February at Kids' Connection

Suzanne and I just finished the activity details on the February calendar. We are so excited with all of the fun, new activities and projects for February!! We will begin the month with Lisa Laird and her puppets introducing the fruit of KINDNESS. The NW cheerleading squad will visit on the 3rd of February to talk about KINDNESS and to teach a cheer to anyone interested that day! Too fun! We will experience Chinese New Year, learn about China from Kristen Howe, and learn how to make our own puppets with Lisa Laird the following week.

We are celebrating love and families on the 15th of February. We would like to invite you to spend time with your child(ren) at Kids' Connection and take the whole family! Look for details in your child's backpack and in "The Connection" publication.

Suzanne Haverdink is going to teach a photography class at Kids' Connection. We have been donated several cameras so...smile, you may be on a Kids' Connection picture! Thank you Suzanne for putting together a wonderful class!

See you next week at Kids' Connection! Have a fun weekend!

Northwestern Men's Basketball team is coming to Kids' Connection

It's Tuesday, January 25, and we welcome several players from the men's basketball team at Northwestern College to Kids' Connection. We are excited to hear from the players as Pastor Tim asks them questions about their faith in God and about basketball. Thank you for spending time with us! We appreciate the fact that you are using valuable practice time to 'play' games, construct Legos and assemble wood crafts this afternoon! Thanks!

Also today, 6 young girls will try their hand at sewing on a sewing machine. Lylis Van Donkelaar has graciously put together a team of ladies who will have sewing machines, fabric and expertise ready to go for this afternoon at Kids' Connection. Thank you to all of you for your donations of time and love to our precious children.

Another BIG thank you needs to go out to Tom Hydeen, Suzanne Haverdink, Kathy Meendering, Pastor Tim and the many, many valued volunteers who have so capably managed Kids' Connection so I could fully recover from surgery. I am SO grateful and appreciative for everything!

On Thursday, January 27, your banks for Haiti should return to Kids' Connection so we can pour out the coins into a big wheelbarrow. I hope you have been earning, saving and collecting money to buy school supplies for the children in Haiti. You will be able to keep your bank for other projects at Kids' Connection. Thank you for supporting this very worthwhile cause.

Also on Thursday, Northwestern State Bank is returning to celebrate ALL of the January birthdays. So if you have a birthday in January, Northwestern Bank will be at Kids' Connection to help you honor your special day! Thank you NW Bank!

It's BINGO day at Kids' Connection on Tuesday!

Employees from Iowa State Bank will be joining us tomorrow, Tuesday, the 18th, to play BINGO. We are so thankful to the bank employees for their willingness to come to Kids' Connection to call out the BINGO numbers and spend time with us. We appreciate the prizes and the smiles you put on our faces!

Are you remembering to pray for Haiti?? Those of you who were not here last week Thursday missed the pictures of children and schools in the country of Haiti. We passed out 'banks' so you could earn money and help the Mission of Hope organization purchase school supplies for the children in Haiti. We have some extra 'banks' for you to use to be a part of this global ministry, too. We will be collecting the money next week Thursday, January 27, during Kids' Connection. It's an exciting way to help other children like you!

If the weather is decent on Thursday, the 20th, we plan to do some outdoor games, yes, outdoors!!! We'll get all bundled up and play in the snow! Should be FUN!!

See you tomorrow: Be patient with everyone!!

IT'S A BEACH PARTY!

What a fun day we had at Kids' Connection yesterday!! We invited Elaine Vander Broek to teach us about the Mission of Hope organization in Haiti. She showed us pictures of classrooms and children in Haiti. We learned how we can help the children get new school supplies by earning money to put in our new banks. On Thursday, January 27, we will bring our banks back to Kids' Connection and pour out our coins into a wheelbarrow. The money will be sent to Mission of Hope in Haiti.

Then, we celebrated winter at a beach party with coconut bowling, beach volleyball, Limbo, leis, fishing and much more. Below are pictures of the fun we shared:

Learning about Haiti

Coconut Bowling

"Beach Volleyball"

Musical Beach Towels

Thursday @ Kids' Connection

It's Culture Connection Day at Kids' Connection on Thursday, January 13. Elaine Vander Broek has agreed to speak to us about Haiti and Mission of Hope, an organization that delivers hope and help to hurting nations. We have the opportunity to collect coins that will help Mission of Hope purchase school supplies for students in Haiti. Twenty dollars fills one backpack of school supplies. Your child will come home with a 'bank' to collect coins. Inside the 'bank' is a sheet of helpful information to give you more information on the Haiti project and creative suggestions for your child to 'earn' the money to put in his/her 'bank'. One of our goals at Kids' Connection is to teach our children how to serve others using the Fruits of the Spirit of love, joy, self-control and patience. Do not feel obligated to participate in this service project, but if you wish to participate, it is our desire that your child earn the money to help make a meaningful difference in someone's life. Thank you for helping your child with this project. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Leanne Bonnecroy at 712-737-4909 or by emailing me at leanne@frcoc.org.

No school! No Kids' Connection!

Wow! Two snow days in a row! Our policy at Kids' Connection is that if the schools cancel school for weather-related reasons, we have to cancel Kids' Connection, too. We want our precious children and valued volunteers to be safe. We will plan on Thursday to hear from Elaine Vander Broek abour Haiti and the Mission of Hope organization. The children will be personalizing a 'bank' to collect coins for the School connected with Mission of Hope. Parents, all of the details will be inside the 'bank'. On Thursday, we will also have a Beach Party with games, crafts and other fun activities. Becky Kleinwolterink will be making homemade cards with a group of 6 children.

Thank you to Lisa Laird and her Pockets Full of Fun Ministry, to Sue Korver for sharing the Bible story of Noah and the Ark with us, and to Tom Hydeen along with the many, many volunteers that helped out at Kids' Connection last week. Our theme for the month of January is PATIENCE! Our verse this month is "Be patient with everyone." I Thessalonians 5:14

Enjoy your 'snow day' everyone! Stay safe, warm and cozy!!! See you Thursday!