Hangtime is for You

Do you have a child who is in Kindergarten through 6th Grade?  If so, Hangtime is for you!

I cannot tell you how excited I am that we are starting up our third year of Hangtime in just a few weeks.  I absolutely love this program and it is always a highlight of our year.

In case you didn’t know, Hangtime is a community after-school program held at Eastport Bible Church.  We meet every Wednesday afternoon from 3:30pm-5:30pm.  Thanks to our location, we are able to offer pick up from both Eastport Elementary School and Tuttle Avenue School as well.  We’ve worked very closely with both schools and they are incredibly helpful and familiar with our program.  Hangtime is open to students from other schools as well!  It’s also completely free.

Every week at Hangtime, we have some amazing leaders come in and offer homework time.  Parents, this is a huge blessing to your family!  As someone who has kids who have lots of homework, having even one day where they can get help from someone else is a huge help.  We have a great team of both Jr. and Sr. High helpers as well as other adult leaders who help out in the homework room each week.

We also offer the kids a snack at Hangtime as well.  We know it’s a hungry time of the day, so we provide them with something to eat right when they get to us.

After homework we meet up for announcements and workshop time.  Workshops are such a fun part of Hangtime.  Each week, we offer a variety that the kids get to chose from.  We have a cooking workshop that everyone loves.

Workshops vary throughout the year, but the goal is always the same.  We want the kids to have a full 45 minutes to do something that they don’t always have time for… Play.  We want them to be active or creative and so each week we set time aside for this.

Each week we offer a craft workshop.  Projects vary throughout the year.

And a huge favorite is always our Sports and Games workshop.  On nice days, we are outdoors, enjoying a game of Thunderball or street hockey.  And when we aren’t able to be outside, we take the kids over to the Eastport Elementary School gym, where they can run around and have a great time playing any variety of games.

And some weeks, you might just find us having fun, balancing Peeps on our heads.  Whatever things keeps the kids engaged and happy is what we strive to achieve.

And probably most important is our Bible lesson and Small Group time.  We end each week with these two things.  Because let’s be honest.  Life is hard.  Things in the world can be tough or confusing.  So in our Bible Lesson time, we do all that we can to encourage our Hangtime kids to know that God loves them and that He has great things in store for them.  And then we finish with Small Group time where they have the opportunity to share their thoughts and be encouraged by our leaders.

If you have a child, in Kindergarten through Sixth Grade, then Hangtime is for you!  We would absolutely love to have your child/children join us on Wednesdays all throughout the year for this fantastic program.

A few things to know…  Hangtime is free and easy to register for.  Just go to http://www.eastportbiblechurch.com and click on the Hangtime link.  The registration link is located right at the bottom of the page.  If your child is going to participate in Hangtime please register them so we can plan for a great program.  If your child is at Eastport Elementary or Tuttle Avenue School you will want to notify the school that your child is participating in our program this year by sending in a note.  They will plan to have your child be picked up by us on Wednesdays so if anything changes just let them know.

This is an open program and very flexible.  If your child can only make it certain days, that is totally fine!  We know that sports or other activities come and go throughout the year and it’s not a problem at all.

Finally, this year, Hangtime will start on September 28th.  We want to give the kids a few weeks to settle in to their new school routines.  If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me, Laura Herr at lauraherr8@gmail.com.  I’m the Hangtime director and would be happy to help with any questions you may have about our program.  You can also call the church for more information: 631-325-8164.