RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Baseball cards.  Rocks.  Stamps.  Bugs.  Shells.  Feathers.  Dolls.  Matchbox cars.  Stuffed animals.  Pokemon cards.  Star Wars figures.

Kids are notorious for collecting things.  In fact, a survey showed that over 60% of households have at least one collection of something.

There are various reasons why kids collect things including having something to do, an escape from reality, curiosity, showing individuality, passion for something, connection with those of the same interests and for some...even a financial investment in their future (knowing the collectable will be worth something when they are older).

Successful organizations like Disney know this and use it to engage kids.  Go to a Disney park and you will see kids everywhere with collections of pins they are trading. McDonald's is another example with the toys they place in their kids' meals.

Since kids love to collect things, it's a great way to engage kids in your ministry.  Here is a "collection" of ideas I have used and seen others use for this.

Trading cards.  Create trading cards for teaching series.  Kids get a trading card each week they attend (great way to encourage faithfulness).  Below are a few of the trading cards we've created for some teaching series.



My friends at eKidz are great at doing this.  You can see an example of some of the trading cards they have created at this link.

Toys.  Purchase small, collectable toys from a company like Oriental trading and give one away each week.  Tie the toys into the lesson and it can double as a discussion starter at home with parents.  An example would be giving away plastic bugs when talking about creation and how God made everything.  Kids would get a different bug to collect each week.

Comic books and coloring books.  Kids love to collect comic books and coloring books.  Here's an example of some we've created and given away during a series.



Key chain with collectable fobs.  My friends at kid-o-deo (Eagle Brook Church) do a great job with this.  They give the kids a collectable fob each month that has that month's Bible verse on it.  Here's an example.



Pins.  Awana has been doing this effectively for years.  Kids can earn collectible pins as they memorize verses and reach goals.  My friends at Go Kids (River Valley Church) also use pins very effectively.  Here are some examples of collectible pins they've created for their ministry.



More ideas?  How else do you use collectables to engage kids?  We'd love to hear your ideas in the comment section below.

Happy collecting!!!