After Christmas Party means fun

VERNON — Winter break students continued the holiday festivities by attending an After-Christmas party sponsored by the Glenwood Baptist Church and held in the all-purpose room at the Dorothy Henry Library in Vernon. Party organizers and church members Nancy Landrud, Cindy Lynch and Phyllis Miller were all smiles as were the attending children ranging in age from pre-schoolers to fourth graders. The organizers creatively blended games, songs, Bible stories, crafts and competitions and a learning question and answer session with a Christmas/birthday flair.
“It’s a backwards birthday party,” joked Lynch. “Christmas celebrates Jesus’ birthday, yet we get the presents.”
Keeping with the backwards theme, some children wore their party hats backwards. One organizer wore her sweatshirt backwards and children participated in a backwards relay race, walking and sprinting backwards to a finish line and passing a gift bag to the next racer.
The very well behaved group sang Happy Birthday, Jesus and discussed their favorites, like favorite ice cream, favorite season and favorite animal. This activity reinforced and praised the children’s individuality. A song entitled Christmas Bells seemed to be the children’s favorite. The song’s melody was Jingle Bells but new words explained the Nativity. The favorite game seemed to be the cup blowing boy vs. girl competition. Party drink cups and birthday party blowers were used. The number of cups blown to the floor each represented a win for teams.
Children enjoyed a snack, a take home goodie bag and ended the party with a prayer for each other and a hope for peace and love in the New Year.