Do boys hate craft?

Hmmm... this se

ems like a very reasonable idea indeed!

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news

BIG MinistriesUnit 4, West Court, Buntsford Park Road, Bromsgrove, B60 3DX

t: 01527 556639 e: [email protected] w: bigministries.co.ukBIG Ministries is a registered charity. No. 1116509. So there.

Little people. BIG God.

fun leading all-age and 7-11’s work there. In one of the kids sessions this Easter, I was fascinated by one particular craft activity... the making of finger puppets.

We split the 9-11 girls and boys into single sex groups for small group activities, and following the games it was time for craft—all neatly laid on a sheet on the floor. First up: the girls. The puppets were lovingly and carefully made as precise replicas of the example that Hannah (who had prepared all the craft) had made, even matching the hair, ‘skin’ and nose(!) colour! Next up: the boys. It couldn’t have been more different! I’ve never seen such variety! They excitedly created puppets with giant afros, 13-eyed-aliens from space, lions with crazy manes, men with weird and wonderful beards and even one poor puppet with a massive green nose!

A simple activity giving children the freedom to create what they wanted confirmed much of what we’ve been thinking recently with regards to girls and boys (particularly age 7+) and how incredibly different they are.

Boys don’t hate craft as the title of this page implies… I believe what boys actually struggle with is long, complicated, prescriptive crafts in which they are required to be still and ‘trapped’ around a table (which so many craft activities seem to be).

On our travels we often hear phrases like: ‘We have such trouble with the boys’; ‘The boys are so easily distracted’, ‘They just can’t sit and listen, or sit and do anything!’. This really saddens me. I feel like we’re letting our boys down and criticising them for being just who God has created them to be.

There are always exceptions, but studies show that in the genetic make-up of boys is the desire for risk and activity. Confining boys to a small area and asking them to sit still for long periods, is highly likely to result in fidgeting and ‘disengagement’. This is not because they are ‘naughty’ but, rather, because they have an inbuilt desire to be active and take risks. How much space is there in our Sunday mornings to be

really active and how comfortable would be allowing that to happen?

Summer 2011

Do boys hate craft?The curious case of the 13-eyed-alien from space.ECG (ecgevent.org.uk) is a conference we’ve been involved in for a few years and where we’ve had great

Thinking back to the craft activity, the girls results come from their desire to please the leader, and to do it ‘right’, so it’s best for them to do exactly as they have been shown. (Girls brains are significantly larger than boys in the emotional areas—stereotypes do come from somewhere! —relationships/ pleasing others is crucial.)

Boys however like the freedom to ‘take a risk’, to stick an extra bit of felt on the top and see if it looks like a giant afro! If it doesn’t work or looks stupid then it will just be rejected as a failed attempt without a second thought, or even made into something more ridiculous because it’s funny! They need the freedom to move around (perhaps on a mat on the floor)to get something or show someone their creation so far!

Let’s do our best to think outside the box a bit and think how we can do things that will help our boys to engage as well as our girls do… maybe single sex groups are the way forward?! Hmmm... the curious case of the 13-eyed-alien from space continues...

For more reading on this stuff check out Slugs & Snails & Puppy Dogs Tails by Carolyn Edwards, The Wonder of Girls and The Wonder of Boys both by Michael Gurian.

Jo Squires Co-director

Get all the latest on BIG Ministries life... Sign up to our blog and get news sent straight into your inbox! • bigministriesuk.wordpress.com

10 BIG Bible Stories 3The trilogy is complete! 10 BIG Bible Stories: Volume 3 is now available for purchase. I’d like to say that I came up with all of the stories myself but that would be a lie. I copied them from the Bible... so did Jo. I hope God’s okay with it. Myself and Jo first wrote Volume 1 with the idea behind it being that we wanted to produce a book of Bible stories that involved all of it’s listeners through varying forms of interaction; and not only that but we wanted people to be able to use the book in a variety of settings (like in all-age services or kids groups). The positive feedback that we received

from Volume 1 led us to believe that it would be a good idea to write some more... and so we did. It was definitely a lot of fun to write, but also, I’ve come to realise that the Bible is quite complex—who’d have thought? Therefore, a fair amount of study has gone into the Bible’s chronological order and various Hebrew traditions in order for us to produce a book that’s factually correct (I hope). The Bible is indeed a one-of-a-kind book and we, at BIG Ministries, hope that the 10 BIG Bible Stories series will aid other people in better understanding it’s amazing messages. [James Rubacki]

