2011-10-30 ~ RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Christmas Curriculum Review and Giveaway

2:34 PM Unknown

Today I am posting a review and helps section I wrote for our friends at "What's In The Bible?" "What's in the Bible?" is an excellent curriculum produced by Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer and his team at Jellyfish Labs. It's designed to walk kids and families through the entire Bible.

For Christmas, they have designed a series called "Why Do We Call It Christmas?" The series is intended to give children and families a historical context for our Christmas traditions. Join intrepid newsman Buck Denver and all of his friends on an amazing journey into Christmas that will have your classroom singing and laughing and creating all the way through the Christmas season! You can order the series at this link.

If you are looking for a Christmas series, it is great. I will be giving away a free copy of the series ($79.00 value). You can enter for the drawing by emailing me at dalehudsoncm2@gmail.com. I will choose the winner next Monday, Nov.14, and post your name here on the blog.

Lesson 4 in the series is entitled "Emmanuel and The Christmas Story." "Emmanuel" is one of the names of Jesus and is key to helping children and families understand the true meaning of Christmas. Below is the video clip link followed by some key strategies parents and teachers can use to facilitate an effective discussion. Here is a link to the video from the lesson. Clive explains why "Emmanuel" is what Christmas is all about. Children's Volunteers The word "Emmanuel" is a great way to share with children what Christmas is all about. He was "God with us." This truth is simple and at the same time infinitely profound. The video does a great job bringing key questions to light and providing answers on a child's level. Be prepared to answer some of the deep questions masked in simplicity that come from the inquiring mind of a child. Who was Jesus? Jesus was God with us. He was God as a man. He was born to a virgin named Mary in a city called Bethlehem. Joseph was His earthly father, but God was His heavenly Father. He lived in Heaven before He was born here on earth. Why did Jesus come to the earth? He came so we could be forgiven for our sins. He came so we could have a friendship with God. He came to offer the free gift of eternal life. If God is with us, why do bad things happen to us? Jesus never said we wouldn't have to go through some tough times here on earth. But He did promise to be with us as we go through the tough times. He promised to never leave us. Why do we celebrate Christmas? We set aside a special day each year to thank Jesus for coming to the earth for us. Parents: This video provides a great tool to help your child understand what Christmas is truly about. Set aside a family night leading up to Christmas where you watch the video and talk about it together. Talk about the questions above on a more personal level. Encourage each child to give a gift to Jesus. It might be a Christmas offering, act of service, or letter written to Him. I would also encourage you to do this as a family unit. It might be taking a gift to someone in need, serving together at a Christmas service, or volunteering in the community. Giving your child the opportunity to tangibly express their love for Jesus at Christmas will turn their focus toward the true meaning.

The Top 10 Toys For This Year and What Children's Ministry Can Learn From It (Pt. 2)

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Yesterday I talked about the top 10 toys for this year. The list is based on consumer popularity and predictions from major toy merchants. We looked at the first 5, today we are looking at the remaining 5.

As you look at this list, take a moment and think about WHY these toys are so popular. I begin to look at WHY certain toys resonate with children after reading the book "Creating Ever-Cool...A Marketers Guide to a Child's Heart." If you've never read this book, I would encourage you to do so. It dives into the inner needs of children and shows how they are drawn toward toys that connect with those inner needs.

There's a lot we can learn from this as we seek to connect kids to God's Word. The Bible has the answer to kids inner needs. We just have to know what they are and connect the two. When we do, kids will respond with engagement and participation. I have highlighted a few inner needs these toys are meeting. Would enjoy hearing your thoughts in the comment section below.

The XBox Kinect Sensor is one of the most exciting new innovations in gaming to hit the shelves in years. Use your entire body to control the on screen action without holding any controller in your hand whatsoever! The XBox Kinect System Bundle and the XBox Kinect Sensor (the add-on) both come available with the Kinect Adventures game. There are also other exciting XBox Kinect games that can be purchased for the XBox Kinect Sensor. Buying an XBox Kinect can provide you and your family with a whole world of fun and is sure to keep everyone laughing, jumping, and having a great time!

