Here are 4 ways to save money on supplies and materials for DIG IN lessons.
1) Collect food boxes and bottles.
Many Dig In crafts use cardboard or empty water bottles. Often, recycled food packaging is a great, free source of cardboard! Set up bins in your church lobby, and ask families to donate their recyclables. When a craft comes up that requires bottles or cardboard, just grab what you need out of the bin! You’ll save money and help recycle!
2) Plan ahead.
We work hard to make sure our supplies are available at stores like Walmart or craft stores. But sometimes, the same supplies are available for less online. By gathering your supplies a few weeks ahead, you’ll have time to price-shop and get the best deal—even if you have to wait for shipping.
3) Pay attention to the asterisk.
You may not realize this, but sometimes we re-use supplies from the Core Bible Discovery in other blocks. When we do, we always note them with an asterisk. This means you can use the same supply in both blocks. So let’s say the supply list for the craft says “glow stick*.” That means you can simply re-use the glow sticks from Core Bible Discovery, rather than buying a whole new set. (Note: This doesn’t apply to basic classroom supplies like Bibles and pencils—we figure you’re not going out of your way to gather those!)
4) Use the Supply Chart Compiler tool.
Now you can download the supply chart from every lesson you’ve built! This gives you a quick, at-a-glance look at the supplies you need for a whole quarter! There may be things you can buy in bulk to save money!
Please join us in the DIG IN Teachers’ Lounge on Facebook to share your tips and tricks for saving money on DIG IN supplies and materials!
2 Comments
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We are loving the DigIn Curriculum! My only suggestion would be to create posters that portray the Bible story, rather than children with the Bible point. Many of our kids cannot read, so the posters are not useful to us.
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Thanks for the feedback, Tabatha! We agree with you, so when we developed The Bible in One Year, we created posters like you’re describing with beautiful Bible story artwork. Keep an eye out for them when you get there! We’ll definitely keep your thoughts in mind as we decide what kind of posters to offer for our third program. We’re so glad to hear your church is loving DIG IN!
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