Volume 1 01 Creation 02 Noah 03 Gideon 04 David&Goliath 05 Elijah 06 Bartimaeus 07 TheLostParables 08 Zacchaeus 09 Jesus’Death&Resurrection 10 Paul&Silas

Volume 2 01 Moses 02 Samson 03 Naaman 04 Daniel&Friends 05 Nehemiah 06 TheBirthofJesus 07 CallingoftheDisciples 08 FiveFriendsonaRoof 09 JesusFeeds5,000+ 10 Pentecost

Volume 3 01 Abraham 02 Jacob&Esau 03 Joshua 04 Jacob 05 Esther 06 TheWomanHealedontheSabbath 07 KingdomofHeavenParables 08 JesusClearstheTemple 09 Nicodemus 10 Philip&theEthiopian

10 more interactive Bible stories

each told in 3 different ways.

An adaptable resource for use with children and all-ages.

The Woman

Healed on

the Sabbath

Kingdom of

Heaven Parables

Abraham Jacob & EsauJoshua

JonahEsther

Jesus Clears

the Temple

NicodemusPhilip & the

Ethiopian

10 BIG Bible Stories: Volume 3 by James Rubacki & Jo Squires

10 BIG Bible Stories has grown out of BIG Ministries’ desire

to bring the Bible alive and communicate the story of God

relevantly. We love to inspire people (little and not-so-little)

to worship our BIG and incredible God. With Volume 3

we hope that you will be able to do the same.

There are three versions of each story, so you should

find something that will fit your situation with all-ages or

a group of children…

* BIG One for lots of people and lots of props.

* Solo One for individuals to tell the story.

* Small One to use with smaller groups of children.

For Volumes 1 & 2 and other great resources visit:

www.bigministries.co.uk

“BIG Ministries is the most

dynamic, creative and relevant

children’s work that I have seen.

I wholeheartedly recommend

this work and encourage every

church and church leader to

fully engage with it.”

Gavin CalverNational Director of Youth for Christ

10 BIG B

ible Stories: Volum

e 3

Our heart is to serve churches by offering high quality events for children,

families and all-ages that are God-focused, engaging, fun and challenging.

We also love to equip and inspire leaders by delivering training events.

For more information on how we could help you, or to book

BIG Ministries, get in touch. We’d love to hear from you…

e: [email protected] t: 01527 556639 w: bigministries.co.uk

BIG Ministries, Unit 4, West Court, Buntsford Park Road, Bromsgrove B60 3DX.

Registered Charity No. 1116509.

“The 10 BIG Bible Stories series is fantastic!

It’s the best resource we have used in our junior

church. The books are full of great ideas and

fun ways to involve all children.”

Rachel HollandSouth Molton Baptist Church

“We’ve used stories from this book loads of times

in all-age services. They’re really easy to put on and

convey a great message in a simple way.”

Michael WhitemanSounds of Salvation

“10 BIG Bible Stories is a fantastic way of helping

children get into the amazing stories in the Bible.

I can’t recommend it too highly.

Get it and use it with your children.”

Robert Willoughby

Lecturer in New Testament at London School of Theology and

author of ‘The Children’s Guide to the Bible’ and ‘So, Who is God?’

“Help your children discover truth that will

transform by using these resources.”

Dave RobertsChildren Matter!

Here are some of the nice things people have said about 10 BIG Bible Stories...

Edited by Steve Squires

Pssst... Did you

know that there

are a whopping

106 stories in

the 10 BIG Bible

Stories series!

£12 (+P&P)

Package deals

available online

Inside BIG Ministries’ Pop FactoryAKA The Guest Room

Pssst... There are a number of song writers in the BIG Team but Damian Herbert is the key person in the

process so this is the story of how he works.

