RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

I still remember my experience as a child sitting in a boys' Sunday School class.  I can't remember the content of the lessons.  But I can remember, how boring the class was.  It was like torture.  Sitting in the classroom for an hour.  Listening to the Sunday School teacher ramble on and on with a voice that reminded be of the teacher on the Charlie Brown show.

Now don't get me wrong. I look back now and I have the utmost appreciation for those teachers. They faithfully showed up.  

But they had no clue about how to make the lessons come alive and engage us as children. All they knew how to do was lecture.  Read the verses from the Bible and then talk about the verses with a monotone voice.  

I also remember this. There were two teachers in one of my classrooms. One taught the lesson and the other teacher would sit quietly with us.  I can remember the teacher who was sitting with us going to sleep during the lesson.  The monotone lull of the teacher's presentation and content would cause the other teacher to go to sleep. It was that bad. One teacher droning away while the other teacher went to sleep. As kids, we endured the lesson while watching the other teacher slump into a deep sleep.

What was missing in the lesson?

What caused us as kids to disengage from the lesson?

What methods and techniques could the teachers have used to keep us engaged with the lesson?

What could have turned the worst hour of our week into the best hour of our week?

I can solve this with one word.  What is the word?

INTERACTIVE. 

If you want to make your lessons engaging, then you have to make them interactive. Here are 10 ways you can do this.

Play games. 

Kids obviously enjoy playing games.  Incorporate games into your lessons.  Not only review games, but games throughout the lesson.  One of favorite things kids love to hear at church is "who wants to play a game?"  

Interactive scripture reading. 

Instead of reading the verses yourself, have the kids read the verses. 

You can also make it fun by having kids use different voice variations while they are reading.  Have them read the verses with a low voice. Have them read the verses with a high-pitched voice. Have them read the verses with the voice of their favorite cartoon character. 

If you do want to read the verses as the teacher, then have the kids clap each time you say a certain word. 

Use motions when you are singing.  

Motions is a great way to get kids involved in worship.  One of my favorite worship leaders for kids is my friend Travis August.  We have 13 of his original worship songs available.  The song you see below is free and you can download it instantly.  Here is the link to the songs.

Have kids act out the Bible lesson.

Telling them the story about the disciples in the boat with stormy weather?  Turn over a table and make it the boat. Have some of the kids get in the "boat" and act out the lesson while you are telling it.  

Have kids make sound effects.  

Take the story I just mentioned.  Have some kids make the sound of the wind blowing.  Have some kids make the sound of thunder crashing. Have some kids make the sound of the tumultuous water.

Use hands-on activities.

Get kids up and involved. Provide hands-on activities that will allow them to use their creativity.  Instead of lecturing them, give them the opportunity to participate in active learning.  Here's an example. Have them use Legos to build a house with a hole in the roof.  Tie this into the story of the men who tore off part of a roof to lower their friend down to Jesus.

Have a scavenger hunt.

Kids love this.  Here's an example. Hide something that ties into the lesson. Give them clues they work through together to find it.

Use icebreakers.

Use icebreaker games and activities that will help kids get to know each other better.

Ask them questions.

Use open-ended questions that will get them talking and interacting with the kids around them.

Drawing.  

Most kids love to draw. Have them draw objects or people from the Bible story.  

These are just a few ideas that will make your lessons interactive. Use these tools to move away from lecturing and I promise you that you will see kids much more engaged with your lessons.  

What are some other ideas you have to make lessons interactive?  Share them with us in the comment section below.

As children's ministry leaders, we all have something in common. We never seem to have enough time and money to accomplish everything we'd like to see happen in the ministry.  

I wish I had a magic wand that I could wave and you would suddenly have an unlimited budget and unlimited time.  While I can't do that for you, I can share some hacks that will save you time and money.  Here are 20 hacks that will give you back some time and money. 

1. Need some VBS decorations, theming, etc.?  Check with some churches in your area and see if they would be willing to donate or loan you their VBS decor when they are done?

2. Do you share space with a school or other group? The last place a child wants to go on the weekend is back to a school environment.  Install bright, colorful curtains that you can pull across the walls that have school decorations, bulletin boards, etc. on them.

