RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Earlier this week, I talked about Generation Z, which are today's kids.  A big part of their lives is the internet.  They are growing up online and they've never known anything else.  Using a laptop, mobile device or smartphone to access the internet is as natural as breathing for them. 

Here are some of the latest findings from kidsay.com about how kids are using the internet.

• 52% of kids say they go online many times a day.

• 48% of boys and 34% of boys play games online.

• 25% of boys and girls watch videos online.

• 12% of boys and 17% of girls do schoolwork online.

• 53% of kids listen to music online.

I am praying for more digital pioneers who will create online content that will engage and reach kids and families with the Gospel.  There have been a few successes like the Bible App for Kids and Jelly Telly, but we are just scratching the surface of what can be done.  Will you join me in praying for God to infuse many more people with the creativity, resources and wisdom needed to reach kids and families with the Gospel?

The floor is yours.  Who are some other people, churches or organizations that are reaching kids and families through the internet?  What fresh ideas do you have to reach kids and families through the internet?  Share with us in the comment section below.

Circle is a great new device that helps parents monitor their kids online activities.  

It's an Internet gatekeeper with the brains to control which devices can connect to the Internet, when they can connect, which apps and websites can be used, and how long those apps or websites can be used.

It can block ads, pause and restart the Internet at the touch of a button, and let its user(s) access historical data about what kind of content devices have accessed, and when.

You simply add Circle to your Internet connection by giving it access to your router.  This can be done by either connecting it to a router with an Ethernet cable, or by connecting wirelessly.  Once Circle is connected, it has complete reign over anything connected to your Internet connection.

Circle with Disney is positioned as a tool for parents, but it can be useful for anyone who wants to keep tabs on what’s going on with their Internet connection without having to log into their router and deal with its horrendous user interface.  Circle can tell you if anyone is “borrowing” your Internet connection and let you put an immediate stop to it, track down the bandwidth hog causing your Netflix binge session to buffer, or simply clue you in to how much time you spend streaming YouTube video, all through an easy-to-use smartphone or tablet app.

If you want to see more about how Circle works, be sure to check out the video below.

Whens something becomes obsolete, it happens gradually.  Over time it's used less and less, until one day it disappears completely.  Here are a few examples of things that are nearly or totally obsolete.

Telephone Books
Dial-up Internet
Movie Rental Stores
Hard Copy Maps
Landlines in Homes
Phone Booths
Encyclopedias

What about in Children's Ministry?  Here are 10 things that some ministries are still using that are either becoming obsolete or are already obsolete. 

LECTURE-STYLE TEACHING
Many schools have already realized that lecture-style teaching is the product of a bygone industrial age and have shifted to hands-on, interactive, student-led learning.  100 years ago, when people worked in factories, conformity was needed hence rows of chairs and one primary teaching method...lecturing. 

After 7 years of teaching at Harvard, Professor Eric Mazur, discovered that his polished, successful lectures, were an illusion, a house of cards.  His students could recite back rote answers but didn't have a true, practical, working understanding of what he was teaching.  So he decided to try something different.  Instead of lecturing, he decided to have the students discuss the information among themselves and find solutions on their own.  Immediately, the room was abuzz with 150 students engaged in conversation.  Within 3 minutes, they had figured out the answer.  This led to a significant shift in his teaching style.  Peer-to-peer, interactive learning has now spread across the country and has taken root in schools nationally.

Yet across the country, you can walk into many children's ministries and still see kids sitting and listening to a teacher drone on and on.  And then they wonder why the kids can't remember what they "taught" them.  When the church makes the shift and helps kids discover the truths of God's Word through updated, interactive, hands-on learning, we will begin seeing kids retain truth long-term.

FLANNELGRAPH
Believe it or not, there are still churches using flannelgraph.  The kids in these churches leave their iPads in their car and walk into the wonderful world of little figures that stick on a board and tell a Bible story.  Obviously someone keeps perpetuating this by producing these.  Either that or they are made from very durable materials that last for 50 years.

VCR's
There are still some Bibleman, Veggie Tales, McGhee & Me, 321 Penguins and Nest Animated Stories of the Bible video tapes floating around that get popped into a VCR.  Kids who have been watching HD all week are taken back to a day when rewinding was a necessity.  This will probably continue until the last VCR breaks.

