RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

I have visited a lot of churches over the years and there is something that nearly all children's ministries struggle with. 

Getting kids engaged in worship through singing.  From mega churches to small churches I have seen this play out with very few exceptions.

I am the central children's director at a church with 7 campuses. All of our campuses struggle with this at times and we are looking for ways to do a better job at engaging kids in worship. 

I believe there are specific reasons why some kids don't engage in worship.  Here are 7 of them that I have identified. 

#1 - The songs are too hard or "grown up." 

I often see well meaning churches trying to get kids and parents singing the same worship songs. The thought behind it is valid. We want kids and parents to be on the same page so they can sing the same songs.  

But...many of the songs are too grown up for kids and they seem to disengage when this happens. Just because a worship songs is a fit with adults doesn't mean it is a fit for kids.  Kids are made to move...move...move. They need songs that capture their attention and engages them with movement. 

Doesn't that mean kids can't sing slower, meditative songs? No. But songs should be age-appropriate.   

#2 - Kids...especially pre-teens...are self-conscious.

Often you will see your 4-6th graders standing back and not engaging.  Watching the worship but not getting involved. They don't want to appear "babyish" or "uncool."  They are very conscious of their peers and what they will think if they openly and freely worship. 

#3 - No one is leading them. 

If we expect kids to worship, then we must lead by example. Volunteers should engage in worship. The kids will see this and be more likely to engage in worship.  The good news...volunteers don't have to have the voice of Celine Dion to help lead kids in worship.  It says to make a joyful "noise" to the Lord.  If you are like me, it is definitely a "noise" that comes out. 

The main thing is for volunteers to demonstrate a heart that worships God. Instead of sitting in the back on their cell phone during large group time, they are up with the kids...encouraging them to join them in worship. 

Worship should be lead not only from the front of the room, but also by volunteers who are among the kids.  

#4 - There are too many motions. 

If you are not careful, focusing on the motions more than the words of worship can cause kids to not engage. Should we do motions...of course. But the motions should be there to help kids gain meaning and understanding of the words they are singing. 

Motions should not trump words of worship. Balance is the key for this.  

#5 - You don't have any guys leading. 

This is especially true when it comes to pre-teen boys. If they only see girls...especially younger girls...up front they will usually not engage. 

If you want to engage all the kids in worship, then you need to enlist some high school boys to help lead. 

#6 - You are not targeting the oldest boys in the room.

Aim high. You should be targeting the oldest boys in the room. If you can engage your pre-teen boys, you will engage all of the kids.  "Little kids" look up to the older kids. That's who they want to be like and want to emulate. 

When you don't target the oldest boys in the room and the songs are not age-appropriate for them, they will see your music and worship as too "babyish' for them and they will not engage. This will then affect the entire group of kids. 

#7 - You aren't teaching kids the importance of worship. 

Kids need to understand the "why" of worship. On a regular basis, take some time to explain why we worship God with our voices.  Help them see that worship is not just a fun thing to do, but first and foremost it's a way that we can express our love for God and bring honor to His name and who He is. 

Those are seven reasons why some of the kids in your ministry aren't singing during worship time. I am working on engaging kids more in worship in our ministry. Join me for this mission. It is vitally important as we raise up the next generation of kids who will worship God not only through music but also with all their heart and being. 

p.s. Have you checked out the original worship songs for kids that were written and produced by my friend Travis August?  They are available at this link.  All songs come with worship videos with and without motions.

Should children be brought into the "adult" worship service?  Should children have their own age appropriate worship service / class?  

Some would compare bringing a child into the adult worship service to bringing a child into a college lecture.  We agree that when it comes to education, children should be in an age appropriate class or experience. 6-year-olds go to a first grade class at school. 9-year-olds go to a 4th grade class at school.  They don't go to college at that point in their life because it is not age-appropriate and the child would get little to no benefit from the teaching. 

Here are some thoughts on this that I found online.

"I remember being in service as a kid. I remember absolutely nothing. Communion was cool because I got to eat Hawaiian bread or sourdough."

"Children can't handle a 30-45 minute sermon. But obviously a 30-45 minute sermon is the essential centerpiece of corporate worship."

"While we're at it let's skip kindergarten and start their education in college."

"Our last church, the pastor was adamant kids of all ages needed to be in church, then made services two hours long, right at lunch time (an hour plus of that was his sermon). My kids hated church. When it was time to get ready for church there were crying meltdowns. Not how I want my kids to feel about church. We moved, joined a better church, and now send our kids to children’s church during the sermon. They’re much happier, and we can listen to the sermon instead of trying to make them behave."

"I just don't get some of your reasoning. I respect your opinions, but it just seems disconnected from reality to me. Would you send your kids to a college lecture? No, because they wouldn't get hardly anything from it. They wouldn't understand 99% of it. That's why they work their way up. The same goes for church, IMO. Is having them in the main service distracting others when they are hardly going to take anything from it really worth it when they could be in Sunday school learning things at their own capacity? It's not worth it in my opinion. I understand doing it sometimes, but it just seems unrealistic to expect your kids to be in the main service every time. I think it's a lot more beneficial for them to be in a class that is geared towards them."

Do you struggle with getting children to engage during worship time? 

The boys in the back who you have to force to stand up?

The kids that zone out and just stand there?

The kids who complain and let you know they don't want to sing?

Don't get discouraged in the quest to see kids worship with a heart of gratitude and adoration for our Savior.  

When I am not traveling, I serve in the children's ministry at my home church.  Last week, I decided to try something different to get more kids involved in worship during the service. I ordered some of these from Oriental trading (if you've been in children's ministry for awhile, you are very familiar with this company.  I often wish I had bought stock in Oriental Trading).  I also ordered some inflatable saxophones, drums and tambourines.

"Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance: praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD."   -Psalm 150

Hands went up all over the room.  Even the hands of the kids who never sing and just stand there during worship with a bored look on their face.  

I passed out the instruments to some of the kids who wanted to play and had them come up front to worship God by playing an "instrument" to the Lord. 

I also shared that this was a "warm up" for many of them who would grow up to lead worship and play instruments in "big" church one day.

Guess what?  It worked. Kids who normally just zone out during worship engaged and started singing.  Kids, who don't normally do any song motions and just stand there during worship, suddenly got involved.  Participation increased dramatically not just with the kids who had an inflatable instrument to play, but with all the kids. 

My goal is for these kids to be worshipers now and for the rest of their life. It will be neat to one day see these kids grow up and be playing real guitars, drums, saxophones and more.  

If you are frustrated over kids not participating during worship, try this out.  You will immediately see more kids get involved in worship and praising Jesus. 

Your turn. What are some other ways you get kids involved in worship?  Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.

Worship should be a big part of your children's ministry.

Worship ushers children into the presence of God and teaches them important truths about the Almighty God who is worthy of our praise.

It is challenging when you see children just standing there and not engaging in worship.  Or you have a child that simply refuses to participate in the worship songs.

If you want to make sure your worship music is connecting with kids, here are 5 tips for picking out elementary worship songs.

Pick songs that are kid-friendly.  Don't try to get kids to sing songs that were written for an adult worship service context.  

These would be songs that use big words. 

Songs that are drawn out (more than 3.5 minutes). 

Songs that use notes that kids can't hit.  

Songs that seem better as a solo.  Worship should include everyone, not just a person up front who can sing songs that sound like solo songs.

Aim for the oldest child in the group. 

When you have a group of children together who are different ages, it is best to always aim for the oldest boy in the group.  If a 5th-grade boy likes the song and sings, then everyone else will follow suit.  

Cool rolls downhill.  Make sure your elementary songs are not too "preschoolish." (Is that a word?).  When this happens, many elementary kids won't sing.

