RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Kids love interactivity.  So if you want them to connect with your lesson, make it interactive.  Here's 3 ways you can accomplish this.

Games
Bringing friendly competition into your lesson will improve focus and help kids learn.  Games can include media games that embed questions and display results on screen, quiz show formats and traditional games such as Tic Tac Toe, fill in the blank, etc.  Games are also a great way to review at the end of a lesson.
 
Conversation
Turning top-down lectures into a conversation is one of the best ways to make your lessons interactive.  Today's kids are growing up in a highly interactive world and are wired for highly interactive communication.

Instead of expecting kids to sit silently, give them opportunities to discuss what you sharing.  Use open ended questions to get conversations going.  Have kids discuss how they would navigate real-life scenarios with the truth you're sharing.

Empower kids to teach each other
If you really want kids to "get" the lesson, carve out time during the class time for them to teach each other what you just taught them.  Not only will they remember the lesson, but they will enjoy it as well.  Interaction leads to satisfaction.

Interactive lessons turn passive kids into participating kids.  

Ask them to repeat what you just said.

Show a short video.

Have them get up and move.

Have them make something related to the lesson.

Remove distractions.

Place kids in groups and let them talk about a question.

Let them make up the classroom rules.

Play a game.

Create an incentive or reward for listening.

Take them outside of the classroom to a different location for a change.

Let them help teach the lesson.

Have a motion or signal they repeat after you.

Usually if the kids are bored it's because the teacher is boring.  Engaged students pay attention.

What are some other things you do to help kids pay attention?  Share your ideas with us in the comment section below.