PraisePartiesHowtorunapraiseparty

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How to and ideas for running a Praise Party The basic concept of a Praise Party isn’t rocket science. It is an attempt to engage children in a meaningful understanding of church and to allow children to feel that they can express themselves in comfortable surroundings. We do that by using music that they can associate with, by playing games they identify with and by running activities that allow them to learn about God while having fun. This is not a definitive guide to running a praise party but I hope that it gives you a good start.

Things to consider First of all is the attitude we bring to Children’s Work. If we see Children’s Work as something we do during church to entertain or amuse children, today’s probably not the day to start planning a children’s praise party. If we see it as something fun that we’ll get a lot out of, then perhaps we should be thinking again. If we think it’s something that we can do with our children to bring them closer to God in a real way, then perhaps we’re on the right lines.

The basics as I see for working with children is that they have a very clear sense of who God is – he’s their heavenly daddy, the one who created everything around them and looks after them. The understanding that a child has of God tends to be this clear the younger they are. We have a chance to re-affirm this view as they get older or let it weaken as the world around them influences them. A praise party should be fun, relevant and exciting.

Hopefully we’re on the right lines for our motivation. Praise parties are a good way to show our children that they have a special place in the church. If we’re to be a family where we encourage growth and potential being met, then we need to meet people at their level.

Planning One of the most obvious things about praise parties is that they should be something out of the ordinary. For children to want to come to the praise party, it needs to be something that they’re not used to already. For some that may just mean having the run of a hall and adults willing

to spend time with them. For others, the concept of worship aimed at their level may be the difference. It depends on the area, the church and the outlook of the children’s workers. Assess where the children are at in terms of programme and try to think of things that might be good to do.

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Be practical in planning the event. If it is a themed night, perhaps spending three quarters of the budget on making a life size hot air balloon wouldn’t be the wisest. Having said that, if the theme is “In the Jungle” some sort of effort to adopt a Jungle theme would be important.

Content Ensure that it is appropriate for the different age groups that are going to be involved. If you’re using a theme of for example ‘Friends’ which is generally rated 15, this may not be the best thing to use for children whose parents don’t approve of it. I’d also suggest that using a clip from a film rated 15 (or even 18) should never be considered. The clip itself may no material that can be considered dubious, but it may encourage the children to want to watch this particular movie.

Context Try and make sure that the programme is relevant and age appropriate. For example: using the

Olympics as a theme when they are over a year away may not be the best idea. With regards to age-appropriateness, be aware that younger children will have a shorter attention span and their vocabulary will obviously not be as developed as whoever is speaking. Be aware of the

words being used in the songs. Younger children have the capacity to learn songs but not from reading them.

Practicals Most of these are common sense, but all need to be considered.

Know the layout of the venue that you are using and ensure that your volunteers know the layout. Make sure the toilets are clean, hygienic & accessible to all. If you are aware of any children or adults with special needs, you need to have a strategy for coping with this, whether this is having their main carer at the event or someone designated to look after them.

Make sure that the fire exits & toilets are clearly marked. Also ensure that the fire exits are not blocked. If they are routinely blocked during the course of the week, you may need to suggest to someone in leadership of the church to have that attended to.

Ensure that all other equipment is safely stored away. For example: the bowling mats. If there are lockable cupboards with equipment in them, make sure that they are locked.

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Because Praise Parties are one-off events, or certainly happen less frequently than the normal activities, there are many advantages:

• as an event, children can invite their friends along, whereas they may not feel comfortable inviting them to a run-of-the-mill weekly club;

• volunteers are more likely to help out at occasional events if they’re not too keen on an on-going commitment;

• there may be more of a budget if it is a special event;

Ensure that your volunteers know they are valued and respected. It is essential that they all know what is happening during the programme. That means if you are having a planning meeting, invite the volunteers along to part of it to keep them informed, or if you’re meeting at 10.30am to set up, perhaps ask everyone to be there are 10am to make sure they know the programme fully. It may also be an idea to have some sort of wee treat for the volunteers, like sweeties or hot chocolate. It is essential to get Leader/ Child ratios correct.

Programme suggestions: There are many different ways of theming a Praise Party, here are four suggestions:

Topical Theme For a one-off praise party, it’s a good idea to come up with a topical theme. Aside from being something the children can relate to, there is also the tie-in with publicity. They work best when there is a spiritual dimension that ties in in an obvious way. For example:

Olympics (Perseverance, Training & Winning a Prize – Running the Race);

Grand Prix (again, running the race);

Football Tournament (Working as a Team);

Pop Idol/ Eurovision (Trying our best & Respecting others).

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Special Theme To run a praise party without a Topical Theme can also work really well as it can give the feeling of being part of something special that no-one else is necessarily doing. They obviously need a spiritual dimension to them, so if there is a really good theme with no obvious link, should it be used?

