Preteen City was designed to help our preteens, who are now ready for a deeper understanding of Christ, begin to see how the Bible stories they have heard all their lives, can relate to their lives today. Until now, they have understood the Bible “stories”, but are now at an age to begin to understand that the Jesus of the Bible is very much alive today and wants to have a close, personal and dynamic relationship with them and be a part of every area of their life. Preteen City is a great visual for this and creates an atmosphere that is dynamic, fun and exciting. It’s fun and exciting to be at church and bring your friends!!
Hallway—the highway to different parts of our “city” and is lined with billboards, drive-in theaters, fuel pump, a “city” view, a fire hydrant and “signs” along the way reminding our preteens of God’s Presence in their lives, no matter where they travel.
Spirit Arena—where our preteens are reminded they are in the “game” of life with spectators watching their every move and Jesus Christ cheering them on! They are learning about the discipline it takes to be in the game, how to be a team player, a leader, strong, courageous, and obedient to God’s leadership.
World Mission Travel—”magnetic” walls with different modes of transportation reminding our preteens that wherever they travel, Christ goes with them. This room is also used by preteen Missions and reminds our preteens of missionaries that travel around the world taking the Good News
Praise Park—is also used by Preteen Praise choir, where they are reminded of the importance of praising God for all things: His beautiful creation, the rest, relaxation, and play we find at a park, and the peace that only He can bring. We even have a street vendor cart reminding our preteens that along the way, God provides us with nourishment, physically and spiritually.
Ministry Mall was created primarily to make more productive use of the Sunday School time. By implementing active, exciting, rewarding and educational opportunities from the minute a preteen arrives, until about 9:40 a.m., it encourages preteens to arrive on time, participate, and be rewarded for their participation. Because our preteens love this “early arriver” room, they start arriving before 9:00 am! We utilize 10 Bible stations (listed below) to compliment what our preteens are learning in our small-group Bible Study time and ministering to others. The “Store front” Bible stations around the perimeter of the room are self-directed and rewards are given on the honor system. We also have different game tables that encourage our preteens to mix, mingle, and develop strong friend relationships! What a great way to build their leadership skills!
1. Store “fronts” are around perimeter of room
2. Preteens pair-up with their friends to participate in “Mall” activities
3. Ministry Mall includes:
· HALL OF FAME—"HALL OF FAME” flashing Marquee tells all who enter Preteen
Ministry Mall that “PRETEENS ROCK!”
· PRETEEN NEWS—A news “cart” supplied with materials for them to write what is
going on with them at school, in sports, in academics, in the community, etc… to
be published in our Preteen newsletter and on our Grapple web message board.
· MEMORY REVIEW— Memory verse—A new one to memorize each month – this is
usually displayed and manipulated in the form of a puzzle.
· PRAISESONG THEATER—A large screen TV promoting preteen events, showing
interviews with preteens, and DVD’s with Praise Music lyrics, words, and graphics
that preteens love.
· BEGINNING TIME TO ETERNITY—Time Line of the Bible—Creation to Revelation—
Preteens “break down” a character, place or event from the Bible and tell the following:
(1) Old or New Testament, (2) Which book of the Bible in which it is found, (3) What
division of the Bible, (4) What comes before it, (5) What comes after it, and (6) What
is a fast fact about it. Very Challenging!!
· A.R.K.— (Acts of Random Kindness) - A room staffed with all the materials
needed to write encouragement cards to those people that God lays on our preteen’s
heart. In the same room, our “chalk painted” Prayer Wall is filled with prayer requests,
praise, prayers for missionaries, church staff, homebound members, etc…that
preteens write on the wall.
· GET A CLUE—These are manipulative questions from this week’s lesson to help our
preteens begin to focus on today’s lesson.
· REST STOP—A place for preteens to de-stress if they have had a stressful morning
getting to church. We provide Christian magazines and books for them to be quiet
for a bit until they are ready to engage with others.
· COMPUTER CHALLENGE—this is a room filled with computers loaded with our
GRAPPLE web site for interactive games and clues about the week’s lesson and also
other Bible games. We’ve also included 2 play stations with games that are
age-appropriate for preteens. A teacher will be in this room with our preteens.
· WORD SEARCH—A word used in this week’s lesson. They find the word in their Bible
concordance, look up the verse, and read or show it to a teacher or friend. This
teaches them how to use their concordance, Bible dictionary, and other Bible skills.
