Chicktime Blog

If you find yourself disappointed that Chicktime New Braunfels Downtown doesn’t have volunteer activities you are in a good place to explore the idea of building a team and re-launching the chapter! The children at Connections love our workshops and we feel the call to find a new leadership team to continue the legacy started there. The children at Connections have faced many hardships and Chicktime workshops offer them hope and encouragement and of course lots of love and laughter.  

If you have a heart for children and/or if you have supported Chicktime New Braunfels Downtown from the sidelines and want to do more….now is the time to act! We will give you all the training you need and help you transition into the leadership role. 

Please contact, Lori Rhodes, Chicktime Founder, at info@chicktime.com for more information. Feel free to look up chicktime.com and find out more about being a Chicktime leader. We promise it’s easy, not time consuming and will change your life.

Come be blessed by being a blessing!

April Update:

After a year+ of drop-off workshops due to COVID-19 restictions, we were able to host our first virtual workshop with the SafeLiving Housing group at SafeHaven of Tarrant CountyLisa Albert led today’s workshop sharing knowledge on Self Defense as well as her own personal story as a survivor. She was awesome today as she transformed a standard in-person into an interactive and informative virtual workshop with the assistance of our co-leader  Sandi. Great teamwork ladies. I know the attendees, the SafeHaven leadership team as well as Janaand I appreciate your time and commitment. I can’t wait to see what we have in the works virtually for the May workshop Stay tuned Chicktime Fort Worth; we’re Baack!

April Update:

April Update:

Loving on the Woman & Children Center with sidewalk chalk & a yummy homemade snack!

Super excited to be back on campus next month.

April Update:

Making Vision Boards was so fun….

And the beautiful thing is …..the girls know Jesus loves them and holds their future!

April Update:

Ice Cream Socials can be so fun and yummy!!!

April Update:

Our April drop off workshop was a success!! I look at this picture and see love!! Love of our community and love of God’s children!
#chicktime
#godislove

April Update:

t was a perfect day for an egg hunt with our favorites!

The kids had a blast.

So many Easter blessings were shared.

And we truly felt God in our midst.

God is doing some AMAZING things!

Here are some Work Day Pics~ So fun to help make the campus beautiful!

Join us next month.

April Update:

For our Zoom workshops we drop off supplies one day….

And zoom the next with the girls at the Settlement Home.

We like to do the activity with them….

And feel so blessed when they have so much fun!

Tie-dye socks and masks were a hit!

April Update:

Getting Fit with Hip-Hop!

April Update:

April Update:

April Update:

April Update:

Dropping off Activities and Love at the Light House Children’s Home is something we hope to for a long time. We are looking for help for future months. Reach out and come be a blessing!

April Update:

April Chicktime was so fun! Thanks to all the volunteers who showed up to make it a great day for the girls at New Life. Our workshop Leader Lori Davis provided all the supplies and activities!

Thanks for all the hard work putting it together! We made bunny baskets, played games and decorated decoupage eggs. It was a beautiful day!

April Update:

It’s that time of the year when everyone is busy with spring cleaning, end of school year festivities, lots of interesting weather, and planning summer vacations, Chicktime Bulverde still finds time to spring some love on the teenagers of their charity partner. Thank you Heather and Beth for supply April’s Workshop. After treating the kiddo a Taco Bell Lunch, they enjoyed learning about Financial Planning by completing a “Brainstorming Household Budget” worksheet.

They chose a career and then had to find out what they could afford: one or two bedroom apartment, did they need a roommate, etc. They were very engaged in this activity. Looks like we will be doing more of these workshop to help get them prepared for the future. Chicktime Bulverde loves the teenagers at SJRC Texas. Blessed beyond measure to be associated with them.

April Update:

Prayer is important and powerful.

We find having steps to keep a prayer journal is helpful.

May all the ladies at Chadwhick Residence know we are praying for them constantly.

April Update:

Thank you to our  Rock Painting workshop leader Teresa and our Hygiene 101 workshop leader Maria( March workshop leader)! They were able to be with  the girls at Cornerstones of Care- Ozanam Campus today after a year of being away! Two volunteers were allowed to be on campus to lead our monthly workshop in person and we were grateful they were willing and able!

Rock painting supplies and treats~

A perfect workshop back !

Hygiene kits  delivered too!

We can’t wait to be back in person in May!

April Update:

Chicktime is FUN!

Our Workshop delivery was a success, and just in the knick of time before all the rain came down!

All the kids will have an amazing time! #HEBHelpingHere

March Update:

April Update:

Happy Days for Chicktime Sacramento as we are finally back in person with our lovely charity partner

Saint John’s Program for Real Change

!

April Update:

Sip and Paint drop off workshop was a success. We are imagining our sweet little ones sipping on capri sun and creating masterpieces!

April Update:

April Update:

Scheduling conflicts prevented us from having our gardening workshop… so we improvised and sent pizza and breadsticks! We always want the Youth at SafeLanding to know Chicktime cares about them!

April Update:

April Update:

Our April Activity was hosted by Carrie Frasier.

She hand wrote a sweet note for the girls!

Easter Goodie Candy, Easter bags, Easter Crafts, Easter pencils, Sharpeners and Erasers….

Hopefully we get to see our girls soon in person.

March Update:

April Fun:

Thank you, Selina and Deaf Heartbeat for teaching sign language to the girls at Elks Aidmore. It was incredible and I know they loved it!

Thank you also to those who prepared food for their Easter lunch and donated the amazing Easter baskets for the girls.

They felt so loved today. It is amazing every time we go. The girls come in and they seem a little down, definitely not excited. By the time we leave they are so happy to have us be there and are so thankful for everything that we bring.

Since we have been able to be back in person, I am seeing the impact that we are making increase significantly.

It is such a blessing to be able to love on these girls and to be used by God to help make an impact in their lives.

We hope you will join us next month.

April 2021:

Bingo supplies and prizes were sent to The Women and Children’s Center.

We hope the ladies had fun playing. We can almost hear their laughter.

Can’t wait to be there playing with them again.

April Update:

Thanks to a special Chicktime volunteer, the  young moms got to have a little fun with succulent planting.

Planting Love is what Chicktime is all about!

April Update:

Can you believe it rained again on our attempt to play volleyball with the girls?

April Update:

We like to get encouraging letters~

We hope Vista Maria does too!

March Update;

We hope the women at Chadwich Residence have a blast hanging out and having a little puzzle time together!

April Update:

March Update:

\

Bracelet making is so fun. So many types and ways to do it.

See you next month.

April Update:

Another fun activity today with the teen girls at

Miracles OutReach!

! Thank you to Heather for hosting such a creative event… and thank you to our community donors for sending items to fill the Easter eggs and Easter baskets!

We made choclate nests for peeps and their eggs.

They loved Easter egg hunting and all the goodies in their baskets!

See You Next month!

March Update:

April Update;

March Update:

Our March workshop leader went way overboard on love and activities and we can’t stop looking at the pictures shared with by Big Springs Ranch! Don’t they just make you smile!

Games, arts and crafts, painting, and coloring with the new donated supplies kept kids busy from multiple cabins!

Then it was time to get active again…

the kids went to the ranch gym with their toys from Chicktime! Lots of good movement and release of energy! The kids even connected two jump ropes to make one big one, allowing the girls to jump two at a time. FUN!!

The Chicktime Easter Bunny even brought lots of treats for the kids one morning.

We hear the kids were totally immersed in JOY thanks to Chicktime !!

#chicktime

#blessed

#spreadinglove

March Update:

March Update:

We finally got to see the girls again!! We had a great Poetry Jam and Spoken Word workshop! Thank you @Shaddái for hosting today!! Today they had an opportunity to tell their story. THIS is why we Chicktime. We want to communicate to each girl, “You are SEEN, You are HEARD, You are LOVED, You are NOT ALONE, You have PURPOSE.

We would love to have you serve with us and help these girls come to the truth that they are NOT FORGOTTEN! 

March Update:

Supplies for Vision Boards were gathered….

And prepped….

And dropped off….

We hope the girls have a blast creating !

March Update:

March Update:

March Update:

March Update:

It’s been a year since Chicktime Springfield had to become a contactless workshop. We are hoping that we will be able to do in person activities again soon. However, we shall continue our best to serve our charity partner.

For our March workshop, we decided to mix our St. Paddy’s theme to incorporate fun Easter baskets for the children at the Ronald McDonald House! Interested in how you can make an activity basket for families during this time? Please message us!

March Update!

Dropped off supplies one day for our March Zoom workshop….

….And then just like that we had another fun workshop on another day.

Look at our artists showing off some of their work

March Update:

COFFEE & CONVERSATIONS

Our March workshop was a blast! This past Tuesday we got a chance to hang out with a couple of our friends at

Immerse Arkansas

.

                             Stay tuned for April’s workshop info and some other announcements! 

March Update:

March Update:

March Update:

Another successful drop off, a little something to get their saving started with a little activity to help them understand the importance of doing it.

…..And best of all we were given the ok to return to the building in May. Limited but super excited to get back on campus.

March Update:

Butterfly Mobile

Materials

• One bamboo wood ring
• 4-5 pieces of nylon string (2 feet)
• Fake butterflies, flowers, and insects that you can purchase at a craft store.
• Glue gun/ tape/ glue dots

Instructions

First Step

1. Take the ring and tie the first nylon string to the ring in the middle of the string. This leaves a foot above the ring (to hang from the ceiling) and a foot below the ring (to add butterflies, insects, flowers, etc.)
2. Continue tying the other 3-3 strings around the ring, spacing them evenly apart.
3. Tie all of the top strings together so that the mobile can hang.

