RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

10 Things You Should Do When Teaching Kids

11:57 AM Dale Hudson

It's not an easy task to teach kids. Especially today's kids who have an attention span of milliseconds and constantly need to be moving and jumping from one thing to another.

How should you teach?

What elements should you have in your lessons?

How can you keep their attention?

How can you know if you are being effective?

Let's take a look at 10 things you should be doing when teaching kids. Master these 10 things and you will become a teacher who is able to engage kids and get the truth to stick with them.

#1 - Repetition

If you want your teaching to be deposited in kids' brains for the rest of their life, then you need to use repetition. Did you know if a child hears something once a month that they will only retain about 10% of it. But if a child hears something 6 times in a month, their retention will go up to 90%.

Look what God's Word says about this.

Repeat them again and again to your children. Deuteronomy 6:7.

Repeat your main point over and over and over.

#2 - Games

Kids love to play games. Use games in your teaching. Play review games. Games are a great thing when it comes to helping kids engage with your lesson.

#3 - Noisy Classroom

A noisy classroom is a good thing. Create activities where kids can talk and interact with the lesson. Don't use the "ssssshhhhhhhh" card. Instead channel the noise into the lesson to get kids involved with what you are teaching.

#4 - Visual Elements

Today's kids hear with their eyes. When you bring visual elements into a lesson it greatly increases kids' engagement. Use videos. Use key verses on a screen. Use object lessons.

#5 - Review

Take some time at the end of your lesson to do a review element. Review games. Review challenges. Review activities. Put it to the test and see how much of your lesson the kids can retain.

#6 - Hands on, Interactive Activities

Hands on activities will cause kids' retention rate to skyrocket. Stop lecturing so much and involve the kids in activities that reinforce the lesson. This can include art work, crafts, building things, music, and more.

#7 - Vary Your Voice

Don't sound like Charlie Brown's teacher when you are teaching. Don't be monotone. Vary the excitement in your voice based on what emotions you are trying to convey. An example would be bringing your voice up when talking about David fighting Goliath and bringing your voice down when quoting a verse.

#8 - Broadway...put them on the stage

Get kids to act out the Bible story you are telling. Here's an example. You're teaching about Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea. You get a big, blue tarp and hold it up like it's the Red Sea. Then have the kids walk through it. Squirt a water mist on them as they are walking through and have water sounds playing.

When kids act out a Bible story they will remember the Bible story.

#9 - Tell stories.

Did you know that Jesus told stories every single time He taught? Look what it says in Matthew 13.

"Jesus used stories to tell all these things to the people; he always used stories to teach them. This is as the prophet said: 'I will speak using stories; I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made.'”

If you want to teach like Jesus, then tell stories like Jesus did.

Stories are a great way to grab kids' attention and draw them into what you are teaching.

#10 - Prayer.

Pray with the kids. Pray for the kids. Pray during your time with them. Remember this...

Nothing of eternal value happens without prayer.

Implement these 10 things into your teaching and you will see God work in kids' lives.

An Inside Look at Our New Kids' Stage

10:48 AM Dale Hudson

At the church where I serve as Children and Family Pastor, we recently built a new stage for kids' worship and other activities.

It is a Clubhouse theme. Below are some pictures. The wrapping for the stage came from our friends at Wacky World Studios. The wall and the trim were done by some of our volunteers.

I always remember this...

A good environment will make your children's ministry seem better than it is. A subpar environment will make your children's ministry seem worse than it is.

The physical space you create is important and is money well spent. It might even be more affordable than you think. We have around $5,000 in this stage area. That includes building the frame and all the attachments you see on the wall. There are holes for puppets in the tree and the far left window. The other two screens by the door are televisions.

We will be bringing our 3-to-5-year olds out here for their chapel time. We will have puppets, storytellers, and kids' worship leaders.

Whatever budget you have is not the biggest factor. You can do a lot with kid-friendly paint colors and there are probably people in your church who could help build your vision.

Another plus in spending money on kids' theming is the statement it makes to parents. It says to parents that you care enough about their children to invest resources in creating an environment with kids in mind.

