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2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

#22 – Invite Questions From the Kids (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Welcome to a continuing series of tips on working with large groups of children. I hope that you will find these tips useful and be able to implement them in your dealings with large groups of kids. If you do, please leave a comment and let us know. For a complete list of posts in this series, please see the index page. So, without further introduction, here is today’s installment.

Many times our lessons focus on what we want the kids to learn and don’t leave a lot of time for any questions they may have.  One surefire solution to this problem is to have a time of Q&A each week.  Don’t limit this time to just questions about the lesson.

Use your Q&A time to find out what is really on the kids’ minds.  Invite them to ask you anything, but make sure you’re prepared to answer.  Have them ask you questions about aspects of the lesson that they don’t really understand.  In addition to clarifying the lesson for them, it’s a great way to get feedback on what is and isn’t working in your teaching style.  If all the questions relate to a part of the lesson where you tried to use a game show to convey a point, then perhaps that game show wasn’t as effective and you should ditch it, or tweak it, for next time.

Don’t limit their questions to just the lesson at hand though.  Invite any sort of question that a child may have about God, the Bible, relationships, school, or anything else that is on their minds.  You’ll probably be surprised at what they come up with.  In addition to giving kids a chance to ask you what’s on their mind, you’ll soon discover that this process keeps you on your toes as well.  You’ll find that you have to be constantly learning in order to be in a position to answer their questions.  After all, you’ll definitely want to be prepared the first time one of them asks you, “Is my Mommy going to hell?”  You never do know what might come out of their mouths.

Return to the Tips for Large Group Teaching in Children’s Ministry index page.

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3 Comments

  1. Lin Pearson

    Great post, Wayne!
    You say; "You’ll probably be surprised at what they come up with."
    Well, I well remember a wee 6 year old girl telling us that she wanted her to pray for her goldfish…which had died!!! Fortunately she was comforted when we simply thanked God for the pleasure the fish had given her, and that it had had a long and happy life in her care.

    My recent post Free lesson outlines – Hebrews

  2. Lin Pearson

    Take 2 ministries have a service every Tuesday when the kids can ask questions – any questions – by text! It is an eye-opener to see what things concern them. Their interest in practical Christian living and in deep theology is amazing. I have subscribed to their RSS feed to learn every week what the kids are asking. It will surely help me to formulate better teaching that will meet their needs and grip their interest.
    Here is this week's round up.
    http://www.take2ministries.com/blog/read/texting_
    My recent post Free lesson outlines – Hebrews

  3. Wayne Stocks

    Lin,

    It's funny that you mentioned the Take 2.0 Ministries text questions. I just finished reading the latest one and marking it for next month's blog patrol. I love the way they are both encouraging questions and using technology to get the kids engaged.

    I've interacted some with Pastor Todd McKeever (who runs Take 2.0 Ministries) on various forums. I also regularly read his blog. I always find his input to be insightful and valuable.

    Thanks for posting the link.