Superlovelyphotobyourfriends

Owen&CharisWarrell// oacphotography.com

Here are some of the things kids have said

that we have found: (tick as appropriate)

q amusing q challenging q confusing

4 What can we do to help people who don’t have clean water?

“Get my dad to fly a helicopter over the desert in Africa and

drop buckets of water for them.”

4 8-year-old: Worship

means to “do whatever you

can, as well as you can, for

God, because you love Him.”

We use that one a lot.

4 To Damian: “You’re not

funny.” (He is actually.

Sometimes.)

4 A 5-year-old penned an

excellent song including female

body parts and toilet humour.

4 While looking out a window

and stretching his arms out a

6-year-old boy said in a voice as

low as Barry White’s “Jo, look at

God’s wooonderful wooorld.”

4 4-year-old challenging

Goliath to a fight to the

death.

4 When Baz was dressed as

a sheep pretending to be lost

and lonely a 3-year-old sidled

up to him and said: “I’ll be

your friend”.

4 A whole assembly of

kids misheard the story and

thought that it was about

Gideon and the Meteorites.

Sounds exciting...

4 A 7-year-old girl speaking

into a fan, doing robot/Dalek

impressions saying...

“I am a robot, how dare you.

I am a robot, how dare you.


etc etc...”

4 A 4-year-old girl:

“If God made everything.

Did God make chairs?”

We REALLY need your help!We love what we do and the fact that we reach so many kids with the life-changing good news of Jesus. As the ministry has grown, so too have our financial needs. It costs us around £4,500 a month to function, around £1,750 of which is given by our fantastic team of supporters (events being our other main source of income).

As things currently stand we are looking at a deficit of up to £7k for the financial year 2011/12. We would love for you to consider being part of the resolution to this problem and helping us to continue to grow. An increase of £750 each month would put us in a much healthier position. We have around 800 people on our mailing list so if just 25% of those gave just £5 a month we’d easily meet our target (or if everyone gave £1... etc!). [Steve Squires]Please prayerfully consider how you could help.

computer that resembles a backing track; I finish the lyrics and record vocals over the top.

I, then, pop it on my iPod® and play it to the BIG Team and a few select little people for their opinions. There’s always something to be improved and this critique leads to better songs. The song is critiqued and rewritten until it is truly finished and ready for wider consumption.

God is in the whole process; In the initial spark of inspiration and the hours of creative labour, in His Word as I try to understand and communicate truth, in the critique of friends and in the room as I cry out “O God, why can’t I find a rhyme for purple?”

So that’s how we make a song, it’s that quick and easy! We promise the next BIG Album is on its way. It’s just staying in our Guest Room for a while... [Damian Herbert]

• Let us know what sort of stuff you think we should be writing about... • Also, if you have some really cool recording equipment to donate... [email protected]

I call it my studio. Kate calls it the Guest Room... and sometimes it is. Either way there is a room in our house where the songs begin.

For me, there isn’t a set formula for writing songs. Sometimes it starts with a melody, sometimes a few chords and sometimes a couple of lines that popped into my head in the shower.

I build the song around that snippet by playing guitar, writing lines in one of my countless notebooks and by piecing together different instrument parts using computer software. Sometime later (even weeks!), I have something on the

“10 BIG Bible Stories is a fantastic way of helping children get into the amazing stories in the Bible. I can’t recommend it too highly. Get it and use it with your children.”Robert WilloughbyLecturer in New Testament at London School of Theology and author of ‘The Children’s Guide to the Bible’ and ‘So, Who is God?’

“Help your children discover

truth that will transform by

using these resources.”

Dave RobertsChildren Matter!

“The 10 BIG Bible Stories series is

fantastic! It’s the best

resource we have used in our junior

church. The books are full of great ideas

and fun ways to involve all children.”

Rachel HollandSouth Molton Baptist Church

Get all the latest on BIG Ministries life... Sign up to our blog and get news sent straight into your inbox! • bigministriesuk.wordpress.com

Gaffer TapeIs there anything it can’t do?You may have heard urban myths of gaffer tape being used as bandages or fixing broken aeroplane wings. But isn’t building a giant photo frame or a life-sized cardboard vending machine much more important than that?

