2012-01-29 ~ RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Why You Should Be Nervous

6:55 AM Unknown

The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth!"
Jeremiah 1

Do you still get nervous before you teach kids or adults? I think that's a good thing. Being nervous makes you cry out to God for help and stay dependent upon Him. It causes you to rely upon His power instead of your own.

It's easy after you've been teaching kids for awhile to get "used" to it. You might even get to the point where you lose the butterflies. Ask God to send those butterflies back into your soul. Stay as dependent upon Him as you were the first time someone handed you a lesson plan and asked if you could share.

Posted by Dale Hudson

Are You Making This Big Mistake in Your Children's Ministry?

7:13 AM Unknown

A common mistake I see many Children's Ministries making is not having enough boys on their praise team. This seems to be a struggle for many. There is a natural tendency to fill up your praise team with girls because they are more willing and ready to participate in the elementary years.

But...it is extremely important to have a solid group of boys on your praise team as well. Gene Del Vecchio, in his book Creating Ever Cool...A Markers Guide to a Child's Heart, reminds us that boys are turned off during the elementary years if something appears "girlish." On the other hand, girls will accept something that appears "boyish" during this years. Bottom line...if you appeal to the girls, you will only connect with the girls. If you appeal to the boys, you will connect with the boys and girls.

This is why it is so important to have a good mixture of boys on your praise team. Here are some ways to get more boys involved.

Have a male worship leader. A male leader will draw boys to your praise team. If you can find an older high school or young adult male to lead...that's will be an even bigger draw for boys to get involved.

Reserve at least half the slots on the praise team for boys. The quick, easy route is to just fill up your praise team with girls. But be intentional about enlisting boys for your praise team.

Use songs that appeal to 5th grade boys. Walt Disney taught us that we should always appeal to the oldest kids in the group. Cool runs downhill. Your target should be a 5th grade boy. If he connects with the song, then all the kids will think the song is "cool" and engage.

What are your thoughts on this?
Do you think it is important to have boys on the praise team?
What challenges have you faced with getting boys to join the praise team?
What are some things you have done to get boys to join the praise team?

Would enjoy seeing your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.

Posted by Dale Hudson

How to Make Your Lessons a Thousand Times Better

6:54 AM Unknown

Do you want to make your lessons a thousand times better? Then use visual images. You've heard the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." It is true. Dr. Leonard Sweet says, "We are wired to be visual learners. Images are the language of the 21st century...not words."

Major corporations know this. They spend billions of dollars each year to find the right imagery to sell a product, service, or idea. The United States Military spent $598 million on advertising to increase "brand identity" and meet their annual recruitment goals. Nike spent $269 million on its image to sell their products. Pepsi budgeted over $1 billion on its image. Not to be out done, Coca-Cola budgeted $1.4 billion for its image.

Kids think using pictures. John Berger writes in his book Ways of Seeing, "Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak."

Visual images help kids understand lessons. Robert E. Horn, an award-winning scholar at Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information, said, "When words and visual elements are closely entwined, we create something new and we augment our communal intelligence ... visual language has the potential for increasing ‘human bandwidth'—the capacity to take in, comprehend, and more efficiently synthesize large amounts of new information."

Visual images help kids remember lessons. Dr. Lynell Burmark said, "...unless our words, concepts, ideas are hooked onto an image, they will go in one ear, sail through the brain, and go out the other ear. Words are processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about 7 bits of information (plus or minus 2). This is why, by the way, that we have 7-digit phone numbers. Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched." Pictures get caught in our brains.

Visual images help kids apply the lesson. A study at the University of Minnesota School of Management found that presenters who use visual aids are 43% more effective in persuading audience members to take a desired course of action than presenters who don't use visuals. Give kids a point for their head and an image for their heart.

Ideas for using visual images in your teaching...

Use images on screen.
Use printed pictures or signs.
Balance words and images well.
Use simple icons to represent key points / truths.
Give kids pictures that represent a truth and ask them to discuss what they are seeing.

What are some other ideas for using visual images to enhance teaching? Share your ideas and comments below.

