Sticky note encouragement activity with girls
This past sunday a group of girls and I looked at 1 Samuel 16: 7 :But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
To start it out, I had the girls write out encouraging statements on sticky notes and post them on each other. The girls handled this activity very maturely in making sure that they actually encouraged each other or “posted” a prayer over them. They also had to make sure that each girl had a sticky note before other girls received another note. It was a sweet activity. We used it to discuss how we “tag” each other with compliments or words that stick. We discussed that God sees us completely different than we see each other. He sees our hearts!
It was a great introduction to the lesson.
The girls had fun posting sticky notes on each other. They truly enjoyed posting them on their faces, as you can see.
More sticky note fun!
This past Sunday two of our 8th grade girls lifegroup leaders put together a Valentine’s eve cookie party. I joined them after the damage had already begun on the kitchen table. You probably heard us sometime during the afternoon. You must have heard us, as those 12 or so 8th grade girls hit decibels that broke the sound barrier at least 5 or 6 times. You know how it goes. You start making cookies. You start giggling. You start singing, and it quickly escalates into a sound barrier breaking rendition of “I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.” Amazing. And I loved how not only did we make heart cookies, but we had Yoda, Bobba Fett, and a Storm trooper that showed up in our cookie tray as well. Why do we do it? Because in the margins of making cookies, we share more than a recipe. We share time. We share turns getting to hear what’s going on, or what one girls likes, or what one girl doesn’t like. We share laughter. And as a result, we’ve shared life together. Walking into that group on Wednesday night doesn’t seem like a sterile classroom anymore. There’s growth happening even more now because these two lifegroup leaders took time to bring girls to their home and make cookies for an afternoon. I love that our leaders see the importance of doing life outside of our scheduled time on Wednesday. Thanks Kathy and Debbie! And thanks to many other leaders who do this on a regular basis. I just didn’t call attention to you today. BUT it’s coming:)
I walked into one of our small groups at the end of December and saw all the girls flipping through calendars and writing each other’s birthdays on the calendars. They wrote events that they were supposed to remember for the entire year. I loved what this awesome leader, Lori Beth, was doing with the girls as an end of the year activity. This would be an awesome beginning of the year activity with a group of girls you’re mentoring. Lori Beth shared with me that she had taken a passage to talk with the girls about how they spent their time. I thought she had told me she used a passage in Hosea but I can’t recall it. I would use the same activity with:
Psalm 90:12: Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
I loved how Lorie Beth gave each of the girls a calendar to fill up with birthdays of the other girls and leaders. In addition, you could add things to pray for, you could have the girls mark in certain things throughout the week. You could obtain some stickers that meant a certain thing for each week and have them apply the stickers for the whole year, like a yellow star represents when all the girls agree to pray for a certain thing in the group.
Then have them read Psalm 90:12 and talk with them about the importance of numbering our days.
- What does numbering our days help us to do?
- When we begin to cherish the days we have been given, how does that impact the purpose and intent of those days?
- How should our days look different when we follow Christ with our lives?
What beginning of the year activities have you seen work?
GIRLS MINISTER ON THE ROAD WEBISODE: Episode 2
GIRLS MINISTER ON THE ROAD: Episode 2 from Amy Jo Girardier on Vimeo.
Just an everyday ordinary girls minister who used a gorilla pod to hold a flip cam in her car to record her thoughts and sometimes guest interviews who happen to ride with her. Don’t worry—it’s a short ride, but maybe just maybe you’ll get a snapshot of what girls ministry is about.
