postcard that you can send to all your children. Remember to send the postcard to any nonmember children who have been visiting over the summer or who

came for vacation Bible school and other summer programs. The following page is a fl yer that you may duplicate and post around your church.

HOP, LEAP, JUMP

TO OUR

GROW PARTY!

DATE:

TIME:

PLACE:

WEAR SOMETHING GREEN.

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HOP, LEAP, JUMPTO OUR

GROW PARTY!

DATE:

TIME:

PLACE:

WEAR SOMETHING GREEN.

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DECORATIONS1. Place bunches of balloons in various

shades of green and white on tables,

around the edges of the room and in the

hallways.

2. Photocopy the sign on page 5, and place

one or more of them on the way to the

room.

3. Buy green plastic ware (usually available

at dollar stores).

4 Use the pattern on page 6 to make lily

pads from green paper, and make a path

down the hallway to the room.

5. Cover the tables with green plastic

tablecloths.

6. Use stuff ed or plastic frogs for

centerpieces.

7. Sprinkle green and white confetti on the

tables.

8. Place live or artifi cial plants and trees

throughout your space. Hide plastic

and stuff ed frogs among the greenery.

9. Hang frog cut-outs or plastic frogs from

the ceiling.

FOOD 1. Make or purchase a frog cake. Th is

might be a cake in the shape of a frog or

a plain cake with plastic frogs jumping

across the top.

2. Serve Pond Punch or Swamp Tea. For

the punch, place a half gallon of rain-

bow sherbet in a punch bowl. Pour one

2-liter bottle of cold ginger ale over the

sherbet. Th is makes about 24 4-ounce

servings. To make "Swamp Tea," just

add gummy worms to your favorite

punch recipe. Add dry ice to make it

extra swampy.

3. Have green fruit, either sliced and

placed on individual platters or mixed

together in a Froggy Fruit Salad of green

fruits (such as green apples, grapes,

kiwi, and honeydew melon).

4 Make or purchase sugar cookies. Let the

children make frog faces on the cookies

with green decorator's icing.

5. Make cupcakes. Frost the cupcakes with

green frosting. Cut green gum drops

in half to make the eyes. Add white life

savers to make the insides of the eyes,

and chocolate chips for the centers of

the eyes.

6. Turn "Ants on a Log" into "Flies on a

Log." Spread cream cheese on celery

sticks. Add a few raisins.

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HOP THIS WAY TO THE

GROW PARTY!

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ARTCreate a Frog Art Gallery.

1. Let the children draw pictures of various kinds of frogs by using colored pencils.

2. Let the children use washable paint, colored pencils, markers, and crayons to create masterpieces such as "Frogo Lisa" by Frogelangelo ("Mona Lisa" by Michelangelo), "Lily Pads" by Vincent van Frogh ("Sunfl owers" by van Gogh), and "American Frogic" by Frog Wood ("American Gothic" by Grant Wood).

The original artists and their paintings can be found on the Internet or in art books at the library to help your young artists get started.

3. Let the children "sculpt" frogs out of green play dough or clay.

4. Let the children create frogs from recycled boxes, cardboard tubes, and plastic containers and lids. Have the children connect the recycled materials with duct tape (which comes in green).

CRAFTS1. Origami Jumping Frogs. You will fi nd

the directions for folding this frog on page 42 of the Middle Elementary Grow! Proclaim! Serve! Leader's Guide. You may also watch a video showing you how to fold the frog at http://www.growproclaimserve.com/kids.

2. Friendship Cards. Make these cards to send to children who are not at the party. Photocopy the card patterns for each child (page 8). Have the children follow the directions on the pattern to create the cards.

3. Frog Hats. Cut green construction paper into 3-inch-wide strips, two strips per child. Cut 3-inch circles out of white paper, two circles per child.

Cut out 2- by 6-inch rectangles out of red paper, one rectangle per child. Give each child two white circles. Have the children draw black dots in the center of the white circles to be the frog's eyes. Glue the eyes on either side of the center of one of the green strips. Give each child the red rectangle to make a tongue. Have the child glue the tongue on the back of the green strip between the eyes. Show the children how to roll the bottom of strip up towards the eyes. Measure the green strip around each child's head so that the frog's eyes are in the center of the child's head. Add a second strip if you need to. Tape the ends of the strips together to complete

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the hat.

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GAMES

1. Play "Frogs and Heron." The object of the game is to for the "frogs" to make it across the pond without getting tagged by the heron. Place a strip of masking tape on the fl oor on one side of the room. Have the children stand behind this line. Place another strip of tape on the fl oor across the room from the fi rst line. The lines mark the boundaries of the pond.