3. Need help with writing "thanks for coming" guest cards?  Have your guest check-in team write these for you when they are not busy.  This will make the cards more personal since this is the person who helped them register and get checked in.  They can then give you the cards to mail.

4. Put a small sticker on the name tags of guests.  Tell your team to watch for these children and give them extra attention, make sure they feel welcome, etc.

5. Have an extra classroom or area where kids who are at church for more than 1 hour can go. These would be kids whose parents attend a service and then serve for a service.  Have crafts, service projects, etc. the kids can work on while they are in there. This enables them to not get bored by sitting through the same kids' service twice.  Do this for kids kindergarten and older.  

6. Hand the take home paper to parents instead of children at pick-up time.  This gives you a much better chance of the take home paper making it home and getting done.

7. When you get a new, guest baby in the nursery, ask the parents how long they want you to wait before contacting them if their baby starts crying.  This takes the guesswork out of it.

8. Instead of throwing away the children's security tags/stickers, start a name tag ball.  Kids can add their name tag to it on the way out.  The kids love watching the name tag ball grow each week and parents appreciate not having to worry about the sticker getting put on their leather seats.

9. If a child asks to go to the bathroom and you suspect they just want to get out of the room, ask them to wait 5 minutes.  If they really have to go, they will come back to you.

10. Want to reach parents with the Gospel?  Instead of praying the salvation prayer with children, invite them to a class where you share the Gospel.  No drop offs.  Parents must attend with their children. If you do this, you will see many parents come to Christ as well at the end of the class.  Here is a great resource for this - Starting Point class - at this link.

11. Partner with your student ministry leader and get teenagers serving in your children's ministry. One hack is to have teens come on Sunday morning and meet with their small group for Bible study.  When the study is over, they can go and serve together in children's ministry.

12.  When you need to get kids' attention back do this...

• Say loudly, "If you can hear me talking clap once."
• Then say a little softer, "If you can hear me talking now clap twice."
• Then say it a 3rd time at a whisper level, "If you can hear me talking now clap once." By this time the room will be silent.

13. When you get to a month that has a 5th Sunday, use it as a review weekend and go back over what you have covered in the last few months. 

14. Don't create a website for your children's ministry.  Instead, start a private Facebook group.  95% of Millennial moms are on Facebook.  Instead of asking them to come to your website, go where they are and use it as a tool to partner with and equip them.

15. When you have multiple ages together for a large group time, put the oldest kids up front.  The younger children will watch the older kids in front of them and will follow their lead.

16. Put a sticker on babies' diapers that says "I was changed."

17. Give guests a t-shirt with your ministry logo on it.  They will probably wear it to school - free advertising! 

18. Grab your phone and record a quick walk through of the lesson for your teachers. Show them a sample of the craft, object lessons to use in the lesson, etc.  Keep the video 2 minutes or less.  Email the video to your teachers on the Monday before they teach.

19. Have kids repeat the key truth for the week at least 6 times. This will help it get placed in their long-term memory.  Check out how I do this with Connect12 curriculum.

20. Instead of running around town trying to find and purchase items for the lesson, order what you need online.  Order it several weeks in advance.  This will give you back your most valuable thing - your time.

Your turn. 

What are some other hacks that you use to save time and money?  Share it with us in the comment section below.

Stand by the exit door of your children's ministry area and you will hear parents ask their child the big question.

"Did you have fun today?"

If the child responds by just shrugging his or her shoulders, then it was probably boring.

The biggest telltale sign is this- the child will come right out and say - "It was boring!"

First, let's clarify what the parents are really asking.  When they say "did you have fun today" they are really asking their child...

Did they capture your attention?

Did you see any of your friends?

Was the lesson relevant to your life?

Did the volunteers take time to talk with you? 

That being said...here are 10 reasons why a child will say church is boring.

They were made to attend an adult service.  

You don't send an 8-year-old to college.  It's not age appropriate.  The same applies for children at church.  Most of what they will hear in the adult service is not age appropriate for them.  

Should children be separated from their parents during the worship service and have their own service? Yes...I believe the pros outweigh the cons.  

Let me also say this. I believe once a child hits middle school they should move into the adult service. In the adult worship service this past weekend, I looked over and saw a boy that grew up in "children's church." He is now in 6th grade and attends the adult service.  He was ready for the move. It is now age appropriate for him and he is engaging with it.

Many people believe children should be in the adult service from day one. While there are benefits of this, I believe if you weigh out the two options, you will see that children need to be placed in age-appropriate environments until they reach a certain maturity level and can benefit from the service. You can read more about this in my article - 6 Reasons Why Children Should Not Be in the Adult Worship Service.

They constantly hear "sssssssshhhhh...be quiet."

Children are wired to talk.  They are wired to ask questions.  Little children are wired to cry and make noise.  

If you attend a very small church, it may be acceptable to have the kids attend the adult service.  I find that most people who want to make sure children are in the adult service are part of a small church where it is the norm.  Once you get into a church with a minimum of several hundred attendees, you begin to see that some of the approaches you take in a small church doesn't translate well in a larger church...both logistically and practically.  

A child that is placed in an environment where they are not allowed to talk or express themselves will leave saying the church service was "boring."   

They are made to sit still.  

Kids are wired to move, move, move.  Don't ask them to sit still for long periods of time or you may find them crawling under the pews.  Get them in an environment where they can move freely and be a part of active, hands on learning.

The teaching was over their head and they didn't learn anything. 

Just as you wouldn't expect a child to learn anything in a college classroom, don't expect children to learn from sermons that are meant for adults.

You lectured them for more than 5 minutes at a time.  

Today's kids have very, very, very short attention spans.  They won't engage with a typical adult sermon.  They need to be in an environment where there is engaging, creative, learner-based lessons.

They don't have any friends at church.  

Children are like adults in this way. They want to have a friend at church.  If they end up having to be a loner in the class, they will often say it was boring.  Church is meant to be done with other people.  Bring icebreakers and games into your lessons that give kids the opportunity to get to know other kids in their class and make friends. 

You didn't play any games in the class.  

Kids love games.  Bible verse games.  Review games.  Team games.  Make sure you bring some games into your lessons.  

It was too "babyish."   

When your songs, lessons, games and music are geared for a young audience, older kids will check out and say this is boring.  This is true when you have several grades of kids together.  

Here's a little secret. 

When you are teaching multiple ages together, always aim for the oldest boy in the room.  If you engage him, you will engage everyone.  Cool rolls downhill.  Younger children look up to older children .  That's who they want to be...an older kid.  So when they see the older kids actively engaged, they will follow suit. 

Another little secret. When you have multiple ages together, have the older kids sit up front.  Why?  Because the younger kids can now see the older kids engaging and they will engage as well.  But if you put the older kids in the back, they will be turned off and will not engage as well.

No volunteers took a personal interest in them.  Kids want to be known.  Kids want to be missed when they are absent.  Kids want to be prayed for by name.  Kids want to have a friendship with the volunteers. When this happens, kids look forward to going to church to see Mr. Mike or Mrs. Mary.  

They didn't get to be part of a small group.  Kids need the opportunity to be a part of a small group where they can establish friendships.  Small group doesn't mean one volunteer with 15 kids. That's not a small group.  A small group is a volunteer with 6 to 8 kids max.  Check your ratios.  If kids are saying your services are boring, it may be because they feel lost in the crowd.

I have met many people who say, "I'm not going to church because I was made to go as a child."  Think about this...you don't have to make someone go where they enjoy being.

I've never heard anyone say, "I'm not going to Disney World because I was made to go as a child." 

The reason they say they hated going to church as a child is because they were placed in an irrelevant, boring service or class.   

I challenge you to take a hard look at your services and programs for kids. What about their experience at church?  Are they saying things are "boring?"  Maybe they are saying it is boring because it is. 

Your turn. 

Why do you think kids get bored at church?

How can we do a better job at making church a place where kids love to come?

Do you believe kids should be placed in adult worship services? Why or why not?

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

This past weekend a mother stopped me in the children's ministry hallway. 

She said, "I wanted to let you know that my son loves coming to church.  He told me this week that he gets excited each month when you announce a new teaching series.  He loves the fact that there is a new teaching series each month."  

Once again, this confirmed to me that teaching series in children's ministry should be a month.  

I have found that after 4-5 weeks kids start getting "bored" with the same teaching theme.  

I have seen curriculum series that lasts 8 to 12 weeks.  Wow!  That's a long time for kids who are used to constant change in what they are viewing and experiencing.  I would encourage you to monitor this with the kids in your ministry and see if they are still engaged after a month.  If you look, I believe you will see them starting to check out after week 4.  

