Dad in the Middle

#34 – Use Games (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Wayne — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:39 +0000

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.

Another great idea for keeping kids engaged in the large group lesson is to break up your lesson with fun and relevant games. Games are great for getting kids involved and helping them to remember what you’re trying to teach. There are a ton of great books and websites out there that can help you find a game related to the lesson you are teaching that weekend. I posted several links to great game sites in my post titled Best of the Best – Children’s Ministry Internet Resources.

One option which I have found kids to be particularly receptive to is to incorporate a game show format in the middle of your lesson. Set up a stage (it doesn’t have to be anything fancy), cue up the sound effects and put on your best game show announcer voice. If you have a polyester jacket – even better! In teaching kids about wisdom, we played “Who’s the Wise Guy,” a jeopardy type game with just a twist of The Price Is Right mixed in. With the rise in reality TV and game shows that kids are exposed to, there are plenty of formats that you can modify for use in your classroom. I haven’t worked out the specifics yet, but one of these days, I’d liked to play “Wheel of Prayer” to teach the kids about salvation or “Deal or No Deal” to teach the kids about sin and grace. As a brief aside, I think “Win, Lose or Draw” has infinite possibilities in a large group teaching.

Board games can be a great idea as well. While most large group formats don’t allow the time for a full-on game of Monopoly, how about using Jenga to teach kids about cooperation or as part of an object lesson on Hezekiah rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. How about Hungry Hungry Hippo when teaching about the feeding of the 5,000. All you need is a board game and a good imagination.

Finally, don’t be afraid to invent your own games. Just because no one has ever thought of it doesn’t mean it won’t work! Modifying well known games like Duck-Duck-Goose, Red Light-Green Light or Rock, Paper, Scissors to fit with your lesson is a great idea. Let your creativity flow and make up games. For Awana this Christmas, I came up with a game where the kids were going to be divided into groups and come up with a short Christmas show based on the lyrics of a Christmas carol they selected. I was going to have the leaders judge each show based on set of predetermined criteria and name a winner. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn’t get to play the game, but I’m throwing it in my file for next year, or I may modify it to use nursery rhymes in the spring.

Which brings me to my final point – keep a file. Find good books, search the internet, check on-line forums, but when you find a good game, print it out and throw it in a file. You never know when you might need it.

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

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#33 – When You’re Not Teaching, Join Them (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Wayne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:38 +0000

If you teach a large group and are not involved in small group time with your kids, you miss out on the opportunity to bond with the kids at a one-on-one level. In my mind, this was the one major disadvantage to switching from small group leader to large group teacher. Accordingly, it is critical that you take advantage of any opportunity you can find to spend some one-on-one time with them. Join the kids for worship and sing and dance with them. Even if you can’t lead a small group because of your large group responsibilities, make some time to sit down with the kids during their small group time every once in a while. This gives you a chance to engage them in conversation and find out what’s going on in their lives. Go to other kid-centered events at the church and engage the kids there. Make sure you’re the one that greats them when they show up at your classroom and that you are the one that says goodbye as they’re leaving when it’s over. Incorporate them into your large group lesson and speak directly to them during the teaching where you can. Just because your main focus is on the large group teaching doesn’t mean that you can’t spend some one-on-one time with the kids. If you can build some personal relationships with the kids, you will have a much more effective large group time as well.

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

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#32 – Don’t Forget Your Baritone (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Wayne — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:00:36 +0000

This won’t be a surprise to anyone reading this article, but most kids get really bored really quickly. One way to keep kids engaged in what you are trying to teach them is to vary your vocal delivery.

If you’re telling a story and approaching the climax, let that come through in your delivery. Heighten your pace and the tone as you explain how the ship the disciples were in was tossed to and fro in the storm. Speak a little bit louder when you explain about the large crowds of people following Jesus. Shout when you’re telling the story of Jericho’s walls falling down.

On the flip side, a great way to draw kids back in who may have disengaged from your story is to lower your voice and lower your tone. Force them to strain just a little to hear you. When you are talking about Jesus hanging on the cross, speak in hushed tones. When you teach about the Garden of Gethsemane, let the anguish come through in your voice. Mixing up your vocal delivery will help to keep kids engaged. Let your inner thespian shine through!

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

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Collaborate: Family + Church – Pre-order Your Copy Today!

