Celia on what it means to be a Junior Church teacher:

I have a green bag which sits down stairs in our cave strategically positioned so that it can be picked up en route to the car as I head out to Church on a Sunday. This bag contains the survival kit for keeping five and six year - olds occupied for the time they spend downstairs on a Sunday morning.

As these youngsters are not able to choose whether or not they come to church it is very important that they enjoy their experiences and activities so that in later years when choice becomes available to them, as many as possible opt to continue the Church habit.

So, what is in the Green Bag? Nothing extraordinary, but a collection that over the years has provided the basis for numerous sessions at Church.
Paper and coloured pencils: Sellotape: Glue and Scissors: Pencil Sharpener: A book of Bible Stories, Tissues. To this can be added all sorts of additions, depending on the activity planned for any particular day-it might be paper plates to turn into a mask, straws to attach a puppet to, and scraps of coloured paper or material to make a collage or coat of many colours …..

The children always arrive downstairs full of energy as they have already been sitting comparatively still for the time upstairs. Because of the limited space available it is good to be able to offer the youngsters something to do and this usually takes the form of some sort of craft activity.

No great skill is required, I may say, as I am not gifted in this department myself! Fortunately a programme was drawn up many years ago in Church which provides a host of craft suggestions to accompany the Bible stories we use over the two years most children spend in this group.

Over the years these core ideas have been adapted by the various individuals who have used them so that most still work as well now as they did originally.

Of course there is always an element of surprise in all the sessions as no two groups of children ever react in quite the same way and what works successfully with one group cannot be guaranteed to work as well with another. Equally a group who cooperate with each other happily one week may all be little individualists another so an element of flexibility is also an essential ingredient of any plan.