Kid Connection Blog

It’s Curriculum Reorder Time—Save 20% Now!

2012-02-21T12:22:00.000-08:00

Save 20% on orders for the Fall 2012-Spring 2013 year that ship by May 31, 2012. Other discounts are available. Call us at 1-800-333-8300 to order or learn more!

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Looking for Ideas and Inspiration?

2011-09-29T12:12:00.002-07:00

You’ve come to the right spot! This blog is FULL of both. Just scroll down and you’ll see a loooong list of topics on the left side of the screen. Click on one that sounds helpful to you and read on. Then post a comment of your own to add to the conversation!

I won’t be adding new KC blogs to this site—we’re getting ready to launch a new interactive website that will take the place of this one.

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Prayer Talk

2011-02-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

I don’t remember the course content, the final exam, or the other students in my favorite university course at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. What I do remember and what I looked forward to most each day was the professor’s opening prayer. He’d look at us all with this big smile on his face, say “Let’s talk to God,” and then start praying a prayer like this:

Hi, God. What an awesome day you made today. The raindrops fed all the flowers and the puddles are perfect for jumping in. Thanks for shady trees and yoyo strings. Thanks for giving us elbows so we could bend our arms in so many ways. How do you think of such cool things, Lord? Please watch over our friends who aren’t here today. The ones with runny noses, the ones who are feeling sad and those who are far away. And God, we’re sorry for hurting people’s feelings and not doing the stuff we’re supposed to do. Thanks for loving us even when we mess up. We love you, Lord. Amen.
My teacher modeled prayer to me in a powerful way. We model prayer each week to the kids we lead at church. For some of your kids it may be the only time they hear someone talking out loud to God. For others it might be their only opportunity to hear prayer as conversation instead of memorization.

We all have different “comfort zones” when it comes to prayer. I feel more comfortable praying with a group of kids than I do leading adults. My friend Nancy is a prayer warrior who once led me in prayer in the parking lot at the YMCA. My fifteen-year-old has been leading our suppertime prayers since she was in preschool and my seventeen-year-old has always refused to pray out loud. No matter how you’re wired when it comes to prayer, it’s important to invite kids into your conversations with God. Like my teacher’s prayers, your prayers may be the thing they remember most! Use these prayer pointers to expand your comfort zone:

Prayer doesn’t have to be perfect. God isn’t grading your prayers and neither are your kids. All God asks is that your prayer be heartfelt. Remember how my teacher thanked God for strings and elbows? Include thanks for the everyday blessings your kids enjoy—things like backpacks and wheels on school busses, ice cream and shoelaces. And praise God in ways that connect with your kids—thank God for eyelashes that blink out dust, noses that drip down instead of up, and all the shades of blue. How did God think of all those cool things?

Tea with the Queen should be fancy, not conversations with God. Pray for the things that matter to the kids you are praying for—new siblings, tests, fights with friends, missing pets, scary things, birthdays—in language your kids can understand. Be specific, use words your kids can understand, and leave the flowery language in the garden where it belongs.

Prayers are like medicine—use when needed. Stop, drop, and pray anytime with your kids. Its okay to interrupt a session and say, “Hey guys, let’s talk to God!” and then tell God together about something great that just happened in your class or pray for someone you notice is missing or the sick cat someone just told you about. Tip: Avoid the temptation to use prayer to send a message to your kids about classroom behavior!

Prayers don’t need comments. When you tell a kid that they did a “good job” with their prayer you’re telling them that you were evaluating how they did. When you laugh at a child’s prayer you make them self-conscious and aware that someone is listening. Prayer is a conversation with God. The best way you encourage kids to pray out loud is by letting them pray without your praise—a simple “thanks” will do just fine.

Prayer comes in many forms. There are all kinds of ways you and your kids can pray together. Here are a few to try in the coming months:

Popcorn prayers. Invite kids to jump in and pray a word or a sentence whenever they’re ready—just like popcorn kernels popping in the pan! Tip: Give kids a topic like “things to thank God for” or “words that describe God” and let them know that you’ll begin and end the prayer.
Prayer walks. Head outdoors with your kids and pray for the things you see on your walk around the building. You can make a list together and pray your list when you get back inside, you can encourage kids to pray silently as you walk, or you can pause on your route and pray aloud together.
Prayer requests. Ask your kids if there is anything they’d like you to pray about and then either stop and pray after each request, take notes and pray for them all at once, or invite other kids in the group to pray for a specific request.
Prayer journals. Bring a simple dollar store notebook to class and record your prayer requests inside. Make notes when prayers are answered and thank God together for those answers. Tip: Post requests and answers to prayer on a designated “Prayer Wall” in your room—write them on paper hearts in February, print them on a large paper cross in March and April, write them on paper flower petals in May and June.
Prayer buddies. Encourage kids to pray for others by assigning each child a prayer buddy for half or all of the education year. Keep it simple—print off a sheet for each child in a cool shape like a handprint and write something like “I’m praying for ______ and ______ is praying for me!” Fill in the name, give each child a copy, let their families know, and let the praying begin!

Have some other great ideas for praying with kids or stories to share? I’d love to hear them! Email me. In the meantime, be sure that we at Faith Alive are keeping you, your ministry, and the kids you are blessing in our prayers!

Energized and Organized

2011-01-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

January is a month of extremes. The weather goes from cold to freezing, packed shopping malls become empty, rooms once decorated for Christmas look bare again. And children's ministry leaders? We're exhausted from the busyness of December and exhilarated because we made it this far! Read on for a few ideas designed to get you and your program energized and organized for the remainder of the church school year.

Please Pass the Kudos
First, lift your hands from the keyboard and place one over each shoulder. Ready? Good. Now give yourself a really big pat on the back from us. December was a full month and we tip our hat to all those leaders who showed up each week ready and rarin' to go! Make it a goal this week to acknowledge the efforts of another member of your children's ministry team with an email, a handwritten note, or a personal pat on the back.

Serve Up Some Excitement
Snap a few photos to help get your kids, their families, and other church members pumped up about your program again. Take pictures of kids in large and small group action, mount them on posterboard, and display them outside your room. Encourage kids to show and tell their families what's going on in the pictures. Fun photos featuring teaching staff are a great way to promote the program to folks who are checking out your church and to members who are thinking about teaching. So pop on a tiara, slip on some quirky sunglasses, hold up your favorite candy bar or favorite piece of sports equipment, and snap few candid shots. Tip: Post them on your church website along with a fun leader bio so that everyone can see what a friendly place your Kid Connection program is!

Clear the Room
Now's the time to go through the supplies and get prepared for the months ahead. Here's how to do it:

Toss out the dried-up markers and empty glue sticks. Tip: Take a moment at the end of class and ask your kids to serve as Supply Testers!
Update your paper supplies. Tip: It's much easier to prepare things at home when each leader has his or her own package of colored cardstock and printer paper.
If your budget allows, order a wheeled storage cart for each small group. Label the drawers ("markers and crayons," "glue sticks," "scissors," "CD player," "paper") and you're ready to roll!

Move those chairs out of your large group area and pick up some carpet mats. Sitting on the floor make it simple for kids to stand up, sing and dance, and provide story sound effects. It will also save you loads of set-up time! Tip: Most carpet dealers will give you a stack of carpet samples for free or for a very minimal cost.

Kick the Habit
Make a New Year's resolution (or two). First, plan to be prepared. If you've ever painted a room you know that the most important part of the job is preparation. Same goes with teaching. I'm a procrastinator by nature, and I've done the "night-before" prep routine more times than I'd like to admit. Well, fellow last-minute folks, here's the problem with that game plan: while the session may still go OK with my last-minute prep, it could have been even better. Set a goal this year to flip through your lesson one week before you teach it; then watch and listen as the Holy Spirit prepares your heart in amazing ways.

Get Fed
Make spending time with God a personal priority this year. One simple way to do that is to be sure to read the Get Connected devotions found at the beginning of KC lesson. Each one is easy and enjoyable to read and will give you a deeper understanding of the story you're about to teach.

How Did It Go?
We consider YOU part of our Kid Connection team and we'd love to hear from you! E-mail us your comments, questions, or suggestions and let us know how things are going in your program.

What if...?

2010-05-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

I bought an extra Mother’s Day card this year and gave it to myself. Now framed and hanging in my office, the card reads, You are hip and cool, no matter what your teenagers tell you. I need this card for a little extra encouragement because even though the teens in my house no longer plead “Mom you can just wait in the car. Please—wait—in—the—car” when I pick them up from events, they still don’t see me as a person with, well, feelings. That’s not always fun when you’re a mom (hence the card), but having already raised one teen to adulthood I try to remind myself that part of being a teen is putting space between you and your parents as you try to navigate the world by yourself.

Problem is, the world is not an easy place to navigate when you don’t want your parents to join you on the journey. At a recent conference in Atlanta, Chap Clark, PhD, author of Hurt and Founder of ParenTeen and HURT Seminars, shared research indicating how critical it is for adolescents to have the guidance and support of five caring adults in their lives. Parents are encouraged to seek out adult role models who can invest in the lives of their kids by being “accessible, available, and encouraging” to them.

What does all of this have to do with those of us in children’s ministry? We have them first. At one time the adolescents in your church family were five-year-olds in a Sunday school class. You formed relationships with them during the year they were part of your small group. You knew that Danielle liked to bring her stuffed unicorn to class and that Isaac cheered for the Lakers. You hugged Patrick when his parents split up and you and Megan gave thanks to God when she finally lost her first tooth. For one year you had the privilege of sharing in the details of their lives. We have them first.

