Activity Table Basics

From week to week, the activities and resources that are offered on the Prayerful Activity Table change according to the theme of the sermon, noteworthy events in our community and the world, and/or the scripture that we’re using during worship. They are meant to enhance the worship experience for those who want to engage in a more tactile or embodied way – kids or adults!

That said, in every picture you’ll see that there are some basic materials that we leave out for folks to use. On this page, I’ll try to keep an up to date inventory of what materials we currently offer, and what works and doesn’t!

Craft Supplies

The big basket seen on the left hand side of the table in the picture above predates my involvement with this ministry, and it holds some of the essential supplies that make engaging with this resource possible, for example, clipboards, and a big bag of safety scissors for paper crafts.

I’ve been doing some low-cost updates to our materials more recently, including making sure that there are self-contained sharpeners in all of our pencil cases that have pencil crayons, and making sure that all our colouring materials have sustainable cases, rather than being stuck in Ziplock bags as they originally were.

More recent additions to the basic materials that are on offer are easy-grip crayons, wooden stencils, washable markers, purple glue sticks. The easy-grip crayons are constantly going missing and getting mixed up or coming back loose from their bags – which to me means they are a huge hit. The stencils got a lot of use initially when I put them out, and I still see them being borrowed once in a while.

The markers get grabbed way more often than the regular crayons, but I wouldn’t actually recommend these, either – they are often used to damage the table itself, and are returned without caps. Not sustainable. I bought them for an activity that involved colouring on red cardstock. I had sort of intended for them to be a sometimes thing, but because they got so much use, I left them out. At this point, I’ll probably weed them as they get used up. The glue sticks are like that – I put them out only when I’m offering an activity that requires them.

I picked up all of these items strategically over time using 40% off coupons at Michaels to make them as affordable as possible.

Fidget or Stim Toys

In our box of fidgets are primarily things like popper toys. These are pretty popular, and the items in the box originally came from a package of party favours that I got through my local Buy Nothing group. The biggest challenge with these is finding things that are quiet and safe for the littlest members of our congregation. I tried play dough for a while, which I purchased affordably at Ikea. It was a terrible idea! So messy, and never got put back properly, so it just ended up being wasted.

There are also a few bags of two-piece puzzle sets, animals and vegetables. I don’t get the impression that these get that much use, but I recently moved them from the craft supply box to the fidget toys, so hopefully they’ll get borrowed more often. These, I purchased using various deals and coupons on Ali Express, in order to keep costs as low as possible. I have linked to my original purchase links, but make sure to shop around if you’re using this platform!

The newest additions to the fidgets also came from Ali Express. There is no budget for this ministry, but rather than make monthly donations to my church, I consider my small purchases to stock the table part of my financial contribution.

In total, this order cost about $25, including shipping, for a total of 15 new toys to add to the box. The little poppers haven’t arrived yet, but the rest have, and they are super fun.

Office Supplies

Other than these basics, the use of our office’s printer and paper supplies is our biggest resource. We have a high-quality, professional colour printer that I am so grateful for, and we keep on hand a selection of white and coloured paper and light cardstock. I also frequently use our office’s paper cutter, and pencil sharpener.

I would love to hear from others who teach, homeschool, or otherwise are caregivers about suggestions for what else we could offer. My current aspiration is to one day replace all our troublesome coloured pencils with a classroom pack of Crayola Color Sticks! Wish me luck.

Resources

Every week, I post the resources that I draw on to offer on the activity table. I try to balance the table with activities and colouring sheets, and I do my best to find things that will appeal to people of different ages – from our youngest children to our oldest adults. Most of the time, they are printed on paper, but sometimes I’m able to offer slightly more complex craft materials.

One thing that I’ve noticed recently is that things that are less interactive and more takeaways for use during the week as well as during service – for example, packs of illustrated prayer cards, devotionals, or bookmarks – are not as popular to engage with as other materials. For this reason, I will be trying to avoid providing resources like this going forward. Which is a shame! I really like ways to carry worship into the week. I would welcome suggestions on other ways to integrate that practice into the table with alternate kinds of resources!