Children's Ministry
Tips
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Repetition Games Worship
Don't Sermonize Love Start Late
Altar Call Theme Songs Know Your Kid's Names
Take Two Seconds Quiet Seat Prize Rewards
Mail Birthday Cards Kids be Kids
On Bended Knee Bible Cards Christmas Decorations
Modern Day Parables Don't Just Play Games Room Decorating
OK to say "No" Visitor Contest Rules
Video Transitions
REPETITION

Don't be afraid of repetition.  At times the kids may not always like it, but there are many things the kids don't like that are good for them.

The younger age kids love repetition.  They love to know that they know something.  The older kids also like to know that they know things, they are just bored more quickly with them.  Be creative.  I often take a Bible story and just rewrite it as a modern day skit or puppet skit.  It allows me in a sense, to tell the same story twice, and if you are creative enough, the kids don't even realize it.

Reviewing is also a great way of repetition.  My kids know that at the end of the service, right before my little sermon, I will pull out the candy and begin to quickly ask questions about the Bible story, memory verse, skit and puppet skit we have done for the day.  I ask a question, and then give a small piece of candy to one of the kids who answers it correctly.  This not only reinforces what we have done, but it also sets up the sermon that I give to the kids.  Then to top it all off, if we have time, we play a game and go over the things we have learned again.

Peter says in II Peter 1:12-15 that he continually put the people in remembrance of God's truths even though they already knew them and were established in those truths, so that when he would go on to be with the Lord, the people would have those truths firmly and deeply rooted in their minds.  In the same way, we in the Children's Ministry need to continually put our kids in remembrance of Jesus and His truths, even though they think they know it all and are established in those truths, so that when they leave our Children's Church or Sunday School, they will always have these truths firmly and deeply rooted in them, and be able to stand strong in the faith of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
 

GAMES

Many people view games as simply nothing more than a means by which we pass time or baby-sit the kids.  But games can become one of the more important parts of a Children's Church or Sunday School class.  They give you a chance to REVIEW all that you have just taught in a fun and attentive way.

On our Games Page, we have a list of games that we have found work well in a classroom setting.  Some of the games listed are simply carnival games found at the Fair.  We make two lines on the floor with tape, then calling one of the children up front, we have them stand at the back line, and ask them a review question.  If the child answers the question correctly, they get to move to the closer line and play the game.  If the child answers the question incorrectly, don't have them sit down, but tell them and the class the correct answer and let them play from the far line.  In this way, you can review with them, telling them once again about the lesson.

If you find the kids not paying attention to the game when they are not playing, simply add this rule:   If the person gets the answer incorrect, you will not give the answer or ask the question again. Only someone who was listening and heard the question the first time will get to come up and play the next turn.  Make the game exciting, like a TV Game Show, with lights and bells and costumes, but remember that it is serious ... the kids
just don't have to know it.
 

WORSHIP

I have experienced some of the best times of worship in Children's Church, there is just something very special about Children worshipping God.  Many people I run into tell me that children are just mimicking, that they really don't understand what they are doing, and therefore don't truly worship God.  I just know that when the Saducees complained about the children worshipping him, Jesus said, "out of the mouths of babes comes perfected praise" and that describes it exactly.

I love to start with fast fun songs, I like to get the kids to move around.  This accomplishes two things.  First, I think it is scriptural to worship God not only with song, but with dance.  Secondly, it gives the kids a chance to get all the antsyness out of them.  I also love to do songs where the kids have a chance to yell.  I know there are
some who won't approve, but I have found that if you are embarrassed to shout the name of Jesus in church, you will probably be too embarrassed to whisper the name of Jesus outside of church.  But if the kids are used to loudly proclaiming the gospel, and the name of Jesus in church, it becomes a little easier to proclaim the gospel and the name of Jesus outside of church.

After the fun songs, I then go into worship.  I have  personally found that if I give the kids the chance to have fun in worship, they are more apt and willing to enter into the more personal and intimate worship later.  These are the worship times I really love.  Kids are kids, but kids are also beings created by God for worship, and if given the opportunity, they will surprise you.
 

DON'T SERMONIZE

One of the biggest mistakes in children's ministry is to sermonize everything.  We do a skit, then sermonize it.  We tell a story, then sermonize it.  We have a puppet skit, then sermonize it!!!  By the end of the day, the kids are sermonized out.  The best thing to do is to move directly from one skit to another without sermonizing, then bring it together for your sermon at the end.
 
