We had an excellent time at our children’s Holiday Club this week, amazingly the first that we’ve held at Parkside since 2001!

The Holiday Club ran between 10am and 12pm each day and was for children aged between 4 and 11 years old.  With a total of twenty children attending at least one of the four days, the numbers were perfectly manageable by the team of helpers.

The Holiday Club was led by Alan Michael, who worked through the story of Joseph in his usual unique and captivating way.

On Wednesday, he spoke about the opening part of the story from Genesis 37.  This focused on Joseph’s dreams and describes how his brothers sold him as a slave.

Thursday’s story looked at Joseph in Potiphar’s house from Genesis 39 and his time in prison, described in Genesis 40.

On Friday, Alan described Joseph’s release from prison to interpret Pharoah’s dreams and ultimate promotion to second in command in the land of Egypt, from Genesis 41.  Joseph’s brothers eventually travel to Egypt in search of food and meet Joseph for the first time in Genesis 42.

On the final day of the Holiday Club, Alan spoke about how Joseph’s brother’s returned to Egypt and how he made himself known to them from Genesis 43, 44, 45 and 46.

To help the children to remember the story, Alan wrote a chorus which is sung to the tune of Jesus’ love is very wonderful.

Joseph dreamed that one day he’d be great
All this did was stir his brother’s hate
God was teaching him he’d have to wait
Oh, hope in the Lord

Joseph’s brothers planned an early grave
In the end they sold him as a slave
God was teaching him he must be brave
Oh, trust in the Lord

Faithful Joseph didn’t gripe or moan
He became the steward of the home
Even in prison he was not alone
Oh, look to the Lord

Joseph rose to second in the land
All of Egypt eating from his hand
Finally he saw what God had planned
Give thanks to the Lord

The children were split into two teams, red and green, and were able to gain points for their team by turning up, wearing team colours, completing the take home sheet, remembering different memory verses and bringing friends.

Sam and Ben were appointed unofficial team leaders and helped out during the singing of children’s choruses and quizzes, as well as keeping track of points for their teams.

We also had a number of craft activities during the week including painting t-shirts, icing biscuits, making headdresses and decorating a collage of the story of Joseph, which had been drawn by Sam.

The children all seemed to enjoy the four days and we finished off the Holiday Club with a Joseph themed discover on Sunday, to which a number of parents came along.  Here, Alan summarised the story of Joseph told at the Holiday Club.  There was also an opportunity for the children to sing the ‘Joseph song’ again and collect their prizes from the club.  This was followed by a BBQ lunch which was well attended and served in warm sunshine!

We look forward to having more Holiday Clubs in the future and certainly not waiting another thirteen years until the next one!

UPDATE….Following the success of the Holiday Club, we’re starting a new Kids’ Club, which will run every Friday during term time between 6:30pm and 7:15pm.  It’s aimed for children between 4 and 11.  More details here.

Below are some photos from the week: