Library Fishing

Here’s a creative solution to use our Fishing for Friends silks in your summer reading shows.  It uses all the silks and a change bag.  The libraries will love you.
Written by Barry Mitchell and Tim Sonefelt

I was reading a great book on fishing when I had a magical idea.  That’s one of the exciting things about reading; it inspires some great ideas.

I created my own magic fishing pole.  It’s one part fishing net and one part fishing pole.  I call it one part fishing net and one part fishing pole.  I came up with that myself.

With my fishing pole, I can fish for friends at the library who love to read just like me.  I have a hook and a tackle box filled with bait.  (Drop hook in change bag.)  I need a helper to hold my tackle box.  (Choose helper and ask them to hold your tackle box open so the bait silks are accessible.)

Another one of the exciting things about the library is that it attracts a variety of people who have different interests.  For example, it attracts people like me who love books about fishing.  (Show fish silk and drop in change bag.)  I’ll put the fish in my net to attract people who love fishing.  You can find fishing books in the 700s section of the library.

I love books on humor and jokes.  (Show yellow smile silk and drop in change bag.)  You can find books on jokes in the 800s section of the library.

I love to read stories, but I really enjoy writing my own stories.  Did you know there are even books that can help us write better stories?  You can find them in the 800s section.  (Show black feather quill silk and drop in bag.)

Did you know the library has books about business and how to save money?  (Show green money silk and drop in bag.)  You can find books about business in the 300s and 600s section of the library.

I’ll bet you’ll never guess what soap has to do with reading.  (Show white soap silk.)  Did you know you can make your own soap?  It’s true.  You can find books about soap making in the 700s section.  Speaking of soap, I love to take bubble baths.  Did you know there are even books about taking baths and washing our hands?  The library has books on everything!  (Drop white silk in bag.)

The library even has books on LOVE! (Show red heart silk.)  Are any of you in love?  If you want to read love stories you can find them in fiction.

Love is not really fiction, but all those really gross romance novels my big sister reads are in that section.  One kind of love that’s not fiction, is our love for books and reading.  (Drop red silk in bag.  Switch change bag to produce long streamer.  Ask helper to hold one end and walk away from helper while holding the other end.  Silk will flow out of change bag.  Follow directions with the silk set.)

So if you love books and get hooked on reading, you’ll meet a whole new group of friends at the library. (Produce long streamer silk.)

Get hooked on reading.

Fishing for Friends silks are available at www.barrymitchellproducts.com

Prayer Bag

Darren Casteel shared this wonderful presentation to teach prayer with some of the silks in our Fishing for Friends effect.  Darren says this is the basic outline of what he does with the bait silks.  He does not use the fish or children’s faces silk.  He says it gets a great response.
Thanks Darren, great ideas.

(A change bag or other production prop may be used.  Or simply hold up the silks as you discuss them.)
This is my prayer bag.  It is a reminders me of how we pray and what we pray.

(Produce heart silk.)  We need to pray with a right heart.  The Bible says the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

(Produce money silk.  Kids will usually say we can’t pray for money.)  Wait, we can pray for money when praying from the right heart.  The Bible shares that we do not have because we don’t ask. (James 4:2)  When we ask for something like paying a bill or money that has a good purpose it’s certainly okay.

(Produce smile silk.  Turn silk upside down to make a frown.)  We pray for people to be unhappy, right?  (The kids will scream to turn it over.  Follow with all the popular “turn it around” gags.)  We pray that people have the joy of the Lord.

(Produce quill silk.)  Did you know that God keeps his promises?  This quill reminds me of the strength of a promise written in ink.  I pray that I will also keep my promises and become a trustworthy person.

(Produce soap silk.)  We can also pray to be clean.  The Bible says, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from our sin.  (I John 1:9)

Flu Fishing

By Greg Wood
Greg Wood sent us a GREAT idea he uses with our Fishing for Friends props.  Below is his presentation ideas.  You’ll be amazed by the creative way he has given a different and educational message to the effect.

Greg writes:
We were asked to come up with something to help re-enforce what is being taught in school to avoid a pandemic of H1N1. It seems to be such a hot topic right now. I thought I’d share it with you.  Fishing For Prevention The usual gags and jokes from Fishing for Friends are used and we added a Peachy Keen foam burger prop for a joke about catching a whopper. The kids don’t always get it but the teachers do.

Here’s the basic script ideas:
You know when you’re fishing, you’re trying to catch something but with the flu you’re trying NOT to catch something. What can we use as bait to NOT catch something.

Smile - While a nice smile can be beautiful, there can be many germs in that smile. That’s why it is important to always cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Cough into your elbow or better yet behind your knee, or use a tissue. Throw the tissue in the garbage after you have used it and don’t put it back in your pocket.

Heart - Stay healthy, eat well, exercise, take your vitamins

Quill Pen - Stay home when sick – This is the kind of pen we used in my day to do our homework…by candlelight. When you are sick, you need to stay home from school so that you don’t spread it to others. As a matter of fact, you should stay home for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever. It’s a good idea though to get your homework sent home because we need to keep up on our work so that we don’t fall behind.

Money – Think about something like money. Most people like it. I like it, but so many people touch our money before we touch it and they may have passed germs onto the money. Peter Ender, a scientist who has studied the germs on paper money said, “The germs on money comes from our hands.” A few years ago Dr. Ender got dollar bills from people waiting to buy food at a basketball game. Seven percent of the bills showed traces of harmful bacteria. Eighty-six percent carried less harmful germs that rarely cause illness among healthy people but can be very dangerous to some people. Only seven percent of the bills had no germs.  Money isn’t the only thing that is touched by a bunch of people before we touch them. And these things can also easily carry disease as well. We can’t just stop touching things but we can be careful not to touch the T part of our face, our eyes, nose, or mouth after touching things. Dr. Ender said he doesn’t worry about handling money with his bare hands because he washes his hands “dozens of times a day.” Me too, so if you want to give your money to me, I’ll take it all….

Soap - Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Follow these instructions for washing with soap and water:  Wet your hands with warm running water and apply liquid soap or use clean bar soap. Lather well.  Rub your hands vigorously together for at least 15 to 20 seconds. You can sing the ABC song.  Scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.  Rinse well.  Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel.  Use a towel to turn off the faucet. Hand sanitizers, which don’t need water, are also good too, particularly when soap and water aren’t available. If we follow these steps, hopefully, we won’t catch anything. Hey we caught something though, we caught a whole school full of healthy, happy students.

Thanks to Greg for his willingness to share this routine with others.