Here at BIG Ministries, we make a lot of props for our stories and games. Baz has grand ideas, and then has to watch his vision being hurriedly knocked together out of cardboard, gaffer and marker pens. It’s amazing what you can build — golden calves, the walls of Jericho, the sun, whales, bicycles, wings (you know, for flying)... all held together with lashings of gaffer.

Early on in the days of BIG Ministries, it was decreed that every equipment box should have a roll of gaffer inside. Whether you’re sticking cables to the floor, fixing ripped trousers (it happens) or building an Ark of the Covenant, you need it! And yet, at events, you’ll always hear someone asking, “Anyone seen the gaffer?”... [Sarah Joy]

BIG InclusionEverybody’s welcomeIn all-age services we often sing a song called Everybody’s Welcome and we all know that’s true but what does it mean and how do we do it?

I get so excited when I see a group of people all worshipping together but doing things in a way that is most appropriate and relevant for them.

Being created in the image of God means we all have something unique and valuable to contribute.

At BIG Ministries we feel very passionate about inclusion and want to ensure that when we are doing an event we are catering for the specific needs of everyone! Inclusion is about providing equal opportunities and celebrating the differences between us. We are all different and so we need different things.

We use a ‘safe space’ (a comfortable area slightly away from the main activities) to enable everyone to participate. Here a child can be calm and quiet, or jump around if that’s what they need to do! We have lots of activities to support people who find it difficult to engage with an upfront programme. We want everyone to know they are welcome, accepted and valued. [Louise Edgell]

Here are some of the things kids have said

that we have found: (tick as appropriate)

q amusing q challenging q confusing

4 What can we do to help people who don’t have clean water?

“Get my dad to fly a helicopter over the desert in Africa and

drop buckets of water for them.”

4 8-year-old: Worship

means to “do whatever you

can, as well as you can, for

God, because you love Him.”

We use that one a lot.

4 To Damian: “You’re not

funny.” (He is actually.

Sometimes.)

4 A 5-year-old penned an

excellent song including female

body parts and toilet humour.

4 While looking out a window

and stretching his arms out a

6-year-old boy said in a voice as

low as Barry White’s “Jo, look at

God’s wooonderful wooorld.”

4 4-year-old challenging

Goliath to a fight to the

death.

4 When Baz was dressed as

a sheep pretending to be lost

and lonely a 3-year-old sidled

up to him and said: “I’ll be

your friend”.

4 A whole assembly of

kids misheard the story and

thought that it was about

Gideon and the Meteorites.

Sounds exciting...

4 A 7-year-old girl speaking

into a fan, doing robot/Dalek

impressions saying...

“I am a robot, how dare you.



etc etc...”

4 A 4-year-old girl:

“If God made everything.

Did God make chairs?”

We REALLY need your help!We love what we do and the fact that we reach so many kids with the life-changing good news of Jesus. As the ministry has grown, so too have our financial needs. It costs us around £4,500 a month to function, around £1,750 of which is given by our fantastic team of supporters (events being our other main source of income).

As things currently stand we are looking at a deficit of up to £7k for the financial year 2011/12. We would love for you to consider being part of the resolution to this problem and helping us to continue to grow. An increase of £750 each month would put us in a much healthier position. We have around 800 people on our mailing list so if just 25% of those gave just £5 a month we’d easily meet our target (or if everyone gave £1... etc!). [Steve Squires]Please prayerfully consider how you could help.

10 new interactive Bible stories

each told in 3 different ways.

An adaptable resource for use with children and all-ages.

Who am I?I am Steve and I joined BIG Ministries about 3 years

ago—although, as Jo’s husband, I was there right from

the beginning as she concocted her evil plans for world

domination in our spare bedroom.

[When I say ‘evil’ I mean entirely the opposite. When I say

‘world’ I mean... well, I don’t really know what I mean,

it just sounded good.]

Why do I hang out with BIG Ministries?

I am very proud to say that I hang out with BIG Ministries because it is packed

full of my friends with whom I love sharing this ministry! Initially I joined BIG

Ministries to help my wife fulfill her God-given ministry but as time has gone by

I have found it to be a place where I too have been able to use my gifts.

