Comment from Mandy
Time: July 31, 2008, 8:03 am

Because of your age group, prizes are good. If they were younger, they wouldn’t understand why Suzy got one & she didn’t…even if you explained it.

As for ice cream, we just had some last night. 1 scoop of green w/ gummy life savers for eyes, & junior mints for pupils…it looked like a frog.

You could also put it in a small gardening pot w/ oreo cookie crumbs & gummy worms & talk about what God is planting in us. Maybe even a plastic flower for effect.

We’ve also made our own using plastic ziploc bags & ice. But that’s a lot of work…although it’s not messy.

Comment from Mandy
Time: July 31, 2008, 9:17 am

Oh, one more thing…no food prizes. No candy, no burger coupons etc.

Comment from debbie d.
Time: July 31, 2008, 9:42 am

at 42…I’m over the top about the Oriental Trading Company and all the little prizes you mentioned sound fabulous. truth be told, I don’t think they’ll care what little thing they get, they’ll just be tickled to receive a little prize. and for the college girls…well…I’m going to have to think on that…

Comment from Kelley
Time: July 31, 2008, 10:02 am

I’m thinking on the ice cream question and I’ll get back to that. But, for the rewards, I have this to say…my oldest son’s Kindergarten teacher did not do “prizes” which, at first, I didn’t understand. She explained that she wanted children to do the right thing because it was the right thing to do not because they would be rewarded. I’ll be honest…I kind of rolled my eyes at this at first but I quickly learned how right she was.

I know this is a different situation but I wanted to share that with you. I’d say girls that age would like journals, cutesy notepads, pens, jewelry, nail polish, lip gloss, etc.

Comment from stacie@hobbitdoor
Time: July 31, 2008, 10:47 am

I think prizes are great! You could use them as an incentive for memory verses if you gave them cards to memorize from. Girls at that age love the diary/journal thing. That could be a “bigger” type prize for something. I am always inspired by the party ideas at http://www.hostessblog.com. I’m sure she’s done an ice cream party you could get ideas from!

Comment from Ronnica
Time: July 31, 2008, 11:12 am

Stickers are always great too for that age (like half sheets of them) so they put them on their notebook or whatever. I use prizes with my Awana girls (5th and 6th grade) and it can really motivate them. At the same time I understand Kelley’s comment, and that’s how I treat the younger kids, only rewarding them at random, not everytime they do X.

Comment from Flowerpot
Time: July 31, 2008, 11:17 am

Nothing changes humans like the Word of God. I highly recommend memorizing scripture for the following reasons:
1. It’s truth. It never changes.
2. It bonds the girls together in truth.
3. It points them to the One who has all the answers in their life.

I could go on, but I love Stacie@hobbitdoor’s idea of giving them memory cards. They can use them as bookmarks, tape them on their mirror or on the wall in the bathroom. Laminate the card and tape it in the shower. Memory verses about God’s character are wonderful because the girls learn about the One who is Faithful and Loving and Just and Kind and Forgiving and Patient, abounding in compassion, slow to anger (Ps 103).

I don’t have a problem with rewards. God talks about rewards in the bible. He rewarded Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednago, Job, Soloman, David, Jesus at his baptism, Peter when he stepped out of the boat, etc.

You could have a contest for prizes. Have one question for the girls to answer, like, “What did you learn about God’s character?”

I wish I had an idea of what your meetings are like. My suggestions may not be applicable. I agree that this age (my daughter’s age) is about journals, note cards, special pens, anything relational. Hand lotion, chapstick is fun.

Comment from Chatty Kelly
Time: July 31, 2008, 11:26 am

My church has “Shares.” You get 1 share for attending, 1 share if you remember your bible, 3 shares for a commiting a verse to memory (you could send home a file card with each child with a simple verse). 1 share for each answer they answer out loud in class, 2 shares for praying out loud. You get the idea.

THEN - once a month they have a share store, where they buy things with there shares. Nail polish, candy, etc. etc. Candy is 1 share - up to a lava lamp which is 40 shares. (That is for the kid with the will power to save their shares for several months.)

Ice cream - all I know is how to eat it. No help here.

