RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Have you ever been teaching a kids' class at church and you couldn't seem to keep the kids engaged with the lesson?  They simply wouldn't sit still and listen as you tried to share the lesson.

The kids you are trying to engage with your lesson are growing up in a culture that has very little room for sitting still and listening to someone talk for more than a few minutes.

Today's kids are growing up in a culture that celebrates interactive engagement.  Why?  Because that is the way kids are naturally wired.  The old method of "sit still and listen while I scatter knowledge your way" is no longer effective (I would argue that it's never been effective).

Rather than sitting passively while listening to a lesson or even watching a video, today's kids want to help create and personalize their learning experience.
 
So what is the root cause of this shift?  Many would say it's because of their increased use of interactive technology.  Consider these findings:

• 76% of children have access to or own a tablet.  This is up from 64% last year.

• 94% are actively doing other things while watching TV.  32% of children say they are using their cell phone and 24% are using a tablet. 

• 41% of four-to six-year-olds own a tablet, and on average, they’ll own a mobile phone by the age of 11.

• Game consoles like Xbox and Playstation are on a downward trajectory.  In the last year, console use has declined by 9%.  Many attribute this to mobile gaming and apps.

But several television networks are using this trend to help boost viewership.  They are integrating social media, apps and websites to boost interactivity during their shows.  An example is America's Got Talent.  Viewers can cast their vote and help determine the winner.

Another example is Netflix teaming up with Mojang to release Minecraft: Story Mode.  It will be an interactive series that lets kids choose how the story unfolds.  Many are saying this is the future of programming for kids.

Another one of the hottest games currently is Fortnight Battle Royale.  The game uses a lot of combat and building skills. It is currently the most popular console game for children under the age of 18.  It is most popular with 11-year-old boys.  And it is extremely interactive.

Producers and entertainment experts know that it's more important than ever to engage children in the experiences offered.  They are constantly looking for ways expand and deep engagement.   

So back to the dilemma many children's ministries are facing with kids not "listening."  Lack of interactive engagement is one of the biggest culprits of this.  Take a look at your lesson.  How much of your time is being spent "lecturing" the kids versus providing the kids with interactive learning experiences?

The more you lecture, the less kids learn.  The more you involve kids in the learning experience, the more they will learn and retain.

This weekend, try making your lesson more interactive.  If you're sharing the story of Jesus walking on the water toward the disciples, have kids act it out while you're sharing it.  They can make the sounds of a storm.  You can spray a water mist at them to represent the rain.  You can have a fan blowing water their way to represent the winds of the storms.  You can turn a table upside down and make it the boat the disciples were in.  You can have kids slap their knees to make the sound of waves.

You can then follow this with a debrief in groups with 3-4 discussion questions.  It's during this time you can help kids apply the lesson to their life. 

Do this and I promise you will keep kids engaged in the lesson.  Sit down with the lesson and see how much is engaging kids in active learning.  If you want to see kids engaged in the lesson, then you've got to make the majority of your lesson interactive.

Does this mean your lesson will be noisy? Yes.  But noisy is a sign of engagement.
 
Does this mean kids will have the opportunity to choose how they are going to learn?  Yes.  And when kids are allowed to choose their learning method, they will engage.

Does this mean you will feel like you are losing control of the class?  Yes.  And when you place partial control of the class into their hands, they will respond.

Take a close look at the curriculum you are using.  How much of it is interactive vs. how much is lecture based?  If you have the right curriculum, it will skew heavily toward interactive learning.

If you want to use a curriculum that immerses kids in the lesson through interactive activities, videos, discussions, crafts and more, then check out the curriculum series at this link.  It is highly interactive has been proven to engage kids in a great way.

And if you're about ready to lose it, because the kids won't listen to you, then it's time to teach with a method that has you listening to the kids as they learn through interactive engagement.

I've always used screens in children's ministry.  Screens to show music videos before service.  Screens for video games.  Screens for programs like PowerPoint, Pro Presenter and Media Shout.  Screens to help families check-in.  Screens for worship songs.  Screens for family events.  Screens to display interactive, digital puppets.  Screens for the Bible.   Screens to share upcoming events.  Screens for review games.  Screens to illustrate messages.  Screens to display interactive crowd games.   I'm sure you have as well.  And rightly so.  Today's kids have been called the Visual Generation and they hear with their eyes.

Screens are very helpful in children's ministry, but we must also remember that times have changed.  Kids are so inundated with screens that it doesn't get them as excited as it once did.  Today's kids have screens in their lives basically 24/7 as they look at tablets, phones, laptops, televisions and more.  They have replaced the physical world with a virtual world.  Rather than touching and interacting with real objects, they do so with virtual objects.  So much to the point that real objects are starting to hold an appeal to them.  Real objects provide a unique experience that draws them in.

This means that kids of all ages - preschoolers, elementary-age kids and pre-teens are drawn toward the multi-sensory experiences of real-world play.  Take for example the recent popularity of flipping water bottles, making slime, wearable food and the infamous fidget spinners.  Fidget spinners are the hottest plaything of 2017.  80% of kids say fidget spinners are really popular and 70% are using them.

Water bottle flipping is inexpensive and provides kids with hours of non-screen entertainment.  Kids try to flip half-filled water bottles and make them land upright or even upside-down.  You can see kids doing this everywhere from playgrounds to the kitchen table to airports to lunch rooms.

