RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY: humor

Showing posts with label humor. Show all posts

Top Things Kids Like in Books

6:58 AM Dale Hudson

In their annual report, Scholastic shared what kids want in books. The findings provide key insights that children's ministry leaders should take note of as we look for ways to effectively communicate God's Word to kids.

Here are the top things that kids look for and connect with in books.

HUMOR. 70% of kids want books that make them laugh.

IMAGINATION. 54% of kids like books that let them use their imaginations.

MADE-UP STORY. 48% of kids like made-up stories. Better yet...we have true stories that are even better than made-up stories.

SMART, BRAVE OR STRONG CHARACTERS THEY WANT TO BE LIKE. 43% of kids like reading about characters they want to be like.

TEACHES THEM SOMETHING NEW. 43% of kids like to read books that teach them something new.

A MYSTERY OR PROBLEM TO SOLVE. 41% like a mystery or problem they have to solve.

Want to see kids more engaged with your lessons? 73% of kids in the survey said they would read more if they could find books that incorporated the above elements. The same thing applies to your lessons. Bring these elements into your lesson experience and you will see kids excited about coming to your children's ministry.

7 Elements of a Great Children's Lesson

6:09 AM Dale Hudson

Do you want to improve your children's ministry lesson? Here are 7 elements that will take your lesson to the next level.

1. Play time
Play is how children naturally learn. The desire to play is in their DNA. Bring play with purpose into your lesson with games and activities.

2. Child-driven, learner-based discovery
Give children the opportunity to take charge of their learning. This will not only engage them, but empower them as well.

3. Hold their attention
Keep your lesson moving and honor their attention span. You have blocks of 5 minutes to keep their attention.

4. Humor
Kids learn when they laugh.

5. Exploration
Kids are explorers. Give them the opportunity to investigate and make choices.

6. Movement
They were made to move. Don't pin them to a chair for the entire lesson.

7. Surprise
Surprise sparks new interest, keeps the content unpredictable, and adds intermittent reinforcement and renewed interest.

What other elements are part of a great children's lesson? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Children's Ministry Fail...Ever Had One?

7:42 AM Unknown

Here's a classic example of a fail with kids. I don't blame the kids for freaking out. To me, the panda...and the man...are scary looking.

But....before I start pointing fingers...I have to admit I've had my share of Children's Ministry fails as well. At one of my first summer camps, I came up with an idea for a "great" game that I thought the kids would love. We would have a water balloon catching contest. I would launch the water balloons and we would see who could catch them...from a 100 yards away!

The first kid up caught the water balloon alright...right in the chest. It knocked him down and left a big bruise on is chest. What was I thinking? I should have known it would be too much force from that far away.

We all have fails...it's going to happen. But we can significantly reduce the number. Here's a few tips on how to cut down the fails.

Try it out ahead of time. Always try it out privately before you show it publicly. Walk through that game and make sure it will function. Test that object lesson and make sure it works. Play that video and make sure it is working.