Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide DeepBlueKids.com Get ready for adventure! Put on your hiking boots, wear your adventure hat, and join three animated adventurers, Asia, Edgar, and Kat, as well as their loyal dog, Indie, as they dive deep into the Bible. The theme of the Deep Blue Adventure Party centers around the Bible verse, In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior (Luke 1:47). Start the new Sunday school year with a celebration that introduces your children to Deep Blue. Build excitement with decorations, games, crafts, and even food. Getting Started In this Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide download you will find suggestions for: Publicity Decorations Food Art Crafts Games Video Sample Puppet Closing Schedule Here are several suggestions to help you plan your Deep Blue Party. Use the ones that fit your church s needs. Add your own ideas. Have fun! 2015 Cokesbury Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 1
Publicity Plan your party for the Sunday or the mid-week night before you begin Deep Blue. Here is a postcard that you can send to all your children. Remember to send the postcard to any nonmember children who have been visiting over the summer or who came for Vacation Bible School or other summer programs. The following page is a flyer you may duplicate and post around your church. Don t miss the boat! Put on your hiking boots, wear your adventure hat, and join us for our Deep Blue Adventure Party! Date: Time: Place: 2 Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 2015 Cokesbury
Don t miss the boat! Put on your hiking boots, wear your adventure hat, and join us for our Deep Blue Adventure Party! Date: Time: Place: DeepBlueKids.com 2015 Cokesbury Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 3
Decorations 1. Display different kinds of maps including Bible maps. A treasure hunt map is included on page 5 and may be photocopied. 2. Photocopy the map on page 5, and place one or more of them on the way to the room. 3. Buy the Deep Blue Clings (9781501804717). Place the clings of Asia, Kat, and Edgar on your windows and walls. 4. Add a tent to your room. If you do not have an easy-to-put-up tent available, make a tent with mural paper hung from the ceiling. Measure out 20 feet of mural paper. Thread the paper through the ceiling tile frames and tape each end to the floor. Or hang a string along the frames and thread the paper over the string. 5. Place a campfire in front of the tent. Cut a circle from cardboard to use as a base, or use a cardboard pizza round. Cut red, yellow, and orange tissue paper into flame shapes. Use a glue gun to glue the flames into the center of the cardboard. Add a circle of rocks and sticks around the tissue flames. Hide a flashlight in the tissue paper flames. Turn the flashlight on when you want the fire to burn. 6. Cover the tables with blue plastic tablecloths. 7. Use canteens or reusable water bottles as centerpieces. (You may be able to borrow these from the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.) 8. Add trees and plants to your space. 9. Make lanterns by turning mason jars upside down. Place LED candles in the lids. 10. Borrow fishing hats, Indiana Jones hats, and a variety of hiking or nature hats. Hang the hats from the ceiling. 11. Purchase the 3D zipper pulls (9781501804625). You may want to purchase one for each child or to place as decorations on the tables. 12. Purchase the Indie dog puppet (9781501804618). Make a dog house for the dog puppet using the directions on page 10. 4 Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 2015 Cokesbury
Deep Blue Treasure Hunt Map 2015 Cokesbury Deep Blue Adventure Party
Food 1. S mores or S mores Pops. Make traditional S mores or S mores Pops. Provide large marshmallows, cake pop sticks, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, wax paper, microwave-safe bowl, and shallow container. 1. Use a microwave to melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl at 10 second increments until melted. Stir well. 2. Place graham cracker crumbs in shallow container. 3. Give each child a marshmallow and a cake pop stick. Have the child push the stick into the center of the marshmallow. 4. With supervision, have the children dip marshmallows into the chocolate and then roll the marshmallows in the graham cracker crumbs. 5. Place on wax paper to cool. 6. Eat! 2. Campfire Cupcakes. Purchase unfrosted cupcakes or make cupcakes. Frost cupcakes with orange frosting. Add a swirl on top of the orange frosting. Make a tent shape around the yellow swirl with 4 to 5 pretzel sticks. 3. Trail Mix. Set out a selection of trail mix ingredients for the children to put together their own trail mix. Include dried fruits like raisins or cranberries, seeds, dry cereals, (stay away from nuts), granola, white and dark chocolate chips, or candies. Give each child a cup or resealable plastic bag for his or her creations. 4. Fruit Jerky. Purchase Fruit Rollups snacks. 5. Deep Blue Punch. Mix blue raspberry Kool-Aid drink mix according to directions. Add lemon-lime soda just before serving. 6 Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 2015 Cokesbury
