Explorers 2025-2026

Year 7 ~ Overview in pictures!

Highlights of what we’ve been up to!

Getting to Know Each Other
(Oct. 20, 2025)

Activity Sheet:
Two Stars and a Wish (Things the girls wrote they’d like to do.)

Game #1: Get to Know You Game
“My Name is; I Like…; I Don’t Like….; My favourite colour is?; etc.” Can they remember what everyone said each time we go around the circle?

Game #2: Explorers Purpose Mix & Sort
Reviewed the Explorers Emblem’s meaning & the Explorers Purpose. The Explorers Purpose was cut into six sections, then mixed-up.

Craft: Explorer Buddy Tags
Girls coloured key tags, one for themselves and one for each of the other girls, tags received were placed onto a plastic lanyard hook, lanyard could be pinned to their Explorers Hat or attached to their shoe.

Game #3: Crazy Chairs Game
A circle of chairs equal to number of players. Leader says a statement, examples: “If you have the colour red on ~ move two chairs to the left; or “If you have blue eyes ~ move five chairs to the right” (you sit on whoever is already there). Hilarious pile-ups ensue as always!

Parable of the Good Samaritan
(Oct. 27, 2025)

Song:
As girls arrived we had the GHOSTBUSTERS Movie Theme Song playing so they could get the tune in their heads, as they would be singing it later, but with word adaptation for the GOOD SAMARITAN.

Scripture:
Watched on the big screen Cecil & Friends – “The Good Samaritan” where we had the girls add sound effects to the reading to make it interactive.

Just Dance Game:
Was projected onto the wall so we could all follow the onscreen dancers and sing-along to our Good Samaritans version of Ghostbusters. This comes from the Rotation.org Writing Team: The Parable of the Good Samaritan Music, Movement and Memory Workshop (Lesson) link.

Our proton pack neutrona wand (or particle thrower) in our case we called it the Good Samaritan Love Wand (we threw out love).

Good Samaritan Mad Lib & Skits:
Talked more about what a parable was and then in groups the girls filled in a Good Samaritan Mad Lib, which later Luanne read each one as the girls acted them out. (The Mad Lib is from the book “Teaching Children Bible Basics 34 Lessons for Helping Kids Learn to Use the Bible” by Barbara Bruce, 1999, Abingdon Press.)

Frances gave out smarties to everyone at the end of the evening for their great dancing and acting!

Ornaments – Make & Display
(Nov. 3, 2025)

Ornaments Making:
Girls each made a new ornament to add to our ornament collection. Anyone who donates to the Explorers Program at the upcoming Hampton U.C. Christmas Craft & Bake Sale can choose an ornament as a thank you gift. Money donated to the program is used to help cover the cost for example of craft, baking or game supplies.

This year’s new ornaments made by the girls were Blue Snowflakes, Christmas Trees and Poinsettia Ornaments.

Ornament Displays:

Next the girls were tasked with sorting all our previous years ornaments and then nicely grouping them into containers provided so they would look nice for Saturday’s craft show.

Good Samaritans Countries Blessing Dance:

Then the girls were tasked with either reading one of the Good Samaritan books provided or helping to put together the “Around the World Floor Puzzle.”

Once the floor puzzle was complete we all gathered in a circle around the floor puzzle.

Instructions were we would dance to last weeks “Good Samaritans” song while we moved (danced) in a circular motion around the puzzle, listening for the following commands:

Go (dance)
Reverse (move in the opposite direction)
Twirl (pick someone and twirl each other)
Freeze (freeze in place)
Name Called (while frozen in place if your name is called you tap with your toe a country on the puzzle, in front of you, to bless).
Country Picked (Example: Japan — everyone yells, “We send blessings to all the kids in Japan!”)

Ornament Fundraiser
(Nov. 8, 2025)

All the girls came and took a turn at manning the Explorers Fundraiser table, along with leader Luanne, at the Hampton United Church Craft & Bake Sale. Thanks to all those who supported the girls, we raised $445.55 for the Explorers Program.

Creation – we are all perfectly made!
(Nov. 17, 2025)

Movie time: Read the story of Creation, then watched the video “The Adventures of Toby – Making Friends/God Made Me Perfectly!” Toby feels like he’s a complete loser and doesn’t have a friend in the world but when he meets up with Jesus in his heart, they go on an adventure to the beginning of time, where Jesus shows Toby just how perfectly he is made and how precious a friend he is! (Also, now available on YouTube link.)

Creation Podcast: We began going through our “Creation Audio Script”, assigning speakers and choosing sound effects that would tie in nicely (either using our own voices or from the assorted instruments/items provided, such as: rain-sticks, bells, tambourines, thunder tubes, wave spinner wands, whistling/listening tubes, xylophones). Then we did a couple test audio recordings of the first section. Next Monday we will finish going over the rest of the script and then do a complete script audio recording.

This comes from Rotation.org, a lesson written by Amy Crane “A Story of Creation Sound Effects Podcast link.