Inner needs met: adventure, power

The Air Swimmers are large, helium filled versions of aquatic animals. These are completely original and wonderfully unique toys that bring radio controlled fun to a new level. They are incredibly easy to control, and can be moved in all three dimensions. The Air Swimmers Shark is a fearsome looking toothy beast, measuring 4.5 feet from end to end. The Air Swimmers Clown Fish is a much more whimsical looking toy, with its orange, black, and white stripes.tail. Watch as these wonderful creatures actually swim through the air around your house. They make a wonderful gift for this holiday season, and Christmas day will be made much more interesting by the sight of aquarium animals swimming around the living room.

Inner needs met: recognition, control, power, adventure

The Lalaloopsy characters Crumbs Sugar Cookie and Jewel Sparkles are now for sale as Silly Hair type dolls, with strands of stylish and bendable Silly Hair extruding from their heads. Silly Hair Crumbs Sugar Cookie wears a bright and adorable white and yellow checkered outfit. She comes with a cute red curling brush to help keep her hairstyle in place, along with other accessories. And with Crumbs is her animal companion, a yellow-eared white mouse. This mouse can also join in on the Silly Hair styling fun, since it's tail is also made to be bendable and fun, inciting hours of play styling. Silly Hair Jewel Sparkles wears a lovely purple dress that's quite glamorous. She comes with several accessories, and also comes with several decorative hair beads. Then they can be off to enjoy a lovely tea party, looking wonderfully stylish and showing off their do's to all their Lalaloopsy friends.

Inner needs met: companionship, nurturing, relationships, beauty, valued

Fijit Friends are adorable little soft plastic robot friends for girls that move and interact in fun and surprising ways. The story goes that the Fijit Friends were created when a “gooey science experiment was brought to life by the power of music!” These colorful and soft robots can interact with their owners by actually understanding what they say and speaking and moving in response. Each Fijit Friend can respond to over 30 verbal cues, and can draw on a selection of over 150 built in phrases and jokes. Fijit Friends can also move about and dance. They've got their own music already inside of them, but they're willing to dance to any music that's playing. Sensors under their soft plastic skin let them know when they're being handled, and they'll respond by saying things like “That Tickles!”

Inner needs met: friendship, companionship, relationship

My Keepon by the company Wow! Stuff is an adorable little dancing robot that resembles a newly hatched chick. It has a tiny microphone in its nose, and it will detect the rhythm of any music being played, or even rhythms that people make by doing things like clapping their hands in its vicinity. Once it hears a rhythm it will begin to rock and gyrate in time to the music. An array of touch sensors hidden somewhere in that plush interior will detect any poke, pat, squeeze, or tickle and elicit a response. Depending on its mood, it will look towards the source of the touch, scrunch up, or making some sort of expressive sound. Left to its own devices, the My Keepon doll will chatter away and try to get people's attention. Sophisticated programming results in a soft and cuddly doll with a big personality that will actually react depending on how it feels and what's going on at any specific point in time.

The Top 10 Toys For This Year and What Children's Ministry Can Learn From It (Pt. 1)

11:29 AM Unknown

The top 10 toys list for this year was recently released. The list is based on consumer popularity and predictions from major toy merchants.

As you look at this list, take a moment and think about WHY these toys are so popular. I begin to look at WHY certain toys resonate with children after reading the book "Creating Ever-Cool...A Marketers Guide to a Child's Heart." If you've never read this book, I would encourage you to do so. It dives into the inner needs of children and shows how they are drawn toward toys that connect with those inner needs.

There's a lot we can learn from this as we seek to connect kids to God's Word. The Bible has the answer to kids inner needs. We just have to know what they are and connect the two. When we do, kids will respond with engagement and participation. I have highlighted a few inner needs these toys are meeting. Would enjoy hearing your thoughts in the comment section below.