Games 1. Deep Blue Name Game Have the children stand in a circle. Choose a child to stand in the middle of the circle. This child is IT. IT points at a child in the circle and says one of the following: You, Me, Deep Blue. If IT says, You, the child must say his or her name. If IT says, Me, the child must say IT s name. If IT says, Deep Blue, the child must name one of the children standing next to him or her. When IT points and says the direction, IT must count to five aloud. The chosen child must correctly identify the name before IT reaches five. If the chosen child incorrectly identifies the name or doesn t speak in time, she or he becomes the new IT. If the chosen child correctly identifies the name, IT must choose another child. 2. Adventure Pack Relay - Level One Provide a backpack and things you would use on an adventure such as a flashlight, water bottle, sunscreen, hat, bandana, compass, map, snack, and binoculars for each team. Divide the children into at least two teams. Have the teams line up on one side of the room. Place the adventure items at the beginning of each team. Place the backpack for each team on the other side of the room. Have the first child in line pick an item, run to the backpack, put the item in, and return to the line for the next person s turn. Continue until all the items are packed in the backpack. Have the last child run to get the full backpack and bring it back to the team. 3. Adventure Pack Relay - Level Two Use the filled backpacks from Level One. Add obstacles to the space between the teams and the other side of the room. You may use chairs, tables, hula hoops, jump ropes, and bubble wrap. Have the same teams line up on one side of the room with the backpacks. The first child in line puts on the backpack and then moves through the obstacle course and back to the team. You may have the child circle a chair, crawl under a table, jump into the hula hoop, jump a rope, and stomp over bubble wrap to simulate hiking through a forest. The first child then takes off the backpack and gives it to the next child in line. Continue until everyone on the team has been through the obstacle course wearing the backpack. 4. Going on a Deep Blue Adventure Have the children sit in a circle. Start the game by saying, I m going on a Deep Blue Adventure and I m going to take. Name something that begins with the letter A. The child next to you repeats, I m going on a Deep Blue Adventure and I m going to take, and names the letter A item. Then the child names something that begins with the letter B. Continue around the circle until you have completed the alphabet. For younger children do not have them try to remember the previous items. 2015 Cokesbury Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 7
Arts, Crafts, and Science 1. Paint a Deep Blue Masterpiece. Provide large white paper and three different shades of blue washable paint. Cover the table with paper or plastic. Have the children wear paint smocks. SAY: Picasso was a great artist. He is famous for a series of paintings called his Blue Period. During his blue period he painted his entire picture with only shades of blue. Since our new Sunday school is called Deep Blue, we re going to make blue paintings. You may paint anything you wish but you can only use these three shades of blue paint. Note: You can find an example of Picasso s Blue Guitar at: http://bit.ly/1b1xglq If you don t want the children to paint, let the children make pictures by tearing and gluing three different shades of blue tissue paper. 2. Make an Edible Tree House. Provide graham crackers, icing glue, pretzel sticks, Rice Chex cereal, Cheerios cereal, marshmallows, resealable plastic bags, handwashing supplies, glass bowl, mixing spoons, measuring cups and spoons, and paper plates. Prepare the icing glue ahead of time, or let the children mix it themselves. Icing Glue 3 tablespoons meringue powder 1 pound powdered sugar 4-6 tablespoons cold water Mix the powder sugar and meringue powder in a glass bowl. Add two tablespoons of water and stir well. Add more water as needed for a thick icing. It should be the consistency of toothpaste. If it s too thick, add a tiny amount of water, and if it s too runny, add more sugar. Spoon some icing into a reseable plastic bag for each child. Cut off a corner of the bag. Show the children how to squeeze the bag so that the icing squirts out the hole. Give each child a paper plate and four graham crackers. Encourage the children to figure out how to put their cracker tree house together on their own. Help younger children only as needed. Let the children decorate their tree houses with the other edible items provided. Remind the children that the Deep Blue Crew (Kat, Edgar, and Asia) have their own tree house. 8 Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 2015 Cokesbury