If you are looking for curriculum that has series that lasts a month, you should check-out Connect12. All of the series fit into a 4 week window and has review days when it's a month with 5 weeks.

You can get more information at this link. 

What are your thoughts on this?  How long do your series last?  What works best for you?  Share your input in the comment section below.

The kids walked into their class at church on a Sunday morning. At each seat there was a bag of candy.  They were told the candy was theirs to keep, but they could not open it or eat it until after class.

The lesson that day was about giving and serving others.  It is better to give than to receive. The kids were told they were to put others before themselves.

At the end of the lesson, the teacher brought the kids' attention back to the bag of candy they had been given. 

The teacher reminded them that the candy was theirs to keep or...there was a nearby community that was very poor.  The kids there were the sons and daughters of migrant workers.  They had little to nothing when it came to the extras like candy.  

The teacher told the kids that morning that they had two choices with their candy...

1. They could keep the candy for themselves and take it home to eat. 

or 

2. They could leave the candy and it would be given to the kids in the poor community.

The teacher prayed and then the kids made their decision during the dismissal time.  You could feel the tension in the room as kids grappled with what they would do.

Most of the kids left the candy that day.  A few took it...and that was okay.  The goal that day was for the kids to feel the tension as they decided if they were going to be a keeper or a giver that day.  

Another time the lesson for the day was about temptation.  When the children walked into their classroom that day, there was a tray of delicious, freshly baked brownies in the middle of every small group.  You could smell the aroma of freshly baked chocolate brownies.  

As the teacher shared a lesson that day about temptation, the kids had to sit there and resist the temptation of eating the brownies.  Again, you could feel the tension in the air as the kids struggled with not eating the brownies.  And we didn't let them eat the brownies at all.  The point to resist temptation was made. 

Each week when you teach, you should help the kids apply the lesson to their lives.  One way to do this is to create tension by putting them in a tempting, tense situation.  Application means giving them the opportunity to practically apply it to their life either then or later during the week. 

We also know that emotions are the glue to learning. As the kids feel the emotions created by the tension, it will help them remember the lesson long-term. 

The tension that is created through application is a good thing and will help kids grow in their faith on Sunday and during the week.

p.s. If you are looking for a curriculum that is heavy on information and application, check out my Connect12 curriculum.  It contains lots of application like you just read about.

I am offering big savings on resources that can help you effectively reach and disciple kids and families in your community.

These resources are not just  "pie in the sky" ideas, but rather resources that have been tested and used with great success in local churches.  

Here are a few of the resources and the discount that will be available from Nov. 27 through Dec. 15.  

You can click on any of the resource titles below to see pictures and get more information.

10 Trends You Need to Know If You Want to Grow (seminar) $19 - reduced to $10 

Worship Album  $39 - reduced to $29

Elementary Curriculum - $79 -  reduced to $49 

Baptism Class - $69 - reduced to $39

Connect 12 Elementary Curriculum (1 year) - $700 - reduced to $500

Bible Presentation Class and Celebration - $29 - reuduced to $19

CSI (Easter lesson) - $29 - reduced to $19

Elementary Graduation Celebration Class - $29 - reduced to $19

Milestone Package - $199 - reduced to $129

Glow-in-the-Dark Lesson - $19 - reduced to $10

If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry Book - $15 - reduced to $12 

If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry Seminar - $19 to reduced to $12

Lead Well Book - $19 - reduced to $15

Live Online Training - $99 - reduced to $50

Parent & Child Dedication Class - $49 - reduced to $29

Starting Point Salvation Class - $69 - reduced to $29

The Broken Figurine Video - $12 - reduced to $5

Christmas Lesson - $29 -reduced to $15

The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams Book - $12 - reduced to $10

and much more.

These prices will begin on November 27 and run through December 15. 

Make an investment in your ministry and watch what God does. 

Do you remember a message you heard 6 month ago?  Probably not.  I know I can't. 

Most lessons are not written to get into kids' long-term memory.  The lessons are missing key elements that cause the teaching to move from short-term memory to long-term memory.

If you want kids to remember your lesson for years to come, then here are some key elements you need to include. 

