Weekly Recap

This week we played our #1 KWAV's game - "Jump Over The River".  The kids show up every single week with that as their big request.  They go crazy for this game.  We are actually in awe of how far they can jump.  This week the longest jump was over 10 feet.  Are you kidding me?

We started the Old Testament story of Joseph and his journey from beloved son to slave in Potipher's house.  The theme of the story is "What man intends for harm, God can use for good."  We will be continuing this story next week.  The kids are truly spellbound during these stories as Donna holds them in the palm of her hands with her amazing storytelling.

The kids also worked on a craft for their amazing mommies since Mother's Day is this weekend.  We had cute little envelopes filled with coupons for their mommies and they wrote a little note and decorated them.  I am excited to cash in my coupons for having the trash taken out and other helpful endeavors!

We also pulled our next "blessing mission" out of our blessing jar.  This is a new KWAV's tradition and the kids are excited to be out in the neighborhood with a secret task.  This week's mission is to give a balloon with a happy note attached to it to someone.  I cannot wait to hear how the kids run with this in different ways.  Be sure to snap a photo of your kiddo in action if you can!  We would love to post their photo on our site and brag about them in front of their friends!

Have a great week!

Weekly Recap

Last week we kicked off our weekly KWAV's meetings with our annual Easter Egg Hunt. It was a blast! The kids got to participate in relay races, a fun time of music, hearing the Easter story and a massive egg hunt. At the end of the egg hunt, we had a giant basket out for the kids to donate some of their eggs to The Shalimar Learning Center. It is always fun to see how the kids exercise this option. Some of the kids gave all their eggs. Some gave a few. But, everyone gave.

This week we started off our time with a "Jump Over The River" competition. This has very quickly become a KWAV's favorite. The kids are wild about this game. I cannot believe how far these kids can jump. (Just in case you are wondering what this game looks like - it is so easy and so fun for the kids. You simply need two jump ropes or two ropes to use. You place the ropes parallel to each other about 2 feet apart and the kids all line up and one at a time will jump the "river" between the two ropes. After all the kids have gone you make the river wider by moving one of the ropes. The kids continue to jump and are eliminated when one of their feet touch any part of the rope. The last one to jump the river is the winner!)

We learned about a few parables that Jesus taught. The main focus was on the parable of the Talents, and we spent quite a bit of time talking about what it looks like to use our talents for good. It was really a treat to hear the kids identify what they know they are good at and how they can use that to be a blessing.

We also kicked off a new tradition in our time together. We have a giant jar called "The Blessing Jar". And, in this jar are many slips of paper with little missions to bless others in our community. Some examples:

Write your neighbors a note on their driveway with chalk telling them why you love them.

Bake a treat and deliver it to someone you know needs a boost.

Leave coins taped to the vending machine.

Make dinner for someone who could use it.

Sweep a neighbors porch.

You get the picture. This week the chosen mission is:

"Play with children who are younger than you. Encourage them!"

So, all our KWAV's kids have been sent out on this mission for the week. They are going to practice exercising generosity by being extra patient with the "littles" in their lives. These could be neighbors, younger siblings, or a child they meet at the park.

And, here's the twist - we are commissioning all the parents to act as spies - be on the look out for kids on a mission. Snap a photo if you can, and please share it with us!

We have gotten very fancy and set up a FACEBOOK Page to help make this super easy! You can simply share the photo of your child in action on our KWAV's Facebook page.

We have already spied our sweet first grade Megan lovingly playing with our KWAV's mascot and preschooler Ella for two hours while their older brothers were playing baseball. We love seeing love in action!

Today's Recap

We are rescheduling our November Blessings Bags service project to December. Stay tuned for updates!

Weekly Recap and This Week

We will be collecting gently used sporting goods or dance & gymnastics items again this week. Feel free to drop off items at the Phase 2 Clubhouse anytime from noon to 3 PM.

We are looking forward to another fun week with our KWAV's kids.

Next week (the 15th) will be our last week. We plan on having a party!

Weekly Recap

Today was another great day for the KWAV's. We kicked off our time together with a great minute to win it game. Claire and Ryan challenged each other with the "angry bull dog game". It was pretty awesome!

Our story was about the Prodigal Son and forgiveness. We should all have ample opportunities this week to practice cultivating a forgiving posture for one another.

I love the definition of forgive that the kids learned - "Choosing to forget if someone has hurt me."

Our small group activity this week was to make something for Veterans, in honor of Memorial Day. The kids made a beaded safety pin that we pinned onto a letter to Veterans. The other side of the letter was made into a flag. We are delivering these to Veterans at the VA Hospital in Long Beach this week.

The highlight of our day was our guest speaker! We had Mr. Coleman, a father of two KWAV's, and fellow neighbor, come in to share with the kids about his experience as a Veteran. His story is powerful and the kids were captivated. He opened it up to questions and one of our girls asked if the kids could sing the national anthem for him.

All the children stood and proudly belted out The Star Spangled Banner. It was a very special moment! Thank you, Mr. Coleman, for your service to our country and for sharing time with us.