3. Indie Puppets Make Indie dog puppets. Use the suggestion below or your own creative ideas that fit your budget and your children. Sock Puppets Provide one brown sock for each child; brown, pink, and white felt; googly eyes; scissors; and glue. Cut floppy dog ears out of the brown felt, spots out of the white felt, and a tongue and nose out of the pink felt. Older children may cut the felt themselves. Have each child spread the sock out on a flat surface. Give the child a pink felt nose. Have the child glue the nose near the toe end of the sock. Give the child two googly eyes. Then have the child glue the eyes behind the nose. Finally have the child glue the ears on either side of the sock behind the eyes. Show the child how to place the sock on a hand so that the child s fingers are in the sock s toe end. Show the child how to push the sock in between his or her fingers and thumb. This indentation makes the puppet s mouth. Glue the pink tongue inside the puppet s mouth. 4. Treasure Slime 16 ounces of clear glue 1 cup of liquid starch glitter plastic coins and gems Mix the clear glue and liquid starch together in a large plastic bowl to create basic slime. Give each child a small disposable cup or resealable plastic bag. Let the children add glitter, plastic coins, and plastic gems to turn their basic slime into treasure slime. 5. Make shiny rocks. All you need is aluminum foil and a hard surface. Plan to use a table top, wooden board, or plastic tray for this activity. The foil may cause scratches so test ahead of time. Let each child rip off a sheet of aluminum foil. Sizes can vary. Show the children how to firmly crumple the foil into a ball shape to make your rock. Rub the rock against a hard surface. This will form a shiny flat surface. Turn the rock and continue to rub until all surfaces are smooth. Make your rock as round and shiny as possible. SAY: The Deep Blue Crew have a pet named Indigo. They call her Indie. 2015 Cokesbury Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 9
Dog House for Indie 10 Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 2015 Cokesbury
Puppet Script (Setting: Indie in her dog house and the leader beside the house.) Leader: Now I want you to meet a special guest who s part of the Deep Blue Crew. You just saw her on the video, and here she is in person say hello. We also call her Indie! (Encourage the children to say hello) Indie: bark hello, off stage. Leader: I hear you Indie, but I don t see you. Are you in your doghouse? (Look in doghouse.) Indie: bark no (Have Indie pop up beside the doghouse. The leader should not see Indie.) Leader: Indie! Where are you? The kids are waiting to meet you. (To Kids): Do you see Indie? Leader: She s where? Beside the doghouse? (Leader looks on opposite side of dog house from Indie.) I don t see her. Indie: barks. Leader: Oh, you mean the other side. (Have the leader look on the side Indie was last seen. Have Indie pop up on the opposite side of the dog house.) Indie: barks. Leader to kids: Do you see her now? (pause) She s beside the dog house? I looked beside the dog house. She s not there. The other side? (Indie exits.) She s not there either. Indie: barks. (Pops up inside dog house.) Leader: There you are! Indie, say hello to all the kids. Indie: barks hello. Leader: Thanks for coming, Indie. Today we re learning all about our new Sunday school Deep Blue Kids. Indie: bark a question huh? Leader: Yes, today we re beginning Deep Blue Kids, and it will be so much fun! We will go on an adventure each week as we learn Bible stories and dive deeper into what the stories mean. Indie: bark woohoo! Leader: Are you ready to go? Indie: bark a loud excited YES! Leader: Well, let s pray and then we will go play some games. Everyone bow your heads. Dear God. Thank you for Deep Blue Kids. May we have a great time learning the Bible. Amen. Indie: barks Amen. Leader: Let s go! Dismiss the children to the game area. 2015 Cokesbury Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 11
Closing and Schedule 1. Welcome Stand at the door with the Indie dog puppet on a hand. Let Indie greet each child with a nose nuzzle or bark. Place Indie in her dog house for the children to play with (p. 11). Play music from the music CD. Write each child s name on his or her Deep Blue nametag (9781501804724). 2. Art and Crafts Pick two or three options for the children to experience (pp. 8-9). 3. Video Sample Gather the children together to view the Deep Blue Video Sampler on the website (deepbluekids.com/media).the sampler includes introductions to the Deep Blue Crew and samples of the Bible stories, Bible verse, and music videos. Puppet show with Indie. 4. Games Pick one or two games as time allows (p.10). 5. Food Choose from the suggestions for snacks (p. 6). 6. Closing 12 Deep Blue Adventure Party Guide 2015 Cokesbury