Here are some great songs that connect well with elementary kids.  Check them out here.  Song tracks and videos with motions are available.

Pick a song that reinforces the Bible truth you are sharing.

Example: If your teaching theme is about the love of God, then choose at least one song that talks about the love of God.  You will find this reinforces the truths you are trying to teach with the lesson. Check out my curriculum.  Each series has a song that matches the key truth.

Pick some slower songs.  Yes. Use lots of fun and high energy songs.  Get kids moving and help them burn some energy with your songs.  But I believe that there should also be one slow song each week.  This allows children to slow down and really focus on God.  Right before your lesson is a good time to do this.

Don't forget about the older classics that you have seen kids engaging with.  

Many ministries make the mistake of not using songs just because they were written 5+ years ago.  Don't dismiss songs just because they are older.  Many of these songs are very engaging and the kids will love them. 

Here are a few examples.  If you've been in children's ministry for a decade or more, you may remember some of these songs. 

• Every Move I Make
• Big, Big House
• Jesus Be the Center of My Life
• Hey, Jesus Loves Me
• One Way
• Shout to the Lord
• Peace Like a River
• Our God is an Awesome God
  

These are songs that I have personally watched kids engage with and sing.  Which brings me to a side note - the big test for songs is this - are the kids actually engaging and singing with this song?  If the kids are just standing there, then it may be time to pick some more engaging songs.

Here's one more bonus tip.

Let the kids help pick out the songs.  This works great and will help you get buy-in from them.  Have kids vote on what songs they want to sing.  Set up a poll on your website or social media app where they can vote.  Let one song each week be a song the kids chose. 

We know how important worship is in the life of a child.  It helps kids praise God, learn Biblical truths and grow in their faith.  

Make sure you are picking songs that will help you accomplish this.  

Here's a free song with a motion video you can download and use.  Click here for the free download.

During this pandemic, many churches have done amazing things online as they have tried to keep kids and families engaged.  

And many of the churches I talk with are planning on continuing to offer online services for kids even after the pandemic has ran its course. 

Why?  A big reason is because the loss of normal socialization can have a lasting effect on young minds and bodies.

Experts are calling it "social malnutrition."

Covid-19 is starving many children from the activities and social interaction they need to develop into healthy adults.

Doctors are encouraging parents to spend more time reading with their kids, taking them outside to enjoy nature and keeping their bodies moving.  

Kids need to worship with other kids.  Kids need to interact with other kids who are in their small group.  Kids need a caring volunteer who will look them in the eyes and talk with them about how their week went. Kids need to be able to play games with other kids.  Kids need to be able to ride home with their parents and share about what they learned and experienced.   I don't believe online for kids can effectively accomplish this like in person can.

Are you still doing online services for kids?

How effective have you found online services to be compared to in person services?

Are parents starting to bring their kids back for in person services?

What are your plans moving forward? 

Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Worship is such an important part of children's ministry.  We know that God inhabits the praises of His people.

And that includes the worship that children offer up to Jesus.

In fact, check out what is says in Matthew 21.

The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them. But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise'?"

In this passage, we see that children led the way in praising Jesus. 

Each week you have the opportunity to help kids enter the presence of Jesus through their praises.

That being said, let me ask you a question.  Are the kids in your ministry actually singing during worship time?  As I visit different churches across the country, I often see kids just standing there during worship time.  Especially the older boys in the group. 

If you can get the older boys to sing, then you will see all the kids engage in worship.  Younger kids look up to bigger kids. When they see the older kids singing, they will jump in and worship as well.  

Good, quality worship songs written with kids in mind are hard to come by these days.  Instead of creating songs that are first and foremost for kids, churches often make the mistake of trying to bring down songs that were written for adults.  

Another mistake I see is asking kids to sing songs that are too long.  When you drag out the last few words of a song and repeat them over and over and over, kids begin to check out.  

With these things in mind, that's why we created twelve original worship songs written and produced first and foremost for kids.  No need "bringing these songs down to kids' level.  They are already there.  Ready for kids to sing and worship with.