What do I do? (at BIG things)

I work in the office: preparing for events, designing publicity, editing, writing

songs (sometimes), and often focus on the ‘money side’ of things. At events

I’m often found residing in the ‘techie-zone’ or narrating stories or singing or

‘puppetting’ or teaching or pretending that putting equipment in the van is, in

actual fact, a giant game of tetris...

What do I think when I think of BIG Ministries?

I think of how God has given my wife loads of cool gifts in leading children and

how cool it is to be part of a charity that seeks to enable others to do the same.

As a little incentive (although I know if you do the maths it works out more expensive) we’ll be giving away a free CD or 10 BIG Bible Stories 2 or 3 when you partner with us.

Just complete and return the form overleaf.

»

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q We promise not to bombard you with loads of pointless things but if you would prefer not to receive anything in the post please tick this box.

Hmmm... this se

ems like a very reasonable idea indeed! Why not stick this to

your fridge as areminder to pray

for us?>-

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Keep

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Please send me... Unstoppable CD q 10BBSv2 q Nothing (keep it!) q 10BBSv3 q

Hmmm... this se


news

BIG MinistriesUnit 4, West Court, Buntsford Park Road, Bromsgrove, B60 3DX

t: 01527 556639 e: [email protected] w: bigministries.co.ukBIG Ministries is a registered charity. No. 1116509. So there.

Little people. BIG God.

Recentlywe’ve been here...

Training & All-age, Riverside Birmingham 22 January 2011 (Sat-Sun)

BIG Weekend, Redditch Churches Together 29-30 January 2011 (Sat-Sun)

Children’s Ministry Conference, Eastbourne 4 February 2011 (Fri-Sun)

Training & BIG Party, South Molton 26 February 2011 (Sat)

BIG Party, Thomas Aquinas, Birmingham 16 March 2011 (Sat)

BIG Party, Guildford 19 March 2011 (Sat)

BIG Weekend, Barnsley 26 March 2011 (Sat-Sun)

Spring Harvest 2011, Skegness 9 April 2011 (Sat-Thu)

ECG Conference, Llandudno 28 April 2011 (Thu-Mon)

Big Church Day Out, Wiston House 28 May 2011 (Fri-Sun)

BIG Holiday Club, Bedford 30 May 2011 (Mon-Sun)

BIG Party, Warfield Churches Together 12 June 2011 (Sun)

*

*

Book us now!Our heart is to serve churches all over the UK. We offer BIG Parties, All-age Services, and Training.Call us to chat about how we could help you: 01527 556639.

Soonwe’ll be here...

Printed on FSC approved paper. From w

ell-managed forests.

Protecting the home of the Golden Lion Tam

arin.

*Starsour favourites from the last wee while...

Spring Harvest 2011 Skegness

We were really excited to be invited to be

involved in Spring Harvest. The team led two

daily all-age celebrations on the theme of

Route 66 (the Bible!). We also did an acoustic

set in the Skyline (exhibition area), led a BIG

Party for families, helped host the Big Start

each morning and celebrated Matilda’s first

birthday (and Kate’s too, although it wasn’t

her first). We had a great team and a lot of

fun at this brilliant annual event.

Bedford Holiday Club Christ Church Bedford

It was great to work with the team at

Christ Church Bedford in delivering our

BIG Academy holiday club. Stories, puppets,

songs, rotation (where we go around in

teams doing loads of different activities).

We had a fantastic host home too!

BIG Weekend, Cambray 18 June 2011 (Sat-Sun)

BIG Party, Wellingborough 24 June 2011 (Fri)

BIG Strategy Day, Birmingham 25 June 2011 (Sat)

Cathedral Services, Birmingham 4 July 2011 (Mon-Fri)

HOLIDAY, OFFICE CLOSED Weeks beginning 11 & 18 July 2011

BIG Party, Sheffield Community Church 30 July 2011 (Sat)

All-age, Barnt Green 31 July 2011 (Sun)

Detling Conference 2011, Detling 6 August 2011 (Sat-Thu)

BIG Holiday Club, Hoylake 22 August 2011 (Mon-Fri)

BIG Holiday Club, Holcombe Brook 30 August 2011 (Tue-Fri)

Do boys hate craft?

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Transcript of Do boys hate craft?