LOVE YOUR KIDS

Tell your kids you love them.  If they learn nothing else from your Children's Church or Sunday School, the most important thing they can learn is that you love them and God loves them.  You represent God, which means if you love them, God must love them too.
 
START LATE

One of the best secrets of Children's Church is the start late. This accomplishes two important tasks. First it gives the kids a chance to talk with each other (one of the purposes for going to church is fellowship.  Hebrew 10:25) and second, it gives you a chance to spend some personal time, and get to know your kids.
 
ALTAR CALL

An option you may consider, which is an effective way I have found to do the altar call is to first ask the kids who are already saved, and have accepted Jesus to be their personal Savior to raise their hands.  When the unsaved kids see how many others have accepted Jesus, they are less afraid to do it themselves.  Have them put their hands down, then ask for the kids who would now like to ask Jesus into their hearts to raise their hands and to come forward.
 
THEME SONGS

A fun way to introduce each skit or puppet skit is with a theme Song.  You can purchase c.d.'s with different songs to play at the beginning and end of each segment, kind of like a TV sitcom.  You won't have to tell the kids what is next or when it is over, they will here the song and know.  This also makes your service much more fluid, filling up the small empty spaces that usually occur during the service in between segments.
 
KNOW YOUR KID'S NAMES

Know your kids’ names.  3 John 14 says, "Greet the friends by name." One way of doing this if you have a large group of kids is to take their pictures, and during the week memorize who they are. When you remember someone's name you are saying that you remember them, and that they are important to you.
 
TWO SECONDS

Take two seconds and say something to all of your kids individually, even if it is just, "Hello".  Have everything ready before the kids get there so they have your full attention, and after the service when the adults are talking to each other, you talk to your kids.  You will find that the next week, they will be a little more attentive to you, because they will know you really care about them.
 
QUIET SEAT PRIZE

One effective way of crowd control is the quiet seat prize, but we have a different way of doing it.  We have every child write down their name on a piece of paper, then at the end of the service we pick names out of a hat to come up and play a game.  If the child behaved, they get to play, if not, we pick another name.  In this way we are not accused of favorites.
 
REWARDS

Rewards are an important part of Christianity, and should be of your children's church.  The Bible often speaks of God's rewards for us, not only down here on earth, but up in heaven.  I like to reward the kids for what good things they do.  It gives the kids a reason to be good and to learn, and it lets them know you care about them enough to go out of your way to do something special for them.

**Many people worry this will cause the children to do things just for the reward.  If you see this happening, simply take the rewards away for a couple of weeks, then start over again.  I call this the Adam, Moses, Jesus rule.  God gave Adam a lot of freedoms, but when Adam blew it, God came down hard with the law (Moses).  Then came the forgiving grace of Jesus, putting us back into fellowship with God.
 

MAIL

One thing all kids love is mail.  Most kids don't get much mail, so when they do it makes them feel special.  One of the best tools to show the kids how much you care about them is to send something in the mail.
 
BIRTHDAY CARDS

Birthday cards are a great way to tell and show the kids you love them.  We like to send a "Birthday Coupon" with the birthday card. The kids bring the coupon back to church for their birthday candy bar.  It shows our kids that we care about them, and it is a great evangelistic tool for visitors. I have had kids come back with their birthday coupons three months later to get their candy bar, begging their parents the entire three months to go
back to church to get it.

This is also good to do for Christmas.  We send out a "Christmas Coupon" that can be redeemed the next time they are in church.
 
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LET YOUR KIDS BE KIDS

I am sure I will get some disagreement on this one, but Let your kids be kids.  One thing I have heard a lot of in children's ministry is that we are preparing the kids for adult service. Truth be told, I am not,  I am preparing the kids for God.  I personally think God likes kids to be kids (his son was once a kid). And when the Pharisees complained about how the kids worshipped, Jesus said it was perfected praise.  Kids are kids.  Kids do not have long attention spans.  Kids fellowship by playing, (*Zechariah 8:5).  Kids love to laugh.  Kids love to have fun.  So many times we as adults lose the joy and fun of worshipping and dancing and playing and yes even yelling, which last I read was biblical (see the story of Jericho).  It is OK for the kids to play, just remind them that
there are certain ways of playing we cannot do inside.  I treat the church like my own home.  My kids are allowed to play in the living room, but they are not allowed to throw a ball in the living room.  Same goes with church. Choose certain playful activities that the kids are allowed to do in church, and let them do it.  Let all things be done decently and in order, and let the kids be kids.
 

*Zechariah 8:5 "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof."
 

ON BENDED KNEE

I had just started at a new church, and one of the parents asked their six year old what they thought of me.  Her answer was, "I like him.  He gets down on his knees and he talks to me face to face."

Standing is a sign of authority.  Kneeling is a sign of humility.  There are certainly times we need to stand and talk to the kids, there are also times we need to, "get down on their level."  Jesus is the perfect example, he who is God came down on our level and became a man.  And when ministering to the kids, the Bible tells us that he took them in his arms, which means he either sat down to their level and held them, or he picked them up to his level.
You will be amazed at the effect of something small like this has on the attitudes of your kids.
 

BIBLE CARDS

Something I like to do is have Bible cards.  I give the kids a card each week with five chapters in the Bible. When they read each chapter, they have their parents sign the card, and I have a reward for them the following Sunday (usually a pack of sugarless gum).
 


 
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

I like to decorate the Children's Church to the point of gaudy, but have a little nativity set off in the corner (I make the nativity set out of dolls and teddy bears and old puppets). I then tell the kids that Jesus wasn't born in the bright gaudy lights of the city, but in the quietness of a stable. Jesus still isn't found in the bright gaudy lights of Christmas, but in the quietness of our hearts.
 
MODERN DAY PARABLES

Don't just preach at the kids and bore them.  I don't ever read in the Bible where Jesus bored the multitudes, He preached to them and made it interesting for them.  The scriptures tell us that Jesus often preached using parables, cute little stories that explained an important lesson that he was trying to get across.  When we teach the kids using puppets, skits and stories, we are using the same methods of preaching Jesus used.  Puppets, skits and stories are "modern day parables" that make it interesting and more understanding for the kids.
 

Mark 4:33  "And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it."
 

DON'T JUST PLAY GAMES

Preach the gospel.  Occasionally, I run into children's ministries that just play games.  They have all fun, but little to no learning.  I personally (and this is just my opinion) don't think that does a lot of good.  Don't get me wrong, play is important, and play is actually one of the better ways for kids to learn, but there are times to play, and times not to.  I do plan play periods during each service, and special events for the kids just to play and fellowship with each other.  But every service and all of the service is a little too much.
We don't want service to be boring, but we don't want service to be fruitless either.  Give the kids a time to play and fellowship, but give the kids the word of God as well.
 

The age of the kids should determine the amount of play time.  The younger the children, the more play time.  Also, if you attend a church that has marathon services, you might want more play time.  We want to minister to the kids, but they will only retain so much.  For a rule of thumb, if my church service runs
two hours or more, I usually have a 1 1/2 Children's Church, and 1/2 hour of play time.
 

ROOM DECORATING

Once again, I will probably get some dissenting votes on this one, but this is simply a tip that might help.  This is certainly not a, "thus saith the Lord".

I do not decorate the walls of my Children's Church.  The only decorations I have are the props on the stage.  I do this for one reason, it gives the kids only one thing to look at, me.  Kids are easily distracted.  Actually, so are adults.  When I am sitting in the adult service, and I begin to lose interest in the sermon (I know none of you do that :o) I find myself easily distracted by the banners and other things hanging on the walls or from the ceiling.  By taking away the cute posters and banners on my Children's Church walls, I have taken away a distraction for the kids.

What we do, is have a bulletin board on wheels.  We pull it on stage before the service with any posters about current events for the kids to read while they are sitting waiting for the service to begin.  But once it does begin, I like all eyes on me.

I know many others who like the posters and banners, but I have found having bare walls helps me keep better control of my kids.
 

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Its OK to say, "NO"

I have been told at countless seminars, that we as teachers should never say, "No."  Yet when I read the Bible, I find that God says no an awful lot.  God often teaches using negatives, just read the prophets.  Eight out of ten commandments have the words, "shalt not" in them.  Many of the great stories in the Old and New Testaments have negative lessons, or positive lessons learned from negative situations.  The apostle Paul when wondering where he is was to go, heard "no" a number of times from God before he was told where to go (Acts 16:6-10).  I have found this true in my own life as well, we as human beings are more sensitive to hearing the negative.  Many athletes will tell you that they learn more from a defeat, a negative, than a win.  Wins are funner and more positive, but loses are better learning tools, tools to teach us to become winners.  Do not throw out one of the most powerful words in the English language.  The first word a child understands is the word "No."  We say it constantly as parents to our babies, because they do not understand reasoning.  That one simple word has huge meaning.

