Midweek Program Ideas
Are You Offering a Midweek Program?
Do you struggle each week to randomly put together activities in hopes of being entertaining? Perhaps you need a theme for the whole year that could be explored in monthly units; one that would link together the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Church.
Cornerstones offers six different themes with ten units in each theme. We offer a choice of eleven different workshops for each unit. See Scope and Sequence. These interactive and dynamic workshops are perfect for a midweek program that is intent on faith development.
As an example, let’s explore the theme Witness to God’s Presence. Within each unit are eleven choices of workshop lessons. Click on the name of any unit to see a description of each lesson.
| Month | Unit Name |
|---|---|
| September | Creation |
| October | Plagues and Passover |
| November | Wandering in the Wilderness |
| December | The Incarnation |
| January | Feeding the 5,000 |
| February | The Lord's Prayer |
| March | The Last Supper |
| April | Walk to Emmaus |
| May | Paul on the Road |
| June | Witnesses Today |
Notice that the Bible stories were selected to show that the Lord is present from the beginning of time and is witnessed by the Hebrews in their salvation stories, the miracles of Jesus, our prayer life, the institution of the Last Supper and the establishment of the church. A secondary theme develops around bread; each month, breads from around the world can be brought in to connect with the Bible story. By the end of the year, the children will make the connection between bread, communion, Jesus as the Bread of Life and their own living faith.
For example, within the Creation unit, you might do:
- Eat Your Way through the Bible where you explore the diversity of seeds
- Created by the Spirit where you make stationery from recycled materials
- Mary & Martha’s Bed & Breakfast where you create a wall mural based on Psalm 8
- Video Live where you make Public Service Announcements for each day of Creation.
Depending on the size of your program, you have options regarding how many workshops are running at once. If you have between 5 and 15 children, you might run this as one cross-graded group that experiences one workshop/week. If you have more, you can offer several workshops at a time. See Workshop Samples for grids of how this works for 3, 4 and 6 groups.
Consider holding an open house at the end of each quarter where projects can be displayed and dramas, puppet shows and make-your-own videos can be performed. Parents, siblings and visitors can be invited to experience some of the favorite activities. You might launch a mission project that connects with a unit, like doing a fundraiser for the Heifer Project in relation to the Feeding the 5,000 unit.
Feel free to call us toll free at 866-851-7102 to brainstorm how Cornerstones can be your curriculum for your midweek program.