Choose a child to be the heron, and have the heron stand in the middle of the pond. At the words, "Hop to it!" all the frogs hop, leap, and jump across the pond to get to the other side. The heron tries to tag the “frogs” as they go. The fi rst frog to make it to the pond without getting tagged becomes next the heron.

2. Play "Froggy, May I?" (a variation of "Mother, May I?"). Have the children take baby hops and giant leaps.

3. Have a Frog Toss. Cover a table with a blue plastic or paper tablecloth. Cut out ten lily pads. (See the pattern on page 6.) Give each lily pad a number from 1 to 10. Scatter the lily pads over the table. Let the children stand at one end of the table and toss a stuffed or plastic frog on the lily pads. Keep track of each child's points if you wish.

4. Play "Frog Tag." Choose a child to be "it." Everyone else are frogs. "It" tries to tag the frogs. Once a frog is tagged, he or she must squat down in a frog position and stay there until an untagged frog pats the frog on the head and says, "Ribbit!" Then the frog is unfrozen.

5. Play "Hop, Hop, Leap!" (a variation of "Duck, Duck, Goose"). Have the children sit in a circle on the fl oor. Choose a child to be "it." "It" goes around the outside of the circle, tapping each child on a shoulder and saying, "Hop." When "it" says, "Leap!" the child tapped must get up and chase IT around the circle and back to the child's space. To make the game more theme based, have the children hop instead of run around the circle.

6. Play with the Frog-and-Fly Cards. Photocopy and cut apart the Frog-and-Fly Cards (page 10). You can use the cards to play a matching game, hide them in the room and let the children fi nd them, or use them to play a memory game. For the memory game, show the children the cards. Have the children cover their eyes, and hide one of the cards. Let the children open their eyes and try to remember which frog is missing.

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FROG-PUPPET SCRIPTOrder the green tree-frog puppet at http://www.growproclaimserve.com/store/publicity-resources (ISBN: 843504035846).

Hello! I am hoppy to see you here, because we are going to spend time together as we GROW in our faith. You can probably tell that I am a frog—a very friendly frog. I have learned that every frog is different, but God made us all! I want to tell you some things about frogs. If you think that what I say is right, then you should jump up like a frog. If you think that what I say is wrong, you should sit down.

Frogs have long tongues; and when they see something they want to eat, they stick out their tongues and snap up their food. Do you think that is right, or do you think that is wrong? (That is right—the children should jump up!)

Frogs use their eyeballs to push their food down into their stomachs. (That is right—the children should jump up.)

Frogs are only green. (That is wrong—the children should sit down.)

Frogs have little teeth. (That is right—the children should jump up!)

God made frogs. (That is right—the children should jump up!)

Thank you. Now you know some things about frogs. You will learn new things about people from the Bible this year, too.

Did you know that Moses was adopted by an Egyptian princess? (Let the children respond.)

Did you know that a sea can part in the middle, and people can walk across it? (Let the children respond.)

Did you know that God gave us rules to live by? (Let the children respond.) Do you know how many rules God gave us? (ten)

Do you know the name of Jesus' cousin? (John the Baptist)

Do you know the names of the fi rst man and woman? (Adam and Eve)

Did you know that someone named Daniel was thrown into a den of lions? (Let the children respond.)

You will hear all these Bible stories this year, and they will help you GROW in your love for God!

I'm glad I'm here, and I'm really glad that you're here because we have a lot to learn together. It's going to be a really exciting year.

Now I need to hop back to the pond. Bye!

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MUSICGive each child several green crepe paper streamers (or cut strips from a green plastic tablecloth). Show the Leaper's Pointe in Concert theme song "Growing in Leaps and Bounds" (DVD). Let the children wave their streamers and dance to the music. Encourage the children to learn the words.

Introduce the children to the people of Leaper's Pointe. Show the "People of Leaper's Pointe." This is on any of the September Sundays.

THE BIBLE VERSEHave the children move to one side of the room. Make sure that the area is clear on the other side of the room.

Repeat the Bible verse, which is "Your faithfulness is growing by leaps and bounds" (2 Thessalonians 1:3). Have the children crouch down as small as possible. Say the Bible verse as printed below, and have the children do the motions and move to the other side of the room.

Your faithfulness (Have the children crouch down)is growing, growing, growing, growing (Have the children slowly stand up and raise their hands over their heads.)by baby steps, (Have the children take baby steps.)by hops, (Have the children hop.)by jumps, (Have the children jump.)by leaps, (Have the children leap.)and by bounds (Have the children take giant steps.)

Have the children freeze in place. Repeat the Bible verse, "Your faithfulness is growing by leaps and bounds" (2 Thessalonians 1:3), one more time.

Dismiss the children with a blessing.

Give each child a Grow! key chain as they leave. The keychain can be ordered at www.growproclaimserve.com/store/publicity-resources/.