Final Step

1. Begin to decorate your mobile.
2. Start at the end of each string placing a butterfly or flower, working your way up the string placing decorations at various intervals.
3. Place the decorations on the string using either a glue gun, glue dots, or tape.

Hint: You can bend the butterfly wings to give them extra dimension.

Here are the printable instructions: Butterfly Mobile Instructions

March Update:

It’s workshop day at our charity partner, Bokenkamp Children’s Shelter and the staff absolutely loved what we are having the girls do! Lucy said the girls are going to really love it.

Thank you to our workshop leader, Kristina Juarez for a fun project and HEB for all the snacks and drinks! #HEBHelpingHere

March Update:

March Update:

Materials

Borax (found in laundry section)

pipe cleaners in rainbow colors

water

twine

a pencil or stick that is longer than the glass/jar’s opening

cotton balls

glue

Tools

wide-mouth jar or a glass bowl

adult supervision

Instructions

1. Using one pipe cleaner as the anchor, tie one end of the rainbow-colored pipe cleaners onto it.
2. Bend them into a half-circle.
   
3. Tie the other end of the pipe cleaners onto the anchor pipe cleaner. Cut the excess.
   
4. Fill the bowl with water to around three-quarters full. Then using a measuring cup, measure the amount of water used.
5. Boil the water in a pan under adult supervision.
6. Carefully pour the boiling water into the bowl.
7. Dissolve plenty of Borax into the hot water. For each cup of water, I used 3 tablespoons of Borax.
8. Stir the water until all the powder has dissolved or the powder left at the bottom cannot dissolve further. This phenomenon is called saturation.
9. Tie the rainbow you’ve made onto a twine. I tied it on the anchor pipe cleaner and hanged the rainbow upside down.
10. Tie the other end of the twin onto a pencil or stick and submerge it into the Borax solution. Make sure the rainbow is fully submerged and not touching the side of the bowl.
    
11. Put the bowl in an area where it won’t be disturbed for the next few hours.
12. Crystals should start forming immediately and a layer of crystals will cover the pipe cleaner completely within 3 hours. Wait another hour or two if you want a thicker rainbow.
13. When it’s grown to the desired size, take it out to dry.
14. Glue cotton balls onto the bottom.
15. Unlike growing crystals using sugar or salt, crystallization using Borax is relatively fast. Crystals can be seen forming as early as two hours after the glass is set aside.

Here are the Rainbow Crystal Project Instructions

March Update:

March Update:

Thank you March workshop leader, Laurie, for putting together an awesome activity to do over spring/ Easter break! The kids are going to have so much fun…Origami fun!!

March Update:

What a blessing to be able to be physically present at Chicktime Canyon Lake this month. The girls were so happy to see more volunteers and to feel the love and fun we brought them. We had new volunteers and returning volunteers but our common goal was to bring the girls the love and companionship they so much deserve.

We made sand art butterflies,..

peanut butter and seed pinecone birdfeeders…..

and played bingo!!

Thank you Sandra for providing all the wonderful activities and thank you to everyone who was there to spread love and joy to the beautiful girls at New Life. We love them so much.

February Update:

One way to stay connected with the girls at Light House is a Zoom Call workshop.

This proved a little more difficult than we imagined as there is limited staff during the pandemic to help make this happen. We are okay with waiting for in person workshops to see the girls. We will go back to our original thinking….drop off  workshops!

March Update:

March Update:

The girls will try their luck at planting strawberries and tomato

We made crunchy holders for the

They will also have plenty of hair bows, headbands, scrunchies and barrettes to style their hair over spring break.

Kudos to Tiana for the starter garden kits andMichelle Cortez
for all the hair accessories donated through a friend for the girls

March Update:

March Update:

March Update:

March Update:

We got to tie-dye shirts with our kids at Safe Landing!

Thanks to Dannielle for your workshop donation.

March Update:

What a blessing to have Erica Sifuentes plan a self-care workshop for our teen moms.

Many times moms are so busy taking care of other things they forget to care for themselves. Erica provided Color Street nail kits in pretty bling boxes and also gave them some Ipsy bags.

And of course a snack is always the best way to finish off the day – Banana splits!!

Over the years, Chicktime Conyers has been able to partner with some amazing people and organizations.  For example, we have had multiple volunteers serve at our local food bank, and in return, the foodbank provides snacks for our workshops!

