Mennonite
Central
Committee

Setting the Stage

Developing a good foundation for children's activities

1. Begin with Prayer
   Pray for God's wisdom in your choice of activities and in the integrity of your game or event - that the purposes will be achieved.
2. Invite a small group (3 to 5 people) to work with you
   in planning and implementing the children's activities. Consider inviting persons from a variety of ages and experiences but only those who share passion for the purpose of children's activity centers.
3. Decide what is important to your planning group
   1. Is it important to have a variety of experiences that appeal to various learning styles?
      Do you want to plan an "active" activity for the kinesthetic learners, a hands-on activity for the tactile learners, a simulation display for visual learners, and a listening activity for the auditory learners?
   2. Is it important to you that children move through the various centers rather than "play" at the children's activity center?
      If you want children to move through the various activities you'll want to consider a system that encourages this i.e. a passport booklet that is stamped at each center or posting an adult or teenager as a "guide" to say "let me show you the next activity."
      See Passport to Helping Others.
   3. How many children do you expect
      and how many children can each center handle at one time? If you expect hundreds of children you'll want to consider increasing the number of activity centers available to spread out the crowd.
   4. Can we find people to staff the children's activity area?
      If you want children to learn while doing at the center, you'll want to consider inviting people who feel as passionately about the purpose as you do and those who will reach out and touch the hearts of the children with whom they speak. And, you'll want to include others who are helpers who will keep the supplies in order, assist children (but not do it for them), move children along, keep the activity centers organized, etc.
      Consider teenagers, young adults, Sunday school teachers, day care workers, mothers and fathers, grandmas and grandpas, MCC workers who have returned from assignment, Ten Thousand Villages volunteers.
   5. Do we want the activity center to raise funds for MCC?
      If so, consider what clever or unusual ways we might devise to delight the children while they give.
   6. Do we want the children's activity center to have a theme?
      Choosing a theme helps you center and coordinate activities.
      See Themes.
   7. What steps could you take
      to minimize the constraints of space, time and budget within which you are working?
4. Identify what you wish to accomplish
   1. Educate about MCC work around the world
      See Educate About MCC Work Around the World.
   2. Educate about different cultures
      See Educate about Different Cultures.
   3. Teach Compassion for others
      See Teach Compassion for Others.
   4. Entertain
5. Brainstorm center activities
   by listing all ideas - then decide together the criteria to narrow the activities down.
   1. Is it too expensive?
   2. Is the time it takes to construct worth the effort because it can be used repeatedly?
   3. What will the children learn from the activity?
   4. Does the activity support the purpose or is it just fun to do?
6. Give balance and fun to your activities.
7. Funding Children's Activities
   How many people if asked if they would be willing to assist with children's activities by donating supplies or items for the kits would say "no"? Consider asking a Sunday School class to help you with this project.
8. Many resources are available
   See Resources.
9. And finally combine the answers to "what's important to you" with the ideas uncovered in brainstorming.