All the little children

For those of you who may now know, Chris and I teach the 3 and 4 year old Sunday School class in our church. We usually switch off months with another teacher but she delivered her first child in July so we taught the summer lessons. I have taught the class for the last two years and have enjoyed it so much more since Chris joined in to help teach it. Last Sunday was our last class until October. The lessons that our children's director purchased are super easy to use but a majority of the stuff we just can't do with our little ones (lots of cutting things out!!). Most of the time, I pick about 3 things to do along with our video lesson and song of the month. I did not get a chance to copy anything off so I just looked through the lesson. It was about offering - what it is used for and why we give it. I decided that this was a great chance for our kids to go on a field trip! We walked over to the sanctuary where there were setting things up for the 11 o'clock service. We were on a hunt for the offering plates. It took a few minutes but they were located and each child held one. We talked about if they were heavy or light, what they were made of, etc. Our pastor took a few minutes to talk with the children about the plates and why there was a cushion in the bottom of the plates (I didn't know why it was there - learn something new every day!). We also talked about what things offering was used for and how it helps people. So, we then venture back to our room to make our own offering containers. I had gone out on errands with my mom the previous day. At Hobby Lobby, I found boxes like the ones that Chinese takeout comes in. They were plain white and had a handle that were perfect for what we needed them for. So I get out the boxes and the kids get to coloring (crayons only since they were kinda slick). They kids had a great time coloring. One adventurous tyke (was supposed to be in the kinder class but didn't feel like going) colored the outside and inside of his gold. He took special care to paint the bottom of the inside red - just like the offering plates!!! We admired each other's boxes and then I told them that we had a problem with all the boxes - they were empty!!! We can't help people when our offering boxes are empty!! What did that call for? Another field trip! We went to the Adult building and visited the class that Chris and I belong to. It was really neat since some of our kids' parents were in there. We explained what we were learning and about our problem - we had no offering for children's church. They all immediately started digging out change and bills. The kids went around the room and ended up with "noisy" boxes. It was so fun to see them smile at everyone and hold out their boxes! We thanked everyone and headed out. We realized that we had extra time and room left in our boxes so we headed to the class next door, the Pacesetters. It is lovingly referred to as the "old people" class since the members of the class are super seniors. We knocked on the door and went in. Again, we explained our lesson and before we could explain why we were there, they were all ready getting out change!! The adults had a great time giving. It was so funny to see them making sure that they gave offering to each child!! We apologized for interrupting their class and they invited to come back anytime. We then headed back to the Children's building to show our children's director, Miss Julie, our offering and put it in the offering plate they use for children's church. She got out the plate which is a smaller version of the offering plates we saw in big church. I truly cannot describe how soul-warming it was so see the kids line up and pour the contents of their boxes into the collection plate. They totally lit up the room!! And they got really excited when the plate started to flow over and coins dropped on the floor. Miss Julie said that she had never seen the offering plate that full before. We headed back to our class and got ready for parents to pick them up. We told the kids that they were to bring their boxes every Sunday with their offering from the week in it. I doubt it will happen but at least the kids got a chance to experience what offering is. I am a firm believer in kids knowing why we do what we do in church, not just because it's tradition. Chris declared that it was the best class he'd ever been to!