These 12 songs were written by an amazing artist named "Travis August."  Travis is a former kindergarten teacher and he knows how to relate to kids.  He produces songs that have the sounds that today's kids love.  Here's an upcoming event that Travis is going to be a part of. 

Recently, a children's pastor in NYC started using the songs and wrote to us about it.  She says it's just the kind of music that her kids love to hear and sing.

You will see this as you listen to his songs. They are intentionally shorter songs to capture kids' attention and hold it through the end of the song. 

The 12 songs are full of strong Biblical messages that will help your kids grow in their faith. They are written to compliment our Connect12 curriculum.

You can order the songs and get them as an instant download.  Includes the audio with and without vocals and the worship video with and without vocals.  

The price is right. You can get the whole album of 12 songs with audio and video for only $39.99 or single songs for only $9.99.  Click here for more info. and more sample songs.

Check out a few of the songs below and get your praise on! 

If you are like many children's ministries, you will sadly have to report that some of the kids aren't singing.  

Why do you think many kids just stand there motionless with lips sealed tight?

In this post, I'm going to share with you 7 reasons why kids aren't singing and how you can fix it.

Some kids aren't singing because the songs are written for adults.  Kids don't connect as well with songs that were originally written for adults.  Even if you take the song and change it some to be "kid-friendly" it still normally doesn't resonate well with the kids.  

If you want to see kids singing, then use songs that were written specifically for kids.

Here's an example from our new kid's worship album.  Notice how it is geared toward kids.  (if you are reading this by email and can't see the song - you can watch it at this link)

Some kids aren't singing because the songs are too long.  Most adult worship songs run 4-5 minutes or even longer.  Let's be honest, many times when you are standing in the audience, you are hoping the song will end, so you can sit down and rest.  Especially when it's 3-4 songs in a row.  Seems like the worship team keeps repeating the last few phrases over and over and over and over.

Kids are the same way.  Here's another example of a song from our new album.  Notice the length of the song.  Here's the direct link to watch the song, if you can't see the video in this email.

There are no boys helping lead worship.  This is not just true for 4th grade boys.  Next time you are in an adult service, look around.  You will see that most men are not singing.  Some of that is due to the fact that worship songs talk about loving God, talking to God, being close to God, etc.  Men are not emotionally wired that way as much as women.  And so many of them check out during worship time and just stand there. 

Boys are the same way.  If something seems "girly" they are turned off and won't join in.  And if they only see girls up front helping lead, they will check out as well.  Make sure you have an equal number of males leading as you do females.

Want to see boys start singing?  Put some high school boys up front and you'll see more boys join in.

Need some new songs.  It's important to mix in new songs on a regular basis. This keeps worship fresh and exciting.  We have 12 new worship songs for kids written by an amazing artist named Travis August. Each song comes with a worship video you can use with the kids.  You can see more about the album and purchase it at this link.

There are too many motions to the songs.  This can cause the kids to start focusing on keeping up with the motions instead of focusing on worshiping.  Keep the motions simple and easy to follow. 

Lack of leadership.  You need a strong leader to lead worship with kids.  Someone who can command the stage and challenge kids to lift their voices loud as they worship our great God.  Shy, quiet worship leaders will lead to quiet, monotonous singing.  

You are putting the older kids in the back with the younger kids in front of them.  This causes the older kids to check out.  Why?  Because they see "little kids" in front of them.  Big kids don't want to participate in "little" kids programs or music.  Always target the oldest kids in the room.  This will catch everyone and you'll see more kids engaging in worship.  Little kids want to be "big kids" and seeing the big kids in front of them worshiping, causes them to want to join in with the "cool, older kids" in worship.

So there you have it.  7 reasons why some kids aren't singing.  Do you need to make some changes in your kids' worship ministry?  

Love to hear your thoughts on this.  Share your thoughts, insight and input in the comment section below.