Lafayette Urban Ministry

Our group project is finally complete and a huge success. I am very excited that it is not only finished, but everything had fun. The project began when I put on my ballerina costume. When we arrived at First Presbyterian Church, we were given the set of rules and a tour. We set up the snacks and waited for the kids to arrive. Once they got there it took around 15 minutes for the kids to change into their costumes. They all sat in a circle, and we distributed snacks. I learned quickly the way to handle this bunch was to be assertive. Snack time was over, and then it was time for the team building exercises. We split into two groups. We played popcorn and hot chocolate river. After about a half hour a play, we then turned to their all-time favorite...hide and go seek. We hid candy around the entire building so their first task was to find it. Then we paired up and played two rounds of all building tag. We had only a half hour left so we wanted to keep the kids in the main gym. As requested, we played duck, duck, goose. I lost twice to a five and seven year old but still had fun. Soon the parents came to get their children, and our project was done.

One of the problems that occurred was trying to keep the children quite. With the help of the volunteers, they stayed in line. Some of them also became very attached to us. They did not want to spit up when it was time to. It is no easy to rationalize with a child, but we worked our magic. In the end, we knew we had to be firm and fun at the same time. I would volunteer for LUM again in the future.

Audrie-6