Comment from Chatty Kelly
Time: July 31, 2008, 11:29 am

p.s. I love your blog so much, I quoted it today at my blog. I couldn’t resist. I did link to you too, so folks would know it wasn’t my original thinking, but yours.

Comment from Vanderbilt Wife
Time: July 31, 2008, 11:31 am

AB, I volunteer for this place: cottagecove.org, and we have a “store” that is based on rewards points. The kids get “bonus tokens” for good behavior–we call them out for behaving well during Bible study, doing something nice for someone else, etc. If they are very misbehaved they lose free time, and after that they lose store privileges for that week.

In the store we have all kinds of stuff that they can buy with their tokens–school supplies, clothes, gifts for parents and siblings, music, jewelry, books, games, etc.

If you want to know more please e-mail me and I’d be happy to ramble on about it forever. It’s a great program. Our motto is “nothing costs but nothing is free” at Cottage Cove.

Comment from Christine
Time: July 31, 2008, 12:20 pm

I’m still thinking on the ice cream social thing. But as for the Twinkle girls, my idea has sort of been touched on above but I’ll throw it out anyway. I understand full well just how big a motivator rewards are for little kids. Most clean plates at our house are solely the result of a promise of a scop of ice cream at the end of the meal! That said though, what if the girls were just given prizes for being who they are. Not every time or every child, and maybe in conjunction with some sort of memory verse work or something like it. But given the situations these girls are in, maybe it would be a good way to point out how the only way to heaven is to make the decision to follow Jesus. It’s not about the things we do or how good we are, but just because Jesus loved us enough to do the really hard thing for us. I don’t know how deeply you can go into the Gospel message in this program, obviously much deeper than you’d be able to here in California, I can see that! But what if a child got a prize just for coming that day, regardless of how many weeks she’d come before, or just because. Maybe that’s a bit esoteric for kids of that age, but I’ve been wondering how to get the message across that we can never do enough to earn our salvation, that it’s a gift freely given. There are a lot of grown ups who have a hard time with that concept so I understand getting it across to kids is a challenge, but maybe if they start hearing it early enough…? Just my 2 cents.

Comment from Leslie Ruth
Time: July 31, 2008, 12:21 pm

I’ve seen several successful ice cream parties where the ice cream was served in a gutter. Yup, an “I went to Home Depot and bout sixteen feet of gutter” kind of gutter. Of course, you wipe it down, sanitize it a bit. Set it up on saw horses, fill it up with ice cream, set out the toppings and BAM! Ice cream fun. It makes for great pics too.

Comment from Kelli
Time: July 31, 2008, 12:26 pm

As a former teacher, I know there is always the struggle for whether or not to give elementary school age prizes. I had a small prize box and everyone had the chance to earn to be able to pick from it and we all survived.

I wonder if you “caught them being sweet” you could give them a “warm fuzzy”. We would write short letters of affirmation, so I don’t know if you could use the prizes for showing up or caught being sweet and then attached a note or just gave them a note to praise what a wonderful little girl they are! (LONGEST RUN ON EVER)

Comment from trs
Time: July 31, 2008, 4:39 pm

I was thinking on the lines of Kelli’s thoughts.

Prizes for doing something good. So it’s not something they are expected to do… you catch them at it. Alicia just lent Sara her favorite bubblegum colored ink pen… hey.. you get to pull from the prize vault!

I went to Catholic Grade School and at the end of each week (maybe it was month) the teachers from all 5 grades (small school) put ribbons on the bulletin board in the common hallway. I usually got my name on a ribbon for being courteous… I liked to hold doors open for people.

Comment from Stahli
Time: July 31, 2008, 8:58 pm

I think doing both the main ideas would work…..for doing something that is expected of them give them one reward token and then if you catch them doing something nice then give them two or three tokens…..that way they won’t necessarily just slide by on the expected. I also think you could give the girls the option of doing memory work and maybe that could be worth even more.

As for the ice cream social, I have been to a few and the ones that really stick out in my mind are the ones where it wasn’t overdone….I remember doing the gutter ice cream.

By the way I have been checking out your blog for awhile now and have really enjoyed it. Thanks!