As I mentioned in an article a few weeks ago, slime is making a come back.  Kids are experiencing the multi-sensory experience of slime with all of its textures, colors and scents.  Slime provides kids with hands-on creativity as they make it.  Kids are using their creativity to create lots of unique combinations.

Food is also trending as a popular method of multi-sensory play.  It taps into all five senses and provides unlimited creativity.  An example is the Jelly Bean Boozled game, which requires kids to try different flavors of jelly beans.  The jelly beans can be a delicious flavor or a gross flavor like lawn clippings or dog food.  Pie Face is another recent game that involves food.  Kids experience getting a pie in the face and the fun of pie-ing other people.  Another example is the "real vs. gummy" challenge.  Kids try a food item like a real hamburger and a gummy burger to decide which taste better.   "Eat it or wear it" is a game where kids have to eat surprise things.  If they don't accept the dare, the item is dumped over their head.

These examples bring us to the realization that we should turn off the screens in our children's ministries.  Should we turn them off all the time?  Definitely not.  Digital play and communication is still one of the primary methods of effectively teaching kids.  But hands-on, experiential, multi-sensory methods of teaching are also very appealing to kids and should be used. 

I have seen children's ministries that only use video teaching.  They plop kids down in front of a screen the entire service.  After awhile, kids become restless and bored and lose interest.  What is missing?  Real world, interactive opportunities.  Screens used to be novel so it was a huge draw for kids.  But now screens are the norm which means learning with real objects is novel and is a huge draw. 

Think about it with me.  The average kid in your ministry woke up on Sunday morning and grabbed a nearby tablet and interacted with the screen while getting ready, eating breakfast and driving to church.  They played games on a cell phone walking into church, looked into a screen to check in and then continued to play on a cell phone while waiting for service to start.

As with anything the key is balance.  The digital world and real world need not be at odds with each other, but can compliment each other.  We should provide both for kids at church.  Children's ministries that do both well will be highly effective and connect with this generation of kids.

Here are some questions to think about and talk about with your team.

What percentage of kids' time at our church is in front of a screen?  Is this too much, too little or well balanced?

Are we providing kids with hands-on, experiential, interactive, multi-sensory learning experiences?

How can we more effectively balance digital and real world learning methods in our ministry?

Are we using hands-on activities and games for kids during our pre-service / pre-class time?

Do we encourage volunteers to spend time with kids before service starts playing games, doing puzzles, making crafts, etc.?

How can we incorporate slime into our lessons?

How can we incorporate food into our lessons? 

How can we incorporate popular games like water bottle flipping into our lesson?  

Your turn.  The floor is yours.  What are your thoughts on balancing screen time and hands-on play time in children's ministry?  Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Were the kids in your ministry fidgeting this past weekend?

If they were, it's not because they're irreverent or rebellious.  They were fidgeting because they're wired to move and you weren't giving them enough opportunities to do so.

You can go with kids' natural wiring to help them learn and engage or you can force them to sit still and be quiet.  Force them into a prolonged sedentary state and they'll feel like they're in "time out" and will soon dread coming to church.

Am I saying that kids should never sit and listen quietly?  No.  I believe they should...but in small doses.  If you want kids to experience times of "being still and quiet" before the Lord, then balance it will lots of time for them to "dance" before the Lord.

Honor kids time to move and they will honor the time you ask them to be still and quiet.

Active learning has been proven to be more effective than quiescent learning.  Make sure your programming reflects this.  Here are five expectations we go over with the kids at the beginning of every service.

Talk when it's time to talk.
We give kids lots of opportunities to talk, discuss and interact with each other and their leaders.

Sing when its time to sing. 
We encourage kids to engage during the worship songs.  2 of the songs are upbeat and very active.  1 is a slower, more reflective worship song.

Listen when it's time to listen. 
When someone else is talking up front or in their group, show respect by listening.

Play when it's time to play.
There are lots of interactive learning activities and games.  We encourage kids to get involved.

Have fun.
We encourage a culture of fun.  We want their experience to be engaging, relevant and enjoyable.

Notice the percentages of the expectations listed above.

• Moving, interacting and talking - 80%
• Sitting still, being quiet and listening - 20%  

The 80% enables the 20% to be effective.  Take a look at your percentage.  If the kids are fidgeting, it's probably because the sitting still and being quiet percentage is too high.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, was giving a keynote recently in Barcelona.  He was also joined on stage with two other technology experts.

It ended up not going very well.  Many people were so bored that they either fell asleep or walked out.  Here's a photo someone took during the session.  That had to be embarrassing.


A few people in the room sent out tweets. 

"The operators and Zuckerberg are talking a lot on stage, but don’t seem to be saying anything."

"Kind of a tame boring keynote from Zuckerberg."

Why were the people falling asleep and walking out?   Look at the Tweets again and you'll see why.

"Talking a lot on stage" (Lecturing)
When you drone on and on, people disengage.  Lecturing is the least effective way of learning.  Instead of lecturing, use active, participatory learning.  Spectators zone out...participators zone in.

"Don't seem to be saying anything" (Irrelevance)
 If you want to keep people's attention, then share information that is relevant to their lives.  Make sure the questions you are answering are the questions people are asking.

"Kind of a tame boring keynote" (Boring)
How you present what you present is vital.  Make sure what you share is served up in a fun, exciting format.

So...what if next weekend...the kids had the option to walk out of your classroom if they got bored?  Would they walk or would they stay?