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Kids Event: Inside Out Day!


***Updated 5-17-16 to add a few new pics***

We like to do something special for the kids during Spring Break week. Usually we go skating or bowling. Surprisingly many of the kids do not enjoy skating, so this year we decided to do something different based on Corinne's post over at kidmincorinne.com about what she called a "Reverse Lock-In" .  We liked the idea, so our team got together and did a little brain storming. We decided to use the Disney movie "Inside Out" as our theme and off we went!
We weren't sure how many would come so we planned for double our Wednesday night group. It rained all spring break, and those kids were ready to get out of the house! God provided and we had just enough supplies for the amount of kids that showed up. We were so happy!

Here is the flyer and promo we put out.
out
We did something else we have NEVER done before; we charged $5 per child! We were nervous about this because we didn't want a child to not be able to attend because of funds, but honestly we couldn't afford the food we wanted to serve if we didn't charge a small fee.  We could have just had hot dogs and less decor and still had fun but we really wanted to do something different. We shouldn't have worried because God was in it and the event paid for itself! We even had some parents donate a little extra. No child was left out!

We scoured pinterest for decorating ideas and food inspiration.  We kept the decor simple and inexpensive using plastic table cloths, balloons, print outs of the characters and $1 rolls of wrapping paper from Dollar Tree.  Another place where God surprised us... we found personal pizza crusts at Dollar Tree 2/$1.00!!! I had never noticed those before so it was a happy day!
Note: We did have to purchase gluten free pizza crusts for those with food allergies.
We spent a few days gathering items, decorating, making regular and gluten free cupcakes for those kids with allergies and setting everything up. We kept everything colorful and bright and we kept the schedule moving, moving moving!
We posted an online registration on googleforms that helped us get an idea of how many kids were coming.  I was surprised that about 80-90% actually signed up online!
Here's how the night played out:
welcome2:00 PM  We set up a registration desk to check-in and pay. (Funny thing, we posted "Enter Here" signs at the front door and forgot to unlock it! Don't do that at your event. LOL)

As kids entered we took their photo with their choice of Inside Out character we printed and mounted on foam core.  We printed the photos out and sent them home at the end of the night. One of the activities was making a frame which several of the kids did choose to do.

As kids arrived we had "free time" in the gym.  We had an adult and several teens monitoring the kids playing in the gaga pit, or with ring tosses, balls, jump ropes  and other toys.  Note: One thing we will do differently next time is have a room for quieter activities. We had a few smaller kids that just didn't feel comfortable in the crazy, busy gym.
The Gaga Pit is always a hit!
2:30 We gathered everyone in the fellowship hall to make introductions, go over the rules and explain the activities to come. Then we divided into teams as evenly as possible with big/little kids and went to the tables to make our team posters.  We supplied markers, foam core from Dollar Tree, crayons, stickers and colored tape.  We had most of these on hand so didn't have to spend much money.   I love the creativity of the kids!



3:00 Cupcake decorating time! This was a huge hit! They absolutely loved it. It was so easy and clean up was a snap. We had someone bake the cupcakes in advance, and we used disposable bowls, cups and spoons to distribute icing, sprinkles and decorations. We put down plastic table runner and when they were done we just rolled it all up and tossed it. I heard one little girl say, "We get to eat our dessert before dinner. That's awesome!" We allowed about 30 minutes for this and everyone cleaned up. Note: We had some kids who couldn't have sugar so we offered them yogurt and fruit to make a parfait to eat on site. They were allowed to make a cupcake and take it home where parents could monitor the sugar intake.
**Updated 5-17-16***
Cupcake assembly bar

***Updated 5-17-16***
Cupcake decorations set out and ready

***Updated 5-17-16***
Cupcakes baked and ready to be picked up by the kids then decorated.



3:30 Next we headed to the gym for team games.  We got very creative with our games and didn't spend a dime! We used and re-purposed things we already had and made them fit the inside out theme.
25938920702_246f368b9a_z.jpgHockey Relay. We played a hockey relay game with hockey sticks, balls, and baskets.  They had to roll the ball with the hockey stick and make it into the basket then run back and give the stick to the next player. First team to get all the balls in the basket wins.

