What Today's Pre-Teens Think Is Cool - The List You Need to See

If you want to connect with and reach pre-teens, it's vital you know their culture.

When you care enough to find out what they like and can talk with them about it knowledgeably, they will open their heart and let you inside.

That's a big reason why we recently started giving our pre-teen volunteers a monthly "what's trending with kids" list that gives them talking points.  You can read more about that here.

Okay...now back to this post.  Recently Business Insider, surveyed a group of 60 students to find out what they thought was "cool."  In other words...what was popular with them.  Here are the findings.

Smartphones - the average kid gets their first smartphone at age 11.  They are spending an average of 6 hours a day on their smartphones.  The iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5 are the most popular phones.

Screens...screens...screens.  Mobile device screens.  TV screens.  Video game screens.  Computer screens.  On average, they spend 11 hours a day in front of screens.

Music.  Students who like music use Spotify as their preferred music streaming service.

Netflix.  Streaming is quickly replacing traditional TV programming.  Here's a chart with more specifics.

Neko Atsume.  You've probably never heard of this Japanese game, but numerous students they talked to were obsessed with it.  The game's name literally translates to "cat collecting," and that's exactly what you do in the game.

Color Switch. A bunch of students also mentioned this game.  In this game, you must follow each color pattern you're shown on each obstacle to progress.

Celebrities.  Some of the more popular names included Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, 5 Seconds of Summer, Kanye West, DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Ruby Rose and One Direction.

YouTube Celebrities.  
Brendon Urie, Shawn Mendes, Connor Franta, Troye Sivan, Tyler Oakley, Miranda Sings, Shane Dawson, Logan Paul, Lele Pons, Josh Peck, Jenna Marbles, Manny MUA, Ethan and Grayson Dolan, Alx James, Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart, Hannah Hart, and Rosanna Pansino.

Today's pre-teens are more aware of current events and pop culture than ever before.  This is because they have so many ways to be connected to the news and other information outlets.

The next time you are talking with pre-teens, bring up some of these things and see if you don't get a "wow...I can't believe you know that" look and an inroad into conversation.  Once that happens, you can make a heart connection that will enable you to influence them spiritually.