CD's
There are still CD's being played in CD players in some children's ministries.  They are gradually disappearing and will soon go the way of cassette tapes.  In an age of mp3's, streaming music and digital playlists, CD's are no longer necessary.

HAND-WRITTEN FORMS
Many ministries have already gone completely paperless.  New family registration is done on a tablet or laptop.  Event and class registration is done online.  As technology becomes more and more available and affordable, many more churches will follow and eventually pen and paper will disappear.

TV's WITH BACKS
There are still TV's out there with backs that weigh 1,000 pounds.  Kids who are growing up with flat screens that are 1" thick look at these and ask, "What's that on the back of the TV?"  Eventually all of these TVs will stop working and be a thing of the past.

WIRED INTERNET
Wires will continue to disappear as everything becomes wireless. 

CURRICULUM STUDENT BOOKLETS
Digital continues to make print obsolete.  This includes hard copy student booklets.  Downloadable curriculum is the delivery of choice for more and more churches.  Churches that are still using hard copy booklets will eventually have to make the switch as print booklets disappear.

THE NAME "SUNDAY SCHOOL"
"Sunday School" began in Britain in the 1780's.  This was before child labor laws and many children worked in factories all week including Saturdays.  Christian leaders wanted to provide these children with a way to learn to read and write while learning about God, so they started "Sunday School."

The name has stuck around for all these years even though the life situation of children has obviously changed for the better.  Now kids are in "school" all week.  The last place they want to go on Sunday is back to "school."  This has caused many churches to steer away from this outdated term and use more contemporary terms like children's services, children's programming, small groups, children's Bible study and other creative names.  The churches that are still hanging onto the term "school" would be wise to make the shift as well.

VIDEO GAMES
This one may come as a surprise.  15 years ago, it was a big draw to have video games available at church.  But in the last few years, things have changed.  Kids have access to video games 24/7 through consoles, tablets and phones.  When they come to church they enjoy playing board games and doing hands-on activities and crafts. 

Final thoughts...

Normally the church lags behind on cultural shifts and technological advances.  This is due to a number of factors including...

• being disconnected from the culture and not aware of the changes that are happening

• aware but unwilling to change

• lack of finances needed to make changes in areas such as technology

If children's ministries are going to remain effective, they must be willing to change and adapt.  If they do not, they will become as obsolete as the outdated things they are hanging onto.

Your turn.  The floor is yours.  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Are you still using any of the above?  What else is becoming obsolete?  Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Children now spend an average of 7 hours a day using technology.  "Play" has moved onto devices.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says this can lead to obesity, erratic sleep patterns and difficulty concentrating.

As kids connectivity to the internet through screens becomes more pervasive, many parents are grappling with how much technology is too much?

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, banned his children from using the iPads and iPods his company produced.  Many parents in the Silicon Vally send their children to screen-free schools.

But other parents believe cutting off their kids from technology will limit their ability to cope with modern life and hinder their future careers.  They do have a point.  Exposure to technology increases our ability to scan and sort information, a skill that's increasingly useful in the modern workplace. 

So where can parents find a balance?

One important distinction to make is the difference between active and passive screen time.  Active screen time involves creating, reading, and interacting with content.  Passive screen time is just vegging out in front of a video or game.

Proponents for active screen time say kids are growing up in a technology environment and will be using it for the rest of their lives.  They want to give their children a solid technological foundation to build upon.

The floor is yours.  
What do you think?  
How much technology is too much?  
What is the best balance?  
Share your thoughts with us the comment section below.

Use these phrases around kids and you'll probably get a puzzled look. 

Hang up the phone.

Look in the yellow pages.

Check the TV Guide and see what time it comes on.

Open the map and see which road we're supposed to take.

Who's paging me?

Have you checked out his MySpace page?

Get up and change the TV channel.

Can you get off the phone so I can use the internet?

Want to slam some Pogs?

My walkman keeps skipping!

Who shot J.R.?

That's groovy!

Where's the beef?

Let me put that in my Palm Pilot.

I'm dropping this film off to be developed.

Let me check the encyclopedia.