Just a reminder for next week - we'd love to have the kids bring a gently used sporting goods item, or dance or gymnastic item to donate to kids in the inner city.

Weekly Recap

Hopefully, the Weekly Recap sheet came home with your child.

We had a great day with the kids, and thanks to all the volunteer parents' help - things went pretty smoothly during our activity time. The kids were a whirlwind of activity - they made blessing bags for the homeless, and they made "Love Notes" boxes for their family.

Our character trait this week was "ENCOURAGE" and the definition we gave the kids was "Showing support for others with our words and actions."

Our activities were the perfect way for the kids to practice this: They showed support in their actions by preparing the blessing bags for the homeless. These bags were given to the homeless in Santa Ana. One woman said, "I am going to sleep with this under my head so that no one can take anything out of it." They obviously were blessed to receive the items in the bags. [ Click here for easy instructions on how to make Blessing Bags.]

The kids then got to practice showing support for others with their words by making the Love Notes boxes.

[love notes]

[inside the box are post its & a description]

And now, we have these appearing all over the house:

This is simply a tangible way for us to practice encouraging each other with our words. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a whole culture of kids living in this neighborhood who lived with eyes open with gratitude and spoke their thanks to their families, their teachers, their coaches, their peers? What if they learned to walk through life with eyes to see who could use an encouraging word? This is our goal! If you'd like to make some love notes boxes to share with others, click here for the tutorial.

We are looking forward to this week with the kids. We are going to be working on a project for veterans at the VA hospital in Long Beach in honor of Memorial Day.

The kids do not need to bring anything to donate this week. But, just a heads up for the following week (6/1), we would like for kids to bring a gently used sports ball to donate.

Weekly Recap AND News for this week

We had so much fun this last week. Really, we should not be allowed to have this much fun.

The kids learned about DILIGENCE - working hard to finish something. This is a character trait that they will get a lot of practice with.

We had a wacky obstacle course to practice diligence that involved lots of hopping and carrying a marshmellow on the end of a spoon that was balanced in the kids' mouths.

Like I said, we should not be allowed to have this much fun!

The kids also made another lovely bead bracelet for the women living at the homeless shelter. For some of them, that was an exercise of diligence too, and we are proud of them for sticking with it, even when they did not feel like stringing beads any longer.

For THIS WEEK:

Please help your kids practice their memory verse from last week (see below on the the recap sheet).

As our "giving" activity this week, we will be putting together "Blessing Bags" for the homeless. The kids will fill gallon sized zip lock bags with items that will bless people living on the streets (handi-wipes, granola bars, nuts, band aids, toothbrush, etc.).

We are asking each child to bring some quarters from their own banks (or from money they have earned) to put in the bags. These coins can be used by the homeless to purchase a warm cup of coffee or make a phone call at a pay phone.

We are suggesting that each child bring 4 quarters, but they can bring what they would like to give.

We will have our donation box out at registration this week. The blessing bags will be one of our most expensive activities so if you would like to donate to help cover the costs that would be great!

Thanks to everyone who had made donations so far. It has helped out a ton!

Here is the Weekly Recap sheet from last week:

Weekly Recap

This week our story focused on Jesus and his disciples in the midst of the storm. We were able to talk to the kids about fear and how they can pray for peace.

We also discussed contentment and what it looks like to be thankful for what we have. Dialogue about this in your homes - there are many opportunities for our kids (and ourselves) to practice and cultivate contentment.

The kids had a blast making something special for their mommies! Our goal was to make bracelets for women living in a shelter in Santa Ana, but our time was a bit too short. The kids did learn about what a homeless shelter is and that there are plenty of women and children who live with that reality on a daily basis.

We wish all the KWAV mommies a Happy Mother's Day!

Weekly Recap

This week our story focused on the little boy who had a willing and generous heart. He only had a few fish and a couple loaves of bread, but he shared all that he had.

Our discussion centered around what our Kwav's kids have that they can share.

... PLEASE CONTINUE THESE CONVERSATIONS AT HOME ...

How can we use what we have to help others?

How can our two hands help others (at home, at school, in our neighborhood, in our community, around the world etc.)?

How can they use their mouths to help others (speaking kind words, etc.)?

A willing heart is connected to the memory verse for this week (see above), and the character trait we are working on is BEHAVE.

The goal is for kids to understand what it looks like to do what they are told with a happy heart.

Continue this conversation as well. Affirm them (notice and make a big deal of it) when you do see them exhibit generosity, a willing heart, and obedience with a great attitude.

Our "serve" activity this week was to write a short note to the children at Shalimar Learning Center.

We also had the kids decorate a border on a canvas book bag (the rest of the book bag will be decorated by the child who receives the bag). The books that were donated today are going into the bags and will be given to the kids at Shalimar. We are very excited about the partnership with this great organization and will continue to work with Shalimar, as well as other great organizations.

Next week we will have another "serve" activity for the kids to work on, but we are not asking for the kids to bring anything from home. If you are interested in donating a few dollars to help cover activity costs, there is a small donation box set up at our registration table.

Have a great week, and thanks for being a Kwav Family!