Another way that we partner in our community is by partnering with other non-profits. We found these nonprofits via mutual friends and also by going to our county Chamber of Commerce and requesting a list of all nonprofits in the area. We went through the list and introduced ourselves and have made some pretty strong friendships. We have a group of nonprofits in the community that support each other by donating resources and volunteering whenever possible in order to offer what support we can. This past month Chicktime has received feminine and self-care products from other nonprofits to take to our charity partner. We have also partnered with a women’s home and an organization that rescues women from human trafficking. If the girls at our charity partner (or those who were formerly at our charity partner) have needs that Chicktime is unable to meet, we have other contacts who may be able to help.

In addition to the nonprofits with who we partner, we have also been partnering with my church. My church has sponsored the girls for Christmas, completed service projects to clean the grounds of our charity partner, and have continually asked how they can help us.  The impact from all of this is incredible.

I think the most amazing thing though is the trust that has been built between us and our charity partner that has opened even more doors. We are in our 4^th year at Chicktime Conyers and we have offered to host a Bible study since we first started serving. However, our charity partner was never really open to having us do that. Last week I received an email from our charity partner asking me if we were willing to host a church service every other week or did we know any pastors that would. I literally screamed with joy! Of course we’re willing! We’ve been willing! I reached out to pastors in the area who are now partnering with us to host church services for our girls.

What started out as three women wanting to make an impact in their community has become an entire community rallying around and supporting the work Chicktime is doing. It is overwhelming and I am so thankful for each and every partnership.

~ Heather

Materials

Printable Escape Room Packets

Scissors

Prizes/Treats for Completing Escape Room

Cardstock

Process

Print out the escape room master packet and game packet on card stock or copy paper.
Cardstock is more durable and can be laminated if you like, but printer paper will work too.

You could possibly set up the room at your charity partner and then leave or you can print and cut out the clues and give them to the staff at your charity partner. Give the staff at your charity partner the instructions and the answer key. They can set up the room if needed and help those who get stuck on certain puzzles.

As ladies finish the escape room, they can be given a prize or certificate rewarding them for their perseverance.

The files to the escape room are below.

Escape Room Master Guide with Answer Key

Game Materials

March Updates:

No Sew Fleece Pillow

Materials

2 yards of fleece divided into 1-yard pieces

16-inch pillow insert or stuffing for the pillow

Ruler

Fabric marker

Ballpoint pins

Fabric scissors

Process

Step 1 : Measure and cut the fabric

Place one yard of fleece on top of another yard. The patterned sides should be facing out on both top and bottom so that you can see them.

To determine the size to cut the fabrics take the dimensions of your pillow and add 4 inches to all four sides. That way your pillow will fit inside the case.

If you have pillow stuffing, determine the size that you want the pillow and add 4 inches to all four sides.

Pin in place if needed to keep the fabric from moving.

Step 2: Measure and cut 4-inch squares out of the four corners

Cut one inch wide strips, 4 inches long,  around the edges

You can mark them to keep it more consistent

Step 3: Tie the knots and insert the pillow or stuffing.

Only tie knots on three sides. That way you will have an opening for your pillow stuffing or pillow to go in.

Once your pillow/stuffing is in go ahead and tie the final side.

Here is a video tutorial if needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPqwPcyVYZc&t=151s

New Sew Fleece Pillow Printable Instructions

February Update:

Chicktime Corpus Christi continues to Bless Bokenkamp Children’s Shelter. A huge thank you to our workshop leader, Elsa Menchaca MacDougall for a fun Mardi Gras mask decorating session.

We dropped off all the supplies and goodies for all the residents, all thanks to H-E-B. #hebhelpinghere. We can’t wait to see their finished masks and will post them when we get their pics. We are so happy to continue to bring smiles to all the kids too.

February Update:

February Update:

Our workshop Leader, Michelle is the best. She provided lots and lots of supplies and instructions for the Women and Children to make their own Valentine’s Day Cards.

#blessed

February Update:

SELF-CARE IS IMPORTANT

Thanks to the donations of our chapter members and leaders we were able to drop off facial masks, facial wipes, bath salts, shower gels and fizzers, and moisturizers to help the youth of Immerse have a little, “ME TIME”. We hope they enjoy practicing some self-care as they transition into adulthood!

February Update:

Due to scheduling conflicts with Sunybrook, our Tye Dye workshop has been pushed back to the first Sunday in March.

February Update:

Dropped off bags filled with and an activity and snack…

All we need is LOVE!

February Update:

Could there be a better lesson for young children? Dream Big!!

February Update:

February Update:

Thankful and blessed that we all survived Snovid 2021. Now we can focus on our upcoming Chicktime workshop and spending some quality time with our beloved non-for-profit charity The Settlement Home.

With the drop off complete we are excited to get a little craft time in. Let’s see what magical creations we can come up with. I can’t wait to pop in and see everyone this Saturday!

February Update:

Help when you can. Be there when you can. Encourage when you can. We miss our friends @ Connections so much! We hope these monthly drop offs are bringing them some joy!

If you’d like more information on how you can help, comment below or message us.