What if your relationship with the kids in your small group didn’t end with the church school year next month? What if you continued to smile and use their name when you passed them in the church halls over the next 15 years? What if you bought one of those nifty bathroom birthday calendars and began writing down their birth dates so you could send them a card each year? (Even when they moved away for university.) What if you traced their hand on the last day of class and had them sign it, tucked that page into a special binder, and told them, “I’ll be placing my hand on it and praying for you,” and then sought them out over the years to retrace their growing hands and remind them that you were still praying? What would change in the lives of the teens in your church family if the church became filled with the “accessible, available and encouraging” faces of former Sunday school teachers?

I can’t wait to find out.

Move It!

2010-04-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

My parents live across from a beautiful park, and as we ate our Easter brunch we were able to look through the windows and watch crowds of people enjoying the sunshine there. The view was lovely, but it wasn't until we put on our walking shoes and joined all the people on the paths that we were able to really experience the park. As children's ministry leaders we have regular opportunities to help our kids experience God through stories from Scripture. In her book Trail Mix, author Jessie Schut explains how to make those experiences meaningful:

Imagine what would have happened if Jesus had taken his followers into a classroom, seated them in rows, and lectured them about the kingdom of heaven. Suppose they all dutifully took notes and completed workbook sheets. Could they have become effective disciples by passing a test, or reciting the assigned memory work? Not likely!

Jesus knew what he was doing when he expected his motley crew of followers to get their hands dirty as they learned about the rudiments of discipleship. They chatted as they fished, acted as crowd control during healings, rustled up food and donkeys to support Jesus as he carried out his ministry. Their apprenticeship involved action as well as observation, questions, discussions, and listening.

Jesus didn’t have a flannel board, worksheets, or gold stars to assist his lesson presentations. The world was his lab, and, as Jesus’ partners, the disciples pulled on their own backpacks and set out to do his bidding.

Too often Sunday school gives kids a passive learning experience: we expect them to sit and listen. Jesus used active learning principles in his “classroom.” Passive learning is predictable. Active learning involves new discoveries. Passive learning is boring. Active learning is an adventure. Passive learning encourages spectators. Active learning gets everyone out on the playing field.

Active learning means indulging liberally in role-play, group work, games, simulations, field trips, service projects, drama, debates, panel discussions, action rhymes, puppetry, brainstorming, experiments, and more.

Okay, you say, I surrender. I know active learning is important. But doesn’t it take extra planning? Isn’t active learning a risky business? If children have too much fun, will they get anything out of the session? How can I be sure that I’ll get all the information covered? It’s noisy, and I may lose control. And when and active learning activity flops, the failures are often spectacular. How will I survive?

Those are valid questions. Whenever you step out of stiff lecture shoes into action sneakers, you’re taking a risk. You may need to do extra work to prepare for your class. You won’t always know if kids will get what you think is important information. It could be noisy, and you may lose control. Occasionally, your carefully planned activity will flop.

But your goal is not primarily to save time, to control kids, to dole out important information in measurable doses, or to get a reputation as a grand success. The goal of your efforts is helping kids grow and learn so they will become joyful disciples of Jesus. To achieve that goal, you’ll do whatever it takes.

Which would you be more likely to remember: the lecture on three ways Joseph was faithful, or sitting under a black blanket so you could imagine what it felt like to be alone in a pit? What would make a bigger impression—the worksheet on hunger statistics, or the 30-hour famine you experienced with your group?

Kids—and adults too!—learn by doing. What activities can be part of your teaching so children are engaged in actively learning God’s story? Try one this week!

-- Excerpt from Trail Mix by Jessie Schut, copyright 2004 Faith Alive Christian Resources.

Olympic Fever

2010-02-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

While I don't live near British Columbia, I do live in Canada, where folks have developed a serious case of red mitten fever since last October. The brainchild of an Olympic fundraising committee, warm and fuzzy red knit mittens with "Vancouver 2010" embroidered on the top and a white maple leaf sewn into the palm are being sold for $10.00 a pair across Canada. Department store clerks in this normally polite country are scared to leave the safety of the storeroom when asked to deposit a pallet of mitts to the sales counter, lest they be run over by shoppers seeing red, and by the time the torch leaves Olympic stadium, organizers predict that over three million mittens will have been sold.

The Olympics have that effect on people. In 1996, when our daughter Steph was 7, she became enamored with American gymnast Keri Strug. While we had reservations about Steph's body type being suited to gymnastics (she's now 6'2"), she earnestly began cartwheeling around the kitchen, somersaulting down the hallway, and vaulting over the coffee table. She even insisted on wearing a tensor bandage around her ankle a la Keri. None of this surprised my husband, Ron. After being mesmerized by the '76 Olympics in Montreal, he and his brother Doug lugged an old mattress into the backyard to create a high jump mat, used the lawnmower to carve a running track in the grass, turned their farmhouse veranda into a winner's podium, then invited friends and family to compete against them. Steph, Ron, and Doug are no different from millions of kids across the world who become passionate and inspired about something after watching their heroes in action. The folks at Wonder bread know that and created a commercial about it.

As children's ministry leaders we are also perfectly positioned by God to inspire our kids. While most of us have never driven a bobsled or attempted a double-lutz on figure skates we all know the power of God. We can get excited about what God has done and continues to do as we "wonder" into stories from Scripture and share our own stories with our kids. Last week as I taught the story about the showdown on Mount Carmel (KC Year 3, Unit 5, Session 2), the kids hung their story props on the wall and whispered "but nothing happened" on cue each time the Baal worshipers called out to their god. When we came to the part where God's power "zapped fire on the altar, licked up the water, and burned the bull, the stones, and the ground until there was nothing left" their jaws dropped. Getting down on our knees like the people in the story and shouting "The Lord is God!" was more powerful than a podium of athletes singing the national anthem.

This week as you lead your kids, catch the fever of following God and spread the excitment. Like red mittens, it's bound to be contagious!.

Time for a Check Up

2010-01-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

I usually put off scheduling my annual eye checkup. Although I enjoy the quiet atmosphere and the soothing voice of my optometrist as she covers my eyes with foggy little lenses, invites me to look straight ahead, and asks, "Which one is clearer: A...or...B....now B...or...C?" I always feel like she's trying to trick me. Was the slide she called 'A' now 'C' and did I contradict myself with the second answer? Then there's the disconcerting eyeball-to-eyeball conversation we have as she stares at my retina like it's about to spontaneously self-combust. I'm also not a fan of her assistant--a gentle looking woman who smiles as she asks me to open my eyes as wide as I can before popping them with a blast of cold air. Eye checkups aren't my favorite thing to do--but I go because I know they are an important checkup to have if I want to make sure that my eyes stay healthy.

Like eye exams, children's ministry checkups are important to do if we want to make sure our programs are continuing to thrive. January is the perfect time for that checkup--here's some things to include on your list.

Do kids feel welcomed as they enter the large group area? Is there a friendly face to greet kids at the door? Tip: Having someone stand at the door is a great way to quickly connect with kids and to slow them down as they burst into the room so you can create an atmosphere designed for learning.
Speaking of atmosphere...how well is your room set-up working for you? Does the large group seating pattern work well? Are you able to tell a story without standing in front of a window or door? Could you arrange things better to help kids stay attentive? What about small group? Is there a comfy place for kids to gather and get connected at the beginning of each session?
How about supplies? Got enough glue sticks, colored card stock or construction paper, and markers? How are the reproducibles getting printed? Is the current system working well for all the leaders or is there another way to make sure everyone has what they need? Tip: In my church I print and prepare all the Memory Connection Cards needed for each unit in advance, then leave them in a drawer for small group leaders to pick up on their way in. In another church I know of, someone with administrative gifts prints all the repros for each three-unit book in advance and then has them ready for leaders to pick up. Find out what works best for your teaching team.
Do leaders know and feel like they are part of an important ministry team? Maybe it's time to get together for coffee and donuts so you can share stories together, problem solve, and plan. Tip: Share the storytelling video (go to video titled "Basic Virtues or God's Big Story) as a reminder of why we do things the way we do in Kid Connection.
Are parents/caregivers getting the Guess What! magazines out of the car and into the house so they can use them at home? The best way to get feedback is to ask them! Tip: Check previous posts for ideas you can use to alert families to the great content and feature in each Guess What! magazine!
How are you doing with time management? Do leaders have enough time to complete all four steps of a session? Tip: If you have too much time, consider preparing one or two "What Else?" activities for a unit in advance and keeping them handy. If you run out of time, consider doing what one church in Edmonton does and skip the first step ("What's Up?") so that kids still hear the story and get to respond in their small groups with those important "So What?" and "Do What?" application steps. Or, help folks value the time you need to complete a session by posting a sign that says, "Parents and caregivers: we value the time we have to share God with your kids--thank you for waiting as we complete our session!"

When it comes to my eyes, sometimes an adjustment in my prescription will help me see clearer. Checking to see if you need an adjustment in your program to help things run more smoothly is a good idea. (It's okay to tweak activites in a Kid Connection session to make the program fit in your unique setting and suit your unique teaching skills--just check your changes to make sure you're still reaching session goals.) And, just like I know my optometrist is happy to advise me about my eyes when I have a question, the wonderful staff at Faith Alive is happy to help when you do too. (Only difference is our help is free.)

