Here's a classic example of a fail with kids. I don't blame the kids for freaking out. To me, the panda...and the man...are scary looking.
But....before I start pointing fingers...I have to admit I've had my share of Children's Ministry fails as well. At one of my first summer camps, I came up with an idea for a "great" game that I thought the kids would love. We would have a water balloon catching contest. I would launch the water balloons and we would see who could catch them...from a 100 yards away!
The first kid up caught the water balloon alright...right in the chest. It knocked him down and left a big bruise on is chest. What was I thinking? I should have known it would be too much force from that far away.
We all have fails...it's going to happen. But we can significantly reduce the number. Here's a few tips on how to cut down the fails.
But....before I start pointing fingers...I have to admit I've had my share of Children's Ministry fails as well. At one of my first summer camps, I came up with an idea for a "great" game that I thought the kids would love. We would have a water balloon catching contest. I would launch the water balloons and we would see who could catch them...from a 100 yards away!
The first kid up caught the water balloon alright...right in the chest. It knocked him down and left a big bruise on is chest. What was I thinking? I should have known it would be too much force from that far away.
We all have fails...it's going to happen. But we can significantly reduce the number. Here's a few tips on how to cut down the fails.
- Try it out ahead of time. Always try it out privately before you show it publicly. Walk through that game and make sure it will function. Test that object lesson and make sure it works. Play that video and make sure it is working.
- Think through all the potential problems and eliminate them ahead of time. Think of everything that could go wrong and fix it before it happens.
- Make sure it's age appropriate. Some things that work with younger children will not work with older children and visa versa.
- Learn from your fails. Evaluate what went wrong and take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.