Can you call the travel agent and get a plane ticket?

Has the JCPenny catalog arrived yet?

Let's get that cereal so we can get the toy at the bottom!

Can you please adjust the tracking on the video?

Your turn.  Add to the fun in the comment section below.

There's a "game" that's exploding across the internet.  It's called "Charlie Charlie" and it blew up Memorial Day weekend, amassing hundreds of thousands of tweets.  Look up #CharlieCharlie on Instagram and you'll see over 50,000 results...most are videos of people playing the "game."

What is the Charlie Charlie game?  You draw an X on a piece of paper, label its quadrants "yes" and "no" and lay two pencils over the lines of the X you drew.  You then say "Charlie Charlie, are you there?"  This is supposed to summon a demon named "Charlie" who comes and moves the pencil to answer your questions.

Here's a video of someone playing the game.



Is this a harmless game?  Is it okay for kids to play?  While I am not one to see a demon lurking behind every corner, I do believe this is a dangerous game and kids should be warned to steer clear.  Anytime you open the door to demonic influence, you're treading on dangerous ground.

Let's teach kids that as followers of Jesus, we're on the winning side.  We're to passionately pursue Him and have no fellowship with the works of darkness.  Bottom line...why try to contact the enemy whose goal is to kill, steal and destroy?

1. Renting a VHS tape and getting ticked off because the previous person didn't rewind it.
2. That video games can be fixed by just blowing into them.
3. The frustration of driving to Blockbuster to rent the movie you want to see and finding out all the copies are rented out.
4. That cell phones are the size of bricks.
5. Not being able to walk around while you are on the phone because you are tied down by a cord.
6. Having to look in a book to find out the answer to a question.
7. Having to use a TV Guide to know what's on TV.
8. Having to use a paper map to find a location.
9. How to memorize a phone number.
10. That having a pager makes you feel important.
11. How awful it was when someone taped over a show you had recorded on your VHS tape.
12. That cereal isn't cereal if it doesn't have a prize at the bottom.
13. An annoying squealing sound when you connect to the internet.
14. How to use a World Book Encyclopedia.
15. Having a watch that is also a calculator.
16. Having to wait for your favorite song to come on the radio.
17. Saving information on a floppy disk.
18. Using a phone booth.
19. Getting up to change the TV station.
20. Fixing a cassette tape with a pencil.

What else do they not know about?  Add to the fun by sharing below.

A recent report from iKids Weekly says the U.S. population of “cord-cutters” grew by 44% between 2010 and 2013.

There are over 7.6 million households using high-speed internet for streaming or downloading videos today instead of watching traditional cable or satellite television, up from 5.1 million homes in 2010.

The percentage of these households grew from 4.5% to 6.5%, a relative increase of 44%.  Users of Netflix and Hulu are the most likely to be cord-cutters, the study found.
 
A third of Americans live in households with internet-connected TVs, giving them the option to stream or download video to the television either directly or with devices such as Kindle Fire TV.

48% of all US adults and 67% of young adults watch streaming or downloaded video during a typical week.  Mobile devices are the preferred platform for that activity, with 24% of all adults and 42% of smartphone owners watching streamed or downloaded video each week.

Video viewing on a smartphone jumps after the work day ends, with the most viewing occurring between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

While smartphone video viewing generally is lower during the day, there is clear evidence of a video “lunch” and a late-afternoon video “snack” break when smartphone video viewing spikes, especially among young adults.

The top three video properties across desktops and smartphones are YouTube, Netflix and CNN.

The internet has changed everything...including how we do children's ministry.

How we communicate...learn...prepare lessons...
research...network...share...teach...create...
view videos...has been made easier by technology.

It is staggering how much happens on the internet in just one minute.  Here's an overview.

• 639,800GB of global IP data transferred

• 6 new wikipedia articles published

• 1,300 new mobile users

• 20 new victims of identity theft

• 204 million emails sent

• 47,000 app downloads

• $83,000 in Amazon sales

• 61,141 hours of music are played on Pandora

• 100 new LinkedIn accounts are created

• 20 million photos are viewed on flickr; 3,000 photos are uploaded

• 320 new Twitter accounts are created; 100,000 new tweets are sent

• 277,000 Facebook log-ins; 6 million Facebook views

• 2 million Google search queries are initiated

• 30 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube; 1.3 million videos are viewed

• Today, the number of networked devices equals the global population.  By 2015, that number will be double the global population.