Behind the Scenes

2010-01-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

I live in a city lined with leafy green maple trees. Now that winter is here, all the leaves are gone--revealing huge nests squirreled away in branches and wrapped in twigs. The nests were there all along--I just couldn't see them before because of all the leaves.

I'm not a bird-watcher but I sure love seeing those nests--they always remind me of how the Holy Spirit works behind the scenes and beyond what we can see. As leaders we get so busy gathering supplies, preparing sessions, building our song repertoire, and finally teaching kids, that sometimes at the end of a session we wonder if the story we shared will nest in the hearts of our kids. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit was there working behind us "leaves"--preparing before us, working with us, and continuing to take hold after us.

Paul talks about what God has been doing "in secret and behind the scenes all along" in Ephesians 3. As a children's ministry leader it's one of my favorite passages of Scripture:

This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don't let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. (Ephesians 3: 7-21a, The Message)

Isn't that awesome? Remember those words as you spot a hidden nest this week and as you prepare to minister to the kids God sends your way in 2010. (And please pass them on to other team members to encourage them today!)

P.S. Taking time out to be with God is a wonderful way to prepare your heart. Faith Alive has published a newly updated version of a 366 day devotional (yup, even leap year is covered!) called Daylight. It's the perfect book to read with your Cheerios in the morning as part of your 2010 plan to start the day off right!

A Story Worth Teaching Well

2009-11-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

At a church I was visiting, kids left for Sunday school about a quarter of the way into the worship service. On this particular Sunday, the kids program had been canceled, and instead of dismissing the kids, the worship leader announced, "There's no Sunday school for the kids today. Sorry, parents! I know you were looking forward to a break!" Ouch. In addition to making the kids feel pretty unwelcome, the speaker reduced the 45 minutes of learning that happens each week in Sunday school to a 45 minute kid-entertainment session offered as a "break" for parents. Sadly, although the worship leader was unaware of the fabulous children's ministry program that was happening each week at his church, in some churches his statement would have been fairly accurate.

Each month a wonderful children's ministry magazine comes across my desk. What I love about it are the helpful tips, inspirational stories, and encouragement that fill its pages. What makes me cringe are the ads for "quick and easy," "just pray to prepare your heart and start teaching" Sunday school curriculums that will "save you time and energy" and teach kids "basic virtues." Now imagine for a moment that your child's school teacher or your pastor told you that they actually don't prepare their lessons/messages--they just pop open a box that contains everything they need, pray to prepare their heart, and they're ready to go! I'm guessing you might want to pay a visit to the principal or review your pastor's salary! As children's ministry leaders we have the incredible opportunity to present and share God's story with kids. That requires time, energy, and preparation. It also requires well thought-out, theologically sound Bible story presentations and follow-up activities so that kids leave with a picture of God--not just a virtue of the week.

At Faith Alive Resources (the publisher who brings you Kid Connection), they feel so strongly about the what and how of teaching kids that they asked me to record a video about it. Watch the clip, show it at your next children's ministry meeting, or forward it to your teaching team and share it with anyone else you know that cares about connecting with kids through ministry. God's story is a story worth teaching well.

As Is

2009-10-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the Ikea commercial in which a woman runs out of the store, bags in hand and yelling at her husband to "Start the car! Start the car!"? When my husband sees it he complains of having flashbacks because, as anyone who has ever sat on my Blekinge-covered Ektorp sofa while eating Swedish berries and sipping coffee from a Ljuvlig mug can tell you, I love Ikea. (Our realtor encouraged us to choose a home based on location, and I did--we're now located within an hour's drive to three different Ikea stores.) And, although I enjoy strolling along the arrow-marked path around the showrooms, through the marketplace, and into the self-serve aisle, the highlight of my trip is always the "as is" section. Tucked into a corner at the back of the store, the "as is" bins are filled with scratched, dented, dirty, and broken pieces of furniture. You need to be able to look beyond the brokenness to see the potential before you buy something with an "as is" sticker stamped on it.

If there was an "as is" section tucked away at the back of the Bible, I imagine it would contain names like Moses, David, Rahab, Samson, Zaccheus--people God chose "as is" and used "as is" with his power and grace. It would also contain names like Karen, Jen, Bob, Amy, Mitch, and a little line that says Your name here ___________________.

Last week Jolanda Howe (Faith Alive teacher-trainer extraordinaire) and I attended the GROW conference in Edmonton, Alberta. It was a wonderful opportunity to share what we've learned and to connect with a fantastic group of folks dedicated to sharing God's story with kids. During lunch one leader mentioned that one of the reasons she finds it hard to get volunteers is because people feel "unqualified" to teach. Here's some good news you can give to those who don't think they've got what it takes to teach kids: like the imperfect furniture in the "as is" section of Ikea, God accepts us as the dented and broken people we are! No degree necessary, just a willingness to be shaped and molded by the potential-seeing buyer who purchased us with his Son.

Of course that doesn't mean we can show up on Sunday morning "as is," without any prep time or prayer time put into the session we're about to lead. That's where the willingness to be shaped and molded comes in! (And folks, if you are using a curriculum that promises "no prep time necessary," that's not a good thing!) As you prepare to teach this week, thank God for choosing you and using you "as is" to present his precious story to kids, and pray that God will equip you to present it with all the richness it deserves.

P.S. When it comes to shopping I'm a bargain hunter . . . and I noticed a few Faith Alive bargains this week that you might be interested in too!

God Loves Me Christmas Storybook Set. On sale this month, you can get a set of four illustrated books for under $10.00! (Makes a great stocking stuffer for the preschoolers in your life!)

Coming Home. This Advent devotional is great for personal devotions or family use. Best part--it's less than $5.00 and the more you buy lower the price! (Are you thinking what I'm thinking? My teaching team members would love them and I can share some with friends and family members too!)

Happy teaching (and happy shopping!)

Karen

Gaps

2009-09-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

I spend so much time at the orthodontist's office that I'm considering having my magazine subscriptions re-routed there. Visits to close the gaps between the teeth of my teenage daughters are always interesting--they've emerged from the office with pink braces (to match the prom dress), blue and yellow braces (school colors before a big game) and even green and red braces (the Christmas edition).

Those of us involved in smaller children's ministry programs spend a lot of time dealing with gaps too--age gaps. In fact, one of the most common frustrations children's ministry leaders share with me concerns the age gaps between the kids who attend their program. This summer Faith Alive's teacher-training coordinator Jolanda Howe and I led a personalized live webinar with a church that had a group of preschoolers and a group of kids between grades 3-6. With a varying number of attendees each week (anywhere from 2-19 kids) and a shortage on teaching staff, those gaps had a real impact on their program plans! All those who can relate to their dilemma please nod. (Yep--me too!)

I attend a church plant, and when we began, our children's ministry program had seven kids--each a different age between 5-11. This year for the first time we have twenty kids listed---nineteen from the ages of 4 to 7 and one 10-year-old. Like the gaps in between my kid's teeth, getting things lined up to make our program work required a little movement here and there. For the first time we've started a bi-weekly grade 5-6 program (using Walk With Me materials for 6-8th grade) and are using the K-3 Kid Connection materials for kids between the ages of 4 through grade 4. We've created our teaching schedule through December with plans to re-evaluate based on numbers and adjust groups as necessary in January.

When it comes to children's ministry (and teeth!) one of the biggest things we have in common is that we're all different! Here's what being 'different' has taught me:

1. Only the 10 commandments are written in stone. Fluctuating attendance means it's important to be flexible. It's okay to switch things up midway through the year if numbers warrant a change.

2. The church down the street isn't perfect either. (I find that comforting, don't you?) Like the colors my kids use to make the best of their braces, we're all figuring out creative ways to deal with the situation we're in.

3. Never "settle" to make things work. At my church we learned this the hard way, once choosing a DVD-based curriculum so we could group the kids and use less teachers. It didn't take long for us to realize that plunking kids down in front of a TV to watch slapstick comedy and learn random Bible verses was a bad idea. It's important to find the most flexible, fun, and theologically sound curriculum available (for us that's Kid Connection) and then tweak it as necessary to make it work in your setting.

I'd love to hear how you are dealing with gaps in your children's ministry this fall. (I know one church in Ontario that engages their older kids by referring to them as "Capitanos" and having them assist in special ways--isn't that great?!) Sharing ideas is a great way to encourage others in similar situations--can't wait to hear yours!

PS Great news for those of you currently teaching KC Year 3--Faith Alive Resources has just purchased permission to provide lyrics for all the year 3 songs not found in the Sing With Me songbook! For a minimal cost you can download a copy of all the lyrics you need! (By the way, we learned the song "For All You Do" last week at my church and each time we sang "do, do, do, do, do..." we had the kids extend their arms and roll their hands like they were boxers hitting a speed bag. They loved it!)

Wild Things

2009-08-26T08:31:00.001-07:00

We took the kids to watch the changing of the guard in front of the Parliament Building in Ottawa, Ontario, this summer. Every morning more than 50 furry-hatted, red-suited guards (from behind they look just like the wild things from Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are) begin their synchronized march across the bridge and around the corner, arriving in front of the Parliament Buildings precisely at 10 am. They file onto the field, divide up into equally sized small groups and stand perfectly in position. The presentation takes exactly 30 minutes, and no matter how hot it gets (88F/31C when we were there) the guards remain rigid, responding only to their leader's commands.