It's music time! Now kids can rock out with the Sesame Street Playskool Let's Rock Elmo. Dressed in a concert-style tee, this plush Elmo figure takes the stage singing and making music — and preschoolers can too. Preschoolers can choose which instrument Elmo plays and he "magically" recognizes which one he's given. Kids can also play along on Elmo's instruments - they're perfectly sized for little hands!

Inner needs met: creativity, expression, freedom to make choices

The LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer is the personalized learning tablet just for kids with a built-in camera and video recorder! LeapPad offers limitless learning and endless play with 2GB of onboard memory, 1 onboard writing app, 3 included learning app downloads and an available library of 100+ cartridge games and activities with innovative creativity and reading apps!

Inner needs met: knowledge, fun, uniqueness

The Vortex Nitron disc blaster is the ultimate in Vortex innovation and technology! The Nitron blaster's cutting-edge acceleration trigger propels a full-auto storm of discs toward targets at extreme range for an all-out assault. In addition to being fully automatic, the Nitron is also fully customizable with the Tactical Rail System that is compatible with most Vortex and N-STRIKE Mission Kit accessories for a fully awesome battlefield experience! Remote control enables optimum management while racing, carry out exclusive tricks which defy the law of gravity and achieve speeds that are in fact rather incredible, particularly for toys.

Inner needs met: adventure, conquering, fulfilling your destiny, be a hero, break out of the box and be special, defender

Air Hog Hyperactives Pro R/C Vehicles are rather unique little hot rods, having the capacity to up-right on their own to increase the quantity of racing, and may be played with indoors or out. Remote control enables optimum management while racing, carry out exclusive tricks which defy the law of gravity and achieve speeds that are in fact rather incredible, particularly for toys.

Inner needs met: success, achievement, value

The Power Wheels Dune Racer 12-Volt Battery-Powered Ride-On is a wonderful gift for your child that offers hours of fun. It can seat two children easily and offers a comfortable. It has an open cockpit design which further adds to the comfort level. The Kids ride-on car has large off road tires and enjoys a maximum speed of 5 MPH.

Inner needs met: fun, adventure, control, exploration

In my next post, I will cover the remaining five and share my thoughts.

Posted by Dale Hudson

Recent Study Shows That Only 18% of Kids Leave the Faith When They Graduate

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For years, we’ve heard the stat that 80-85% of kids walk away from church when they graduate from high school. Are you like me? I’ve always thought that sounded way to high.

If you thought it sounded too high as well, you are right. A recent study shows that the percentage of kids who walk away from church is actually much lower. The report from Pew Research shows that the percentage is only 18%.

This is much more in line with what I’ve seen over the years. Yes, there have been some who have strayed, but a high percentage of kids that I’ve seen grow up still love Jesus and are serving Him. In fact, many of them are even in ministry.

Last week I went back to visit a church I served at years ago. The kids who were in elementary school when I was there are grown now. It was wonderful to see so many of them still in church. A great example is Christina and Jamie. They are sisters who were in our children’s ministry. We were able to meet them and their mother for lunch. It was awesome to hear how God is still working in their lives.

What are your thoughts on this subject? What has your experience been? Do you think the 80-85% drop out rate is inaccurate? Would enjoy hearing your thoughts in the comment section below.

4 Things Your Preschool Volunteers Need From You

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“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:12

If you’re going to build an effective preschool, you have to know how to build a great team of preschool volunteers. The effectiveness of your preschool ministry depends on the strength of the team you build. You can be great with preschoolers, but if you can’t build and lead a volunteer team, your preschool ministry will never reach its full potential.