Some good examples would be:

Jungle Theme (Trials we face);

Letter party (Children come dressed as someone beginning with eg the Letter P – Policeman, Politician, Pinocchio, Pocohontas, Prophet. Look at aspects of Jesus beginning with letter P (Prince of Peace, Prophet)

Superheroes Party (Children dress as Superheroes - Ultimately Jesus is our Superhero);

Colour Parties (Pick a colour and allow children to come in whatever they want. If you choose the likes of green, that can mean new life.)

Seasonal Theme: Simply what it says, going for Praise Parties at the likes of Christmas and Easter allow the children to have a spiritual view on what’s happening all around them. To have other seasonal parties can be quite good:

Valentines (Jesus loves us, and will never disappoint);

Halloween (Jesus brings light to dark places);

Spring Party (Symbolic of new life);

Start of School/ End of Summer Party (Talk about old things ending and new things beginning).

On-going Theme: This would be for a series of Praise Parties. Probably the best way would be to use some Holiday Bible Club Material and use them over the number of weeks that the Praise Party is being run. So for example if you have a praise party once a month, using Holiday Bible Club Material gives you material for six months, complete with theme and suggestions.

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What to include in a praise party: The following is not an exhaustive list of things to include, but it will go some way to suggesting what can be included in the event. If they can be tied in to the theme, it really helps with reinforcing the main thrust:

Aerobics;

Creative Prayer;

Craft;

Design a Name Badge;

Discussion Groups;

Drama;

Embarrassing the Leaders Times;

Games;

Juice & Biscuits;

Memory Verse;

Puppet Sketches;

Quiz;

The good old ‘Two-Leaders-Dressed-Up-as-a-Horse/Donkey’ Time;

Team Games;

Talk;

Video/ Powerpoint Show

Worship.

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Discussion groups Try and link in the theme. To have the theme brought out in discussion means that the children get the chance to explore the themes being examined in a surrounding they feel comfortable with. Because children develop at different rates, there aren’t any hard and fast rules to govern discussion material. A general rule of thumb is that the younger children deal with what is in front of them. The middle age group can really only deal with concepts that they can identify with, while by the time they reach the end of National/ Primary School, they are able to process abstract or hypothetical concepts. Put another way, if younger children can have their discussion group reinforced with an activity that makes things obvious and apparent, they have a sense of having learnt something. By drawing a picture of, or writing a word for, someone they want to

pray for and then putting this slip of paper into a matchbox, they are able to have something to hang on to.

For the middle age-groups, the children have a more developed vocabulary, but can still deal with questions in a comprehension mind-set. To have a worksheet may not be the best way of reinforcing the point, particularly if the child has difficulty reading. Perhaps having a discussion that allows the children to come to conclusions themselves, and then transferring these conclusions onto the likes of a postcard means concrete is backed up.

The older age-groups, broadly speaking, will have the capacity to think and answer on a much more advanced level. The challenge is to remove the idea of being at school, and this is the point at which good leadership becomes crucial. One way of doing this would be to have a discussion on the theme of the day and ask the children to come up with a conclusion, but put it into words so that a younger child would understand it. This means that the older child has to fully grasp the issue to be able to explain it. If when everyone came back together all the age groups explained a little of what they had been talking about, the older children would have an outlet for their discussion conclusion.

Worship One of the best ways to interact with children, and to get them to interact with God is to use music that they are able to relate to. Doug Horley in particular produces excellent music, which can be used for worship, puppets & aerobics. Hillsong Kids, Nick and Becky Drake and Shout Praise Kids are also good places to check out for up to date worship for children.

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Decor These suggestions allow for plenty of creativity with decoration. It is fairly important to create an atmosphere that ties in with the theme. But be realistic – spending three quarters of the budget on a life-size, hand-painted, all-singing, all-dancing Formula One car is not wise stewardship. Play Resource Warehouse is an excellent resource for cheap card and bill-board posters.

Publicity Advertising is critical, as it makes the children whom you are targeting feel valued, like somebody cares about them being there. If there is something that can be given to the children to advertise, they identify with it and that increases their chances of coming. That means that the Publicity needs to be well done and sympathetic to the needs of children. It might be a good idea to have a look at the sort of material that the children in your area are using in school, to get an idea of the sorts of colours, fonts & pictures that they are used to. If that is not practical, a sneaky peek at the magazines they are sold in newsagents gives a similar sort of feel. What is not cool and should be avoided at all costs are the ‘Flannel-Graph Era’ pictures of Jesus & Children. Children may come anyway, but it is guaranteed not to be because of the Publicity. Be aware that there are many children who have issues with reading, so perhaps publicity with few words would be a good idea. It means they can feel valued and loved regardless of their ability.

As I said at the start, this is not a definitive guide to running praise parties, but it will hopefully cover some of the ground. I hope that by doing, you can see a bit more of how and why. If you have any questions or we can help you with anything, please get in touch with us at nickyblair@imycd.org or janettemccormick@imycd.org