Kind of like the opposite of children's ministry, right? At my church each Sunday morning, approximately 3 to 25 kids walk, run, skip, and wiggle out of the worship area somewhere between 10:35 to 10:50 am. They straggle into the room, gather randomly with whoever else came that day and flop to the floor. The large group presentation takes around 15-25 minutes, and no matter how exciting it gets, someone will always ask to go the the washroom, and a preteen will remain rigid, pretending not to hear the leader's commands.

When Sunday morning chaos hits it's tempting to wish our programs were as organized as the army--imagine kids entering orderly and focusing intently on our every word until being given permission to move! Of course if that happened we'd be giving up thoughtful story interruptions ("Teacher, why didn't God just tell Peter instead of sending him a dream?"), spontaneous prayer requests ("I can't find my dog--can you ask God about that?"), shared stories and empathetic hugs ( "My dad said he isn't going to live with us anymore"), smiles during songs (as leaders attempt to get their groove on), and wide-eyed reactions ("Wow! God is AWESOME!").

As you get ready for another church education year, thank God for all that is unique about your program and the kids (and leaders!) who are a part of it. And know this--perfect children's ministry programs don't exist. (Neither do perfect guards--the one on the far right kept falling asleep.) We're all dealing with things like tight budgets, wide age gaps, uneven attendance, and stoic preteens. Our programs--like our kids--are a work in progress! The key is to find creative ways to work with your unique challenges. I hope this blog will provide a way for us to do that as we bounce ideas off of each other--feel free to leave comments so we can share ideas and consider solutions together.

Something I'd like to share with you today is the letter I'll be sending home with kids when we begin our program this fall. Feel free to cut and paste, personalize, and use it in your program. And God bless you as you faith walk with the kids that straggle into your room this year!

Dear Parents, Caregivers, and Friends of Kid Connection Kids,

Welcome to the 2009-2010 edition of our children’s ministry program! We’re looking forward to connecting with your kids as we learn about God.

Here’s what happens on a typical day in Kid Connection:

We open with large group where we praise God, play a game, and participate in the telling of a Bible story. This year’s large group leaders are Karen and Lena.

Then we divide into small groups to connect with each other and God as we dive deeper into the Bible story in an age-appropriate way. We’re excited to have Jen, AJ, Sam, and Ty as our small group leaders.

Here’s what kids will be bringing home each month:

Memory Card. Each card contains a short Bible passage that we’ll be looking at in our small groups. Challenge each other by learning the passage together at home!

Guess What! Family Magazine. Designed for busy families, each issue is filled with games, stories, and activities, a cool calendar page (with things that are easy to do!) to hang on the fridge, a family worship page, and a parents page with practical tips for you! Keep it in a place where you’ll come back to it together throughout the month—you’ll be glad you did!

Here’s what you can do:

Read the Memory Cards together and use the Family Magazine.
Include our program and our leaders in your prayers.
Connect with us if you have any feedback or questions.
Bring us your kids! (We love having a full house!)

We can’t wait to see what God has planned for our program this year!

Your Children's Ministry Team

Sunday School on Broadway

2009-08-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

My 11 year old walks around the house belting out Kid Connection tunes like she's on Broadway. Funny thing is, she hardly moved her lips when we were singing them at church this year and on the drive there each Sunday she'd say, "You're not going to sing those silly songs with us again are you?" Preteens--those kids who are caught between kid-ness and cool-ness--can be hard to figure out. Here's what I have a handle on so far:

We can't take it personally when they roll their eyes or pretend not to sing in Sunday school. Preteens are paralyzed by a fear of looking silly on the outside, but that doesn't mean they aren't participating on the inside.

Like Sally Field, they want to know we like them, we really like them! Preteens want to hang out in places where they feel loved and appreciated. It's important to smile when we see them, to brighten our eyes and tell them we're glad they've come--even though they might not react when we do. (Inside they're saying, "Thanks, I like you too.")

They have a wacky sense of humor. They like bizarre props and exaggeration. They love seeing adults do something silly, and, if you're a preteen boy, gross things are cool.

They like it when you join them instead of observe them. Preteens love to have you complete a worksheet or solve a puzzle or write in a journal alongside them during small group. (Which gives you all kinds of opportunities to faith talk together!)

They like to help, but like clear instructions about what to do. The preteen brain is a work in progress--they don't instinctively know what to do and when to do it so when we involve them as helpers we need to model gentle leadership by giving them clear instructions.

They support each other. Ask a preteen to be your storytelling assistant or help you with some dance moves and you'll be amazed at how well their peer group listens!

They don't want to be treated like "babies." These kids feel much older than they actually are and we need to respect that. While having them all together for large group is great, when it comes to small group, they really need to be with their peers.

The great news is that while preteens might be paralyzed by a fear of looking silly--we're not! As adults we know that embarrassing moments are a survivable part of life. How awesome that we can be the silly adult doing all the actions to the songs and making strange faces and sound effects as we tell the Bible stories. Sunday school on Broadway? Sounds like a good idea to me!

Songspiration

2009-07-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

Do you have personal theme songs that play in your head--or on your iPod--as you move around throughout the day? I do. This spring it was Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." In fact, according to my iTunes list, I've played it 103 times in the last few months! For some reason the music of that song inspires me. Music has a way of doing that.

When we were choosing the songs for Kid Connection we were very intentional about choosing songs that would connect with and inspire both kids and leaders. I just finished teaching Unit 9 of year 2 at my church, and my kids couldn't wait to sing "Make a Difference in Me" and "I'm Gonna Walk." In addition to the great lyrics and awesome music, we found some fun actions to incorporate. Adding actions is important because in addition to helping kids learn lyrics, they are just plain fun! (If you ever want inspiration for actions, search the song on YouTube, or check out a sign language site like http://www.aslpro.com/.)

Right now we're finalizing the song list for Kid Connection Year 4. And in doing so I found my summer theme song. It's called "Come to Jesus" and I first heard it on YouTube. In addition to the music, I'm inspired by the meaning of the words and the actions seen in the video. It's a song that has touched my heart. God has a way of doing that.

Fireworks and Faith

2009-07-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

For the past 18 years my family and 10,000 other people have gathered around a lake to watch fireworks in July. Getting there is an event in itself. I pack blankets, chips, licorice, drinks and an umbrella (just in case) then stuff everyone into the van. We drive 20 minutes to a street a few blocks away from our destination and always pause to congratulate ourselves on how smart we were back in ‘93 to find such a great parking spot. We cut across backyards—“Looks like they went all out with decorations this year!”—cut through the university parking lot—“Remember the time we parked here and were stuck in gridlock for an hour?”—climb up the hill—“Hard to believe we used to pull the kids in their wagon over this!”—plop down on a plot of grass and wait for darkness to fall.

This year a young family making their own memories sat near us; their 2 year old son wiggling as he waited impatiently in his stroller. We heard his sharp intake of breath as the first firecracker lit up the night sky and then listened for the next 15 minutes as he shouted “WHOA!” and “YAY!” in quick succession along with each new splash of color; adjusting to multiple bursts with “WHOA-WHOA-WHOA! YAY!” and pausing in between rounds to exclaim, “Fireworks is GREAT, Mom! Fireworks is GREAT!” each time there was a pause in action. Witnessing his joy-filled wonder reminded me why we put all the effort into getting there each year.

Sometimes we’re so busy ‘getting there’ in children’s ministry that we forget about the ‘why’ of what we do—to nurture a “YAY, GOD!” faith. As you catch your breath this July (or after VBS!) and before you pack supplies and prepare for your September ministry adventures, pause to celebrate and wonder at God’s awesome creation so you’ll be able to join in and shout, “WHOA! YAY! God is GREAT, kids! God is GREAT!”

Idea of the month: Kick off the new Kid Connection year in the fall by handing out cool memory card containers. In past years I’ve handed out little business card holders, mini photo albums, sports card protector pages and carabiner clips to encourage kids to collect monthly Kid Connection memory cards. (All of which are available at the dollar store) This I’m going to pass out pockets! Here’s how you can do it too: purchase old jeans from a thrift shop (look for pairs with lots of pockets!) and cut around each pocket with a pair of sewing scissors (keep the back on the pocket). On the first day back give each child a pocket and provide fabric paint pens so they can personalize them. (Foam shapes and stick on gems also work well!) Tuck in that month’s memory card and encourage kids to either pin their pocket to a bulletin board or tuck it under their pillow.

Got any other programming ideas you’d like to share with other Kid Connection leaders? I’d love to hear them! Email me at Editors@FaithAliveResources.org.

Happy Summer!

Summer Solutions

2009-06-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

Soccer tournaments, swimming lessons, camping trips, backyard barbeques—family calendars fill up fast in the summer! The flipside is that church calendars may look pretty empty due to lack of volunteers. Taking a break from regular programming and routines can be good, but it’s important that we continue to connect with kids. Whether you hold a relaxed version of your regular Sunday school program or discontinue classes until fall, read on for ten refreshing ideas to help you “water” kids in the summer months too!

1. Get a guide. Help kids dive into summer worship services by providing them with their own age-appropriate worship guides each week. Here’s how I do it at my church—the worship planning team provides me with the message title, Scripture passage, song selections, and any other special information for the coming week’s service. I use that information to make a children’s guide that might include questions or activities like this: “The opening song lyrics said God is ‘everlasting.’ Why?” or “The pastor is talking about how God cared for King David. Draw a picture or make a list of the ways God cares for you.” Other things to include: a faith talk question to ask at home, a joke of the day, or a topical word search. Tip: Make your own word search for free!