Posted by Dale Hudson

What You Need to Know About the Rise of Tablets for Kids

6:11 AM Unknown

The number of kids using tablets is on the rise. A study shows that 44% of children wanted an iPad this past Christmas compared to 31% in 2010.

Sales are forecast to be nearly 250% higher this year than the 18 million tablets sold last year. PC sales, meanwhile, will increase by an anemic 3%. A new survey from the nonprofit group, Common Sense Media, finds nearly half of 2 to 4 year olds, and 10 percent of children younger than that, have used a smartphone, tablet or video iPod.

Tablets have become a communal item among families. One-third of parents share their tablet with their kids. 65% of mothers regularly let their children use their tablet. In many instances, parents are handing the tablet to their child to keep them occupied while they are shopping, waiting in line, in the car, or at a sibling's soccer game.

Educational leaders are recognizing the potential of tablets being used in education. Apple recently announced that it is targeting its products for classrooms. Many teachers are already using tablets to engage students and make learning more fun. Valerie Nash, the Director of the Peoria Unified School Distict says,"the power of having that in the classroom is that it’s a tool for learning." A tablet called the Nabi is linked to 33,000 educational and kid-friendly websites. Here's a couple of examples.

Online safety is a concern. With most tablets comes direct access to the internet. Not the most ideal place for a child to hang out if it is not filtered. Companies such as Fuhu, Fooz, and Playrific have developed apps that parents can install to protect their children while they are using tablets.

So what does this mean for Children's Ministry?

Should we be developing apps for tablets that teach kids God's Word?
How can we equip parents to use tablets as a discipleship tool for their children?
Do you think the Bible on tablet will eventually replace the Bible on paper?
How can we make tablets a creative, interactive teaching element in our classrooms at church?

Would enjoy seeing your thoughts in the comment section below.

Posted by Dale Hudson

One Word That Will Empower Your Children's Ministry

5:45 AM Unknown

Have you ever been in an environment where "no" ruled?

"No, we can't try something new. We've always done it this way."
"No, we aren't going to take the risk."
"No, I don't think that will work."
"No, we have a rule against that."
"No, we don't have the budget to fund that."
"No, we've tried getting new volunteers and no one wants to serve."
"No, that would upset someone."
"No, I don't know the answer."

When "no" rules, an atmosphere of pessimism is fostered.

But when "yes" is nurtured, it creates an atmosphere of optimism.

Give your team the authority to say "yes" by having "guidelines" instead of "rules." An example would be a single mother who is late to check-in her children. Check-in is closed. A rule would say "no." A guideline would see that it was a struggle just to get the kids up and dressed. A guideline would see that she is pushing a stroller while trying to hold a diaper bag at the same time. A guideline says "yes" we will help you get the kids checked in.
(the only exception would be safety and security procedures...those are "rules" that should be always be followed)

Saying "yes" shows your team you have confidence in them.

"Yes" empowers your team to be leaders. Give away your "yeses." Empower others to pull the trigger without having to run everything by you.

Remember a slow "yes" is more productive than a fast "no." When someone brings you an idea, don't say "no" immediately. Take time to think it through first. Ask questions such as...

Can you tell me more about your thought process? How did you arrive at this conclusion?
That's an interesting idea. Is anyone else on board with this?
How does this add value to our core mission?
Help me understand. How will this take us where we want to go?
Have you thought through any implications this might have?
What will we miss out on if this doesn't happen?

"Yes" shows greater leadership than "no" does. It shows that your team is on the same page and aligned with the big picture vision. If they are constantly bringing you questions that have a "no" answer, then you are not communicating the vision and direction clearly.

Teach your team to say "yes...let me find out for you" instead of "no...I don't know." We've all been on the other side of "no" when trying to find out information. Maybe you were in a store asking where something was located. Or maybe you were asking for directions. Or maybe you were asking when an event was starting." Just hearing "no" can be very frustrating. Teach your team to find out the answer instead of just saying "no."

Look for opportunities to say "yes" even when its inconvenient. Many times the second mile "yeses" can have the biggest impact.

Posted by Dale Hudson