Comment from Rachel
Time: July 31, 2008, 10:51 pm

I REALLY shy away from giving rewards based on religious type activity. After all, the people Jesus got really angry at were the religious ones. I would hate to give these girls the thought that they have to perform to be loved. That’s just bad and breeds all kinds of grossness in the Bride.

Now, having said that the GRACE model would say give those girls little prizes for no reason at all — liberally!!!!

Comment from Bethany
Time: July 31, 2008, 11:39 pm

I don’t really know how I feel about prizes. I can see all sides of the arguement.

I’d hope you were encouraging scripture memory, *especially* if the girls don’t have Bibles. (Do you have resources to get them Bibles inexpensively if they want them?)

Maybe something like this: all the participants’ names are written on a popsicle stick and put in a fancy little cup/can/jar. At various times throughout the afternoon, draw out a stick. Then ask “what have you learned about God this week?” and if the girls are willing to answer - ANY ANSWER, including a memorized scripture - they can go to the prize box. Set the used sticks aside, maybe rubberband them together if you don’t get to them all in one day, and keep drawing from the remaining sticks ’til everyone has a turn. Then repeat.

I love the “caught being great” idea too… maybe have the girls themselves put slips in if they see someone doing something great (so they’re learning to see the best, rather than the worst in each other). Then have a drawing once a week/month/whenever for bigger prizes. At the end of the year/quarter, give each girl all the slips that were written about them so they can see how much others appreciate the GOOD that they do.

For the icecream social, do you do toppings? If so, I’ve got a get-to-know you game.

Girls will find someone with one “thing” in common and answer a question i.e:

Ice cream flavor:
Chocolate - tell each other about your favorite vacation/dream vacation
Vanilla - tell each other about the person who inspires you the most
Strawberry - tell each other about your most embarassing moment

… and so on with a question for each icecream flavor and topping. The girls’ preferences will determine what questions they answer and they have to find a different person (someone they don’t know or don’t know well) for each - at least 3 questions/people.

Then you can talk about how each person is unique in the way they like to eat their icecream, but you can always find something in common with anyone. And relate that to how God loves each and every one of us no matter how different we are.

Comment from Brandy T
Time: July 31, 2008, 11:51 pm

Our kids get “Kidz Buckz” (fake paper money) that they earn for attendance, bringing Bible, memorizing memory verses, and bringing guests. Then we make an announcement once a month that the “Kidz Store” will be open. They can then use their Kidz Buckz to purchase things from the store. Saves us some $$ by not handing out a prize for every little thing and also gives the kids a reason to do more than just one thing to earn “today’s prize.”

Comment from Karen
Time: August 1, 2008, 5:50 am

I think the prize idea is excellent. You’ve gotten so many wonderful suggestions already! I have a girl a little older than the age group you’re discussing and, if things haven’t changed too much in the past three to four years, the best thing to reward them with is anything Lisa Frank.

I like the comments others made about memory verses, but I also read what you said about many of these girls not even being allowed to bring bibles into their homes, so even printing verses on cards to give to them would be a bad idea for many. You could do a “caught being kind” thing. My son’s fourth grade teacher did that. She had a prize box and only let the kids pick from it if they were caught being kind, above and beyond normal acceptable behavior. The kids got so into it that they started “tattling” on each other for small kindnesses like loaning pencils or holding doors.

Comment from Lisa @ The PW
Time: August 2, 2008, 7:28 pm

I teach the classes for our school’s Bible Release Time program and we do prizes. Kids love them. We ask the kids to maintain a folder just like their other classes and then send home activity sheets with scripture verses. If they memorize, it adds to the points. We standardized the prizes for each point level reached so everyone got the same thing..

Comment from Lauren
Time: August 3, 2008, 10:33 pm

I did the “shares” thing when I was in 4-6th grade at church. I really loved it. But you may encounter a girl who may not read or memorize as well as the others and may not get as many “shares”, especially at that age.
I also did what Karen stated. My 2nd grade teacher did that and we would always secretly “race” to the door to hold it or sharpen someone’s pencil.
There are sooo many ideas out there!!!