2. Do the backstroke. Were there some great Kid Connection activities you didn’t have time to do this year? Betty Ann from John Calvin Presbyterian Church (SC) has a great money saving idea for you—at her church they’re planning to flip through their KC leader’s guides and do the activities this summer that they didn’t get to during the school year.

3. Lend a hand. With so many people away in the summer there are often volunteer shortages in other areas of ministry. Use the absence of others as an opportunity to get your kids involved—they can serve as ushers, wash and dry the dishes after Sunday coffee, be greeters and church door openers, hand out bulletins, help prepare communion, present morning announcements during worship (think of how much more interesting they’d sound with a kid reading them!), help collect the offering, or play an instrument. Tip: Most churches have a group of 4th and 5th grades who’ve learned to play a recorder at school—invite a few of them to play together during the offering!

4. Go Fishing. Summer is a great time for field trips designed to bring Bible stories to life. Experience God’s amazing creation as you walk in the woods or visit a city garden or butterfly sanctuary together. Walk past a construction site and talk about the wise and foolish builders. Know any farmers? Find out if you can visit their field and consider how a sower plants seeds! Ask a church member with a fondness for fishing to join your group on a fishing field trip or to bring in his gear in for a little Show and Tell. Kick off the experience with a reading from Luke 5:1-11 and end with fish crafts from Guess What! Vol. 2, No.3.

5. Get active. One of the biggest complaints I hear from Sunday school teachers is lack of attendance due to travel sports—that tells me that many of you have some highly skilled athletes in your church! Invite athletes in to share their skills and their faith story. Encourage them to talk about how being a Christ follower impacts their life and the choices they make on and off the court. (No athletes? A juggler, firefighter, drummer, police detective, or anyone else with a unique talent would make a great guest!)

6. Take a trip. Set aside a time to explore the culture of the country where your church sponsors mission work. Email your sponsored missionary and ask for photos you can download and share with your group. (If you’ve got the technology, see if your missionary has a webcam and would be up for a live and interactive interview!) Bring in a world map and have kids find the location. Print off the country’s flag, search for a simple recipe you can eat (and prepare!) together or a popular game you can play. Pass out paper and invite kids to write letters or draw pictures you can send to the missionary or to the kids being ministered to in that country!

7. Pitch and praise. Not all kids can afford to go to summer camp—but it’s easy and inexpensive for you to bring camp to them! Pitch a tent under the shade of a tree and teach a lesson outdoors. (The story of Abraham and Sarah’s special guests from KC Year 1, Unit 2 would be great to hear again while sitting outside.) Don’t forget the lemonade!

8. Cool off with a Celebration Sundae event that all ages can enjoy after church. Kids can help set up bowls of candy sprinkles, chocolate chips, sliced bananas, and other ice cream decorations. Pass out spoons and paper cups filled with ice cream to decorate and enjoy! Tip: For a simpler activity, cut open a few boxes worth of popsicles and have kids stand at the door and hand them out after church for a refreshing after church snack!

9. Quench your thirst. If you missed out on doing the Lemonade for Bibles activity in KC Year 2 Unit 7 do it now! Spend one week getting ready, two weeks selling and the fourth counting the profits and creating cards for the recipients of your gift.

10. Don’t forget to write! Those of you who won’t be seeing your kids all summer can still stay connected with their lives. Pass out postcards (stamped and addressed to you) on the last day of your program so they can drop you a line, or give each child a summertime journal and pen (check the dollar store) and encourage them to keep a vacation diary to share with you in the fall. Tip: Flip through the journals before passing them out and write a note or question on few pages. Something like: “Name 10 outdoor things you can thank God for today” or “Draw a picture of something God made.”

And here’s a bonus idea just for you:

11. Be still. Take time out to read the novel that’s been gathering dust on your night table. Cool your feet in a bucket of water. Smell some lilacs. Eat ice cream. Listen to crickets. Talk with God.

Did I forget anything? I’d love to hear what you’ll be doing! Email me at Editors@FaithAliveResources.org.

Puzzles and Finished Pieces

2009-05-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

This middle-aged mama has developed an addiction. It started out innocently enough. Tara, my ten-year-old daughter, was working on a one-hundred-piece “Finding Nemo” puzzle, and I wanted her to go to bed. Although puzzles have always been at the top of my “Not To Do” list, helping her seemed like the fastest way to accomplish my bedtime goal. And it worked—hours later, I’d become so obsessed with finding Nemo’s fin that Tara wandered off to bed on her own. The next morning I drove like a madwoman to the thrift shop and amassed a collection of puzzles that rivals the jigsaw aisle at Hobby Lobby. Yesterday I was late for a dental appointment because I lost track of time while gathering edge pieces, and last night I let the potatoes boil over on the stove while I searched for the perfect piece to complete my five-hundred-piece “Painted Pony.”

So why has it taken me—a type A personality who finds organizing cupboards and packing suitcases exciting—so long to pick up puzzle pieces and put them together? Truth is it never made sense to me to put so much work into something that just went back into the box when it was done.

Does children’s ministry ever feel like that to you? You dedicate time during the week preparing for a lesson—cutting out Memory Cards, printing off reproducible pages, singing songs, learning Bible stories. Then you bring it all to church, set up the room, get out the supplies, greet the kids, tell the story, sing the songs, and play the games until—BAM!—the faces of the kids’ families members appear at the door. Then, with a WHOOSH! the kids are gone and you’re left putting pieces back in the box.

Leading kids can be challenging, but there’s a reason so many of us have become addicted to helping them connect with God. We know that every week some of the puzzle pieces are heading out the door with our kids. A song lyric, a glimpse of God, a Scripture verse, an assurance of God’s love, and the promises of prayer all went home last week, and this week we’ll open up the box and give our kids some more. Truth is, even though we may never get to see the finished picture, we trust that God is at work, putting those pieces together. Paul puts it like this in Philippians 4:6: “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” Kind of makes you want to open the box and start again doesn’t it?

In the next month or so this Sunday school season will draw to a close for many of you. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work you’ve been putting into all the pieces each week and thank you on behalf of the kids who’ve headed out your doors. At Faith Alive we know you’re working hard and we appreciate all you do!

Non-Negotiables in a Changing World

2009-04-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Last week my ten-year-old daughter and I were walking outdoors at sunset. The spring sky was an amazing orange-blue-purple blend, and we couldn’t help but stop and stare. “Wow!” said Tara. “That sky looks just like a screensaver!”

My daughter and millions of kids like her are growing up in a world where the reality beyond the screen blends with their reality in front of the screen. They play with technological toys, text their friends, watch shows on channels designed just for kids, and then visit those shows’ websites for a “behind the scenes” glimpse into the “real lives” of their favorite stars. Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales, describes it as a world in which we’re advancing a new religion—the religion of FUN.

As children’s ministry leaders we often feel pressure to compete with all of the above. We hear little voices in our heads saying things like: “Kids shouldn’t just walk into Sunday school—they need to swoop in on a winding red slide!” “Kids can’t listen to someone telling a Bible story—they need to watch it on a high definition, flat screen TV!” and “The best way to reach families is by hosting a Super Family Blitz featuring a sponge ball shooting bazooka!”

So how do we reach kids on this side of the screen? If a slide, high-def, and a ball shooting bazooka are necessary this year, how will we be able to compete with that next year? Should we even be competing with that? Although I’d be the first in line if my church let me enter on a swirly red slide and I love HDTV and sponge ball shooting bazookas as much as the next person, those things are not what makes Sunday schools or midweek ministry programs that help transform kids into spiritual champions. Here are the non-negotiables that do:

Great theology. I can’t emphasize this one enough. Put on a pair of Reformed glasses and read through a session in the Sunday school or midweek program you’re using at church with your kids now or one that you are considering buying. Put your finger on the goal for that session. Read it. Now ask yourself: “Does the goal show how God is at the front and center of the passage, or does the goal reduce the passage to a story about a biblical hero, a moral lesson, or a virtue of the month?” How the story is interpreted matters. Good theology is not rated “adults only.”

Personal relationships. There are great arguments both for and against using DVDs in children’s ministry and I agree that an excellent video clip can make a strong connection with kids and drive a point home. But, kids should never spend the entire precious hour you have with them each week in front of a TV screen. Why? In a competition between a TV screen and a personal relationship, the relationship wins every time. Nothing beats a warm smile, eye contact, and one-on-one conversation. Kids need to hear your faith stories, they need to know what God is doing in your life, and they need you to hear about theirs. Studies show that the average child under the age of eleven condenses about eight hours of general media content (i.e. Internet, cell phones, computer games, iPods, and so on) into each day. They need to spend the hour they have with you on this side of the screen.

Family ties. Speaking of that one precious hour you have with your kids in your program—it’s not enough. The people with the most religious influence in the lives of the kids you teach are their parents—even when they aren’t nurturing the faith of their kids. Instead of being angry that parents aren’t showing up at Sunday school because of sports or other extracurricular activities, reach out to them and provide ways to help them connect with their kids.

