Resource on Trial: Carousel in a Box

We used this resource over 12 weeks with a mixed group of 50 children aged 3-11, who adapted to it well. The suggestion is that you spend 15 minutes in each of three ‘zones’, making your session around an hour long. The children loved being in mixed-age groups and enjoyed getting a stamp or sticker on completing each zone, although these tended to get lost.

The ‘zones’ in Carousel are story, craft and games. We had one leader in each zone and a leader moving between the zones with each group. At times the games weren’t relevant to the Bible story and were too young for the 9 to 11 year olds, so the team adapted them. As mentioned above, the paper stamps that each child received after each zone didn’t work brilliantly, as the children lost them, so after three weeks we gave each child a sticker at the end of the session instead. As a leader I felt that we were missing a major zone: prayer. So we added in a fourth zone, which worked amazingly well, giving the children new confidence to be creative in prayer.

The design of the resource is excellent. Everything you need for a year’s worth of sessions comes in a box: timers, stickers, planning sheets, printables on CD, laminated flash cards, a banner and a card for each zone. The weekly instructions were easy to follow and the team leaders had no problem planning their sessions.

The story section of Carousel in a Box uses the God’s Word Translation; at times we altered this to use a storyteller Bible or the NIV. The follow-up questions and conversations for use with the children were too simple for some of the children who regularly attend church; however these did work for visiting or un-churched children. We felt the children aged 7-11 weren’t stretched enough in their faith by these questions however, so we added in some extra reflections for them. We felt that adding the prayer zone enabled the older children to explore and reflect on the story, and its relevance for their everyday lives.

Working out at around £13 per month, this solid resource is good value for money. I would use it again, but probably not all year round, as it is good for the children to have a change now and then. This has certainly introduced me to a structure that I will continue to use in our children’s group. 

Main strength : The well-thought-out structure and design means that you have everything here to run a good-quality, fun teaching session. Main weakness : There is no space for prayer, but it didn’t take long for me to think of a prayer activity for each week that enhanced the material and provided a space for the children to reflect and be. This is a missed opportunity.