Repetition.  It has often been said that repetition is the key to learning.  

Did you know that if a child hears something once in a month their long-term retention rate is only 10%?  But if a child hears something 6 times in a month, their long-term retention rate jumps up to 90%!  An effective lesson will have the kids say the key truth at least 6 times in a month.  In the curriculum I created, I actually have the kids say the key truth a minimum of 6 times each week.  This helps ensure they will remember the key truth long-term.

I recommend you have one key truth the kids say each week for a month.  This is more effective than having a different key truth each week. 

Emotions.  You remember what you feel.  Create situations where kids emotions are tapped into.  Here's an example.  

One weekend we were teaching about being generous.  When the kids came in the room, they were each given a bag of candy.  They were instructed to place it in front of where they were sitting.  The lesson was about being generous.  At the end of the lesson we had them bow their heads.  We explained that they had two options.  One - they could keep the candy for themselves.  Or they could leave it and it would be delivered to some needy kids in our area.

We asked them to close their eyes and talk to God.  What was He telling them to do?  You could feel the tension and emotions in the room.  When it was decision time, most of the kids left the candy.  

That is a lesson they will never forget.  Why?  Because they felt the emotions of what they were doing.

Pictures.  Today's kids hear with their eyes.  A picture truly is worth a thousand words.  Use pictures for key points and kids will connect to the lesson and remember it.

Experiences.  We live in an "experience economy."  Kids remember their good and bad experiences growing up.  What will they remember about their experience in your ministry?  Boring?  Monotone?  Exciting?  Engaging?  Relevant?

Videos.  Kids love watching videos.  Movies.  YouTube.  Instagram.  Television shows.  Use video clips to illustrate your lesson.  

Here's an example.  in the Lion King movie, remember the scene where Simba is trapped in the gully and is about to be crushed by the stampede?  At the last moment, Mufasa comes down into the gully and rescues Simba.  Mufasa gives up his life to rescue Simba.  This is a great example of using a video to illustrate Biblical truth.  Mufasa is an example of what Jesus did for us.  We were trapped in our sins.  There was no way we could get ourselves out of it.  But that's when Jesus came down and rescued us.  He gave His life so we could escape the penalty for our sins.  

Each time kids see this movie, it will help them remember what Jesus did for them.

Big surprises.  What can you do to surprise everyone?  These are things you can't do every week but you can do to make a big impact on a big day.  This is when you go all out and over the top.  Here's an example.  One Sunday, I was teaching on Daniel and the Lion's Den.  I had a big cage up front that was covered by a canopy.  When we got to the part of the lesson that talked about the lions, we pulled the canopy off the cage and there was a real, fully grown lion inside the cage.  He let out a roar and the kids were blown away.  If you ask those grown-up kids today about that lesson, they will remember it.

Every day objects.  Jesus often did this.  He used birds of the air, fish, coins, gates and other everyday objects to illustrate what He was teaching.  Take a cue from Jesus and use every day objects in your lessons to illustrate Biblical truth.  

Use items and places that kids are in contact with on an regular basis.  Something from school.  Their favorite toy or video game.  A pet.  A ball from their favorite sport.  A food they eat.

I remember when I taught a lesson about Jesus being the only way to heaven.  I used a one way sign to illustrate it.  One year later, I was driving the kids to camp and a boy on the back of the bus yelled out, "Look Pastor Dale, a one way sign.  Jesus is the one way to heaven!" 

Key truths that rhyme.  Did you know kids remember things better when they rhyme.  All 12 of our key truths rhyme. Here's 3 examples.

The Bible is true...I can trust it through and through.  

This is my story...worshiping God and declaring His glory.

The Bible is clear to say...Jesus is the only way.

Play games.  Activity games.  Icebreaker games.  Review games.  All of these are great ways to move your teaching truth into kids' long term memory.  

Want to do a test to see if you are getting truth into the lives of kids?  Stand at the exit door and ask them what they learned today.  Ask them to say the key truth of the month.  If they can say what it is, you're getting it stuck in their memory. 

The curriculum I created has all these elements in them.  I created a filter that every lesson had to pass through before it was completed. You can see samples of the curriculum by clicking on the logo below.

Our goal must be to get God's Word into children's long term memory.  When we do this, we will begin to see their faith grow and they can serve God for a lifetime.