The Guess What! Family Magazine was designed to help families talk faith with their kids at home by giving them the stories kids learned at church, a family devotional, parent talks, and a simple calendar they can hang up at home—but parents probably won’t open it if you don’t tell them about it! Email them a quick reminder or attach a post-it note to the magazine that says “Parents/caregivers: check out page 14.”

Extended family connections. My oldest daughter is at university now, but when she was twelve she was featured in our local paper for an athletic accomplishment. A few days after the article appeared she received a homemade card in the mail from an older couple in our church. Although they didn’t know her personally, they’d seen the article and took the time to send her a personal message of congratulations along with a Scripture reference and note that they were praying for her. Eight years later that note still hangs on her bulletin board. Imagine the impact your church family can have on the faith of its younger members when they welcome kids with love, pray for them, encourage them, and help parents nurture faith. (All of which are baptismal promises by the way!) At Faith Alive we’ve been doing a lot of imagining lately about how it takes a church to nurture the faith of all its members, and we’re working on some important materials to help you do that. In the meantime here are a few ideas to help you create an intergenerational faith nurture environment in your ministry:

Invite members of the congregation to stop by and share their faith stories with small groups of kids. Some Kid Connection sessions include specific activities for inviting a guest, but you may know of other times when inviting a particular guest may connect well with your lesson—and with the kids!
Do you give kids a Bible to keep? Before you put the Bible in their hands, get it into the hands of some church family members so they can write a few personal notes in the opening blank pages, along with some favorite Scripture references.
Pass a blank note book around to some experienced parents in your church family so they can add some words of wit, wisdom, and encouragement for a new parent. Make the notebook a gift on baptism day.

Ask the pastor, the church custodian, the church administrator, and some praise team members to stop by for a visit when your program is in action. While each one is there take a moment for a group interview and invite kids to come up with a curling iron microphone to ask a few questions. Kids will get to know the members in their church family, and they will get to know the kids. Tip: Ask your kids for suggestions about which church family member they would like to get to know better and send that person a personal invitation!

Life on this side of the screen may be challenging at times—but you don’t need a truckload of bells and whistles to reach your kids. The message of the Bible provides something that lasts longer than fun—it’s called JOY.

Praying that you experience the fullness of that joy in your ministry!

Time Well Spent

2009-03-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Imagine that Jesus called and asked to spend the whole day with you—from before breakfast until bedtime. What would you like the two of you to do together? What would you talk about? Is there anyone you would like Jesus to meet? Are there any places you’d like to take him? Make a plan for your day together.

So began a recent journal assignment for the older kids’ small group at my church (Kid Connection, Year 2, Unit 5). Before you read on, think about your own answer. What would your day with Jesus look like?

Here’s my “Jesus and Me” agenda:

Wake up to put the final touches on an extraordinary breakfast. Double-check that the house is clean.

Stand in awe as Jesus arrives on my doorstep. Gather myself, welcome him in.

Get down to business. Find things out like the best way to pray, how often I should read the Bible, the exact date and time of his return to earth, and where I lost my glasses.

Serve bread and fish for lunch.

Discuss world issues. Find out why bad things happen to good people. Apologize for the bad stuff I keep doing. Get tips on handling discipline issues in Sunday school.

Graciously thank Jesus for coming.

Here’s how a ten-year-old at my church said she’d spend her day with Jesus:

Go to the park.

Meet some of my friends there.

Go out for lunch.

Play a game.

Pray.

Go shopping.

Read together.

Swim.

Play basketball.

Play Guitar Hero.

Say goodbye.

She invites Jesus into her life, introduces him to her friends, and sets aside time to talk to God together. Looks a little different than my jam-packed agenda, doesn’t it?

One of the blessings of teaching kids is being taught by kids. KC Unit 5, Session 4 was a teachable moment—for me! As a result, this spring, as the winter weather finally melts away, I plan to take more time to just hang out with Jesus—I hope you take that opportunity too!

Speaking of spring. . . . Palm Sunday and Easter fall on April 5 and 12 this year. Depending on your children’s ministry schedule some of you may be teaching Year 2, Unit 6 (the Easter stories) before Easter. For those who want to do something extra to celebrate Easter with your kids, check out the following ideas. You can use them to create a full 45-60 minute program or add them to whatever else you are doing on those days.

Surprise your kids with a decorated room on Easter Sunday. Decorations mean “party,” and you’re kids will instantly know that Easter is something to celebrate! Throw a colorful tablecloth on the table, add some streamers or balloons, and serve a special snack. For a real special treat, add these easy-to-make butterflies:
Pleat or scrunch up colorful wrapping paper and clip a clothespin to the middle. Tape the butterflies to your walls, add magnets and stick them to the whiteboard or any magnetic trim you can find in the room, dangle them on string from the windows, and attach some to yourself! Tip: Before kids go, let them each choose two butterflies—one to keep and one to give away!
Purchase one of the Easter units available from Faith Alive; with a few simple modifications there are plenty of materials you can use in a Kid Connection setting. Here’s how we used the unit called King Jesus in my church last year.
On Palm Sunday we told the story using the drama found on page 47. After deleting some lines and the italicized directions we had a few preteens present it in a reader’s theater style. We ordered palm stems from the florist (very inexpensive) and waved them as we sang the songs provided on the CD that came with the King Jesus book. For one song we lined the kids up in two rows, each facing the other, and had kids take turns walking in pairs in between the singing, branch-waving “crowd.”
On Easter Sunday we told the Easter story using The Jesus Storybook Bible. It has a fabulous retelling of the Easter story that you could use with a group of any age. (Alternatively, use an easy-to-understand translation like The Message.)
We used the step 3 small group activity provided after each story in the Easter units and then did a modified version of the crafts. (Like the other Easter units, King Jesus breaks into a small group time for ages K-3 and 4-6.)
We gave kids copies of the reproducible story booklets that come with each of these units. (We encouraged our older kids to find someone younger to read it to.)
Paint a mural together. Roll out a long sheet of mural paper and assign each group of kids a different section. One group could show Jesus entering Jerusalem in a Palm Sunday parade; another could show Jesus dying on the cross and the observing crowd; another could show the tomb where Jesus was buried with the guards posted there; another could show the angel announcing that Jesus is alive. Tip: Save a section of the mural for each child to write or draw what Jesus’ death and return to life means to them!
Bring in a bouquet of flowers and give each child a stem to take home along with a note card that you’ve tied on to each stem that says, “Jesus is Alive!”
Save some of the celebratory activities found on pages 160-163 of the Kid Connection Leader’s Guide for Year 2, Unit 6 and do them as part of your Easter Sunday celebration.

I began this newsletter with a story that came out of a Kid Connection unit. In January I got to meet some of our fabulous KC leaders live and in person at the APCE conference in Texas and hear their stories about the kids and about what God is doing in their ministry. I would love to hear from you too! Please email me and tell me about your kids and maybe what they have taught YOU this year!

Make It Count

2009-02-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

I was challenged by some math recently. (No, not grade 5 algebra—I haven’t done that since we discovered that I was the common denominator in my kid’s math failures.) I created a little word problem that focused on the concept of time. It went like this:

There are 52 weeks in the year. If a weekly 45 minute Sunday school class doesn’t meet for 10 weeks in the summer and the average child is absent for 5 Sundays during the school year, how many hours of Sunday school does the average child attend in a year?
Are you ready for the answer? The average child attends 27.75 hours of Sunday school per year. Many kids watch as many hours of TV and play as many hours of computer games per week.

I don’t know how often Sunday or mid-week children’s ministry programs are held at your church, but I would imagine that when you do the math, the results are equally alarming. The numbers tell us two things. First, that although what we do each week to reach kids is incredibly important, we can’t be their only source of religious instruction. Second, since the time we do have with kids is so small, we need to make each minute count. As folks who are passionate about reaching kids we need to do two things: connect with families and connect with kids. Here’s how.

Make the most of the time you have.

Resolve to read through next week Sunday’s session this Sunday, and invite the Holy Spirit to nudge you during the week with examples and ideas that will make your session come alive.
Log on and listen to the online teaching tips as part of your prep time. They are less than 3 minutes long, offer extra hints and tips to help you tailor your teaching, and address any errors we may have noticed since printing the leader’s guides.
Keep your supplies with you by toting everything you need—leader’s guide, CD, colored/white cardstock, printer paper, markers—in one bag. Tip: Use a flyer coupon or wait for a sale to get half price on cardstock at Michaels or other arts and crafts stores.
Make ministry a team effort. Connect with the other leaders before large group begins for a few moments of prayer about the kids God is about to send through your doors. If possible, turn your teaching team into a small group so you can connect regularly to pray, plan, and share stories about what’s been happening each week.
Know the story you’re telling.
Bring the news that kids share—no matter how big or small—to God in prayer together.
Pray for the kids in your group.
Build connections that go beyond the walls of your program by inviting guest speakers whenever it’s suggested in the session. Kids will be impacted by the guest’s story and will have connected with another member of God’s family.
Resist the urge to replace a session by showing a movie or rehearsing for a program.
Encourage new teachers to listen to an Intro to KC Webinar for an easy, at home way to find out more about how KC works.
Timesaving Tip: Consider having one person print off and prepare all the Memory Cards for one quarter. Keep them in a drawer or container in your teaching area so all the small group leaders have access to them.

Be intentional about connecting with families so the learning continues at home.