How do you use the internet in Children's Ministry?

How has the internet made Children's Ministry easier for you?

Share our thoughts with us in the comment section below. 

Technology is quickly becoming a big part of the preschool world.

In fact, today's preschoolers are being called "Generation C."

Generation C represents kids who from an early age, are connected to technology.

Here's some interesting facts about Generation C.

• 25% of kids are using the internet daily by age three
• 50% of kids are using the internet daily by age five
• For kids 8 and younger, 27% of all digital media is screen-based
• 60% of all best selling educational apps are geared towards preschool children
• 30% of apps on parents’ devices are downloaded by their children

In years past, parents prepared their children for kindergarten by teaching them how to count to ten, grip a pencil, identify shapes and colors, etc.

Today, children entering school have a few more items on their must-know list – all related to technology.

• How to use a mouse to move the cursor on the screen
• Know where the main buttons on a keyboard are
• Have familiarity with at least five interactive applications, games or activities
• Know some technical terminology, like: digital camera, iPad, computer, internet, mouse, keyboard, and printer
• Be able to type their name on a QWERTY keyboard
• Understand the basic functions of an internet browser

 Are you prepared to effectively minister to Generation C? 

Kids, parents, and grandparents are using the internet in a variety of ways.  It's important to know how each generation is wired in so you can connect with them effectively.

The following infographic will give you a good picture of generational internet involvement.

When a child wants to be involved in social media, parents' responses vary.  Some are okay with it, while others are adamantly against it.

Below are some stats revealing what parents really think about their children being involved in social media.

Visual information has increased.

• 4000% in literature since 1990
• 9900% on the internet since 2007
• 142% in newspapers

Kids are visually wired.

• 50% of their brain is involved in visual processing
• 70% of all their sensory receptors are in their eyes
• they get the sense of a visual scene in 1/10th of a second

It only takes 150ms for an image to be processed and 100ms to attach a meaning to it.

Kids suffer from information overload.

• kids today receive 5x more information than kids in 1986 did
• they consume 34 gigabytes or 100,500 words outside of school each day
• they only read 28% of the words when visiting a website

Visual communication is more engaging.

• color visuals increase the willingness to read by 80%

Visual communication increases comprehension.

• text only is 70%
• text with pictures is 95%

Kids follow directions with text and visuals 323% better than directions with just text.

67% of kids are persuaded by speakers who use words and visuals vs. 50% who only use words.

Visual communication is easier to recall.

• kids remember 10% of what they hear.
• kids remember 20% of what they read.
• kids remember 80% of what they see and do.

Visual communication is fun for kids.

Edudemic recently reported 4 negative side effects technology is having on children.

The positives and advancements technology has brought is astounding.

But Edudemic makes the point that there is always two sides to everything.  Technology has also influenced children in adverse manners.  Here's the top 4 ways overuse of technology can have a negative influence on children.

1. Elevated Exasperation
When children are constantly engaging in the internet, games or texting, it can lead to easy frustration.  They can get frustrated whenever they are asked to do something while playing games or using the internet.  For instance, when their parents ask them to take the trash out, they can get furious instantly.  This obviously affects parent-child relationships.

2. Deteriorated Patience.
Patience is a key virtue.  It is a necessity when facing the hardships of life.  According to studies, patience in children is increasingly vanishing due to the improper use of technology.  For example, children get very impatient when they surf internet and the page they want to view takes time to load.

3. Declining Writing Skills.
Due to the excessive usage of online chatting and shortcuts, the writing skills of today’s children have declined.

4. Lack of Physical Interactivity.
While technology has brought a host of new ways to interact with others, at the same time it has affected the physical interaction skills of many children.  Many don’t know how to interact with others in-person or what proper body language to use.

Yes, technology is a necessity to flourish in a day of rapid advancements.  But at the same time, we must guard children against it's negative side effects.

What do you think?  
Do you agree or disagree with these?  
What are some other negative side effects technology has on children? 

Share with us in the comment section below.