Last weekend in KidzWorld we began learning the new Big Idea of Self-Control: choosing to do what you should do not what you want to do. In small groups, the kids made “Game On, Game Off” wristbands. They will wear their wristbands throughout the month of January and whenever they are showing self-control, the band will be on the “Game On” side. If they start to have a problem keeping their self-control, they should turn the band to the “Game Off” side as a reminder that they need to ask God to help them regain their self-control in the situation they are facing. Since our theme gaming, complete with Mario, we are focusing on a different button of the game controller each week. This past weekend we learned that God can give you the POWER to control yourself. Don’t miss next weekend when we talk about the PAUSE button and how it can help us have self-control. If you missed last weekend, don’t panic! We will be handing out wristbands to anyone who needs one next weekend.

As the Christmas season approaches, I want to make you aware of some upcoming events for your family at NewSpring Church.

First of all, don’t forget about your Operation Christmas Child boxes. We will be collecting the filled boxes this coming weekend and also on the 19/20th. If you need some information on how to pack a shoe-box, just click here.

KidzWorld FX, Jingle Jam Edition is a fun Christmas program for the whole family. It will be December 9th at 7 p.m. in the main auditorium. Your child has an opportunity to participate in the program as a Jingle Jam Caroler. You can get all the details here.

NewSpring  Christmas Eve services will happen Friday, December 23 at 5 and 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 24 at 3:30, 5 and 6:30 p.m. All KidzWorld environments will be open for children from infant through 5th grade for the two services on Friday and the first two on Saturday. NO KIDZWORLD during the 6:30 service on December 24th.

Have a great day!

As a family, you need to create a masterpiece using various household objects. When you have finished your creation, take a picture and email it to kidzworld@newspring.org with an explanation of what it is and why you created it. All of the submissions must be sent in by October 28 and will be entered in a drawing to win four free tickets to see Tim Hawkins Live ($60 value) on November 17 at NewSpring Church. The winner will be announced in the four weekend services on October 29/30.

How many states border the Pacific Ocean?

Answer: 5
California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii

Bonus question: How many states start with the letter M?

Answer: 8
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota and Montana

How many states border the Pacific Ocean?

Bonus question: How many states start with the letter M?

Answers will be posted tomorrow.

The dot that appears over the letter “i” is called a tittle.

The New Testament has 7,959 verses

On average, the human tongue has 2,000–8,000 taste buds and they only live for 10 days. On Mr. Dan’s blog you can do a taste testing experiment with two simple ingredients, an apple and potato.

Taste Testing Your Tastebuds

We all know that some foods taste better than others but what gives us the ability to experience all these unique flavors? This simple experiment shows that there’s a lot more to taste than you might think.

What you need
small piece of peeled potato
small piece of peeled apple ( same shape as the potato so you can’t tell the difference)

Instructions

1. 1.       Cut your pieces of potato and apple.
2. 2.       Close your eyes and mix up the piece of potato and the piece of apple so you don’t know which is which.
3. 3.       Hold your nose and eat each piece, can you tell a difference?

What’s happening?
Holding your nose while tasting the potato and apple makes it hard to tell the difference between the two. Your nose and mouth are connected through the same airway which means you taste and smell food at the same time. Your taste buds can recognize salty, sweet, bitter, and sour, but when you combine this with you sense of smell you can recognize many other individual ‘taste’. Take away your smell and you limit your brains ability to tell the difference between certain foods.

We would love to hear what you discovered from this experiment by leaving a comment.

Information provided by Wikipedia

75% of all raisins eaten by people in the United States are eaten at breakfast. You can make raisins dance as a family. Feel free to dance along with them.

Dancing Raisins

Have you ever wondered how a grape is dried into a raisin. In late August, grapes are handpicked, laid on rows of poly paper trays in the vineyard, and allowed to dry naturally in the sun. After two to three weeks, a fresh grape becomes a sun-dried raisin. And four pounds of fresh Grapes yield one pound of raisins. 

What you need
tall clear glass
raisins
club soda (club soda needs to be fresh, this won’t work if it’s flat)

Instructions
1. Cut raisins in half.
2. Pour the club soda in the glass.
3. Drop in half of a raisin.
4. Wait at least 20 to 30 seconds and watch what happens to the raisin. (The raisin should rise and fall or ‘dancing’.)

Why is this happening?
The reason why the raisin floats to the top is because the bubbles stick to the sides of the raisin and make it more buoyant. Buoyant means that something floats more easily. The bubbles make the raising float the way a life jacket makes a person float.

Fun fact: Raisin varieties depend on the type of grape used, and are made in a variety of sizes and colors including green, black, blue, purple, and yellow. Raisins are sweet due to their high concentration of sugars.

We would love to hear what you discovered from this experiment by leaving a comment.

Information provided by Nationraisin.com and Wikipedia
Experiment credits kids-science-experiements.com