Let families in on what you’re learning with a short, simple note on the church bulletin board each week. Something like this will do: There’s an Extreme Makeover happening today in Kid Connection. On the way home, ask your child to tell you what happened to Zacchaeus when he realized Jesus loved him.
Attach a note to the Guess What! Family Magazines that you send home each month. The note could be a colorful sticky note that says Read Me!! or something like this: Hi Parents and Caregivers! Today’s goal is to get this magazine out of the car and into the house. Tonight’s goal is to cut out and post the family calendar on page 15, and this week’s goal is to try some of the fun and easy activities on it. You’ll be glad you did (and so will your child!).
Share the music. Click on Songs and Music on the Kid Connection website and you’ll find links to some of the most popular KC songs (the rest are in the Sing With Me Children's Songbook). Forward a link to your families each month so they can download and learn them together.
Nurture families. Provide families with an inexpensive yearlong subscription to Nurture, a bimonthly newsletter designed to help families build faith at home.

Recommended resources
As someone involved in children’s ministry you may come across great products for families. Set up a display of recommended resources or email a list home every few months. Tip: Post a list on your church website and let parents know when you update it. Create a lending library and invite families to borrow resources when they pick up their kids. Here are some of the things I’m eager to get into the hands of my families:
God Loves Me Storybooks by Pat Nederveld. I wish I’d had these storybooks when I had preschoolers at home! You can purchase the whole set of 52 stories (imagine wrapping up a new Bible story for your child to open every week!) or smaller themed sets. I recommend this to grandparents of preschoolers too!
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Every story in this colorfully illustrated kid’s Bible points kids to Jesus and God’s great redemptive plan. Great for school-age kids.
The Beginner’s Bible. This story Bible is perfect for kids aged 2 to 8. Kids love the illustrations (my own kids called it the “googly eyes Bible”) and the language is perfect for young readers.
The Message by Eugene Peterson. My family has been reading this contemporary version of the Bible around the supper table. The everyday language it uses means that even my teens are reading with expression!
Faith Talk Cards with Children. Inside a nifty portable case you’ll find a series of one-question cards designed to get families talking about faith.
Your time with kids may be limited but the opportunities God gives you to nurture faith are not. Make the most of every minute this year!

One Scene Wonders

2008-12-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Each year during the Christmas holidays our family spends a snowy day hunkered down with hot chocolate, popcorn, and a collection of our favorite Christmas movies. My husband Ron’s perennial pick is a low-budget, sleeper hit called The Christmas Story. Set in small-town Indiana in 1940, it’s the story of nine-year-old Ralphie Parker’s determination to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. (A gun with which his mother, his teacher, and Santa Claus all assure him, “You’ll shoot your eye out!”) The dad in the film has what my second-grade teacher would refer to as a “potty mouth,” but the most memorable part for Ron is the playground scene in which Ralphie’s friend Fink is “triple dog dared” to lick a frozen pole.

I prefer something on the sappy side and always make everyone watch Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life. In this classic Christmas story the most famous scene occurs at the end when the people of Bedford Falls flow into George Bailey’s house, pour out their savings, and show George the value of friends and family. It’s a Wonderful Life, like The Christmas Story, wasn’t a huge box office hit when it was first released, but now it regularly tops Most Popular Christmas Movie lists.

Sounds kinda like another famous Christmas story. Jesus’ premiere at a Bethlehem stable didn’t get much attention at first either, aside from a sky full of angels and some disheveled shepherds. Yet 2000 years later most folks around the world recognize it as the Christmas story—whether they believe it or not—and it’s often considered the most memorable scene in the Bible.

As children’s ministry leaders we probably devote more lessons to the Christmas story that to any other story. We teach kids carols, conduct choirs, practice plays, and make props. We create crafts, frost cookies, and pass out candy canes. And sometimes we get so busy teaching the meaning of Christmas that our own sense of joy and wonder gets lost under the sheet music, the scripts, the crafts, and the candy. As a result, although our mouths are singing “Joy, Joy, Joy!” sometimes our hearts are singing “January, January, January!”

Here’s the good news. The story of Jesus’ birth is one scene in God’s story of redemption and restoration. All the stories you’ve been telling your kids each week at church till now and all the stories you’ll be learning together after Christmas are part of that big story about what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do.

It’s our prayer here at Faith Alive that you will experience God’s richest blessings as you live into that story in the coming year.

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Need a quick Christmas craft? Check the dollar store for die-cut stars (or cut your own from cardstock), glitter, and candy canes. Have your older kids help your younger kids apply glue and glitter to their stars and then tape the stem of a candy cane to the back of each star so that its crook becomes the tree hook for an ornament. Tip: Do glitter work over cookies sheets so you can easily pour the excess back into the containers or into the garbage—your custodian will thank you!

And, if you’re looking for a few extra Christmas-themed games and activities check pages 58-59 and 71-72 of the KC Leader’s Guide from Year 2 Quarter 1 and try the ones you didn’t get to in the fall.

Telling Stories

2008-11-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

I was five when I killed my pet fish. It was an innocent mistake. My brother and I had no idea that fish need water to survive. We scooped Goldie out of her fishbowl and laid her flopping body on the couch between us so she could watch TV. Our first funeral experience came later that day when we placed Goldie in a little matchbox, sang a hymn, and buried her in our mom’s flower bed. Have you ever had a pet that died?

One of my kids was born with a severely dislocated hip. Before the doctors could operate we had to stretch her muscles, so she spent the third week of her life with her little legs strung up in the air, attached to a bar placed across the width of our crib. A lady from my church stopped by one day during that long week. She handed me and my husband money and told us to go to Dairy Queen while she would sit by the crib and watch the baby. A small act of kindness that meant so much. Has someone ever been the hands and feet of Jesus to you?

Stories are powerful; Jesus knew that. Whenever folks couldn’t get a handle on something he was trying to teach, he’d whip up a story and make his point. God loves stories too—so much that God gave us a Bible full of true stories about real people and a perfect plan of redemption. And, although we can’t invite Joseph or the Samaritan woman over for coffee and conversation (wouldn’t that be great?), we can read their stories, wonder our way into them, and make powerful connections to what God is doing in our own lives.

As a Kid Connection leader, you’re a storyteller too. During large group you bring Bible stories to life. During small group you connect life to the Bible stories. And, since telling stories should be as fun for you to do as they are for the kids to hear, we’ve devoted this newsletter to sharing some simple tips to give you storytelling success!

Large Group Leaders:
Try the “Once-a-Day” Plan. Read the story for the first time on Monday morning—not Saturday night. As someone who could serve as President of the Procrastinators Club, I feel your organizational pain folks! But here’s the thing—reading the story out loud once a day the week before you tell it saves your Saturday night and improves your presentation 100 percent! It’s a win-win situation!

Look at yourself. Practicing your story in front of a mirror lets you see what the kids will be seeing and helps you figure out which facial expressions and body movements will help the story come alive. Sure, you’ll feel a little silly at first, but your mirror won’t tell anybody.

Imagine you’re there. Think about the story during the week and consider the sights, sounds, and smells that surround it. Wonder about the height of the burning bush that Moses saw. Consider the facial expressions of the people who watched as Jesus called Matthew the tax collector. Consider the wind and the rain that pelted a lurching boat before Jesus calmed the sea. Putting yourself into the story will help you tell it in a way that encourages kids to jump into it too!

Make “Cheat Sheets.” I have a terrible memory—even after I’ve read the story each night for a week and could probably tell it without my notes, I always bring them along. But, since holding up a Leader’s Guide can be distracting, I hide my “cheat sheets” by attaching a copy of the story to a clipboard, stapling a copy onto a sheet of colored cardstock or a plain file folder, or by tucking a copy into an open Bible.

Small Group Leaders:
Prepare in advance. Read through your session as early as possible in the week so that you’ll have time to remember a personal story from your life that will connect with your kids—and the Bible story. Think about subjects to which your kids can relate like pets, the first day of school, moving away, not getting something you really wanted, getting into trouble with your mom, learning to ride a bike, or childhood struggles with siblings.

Think like a kid. Prepare by reading the Bible (you’ll find the Scripture reference on the first page of each session) along with the “Get Connected” devotional. Then jump into the story from the perspective of the kids in your group. Anyone taking swimming lessons? Naaman having to “bob” seven times in the dirty water might get their attention! Got any kids who go camping? They’ll be able to imagine the sights and smells of an outdoor crowd eating fish and bread. Some of your kids struggling with peer pressure? They’ll connect with how Peter felt when asked if he was a friend of Jesus. Reading the stories through the eyes of your kids helps you plan the best way to discuss it with them.

Find out what’s going to happen. One of the reasons we’ve put both the large and small group sessions into the same leader’s guide is so you can work as a team. Reading what the large group leader will be doing allows you to anticipate what kids will know about the story before you dive deeper into it together. Above all, pray! Ask God to help you present the story in a way that puts the focus on God, not you!

Speaking of stories… How will your kids be participating in your church’s celebration of the Christmas story? In October I told you how at my church we did a play last year from the Quick & Easy Christmas Programs series. We all enjoyed the program (and the easy prep) so much that we’ve chosen another one for this year—it’s called Born for You and Me. We have fewer kids than are required for the play so we’ll be deleting some characters and combining their lines, but we’re excited about putting it on. (How often can you say that about preparing for the church Christmas program?) At a recent trip to the dollar store I found fabulous shiny gold paper crowns for the wise men and some giant plastic candy canes to paint black and turn into shepherd’s crooks! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

2008-10-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

Santa Clause caught my eye in the “Happy Harvest” section at Target last week. I was admiring a fall wreath when he and seventy-seven other electric Santas started blinking from their shelves in Aisle 19. (No doubt ready to advance as soon as the last faux pumpkin was purchased.) Having celebrated Christmas in September with Kid Connection Year 2, Unit 1, I wasn’t caught completely off guard; still, I made a mental note to add “Christmas planning” to our upcoming team training session. Here are some of the things we’ll be talking about at my next children’s ministry meeting—maybe you’d like to talk about them at yours, too!

