Volunteering in KidQuest

Our church has expanded the old 3-hours-a-day Vacation Bible School into a full-day program called KidQuest, and this is the week that it's happening. Church members were asked to volunteer for whatever time they could give; I originally signed up to work 5 hours on each of two days and ended up doing an extra 5-hr. shift on a 3rd day. On Monday, I was assigned to the 5-year olds. These kids are getting ready to start kindergarten and are fairly self-sufficient. They were able to line up and follow directions and put their own trash in the trash can and go to the potty when they needed to. During the time I was with them, we went to the library for a Bible story, played on the outdoor playground, made a craft project, tumbled in the TumbleTykes bus, ate lunch, watched a movie, and played in an indoor play area. On Wednesday, I was assigned to the 3-yr. olds. This group was a bit less self-sufficient, needing more help with everything. We moved them from room to room every 20-30 minutes to keep them active. They also played in several different areas and did a craft project. They got to see a puppet show, and they had a LONG quiet time after lunch. Some of them went right to sleep, but four of them never did sleep. It's amazing how much energy they have!

Yesterday was my final day to volunteer, and I got to spend it with eleven 2-yr. olds (are you paying attention, Katie & Erin?). Well, they were a handful! We always had at least three workers in the room, and at times there were as many as five. Not one of the kids was potty-trained, but luckily for the volunteers, the church does provide a paid worker in each room who's in charge of diaper duty. Just keeping an accurate head count as we moved from room to room proved to be a challenge, as the kids veer off in any direction that looks interesting rather than following in line. In the library, we were frequently darting in and out of the stacks to find wayward children. We finally resorted to the fifty-fold version of "Ring Around the Rosy" to keep them in one area; they are just WIGGLY at this age! One little boy kept getting out of his chair at lunchtime and flinging his finger food on the floor as he walked around. The best part of the day was "quiet time," when we managed to get ALL of them to go to sleep for an hour or so. Then we had to wake them up to go to the TumbleTykes bus and on to their next adventure.

Today, I understand, is "Take your dog to work day," so Ginger is joining me here at home as I work on some household chores and music practice (I agreed to present a program at University Place retirement home next Friday).

Sorry I didn't have any pictures to post from KidQuest, but I wouldn't have had time to take any even if I'd remembered to take my camera!