I remember one of the first areas I built for kids. It was when I was first starting out in ministry. The church where I was serving didn't have a children's ministry area. The only space available was an old, musty room downstairs in the basement. We only had a few kids coming. I had no budget whatsoever. So I decided to use what I could. I went out and found branches, tree limbs, etc. and turned the room into a tree clubhouse feel. The kids loved it and we doubled in the number of kids who started attending.

The point is this - do something. No matter what your budget is, you can create a fun environment for kids. Even if you have no budget whatsoever. What are you waiting for? Go for it.

20 Great Quotes About Children's Ministry That You Can Use

4:20 PM Dale Hudson

Quotes can be a powerful way to emphasize something. They can encourage, equip, inspire, challenge, and motivate people.

Here are 20 great quotes about children's ministry that you can share with your staff, volunteers, leaders, and parents.

Feel free to use these in your emails, trainings, text messages, etc.

"Less than 30% of families each meals together at home - it's almost like this - when mom yells 'dinner time' everyone runs for the car."

"Love your children - and let them know you love them. Children who experience love find it far easier to believe that God loves them." -Billy Graham

"Children learn far more by observing versus them just listening." -Billy Graham

“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.” -Nelson Mandela

"A person is a person, no matter how small." -Dr. Seuss

“Old men can make war, but it is children who will make history.” -Ray Merritt

“You may speak but a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian Church in years to come.” -Charles Spurgeon

"If I teach my son to keep his eye on the ball but fail to teach him to keep his eyes on Christ, I have failed as a father." -Voddie Baucham

"It is a masterpiece of the devil to make us believe that children cannot understand religion. Would Christ have made a child the standard of faith if He had known that it was not capable of understanding His words." -Dwight L. Moody

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children." -Chuck Swindoll

To train a boy in the way he should go you must go that way yourself." - Billy Sunday

"When our children see us clinging to the promises of God, they will grow up trusting in His goodness. If we fail as adults in praying for and praying with the next generation, then they will become spiritually unsure." -Michael Youssef

"We will never bring in the Kingdom by simply seeking to save an adult generation. We must give God a chance at the children or the cause of righteousness is going to be defeated. But if we will save the child, we will surely save the world." -Clovis Chappell

"Children need models rather than critics." -Joseph Joubert

"God sees your acts of service."

“We believe that children and young people should be the single greatest priority for Christian work in the coming decade.” -Patrick Johnstone

"Work for a cause…not for the applause.” – Grace Lichtenstein

“Children’s ministry is ministering to a person at the most critical time in their life.”

“Children are not just the church of tomorrow. They are the church of today and tomorrow. They can serve today. They can make an impact now. They can give now. They can pray big prayers now. They can lead now. They can bring people to Jesus now.”

How to See Kids Lead Their Parents to Jesus

2:35 PM Dale Hudson

There are currently 4 children at my church that are asking questions about entering a relationship with Jesus.

All of these children live in homes where one or more of their parents are not believers.

Sarah is in 5th grade and lives in the neighborhood. She walks to our church each week. Her parents do not attend. I will probably end up going to their house and meeting them and try to share the Gospel with them at their home.

Julia's parents drop her off at church but do not attend.

Jason came to our church with a friend. He has started attending regularly and is asking questions about what it means to follow Jesus. I will be meeting with his mother and he on Thursday to share the Gospel with them. Praying they will both come to Christ.

Hannah is brought to our church by her grandmother, but her parents do not attend.

My prayer is always that the entire family would come to Christ. I'll share with you my approach for these children and their families.

I will not be praying a salvation prayer with the kids on their own. Rather I will be looking for an opportunity to share the Gospel with the entire family.

I am sitting down with each of these families and sharing the Gospel with the child and their parents. I have a class that I use for this. It is called Starting Point. No drop offs. Kids must attend this class with their parents. I have seen God use this to reach hundreds of families over the past 8 years.

You can get more information about the Starting Point class at this link.

Always be thinking about parents. Remember this.

When you reach a child you change a life. When you reach parents you change an entire family.

I believe God wants us to reach multiple generations. I remember one time I baptized 3 generations at one time. Grandfather got baptized. Father got baptized. Son got baptized. It all started with the child coming to Jesus.

I think about the jailer in Acts 16. Read this passage and be inspired.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹And the jailer^[a] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.