Pictured are the girls having fun testing out one of the items we are planning to use for the sound of trees/plants growing, a spinning ribbon wand which gives a nice crinkling leafy sound.

Creation cont’d
(Nov. 24, 2025)

Did a “Creation Spot the Mistake” Worksheet then reviewed to see if the girls had caught all the mistakes and gave the girls who missed last week a chance to hear the story.

Then we continued working on completing our “Creation Audio Podcast“.

Later using a free audio program called “Audacity,” leader Luanne cleaned-up the different recordings and joined some together to create one complete recording and exported it as an mp3 file, which you can listen to below. Enjoy!

Birth of Jesus Computers
(Dec. 1, 2025)

Jesus Was Born (Bible Champions 2 CD-Rom by Third Day Games)
Here the girls heard and interacted with Luke 2:1-20 as they journeyed into Bethlehem to find Mary & Joseph, then headed out into the fields to find the shepherds. After the angels announcement they followed the shepherds to the stable to worship the newborn king. Then the girls had to find five people and tell them the Good News! Along the journey, the girls also performed acts of kindness by assisting anyone in the game who asked for their help (find a water jug, blanket, and a lamp).

The Wise Men Bring Gifts to Jesus (Bible Champions 2 CD-Rom by Third Day Games)
Here the girls heard and interacted with Matthew 2:1-12 as they journeyed into Bethlehem in search of the three Wise Men. They learned of the Wise Men’s stop to see King Herod, then later found the Wise Men outside a house in Bethlehem where Jesus is now a toddler. The Wise Men present their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh and then in a dream they are told to not return to King Herod but head straight for home. Along the journey, the girls also performed acts of kindness, like rebuilding a broken bridge or taking a shepherd boy’s sheep to get sheared then returning the wool and sheep to him.

T.H.E.E. Farmer’s Parade of Lights
(Dec. 3, 2025)

Every year some of the Explorers get to ride on the Eldad United Church’s Float in T.H.E.E. Farmer’s Parade of Lights where we get to wave and shout “Merry Christmas” to all the people along the parade route and it’s wonderful when those same people shout “Merry Christmas” back at us! In the video that is us seen waving!

Christmas Game – Mary’s Obstacle Course
(Dec. 8, 2025)

The girls listened to Mary’s story. Then we paused as two of our girls were going to treat us with a Baton Demonstration to music which was enjoyed by all.

Next we played a Christmas Game we called “Mary’s Christmas Obstacle Course”. Here the girls worked their way through seven stations, events in Mary’s life. At the final station they dug through a bin of balls to find their “Mary treasured these words and pondered them in her heart” Hat Ornament.

This game comes from Rotation.org, part of a “Christmas VBS” written by Cathy Walz and Amy Hodges of St. John Lutheran Church link, we just adapted some props for what we had on hand.

Photos of our layout below.

After the girls had all had a chance to play through at least twice we headed to the movie theater and watched the VeggieTales “Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas. Bob and Larry are going all out to make it the best Christmas ever at the Spring Valley Mall. With music, decorations and al light show like no other, it’s an all-out spectacle to outshine the competition! But a little girl with a big heart changes everything when she shows them all what Christmas is really about. We finished by discussing ways we can give to others.

Night of Light Christmas Party (Blacklight)
(Dec. 15, 2025)

On arrival girls received a glow-in-the-dark bracelet and Happy Face Pin, and a yellow UV reflective necklace.

They then headed over to decorate a tag for their Christmas prizes take-home bag.

Once the tag was coloured they headed upstairs for the “Books of the Bible Flashlight Scavenger Hunt”. At the bottom of the stairwell to the sanctuary was a fish bowl with a set of bible book cards in it and beside it flashlights. Girls were to take a flashlight, pull out a card, and head up the lighted staircase into the totally dark sanctuary. Using their flashlight they went up and down the pews looking for the matching card. Once found they headed back downstairs.

Once downstairs they headed to the large magnetic board which also contained a set of the books of the bible cards, but these were in order of the Old Testament and the New Testament. They were to place one of their matching cards in the basket, attached to the board, and the other matching card they had to place over the correct bible book, under provided magnets. Then it was off to get another bible book card, until all the bible books had been found and placed on the board in the correct order. Once completed they received their “Night of Light” prize for their hat.

Other games we played were “Plinko Bible Verse Game” Psalm 119:105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Wherever there plinko ball landed they collected that card number, they had to collect all 7 numbered cards, if they landed on a card they already had they waited for their next turn to try again. Once they had collected all 7 cards they had to put the verse in the correct order to receive their prize of a glow-in-the-dark bouncy ball.

Other games they played were Bowling, Ring Toss and then having their picture taken in the photo booth, if they wanted.

Prize Handouts: Night of Light/Bible Hat Decorations, Glow-in-the-dark: Bouncy Ball, Spinner and Croc Charm, as well as a Snowflake Hair Clip.

Frances surprised me with a “Mini Snowman Nativity Set” as a Christmas present from her and the girls. I laughed when I got home and finally opened the box, I had admired this at the Christmas Church Bazaar and when I went back to get it I was told it had sold! LOL