Your responsibility is to equip the leaders who in turn minister to the children. Your ministry to your volunteers is just as important as your direct ministry to the children. Does that mean you can’t have any classroom time with the preschoolers? Absolutely not. But if you’re the primary person doing the classroom ministry on weekends, then you’re greatly limiting the ministry and you will quickly hit a lid. Show me a great preschool ministry and I will show you a great team of empowered volunteers who are doing the work of the ministry.

As you equip and lead your team, here are four things they need.

1. Connection

People want to serve in community. They want to be known and build relationships with the people they serve alongside. Joining your team should be like becoming part of a family. Encourage your team to connect outside of the time they serve. Start a Face book page for your team. Provide fun activities for your team to get together. No training allowed at these. Just hang out and enjoy being together. When people are connected, their faith grows together. When people are connected, they stick around. When people are connected, they look forward to serving because they get to be with friends.

2. Care

Life is messy…it’s full of ups and downs. And when you do life with a team, you get to experience it all together. The people on your team are going to experience hurts, heartaches, tragedies, loss, and turmoil. When that happens…they need to be cared for. They need a shoulder to lean on…a hug…a prayer. There may be times they need meals brought by or even financial support. They will need your care.

But remember, you can’t do it all. One person can only effective care for four to five people. It’s important to create a culture where your team cares and supports each other. We have raised up volunteer coaches. They call volunteers each week and check on them, support them through prayer, and encourage them.

Another great way to care for your volunteers is to have a pre-service prayer huddle. Get your team together before the children arrive each week and spend time sharing prayer requests and praying for each other.

3. Celebration

Your volunteers need to feel valued. Celebrate them! Let them know how much they mean to you. Celebrate not just WHAT they do but WHO they are! Each week in staff meeting we take time to write a personal hand written note to a volunteer. We let them know what they mean to us and what we appreciate about them. Twice a year we have a party for our volunteers. At Christmas, we have a big party in their honor. At the end of our ministry year in May we have another big party to celebrate them.

4. Challenge

Your volunteers want to grow in their faith and ministry gfits. You are a pastor to not only the preschool children, but also the adults who are serving with you. You are called to help them grow! Make sure they are attending adult worship. Encourage them to be in a Bible study. Have quality leadership training that will propel their faith and gifts to new levels. Challenge them to step up in leadership responsibilities as you see them developing.

Your goal shouldn’t be to “plug” them into a spot where you have a need. Your goal should be to help them grow in their faith. When you help them discover their gifts, equip them to do ministry with their gifts, and challenge them to continually grow, you will be fulfilling Ephesians 4:12.

Once a quarter we send out an email survey to our team. We use www.surveymonkey.com. We ask key questions to see how we are doing in these four areas. Do they feel connected? Are they being cared for? Are they being challenged? Are they being celebrated? We also ask for input and ideas on how we can serve them better in these four areas. We are doing well in some areas and in other areas we have work to do. It’s all part of the journey of helping our team grow in their faith and gifts.

How to Use Email to Follow Up After a Big Event

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Yesterday I talked about effectively following up after a big event. One strategy I shared was sending a follow up email. Here are the steps I mentioned.

1. Collect their contact information at the event. We do this by having a prize drawing several times during an event. Families give us their contact information to enter the drawing.

2. Send them an email that invites them to be your guest at a weekend service. Make sure you include a link to your church or ministry website. Send this out within 24 hours of the event.

Here is the email we sent out last night to all our guests who registered at our fall festival.

Thank you for being our guest at the Family Fall Festival. We hope you had a great time. Christ Fellowship is a family made up of people just like you and me, who come together to encourage and support each other on this journey called life.

One of the most exciting and challenging parts of life is being a parent. At Christ Fellowship, we want to help your kids learn more about God and discover the purpose He has for their lives, and come alongside you to provide tools, resources and support.

You can get more information about Christ Fellowship by visiting our website at www.goChristFellowship.com or by calling 561-799-7600. We invite you to be our guest at any of our weekend services. We're here for you and your family.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Posted by Dale Hudson