Snacks can be
as easy as breaking open a box of Cheerios and passing around a Dixie
cup or as complicated as decorated, sugar cookies depicting the characters
in the manger scene. How much time and energy is expended on snacks
is ENTIRELY up to you!
As you prepare
snacks for children, there are a few basic things you might want to
consider. Both my aunt and my mother would be disappointed if I did
not mention that snacks for children should first and foremost be
NUTRITIONAL. Vegetables and pieces of bread can be
made into shapes just as easily as cookies and cupcakes, yet carry
a more nutritious punch. If you are serving snacks for a Sunday School
that is held before church, selecting nutrition over empty, sugar
calories will win you kudos with parents!
You might also
want to consider your TIME and the FACILITIES
available to you for snack preparation. If a sink and water are not
readily available, you may want to avoid messier snacks.
THEMED snacks
can be fun, especially if they enhance the lesson. This can be tricky,
however, and shouldn't become the focus of the day. Remember, we want
the children to take home information about what they learned from
the Bible, not about what the cool snack was like. Try the following
website for some great ideas! www.perpetualpreschool.com.
Happy surfing....and snacking. J
"Jesus
replied, The most important commandment is this: 'Hear O Israel! The
Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord
your God with all your hearth, all your soul, all your mind, and all
your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor
as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."
Mark 12:29-31
In 2004, the Center
for Urban Policy and the Environment combined with the Points of Light
Foundation to conduct and publish a study (Love
Thy Neighbor) of their award winners to determine what motivated
them to volunteer. Almost everyone in the study indicated that they
agreed with the following statements:
- I am genuinely
concerned about the particular group I am serving.
- I feel it is
important to help others.
- I can do something
for a cause that is important to me.
- I am concerned
about those less fortunate than myself.
People are motivated
when they feel that what they are doing connects them to a larger
vision. They are motivated when they feel that what they are doing
is significant in the life of others. So what is one of the most important
things that you can do to help motivate your volunteers? SHARE
THE VISION. Help your volunteers connect what they are doing
to their own, personal value system.
Ways to
Share the Vision
- Hold an annual
teacher training event in August to kick off the new Sunday School
year.
- Put your vision
statement on a business card and tell your volunteers to carry it
with them.
- Solicit and
share volunteer success stories.
- Motivation
Booster Shot - An article and links from Charity Guide, a non-profit
organization devoted to inspiring busy people to volunteer. Some
really good quotes on volunteering and volunteerism as well as articles
to help people connect their volunteer activities with their mission
in life.
"After
the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the
fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper."
I Kings 19: 11-12
Just as Elijah
learned that the Lord did not come to him in loud, obvious ways, so
too do our best ideas come when we stop talking and TAKE TIME
TO LISTEN. Volunteers who have been properly guided into
a program's vision can be excellent sources for ideas. And, when people
are involved in determining how a program operates, they are more
motivated to see it succeed.
Take the time
to listen to your volunteers. Periodically hold meetings with key
volunteer leaders to solicit their input on ideas. Hold individual
meetings with your volunteers about their assignment and ask what
they like or dislike about it. Have the volunteer assist you in finding
ways to keep the dislikes to a minimum.
Ways to
Take Time to Listen
- Meet with
key volunteers for lunch once a quarter to ask for feedback about
how the program is going and ways to overcome challenges.
- Allow a committee
made up of your Sunday School Teachers to assist in choosing your
Sunday School curriculum.
- Find out what
makes your volunteer tick. Have them do a personality profile to
discover the best way to have them to contribute. Jung
Typology Test
"Therefore
encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact
you are doing." I Thessalonians 5:11
Recognition is
how an organization tells volunteers that their efforts are important.
Whether this recognition is accomplished formally in the church service,
informally with a volunteer wall of fame or with special perks like
their own parking space, finding creative ways to appreciate and ENCOURAGE
YOUR VOLUNTEERS is vital to the success of your ministry
program. The more personalized you can make the effort, the better.
Ways to
Recognize and Reward
- Create a Public
Volunteer of the Week/Month Program
- Give them
a Team T-Shirt
- Treat them
to lunch/dinner/evening out
- Treat 'Em
Right! by Susan Cutshall. A book containing 70 reproducible
messages to attach to various treats (i.e. We are NUTS about our
volunteers! and Double, Double, blow a bubble. Without you we'd
be in trouble!) Just photocopy, cut and staple. Standard
Publishing $12.99
Other
Interesting Resources
10
Ways NOT to Place People into Ministry: Learn from these
mistakes. This is an article written by the folks at Christianity
Today.
Leadership
and Management of Volunteer Programs:
A Guide for Volunteer Administrators by James Fisher and Kathleen
Cole. A book describing what a leader of volunteer programs needs
to know along with advice on how to handle motivation and the management
of relationships between staff and volunteers. Barnes
and Noble. $45
Understanding
and Motivating Volunteers:
An Article from: The CPA Journal. An 850 word article which explores
personality type and volunteerism. By understanding a person's personality,
you can better understand how to motivate them.
Care
and Feeding of Volunteers by Barbara Bolton, Mike Bright
& Byron Cressy. A book outlining the essentials of a volunteer
program. Standard
Publishing $16.99