I like to use both negatives and positives together.  For example, I will tell the kids not to talk while I am talking (negative), then I will explain why (positive).  Be positive with your kids, but it is OK to say, "No."
 

VISITOR CONTEST

Occasionally we will have a contest to bring visitors to children's church, Sunday School or a special event, but we conduct our contest for those who bring visitors a little differently.

We don’t want the kids to think that bringing only one friend is unimportant, God rejoices when just one person comes to Christ.  So, we tell the kids that for every new friend they bring, they will have their name put into a bucket.  Then we pick the winners from the bucket.  The more friends they bring, the better their chances of winning, but even the child who brings only one visitor will have a chance to win.  This encourages those kids who know they only have one or two friends they can invite.  I have often heard kids say, "I know I can't win, so why try."

**Secretly though, I do buy a couple of extra prizes just in case some child really does do a good job of bringing friends in and doesn’t win in the drawing.  I pull them aside afterwards and give them a special prize.  They really get a kick out of that.
 
RULES

One fun thing we do with the rules is have different puppets or characters come out and go over the rules with their own words and personalities.  It gives you a fun way to reinforce something that is not always fun, but important.  I personally like to keep it down the three rules, but will occasionally go with a fourth if it is called for.
 
A. The rules we use in Children’s Church are:
1. Don’t talk while the teacher is talking.
2.  Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
3.  Participate.
4.  Stay in your seat.
B. Leroy is a puppet with a Southern accent.  He comes out and does the rules in his own Southern country style.  His rules go something like this:
1. Don’t ya be-a talkin whilest the teacher be-a talkin.
2.  Ya’ll be-a keepin em hands N foots to your'n self.
3.  Ya’ll be-a doin whats we be-a doin.
C. Albert the BRAIN comes out the next week and does the rules.  He complains about the improper use of English, and boasts that his are the correct and most understandably simple rules.  Albert is too smart for his own good.  His rules are as follows:
1. Please do not converse during instructional periods.  (“What could be more simple to understand than that?” says Albert.)
2.  Please refrain from improper use of appendages.
3.  Please enthusiastically partake in activities.
Here are some of the complaints Albert has when he does the rules the week after Leroy.
1.
Don’t ya be-a talkin whilest the teacher be-a talkin?  What kind of speech is this?  First of all, there is no need for the auxiliary verb 'be' here.  Secondly, 'a' is a Scottish pre-verb.  Are any of you from Scotland?  Thirdly, where is the 'g' sound at the end of talking?   Now, whilest the word whilest is a proper word, it is an archaic obsolete usage society hasn't used since the 1600's !!! The teacher be-a? Again with the auxiliary verb and Scottish pre-verb.  Please people.  Talkin? I cannot comprehend the refusal to vocalize the "G".  It is "talking" not "talkin".
2.  Ya’ll be-a keepin em hands N foots to your'n self.  Please, the plural subjective of you is simply "you".  Be a?  Again with the Auxiliary verb and Scottish pre-verb.  Keepin?  Enunciate people.  How many times to I have to tell you to please articulate correctly.  Is that too much to ask?  The word 'em' is 3rd person plural personal, you need the 2nd person plural possessive.  Hello?  Hands N foots?  Come on people, the plural of foot is feet, and I can't even begin to comment on 'n'.  Your'n self?  I will have to admit, your'n self is proper English, but only if you live in the 15th century !!!
3.  Ya’ll be-a doin whats we be-a doin.  Ya'll is a substandard expression.  Be a doin?  Again with the auxiliary verb and Scottish pre-verb.  Whats?  What, may I ask is a whats?  This hurts my huge brain.  Obviously we'ins is colloquial, and as such, substandard.  be a doin?  You said it again, a completely flawed construct.
D. Freddy is a lovable monster puppet who uses few words.  His rules go like this:
1. Don't talk.
2.  Don’t touch.
3.  Join in.
E. Dog is a dog.  He gives the rules through the eyes of a dog.  A dog command is usually one or two words.  His rules are as follows:
1. No barking.  (No talking.)
2.  Stay. (Tell the boys and girls to stay.  Its funny, they will.)
3.  Wag your tail.  (Have fun and participate.  Dogs wag their tails when they are excited.)

If you have any questions about Children's Ministry, please feel free to email us at clunky@fishersofkids.com and we will do our best to answer your questions.

Also, if you have any tips that you would like to share, please send them to clunky@fishersofkids.com.

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