What better age to instil dreams than into children as no boundaries or limitational thinking can prevent a child’s imagination from thinking and believing the imaginable? Here in the Dream Centre we believe not only are children precious to God,  but are pivotal to the future of today’s church and it’s because of this,  that we dedicate our time energy and resources into developing their thinking and developing them as  spiritual people.

 

The Armour of God – Little Dreamers

 

If you were to venture upstairs on a Sunday morning during the last six weeks and enter the room occupied by The Little Dreamers crèche, you would discover a veritable hive of activity. You may be showered with jewels, wrapped in tin foil, or – more likely with our cheeky monkeys – get your shins bashed with a foam sword!

 

What have we been up to? Studying the Armour of God (from Ephesians 6v13-18) of course! Week one saw us decorating our card,  Belts of Truth,  with beautiful gems and stickers and learning that the belt was the first thing a soldier put on and was used to carry all his equipment. It had to be fitted securely and stay in place to maximise efficiency in battle. We need to use the Word of God as our foundation to hold everything in place in our daily lives. Next we made Shields of Faith. These stand for the faith we have in God that protects us from what the enemy throws at us, and we had fun testing our card creations with small missiles to check they were up to the job! The Helmets of Salvation were a great teaching point as the children thought about what types of helmets we wear for work or leisure, and how we need to protect our minds from evil thoughts, as a helmet protects the physical skull. After making the Swords of the Spirit, which represent how our knowledge of God’s Word can be a mighty weapon against Satan, we moved on to the Breastplates of Righteousness, learning that we need to keep our hearts protected and right with God to stay ‘alive’ in our faith. We finished the series making shoes out of cereal boxes to represent the feet fitted with the Readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace. The Roman soldiers’ greatest asset was their shoes, specially designed to stand firm on uneven terrain, and Paul was implying that the peace that comes from the Gospel can keep us steady no matter what we have to battle through.

 

We had a fantastic time dressing everyone up in what they had made and they looked fantastic! Hopefully they will understand the importance of the Armour of God and remember to clothe themselves in it everyday. This is achieved by prayer, which Paul says we need to do ‘always’ and for all God’s people. Well done Little Dreamers, or should I say Little Soldiers?!

 

 

 

Little Dreamers Newsletter - December 2010

 

We may be little but our dreams are big.

‘Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.’ 1 Timothy 4v12

‘I Am Giant’

Once again I am amazed at how quickly 2010 has gone! This is our last update for the year and, as always, we have had great fun over the last few months! 

We looked at the early years of King David, as he looked after his father’s sheep, and at his great faith in God as he faced and defeated the nine-foot giant, Goliath. 

We then spent seven weeks learning about the seven ‘I Am’ statements of God. We created a collage over the weeks that looks fantastic on our wall, including the gate, the path, the light, the resurrection/life, the shepherd, the vine and the bread of life. Please come and have a look at the results, but beware the life-size Goliath waiting behind the door!

Christmas Crafts

Yes, it’s that time of year again! As always we will be telling the Christmas story, while using various crafts to introduce the main characters and help the children remember the Scriptures that talk of them.

In Little Dreamers we feel it’s really important that our children learn that Christmas isn’t just about Father Christmas, or getting the latest Toy Story action figure - it’s one of the most important days in the Christian calendar. We hope that we can instil the foundations of the Gospel message into our little ‘angels’, starting with the basics of the birth of our Saviour. 

After the Christmas break we will be doing a series on love in it’s various forms.

Must like Colouring and Sticking!

As always we are on the lookout for team members. You may have a heart for working with the under-4s and feel you could prepare and lead regular sessions, or you may be willing to be an extra pair of hands once every few weeks or months. If this sounds like you, or someone you know, please let one of the team know. Our names can be found at the bottom of the page and we welcome as much, or as little, as you’re able to give!

We hope you enjoy these updates and are happy with what we are teaching your child. If, however, you have any ideas on how we could improve our sessions, or make them more relevant, please do not hesitate to let us know. 

Until our next letter, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Godtastic New Year!

 

Creche Team: Lisa Tilbrook, Gill Priest & Dave Tilbrook 

 

April News Letter

Welcome

I am really pleased to start our first newsletter of 2011 by welcoming new members to the Little Dreamers team! Gill Bancroft has agreed to join us as a main team member, and David Warrington will offer much-needed support as a helper. We could not teach our children week in, week out, without such willing volunteers, and we thank God for the new energy and ideas they will bring to our planning.

       

A Change of Plan!

In our last newsletter I reported that we would be studying the theme of love. Since then, however, we felt that God wanted us to prepare resources that would not only help future leaders prepare sessions that were age-appropriate and successful, but also  ensure  that  each  child  that 

grew through Little Dreamers and went on to Kid’s Church had a basic knowledge of subjects that Kid’s Church, and later, Youth, would expand upon in greater depth. We, therefore, will be writing resource notes to cover three years of teaching. The first year will be focussed on the main characters and events of the Old Testament, the second year will look at key themes, characters, and parables from the New Testament, while year three will study general themes such as love, faith and the character of God, drawing from the whole bible.

This has really excited us as a team, and we hope to have the resources available on the church website so that church members, and parents in particular, can see exactly what we are teaching the children, and fill in any gaps if their child is absent at all.

Feedback

We hope you enjoy these updates and are happy with what we are teaching your child. If, however, you have any ideas on how we could improve our sessions, or make them more relevant, please do not hesitate to let us know. Our names can be found at the bottom of the page.

Happy Easter from all of the Little Dreamers!