25894620105_8ba173d0f1_z.jpg"Wrapped Up in Your Emotions". This was just the old mummy wrap game that we renamed and used colored streamers that we already had in all the colors of the emotions in the movie.  They LOVED this game!

Memory Orb Relay.  We used things we already had: marbles, tongs, buckets and plastic jars. Pick up a marble in the tongs and carry it down to the jar, return and hand off the tongs to the next in line. We timed this one.  The team with the most marbles at the end of time wins. We expected there to be escaped marbles all over the gym with this one but there wasn't!


plunger
They got plenty of wiggles out during these games. Then it was time to go back into the fellowship hall for awards! One of our teen helpers decorated our awards which were just cleaning products from Dollar Tree!

4:20 Song and Devo.  We learned a scripture song from Jumpstart3 if you've never heard of them you MUST check them out NOW. Do not continue this post until you click on the link. They are awesome!!! I told the kids that they could learn a scripture in 5 minutes and many did not believe that possible.We learned 2 Corinthians 5:17. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, a new creation has come, the old has gone and the new is here. I presented a short devotional on the five emotions and had a child come up and help me with each emotion.
25798837241_ba539ab287_z.jpg
Displaying "Sadness" for the devotional time

4:35 Time to make pizza!   We used teams to dismiss by groups so that we didn't have over 40 kids in the bathroom washing hands at the same time. Again we set everything out assembly line fashion for the pizza just as we did the cupcakes. (No pics of this. My photographer was busy helping with pizza!)
IMG_5668

If you want to do a "make your own pizza assembly line" here are a few tips:
  1. Use a sharpie and write the name of the child on the paper plate before they begin building their pizza.  Especially those gluten free kids! Save the plates for serving after cooking.  We have 2 ovens and could cook 12 pizzas at a time.
  2. Have an adult or teen be the cheese monitor! We ran out of cheese and we bought tons!
  3. Line the pans with foil and write the name of the child directly on the foil and then transfer back to the plate with their name for serving. (Make sure you keep those gluten free crusts on their own pan.)
  4. Have at least 4 or 5 people in the kitchen keeping things going.
They absolutely LOVED this.  I cannot tell you how crazy it was but they talked about it for days.
5:00 Free Time. We set up stations for the kids to do any activity they wanted while we cooked the pizzas.  The stations we had were:
  1. gaga/gym time
  2. 2 Wii stations in the corner
  3. coloring pages and crayons
  4. picture frame craft (for the pics we took earlier)
  5. beads and string to make bracelets, necklaces etc.
  6. board games/puzzles
  7. some extra misc crafts we had leftover from another time
pizza h
Look at that loaded pizza!
5:30 Dinner time and clean up

5:55 Movie and activities.  One of our male leaders set up some games to play during the movie.  We have done this before but not after several hours of activity and in hindsight I think we should have just watched the movie straight through.  The kids were settling down and the games got them excited again and it was hard to get them to settle back down again.  But all in all in was great fun!
8:15 Clean up and go home!
We had most of it all cleaned up while the kids were watching the movie, so we were out of there by 9:20!
Here are a few other things we made and used through the night:

Water bottles get the labels here.
Inside Out Drinks get the labels herehere and here.
Popcorn (pre-popped and pre-bagged for grabbing)










We gave out goodie bags at the end with:

  • Photos/frames
  • Bubbles (bought at Dollar Tree, printed lables with the memory verse on them)
  • Bubble Gum balls
  • candy
  • and each family received a Jumpstart3 CD to keep and one to give away.







This was by far one our most fun and successful events we've had in a long time and we can't wait to do another one!

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