The Starship Discovery Holiday Club!
The material also introduces five qualities common to Christians today: the willingness to turn to Jesus, to trust him and to be transformed, the humility to ask for forgiveness when we trip and the willingness to train for the journey ahead.
Using John Hardwick's winning mix of songs, warm-up activities, drama, crafts, games, puppet sketches, Bible narrations, quizzes and fun-sheets, the material offers five sessions plus ideas for a special evening or all-age service as a conclusion to the holiday club itself.
'We have used John Hardwick's holiday club material for the last five years and have been so impressed with his inventiveness, strength of Bible teaching, imaginative drama and the way it is so easy to use'
- P Harris, a youth pastor in Buckinghamshire
John Hardwick works under the banner of Counties and Children Worldwide to present the Christian message in an exciting way, which will appeal to children of all ages. He is based in Cambridgeshire but travels widely leading praise parties, training sessions on creative communication and all-age worship. He is an all-age worship leader at Spring Harvest and Easter People, a key member of the Barnabas freelance team and author of the popular holiday clubs We're going on a Jungle Jamboree, Champions, and Junior Heroes, all published by Barnabas.
Review from thegoodbookstall.org.uk - 13 Febraury 2008
This 5 day resource book is a ready to run plan for a holiday club for 5-11 year olds. The holiday club is themed around the life of Peter. Day one is about 'turning' - Jesus turned Peter's life on its head. Day 2 is 'trusting'. Peter trusted Jesus when he stepped out of the boat. Day 3 is about 'tripping'. We all make mistakes and Peter let Jesus down. Day 4 is 'transformation'. God has the power to transform lives and finally 'training' on Day 5. We need training to be prepared for the journey ahead.
All you need to run a holiday club is included from sample registration forms and invitations to quizzes, drama scripts, games and craft ideas, songs, worksheets, opening talks and challenges. There is also basic information about how to organise the holiday club and extra material to use at an evening event or service. The book is clearly laid out with all the drama grouped together, the crafts together etc. which makes it very easy to use when planning your event. The holiday club is set on the Starship Discovery. Games and crafts all have a fun space flavour and include making memory verse rockets and backpack oxygen bottles. Flying saucer races and flying planet volleyball are two of the games. A light hearted drama about the Watt family in space sets the scene for each day. In addition there are puppet sketches and also dramatised Bible story narrations for each day. This is a user-friendly pack and is ideal for anyone planning a church holiday club.
Reviewed by Kathy Bland
Review from The Methodist Recorder - Thursday 31 January 2008Barnabas has published The Starship Discovery Holiday Club! (GBP8.99) described as "A five-day holiday club plan, complete and ready-to-run", designed for the 5-to-11 age-group and written by John Hardwick. The five sessions, of a suggested two-and-a-half-hour length, employ a space-travel theme to explore the characteristics of Peter as he meets Jesus (Blast off!), learns to trust him (Beam me up!), lets him down (Black hole!), receives the Holy Spirit (Breakthrough!) and finds the strength to build his Church (Battle stations!). There is a theme tune for the series and another for the Watt family, who feature in the dramas played out in each session - for which further songs are supplied. Instructions for running the club are, as usual with brf publications, comprehensive and practical and photo-copying permission is included.
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