Celebrating with the kids
Whether you shared the Christmas story in September or plan to use Unit 1 after Units 2 and 3, you probably still have a date or two that you’ve reserved for a Christmas celebration with your group. Consider these ideas:

Add some meaning. Is your church sanctuary decorated for Christmas with special banners/colors, centerpieces, nativity scenes, and more? Is the pastor leading a special series of messages accompanied by themed images on the PowerPoint screen? If your kids have been sitting in church looking around at all that stuff they may be curious to find out what it all means! Connect with your worship team and find out what will be “new” in church during December. Ask for or make a replica of what will be used in church and bring it to your teaching area. Talk about what it means and how it fits into the Christmas story. Tip: Ask your worship team if there’s an opportunity for your kids to provide some of those special decorations by creating some artwork to adorn the walls or to be turned into bulletin covers.
Share the good news. Christmas is the time to bring in all that messy stuff that we shy away from during the year. (Yup, we’re talking glitter here!) Bring in a variety of card-making supplies and set up a workshop where your kids can make a set of Christmas cards for people who might not expect them—like their coach, babysitter, teacher, principal, bus driver, and so on. Tip: A stack of old Christmas cards is a great source of pictures that kids can cut and paste on their new creations!
Make a Jesse Tree. Draw a tree on poster board or stick a large branch in a pot or bring in a small Christmas tree. Make simple symbols for the following verses: Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 8:21b-22; Genesis 17:6-7; Samuel 7:16; Isaiah 11:11; Micah 5:2; and Luke 1:30-33. Invite your preteens to come forward and read a verse while your younger kids hang the corresponding symbol on the tree. (Lots of younger kids? Make multiple copies of the symbol ornaments so everyone can hang something up.) Talk about how God promised to send Jesus a long, long time before he was born and finish with a reading of Luke 2:8-20.

After using the Jesse Tree in the large group, send kids off to make their own take-home version to share with their families. Provide kids with small branches in little terra cotta pots or make poster-sized trees on paper. Kids can cut out, color, and hang their symbols on the tree. Tip: Save time by ordering a copy of The Promise Keeper, a Christmas leader’s guide full of Jesse Tree resources for you to photo-copy and other great Christmas craft, game, and snack ideas. It even comes with a CD of great Christmas music you can use for your Christmas program! Which brings us to the next item on our agenda…

Celebrating with your church family
Looking for simple ways to participate in worship? Check these out:

Quick & Easy Christmas Programs Series
Last year I told you about the “one rehearsal” plays written by Laura and Robert Keeley. At my church we did the one called The Very Best Gift of All and had so much fun (and found the process so painless) that we’re choosing another one to try this year! Here’s what is so cool about these plays:

One Rehearsal. I know, it sounds crazy but it’s true! Older kids get reading parts and receive the script one week in advance. They promise to read their lines once each day that week. (Notice I didn’t say memorize!) On the day of the program you meet, read through your lines together once, show your little (non-reading) kids where they will be standing, singing, and so on, and voila! You’re ready to go!
Inexpensive. You buy one copy and you get permission to copy the script for everyone involved at your church.
Size doesn’t matter. If you don’t have enough kids to read some adult leaders can join in. If your church is large and you don’t have enough parts for all your older reading kids, add a few characters by dividing up some lines (For example, add a character named Mike and give him some of Brenda’s lines.) Involve non-readers by having them form the choir and also take on simple roles like walking across the stage with a sign that says “Act 1” or “Away in a Manger.” Got kids with stage fright? Invite them to design bulletin covers, paint a backdrop, or make posters, and be sure to acknowledge their contributions on performance day.
Great perspective. The Keeleys are committed to producing simple, Bible-based plays that delight as well as inspire—and it shows! The plays are infused with humor and a solid message so the kids (and the congregation) learn something and have fun while doing it!

Bring Kid Connection into church!
As I was leading the Unit 1 Kid Connection sessions last month I kept thinking, “Wow, these large group stories would be great to use for intergenerational worship too!” Take a look at each of the four stories in Year 2, Unit 1. With some simple editing of the opening and closing transition paragraphs you could easily string together 2-4 of the stories and tell them to the whole congregation during a worship service. Older kids can get involved by reading parts like Zechariah and the angel (session 1), reading verses from Mary’s Song (session 2), or posing as a group of shepherds (session 3). The whole group could do the “Breaking News Rap” between scenes. Ask your pastor to read the storyteller’s lines or to take on the role of reporter Ben There or Omar Winfrey! What a great way to show the folks in your larger church family what the kids have been learning! Christmas planning doesn’t have to be elaborate and stressful to be meaningful. Keep it simple, focused, and fun so that you can have as much fun as the kids!

Happy Planning!

All Aboard!

2008-09-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Each fall my hometown hosts a huge Oktoberfest parade. For eighteen years we’ve watched it from the same downtown corner and then driven to the same farmer’s field to prop the kids up among the pumpkins and snap their picture. When we began this annual event we had one child smiling among a sea of orange, now we’ve got four and have to tilt the camera to include some of their six-foot frames. I’d like to say they’ve always been as excited about our annual pilgrimage as I have, but the truth is, for many years I had to roll some of them out of bed, bribe them with promises of donuts and coffee, or, if all else failed, slip shoes and sweaters on their sleeping bodies and haul them into the van myself. (And that was just my husband.) Getting them on board wasn’t always easy, but now they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Getting folks on board with your church’s children’s ministry program can be a struggle too. And often it’s the “Three P’s” (Pastor, Parents, and Preteens) that can be the toughest group to catch your passion. Although a little sweet-talking with donuts and coffee can bring some success, I’ve got a few other ideas you might want to try this fall.

Pastors: Children’s ministry leaders often tell me that their pastor “doesn’t have a clue” about what happens each week in the church’s children’s ministry program. One of the best ways for your pastor to catch the vision for kid’s ministry is by seeing it in action. Ask your pastor to stop by your program for a short visit. (Aim for once in the fall and then again in winter and spring.) Make connections during large group with an up close and personal interview—using your curling iron microphone of course! Find out the things your kids really want to know about their pastor by asking questions like:

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
Who do you hope will win the World Series?
What hockey team do you cheer for?
What did you collect when you were a kid?
Was there anything you didn’t like about church when you were a kid?
Who was your favorite teacher in school and why?
What was your favorite thing to do at recess?
What’s your favorite Bible story?
How do you know God loves you?

After the interview invite you pastor to stay and see what happens during a typical week in your program. Chances are your pastor will enjoy the residual results of the visit so much— suddenly being greeted by kids in the halls—that he’ll be more than happy to come back! If you’re a small group leader, consider making your pastor the recipient of a craft/card/poster kids make in class during the year or inviting your pastor to be a special guest sometime. Tip: Check out page 40 of the Year 2, Quarter 1, Kid Connection Leader’s Guide and listen to our teaching tips for a great activity that involves your pastor and can be done with any age group.

Parents: Have a simple ten- to fifteen-minute open house at the end of one of the year’s first Kid Connection sessions and invite families who are picking up their kids to come in and see what you do each week. Run a shortened version of one of your “What’s Up” game-show-type quizzes (using preteen assistants), re-tell the Bible story, and sing a song. Break off into small groups so parents can meet their kid’s leader and find out what being in small group is all about. Tip: This would be a great time for leaders to show parents what’s inside a Guess What! Family Magazine.

Preteens: Give your preteens a warm welcome this fall and let them know that as the older kids in the group, they’re going to be an important part of your Kid Connection program. Be on the lookout for preteens in the halls as you get your room ready each week, and invite them to come in and help set things up or give you suggestions like where to hang the game board or what actions you could do for a song. Including preteens in the planning (no matter how small) will give them a sense of ownership, which increases their desire to participate. Look for the “Involving Preteens” tips in the leader’s guides—anytime you can include a preteen in large group their peer group in the audience is much more likely to listen. Preteens can also run the CD player, sign kids in, or stand at the door to give younger kids a welcoming high-five as they enter. And remember—preteens are a changing bunch. Their moods will swing from September to January to May so don’t be discouraged or take it personally when they don’t want to participate some weeks because they’ve got their “cool” faces on. Just keep letting them know you’re glad they came.

Getting others on board your ministry wagon takes time but the final destination is always worth the effort!

Recommended Resource

Equip your Sunday school teachers to start off the year right! Three new teacher training workshops you can lead are now available for free download or for purchase. Each training book includes a full script, instructions for the trainer, and reproducible handouts.

Here are quick summaries of each new workshop:

Tell it Again! Telling God's Story to Young Children: Explores how teachers and families can tell The Story to little ones in ways that will make them want to hear it again and again and to live it day in and day out.
Goodbye Classroom Chaos: Offers proactive strategies you can use or share with your Sunday school team to create nurturing environments for sharing God's word.
Pray With Me!: Explores the role of prayer in shaping one's faith and strengthening one's relationship with God.