Wayne — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:13:33 +0000

Starting today, a great new resources is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The book, call Collaborate: Family + Church brings together Michael Chanley and 34 other writers from the field of Children’s Ministry to share their views on connecting parents and the church in the spiritual development of children. The noted list of authors includes the “Who’s who” of Children’s Ministry today including:

I was familiar with many of these contributors prior to this book, and I have linked their blogs / pages in the list above where I could find. This group brings a wealth of knowledge on the subject together in one place which I think is unparalleled in any prior publication. I can not wait to get my copy and learn from them as well as the other contributors!

Several others have posted articles regarding this upcoming book. Check out the following articles from:

A Blog Tour is coming up for this book sometime next month. I am excited to have been selected to participate in that review. In the interest of full disclosure, I will be provided a copy of the book as part of that process. I have not yet received the book, and I am posting this article because I am genuinely excited about this coming resource and hope all those involved in children’s ministry will check it out.

The following is a video about the book:

For more information, check out Collaborate’s Facebook page.

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Wordle Challenge – February 2010

Wayne — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:00:13 +0000

A couple of months ago, I started the Wordle challenge. Wordle.net is a site that allows you to create word pictures of your blog / site based on the frequency with which you use certain words. Each month I run Dad in the Middle through Wordle to get a visual image of what the blog has been focused on recently. Previous Wordle graphics can be found at the bottom of this post.

Here is my Wordle.net for February 2010 created on February 28, 2010:

I was glad to “kids” and “Bible” featured this month as the combination of those two is one of my passions. Many of the entries are influenced by the last post of the month which was a review of Phil Vischer’s new venture called What’s In the Bible. As much as I respect Phil, I attribute the timing of the post to the fact that Phil is as large as God in this Wordle. It was interesting to find out that capitalization counts in Worlde. I wonder how big “ministry” would have been if I had used consistent capitalization. So, there you have it, the February 2010 edition of the Wordle challenge. Let me know what you think!

If you have a blog, I challenge you to run Wordle.net on it and see where your focus is! I was excited this past month to find at least one site, Effective Children’s Ministry, that took the Wordle challenge. Here is there second monthly Wordle for the month of February. If you do take the challenge, post it on your site, and leave a comment here so we can all come see your Wordle!

Previous Wordle Challenges:

Wordle Challenge – December 2009 [01/07/2010]
Wordle Challenge – January 2010 [02/08/2010]

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R U Smarter than a Fly? Fly in the Eye

Wayne — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:00:14 +0000

R U Smarter than a Fly? is a unique series that looks at real Biblical stories through the fictional eyes of a fly. They are creative, entertaining and enlightening. Each Saturday this month we will feature on in the series of these shorts. In this episode – the story of the blind man healed by Jesus:

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#31 – Find the New You (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Wayne — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:35 +0000

This idea was new for me when I started teaching and not one I was particularly comfortable with. I am not much of an actor, and I never envisioned myself “doing characters,” but I like to hear kids laugh so I gave it a try. Introverted though I am, I stepped into my very first character role in front of a room full of five and six year olds the very first weekend I taught the large group portion of our curriculum. That morning, Professor Knows-A-Lot was born. Even thought he is not all that creative in the scheme of things, he has become a recurring character in our classroom to the point where the kids frequently ask when he’s coming back. The kids really stay engaged when he shows up, even if it is just to point out how much he looks like me! There is actually an on-going debate in our classroom as to whether Professor Knows-A-Lot and I are actually the same person. I think the photo I took in from the family picnic proved that we are not! Nonetheless, with a simple wig and a really bad English accent, the kids have a “guest” they look forward to seeing every month or two, and they get a chance to listen to someone other than just me. Don’t be afraid to step out of your own skin and into someone else’s.

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

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#30 – Break It Up (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Wayne — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:34 +0000

Kids do not naturally have long attention spans. I was at a movie with a toddler over Christmas vacation, and this point was drive home for me in a very real way. Even Alvin and the Chipmunks couldn’t keep that child engaged. After about twenty minutes, she was all over that theater until her mother finally had to take her out into the lobby. If you’ve ever been seated behind a four year old on a cross-country flight, then you’ve likely experience this truth with all five of your senses.

The culture we live in has exasperated this problem by catering to the short attention spans of kids through the entertainment and games it offers to kids. These influences have had the collective effective of reducing attention spans even more (as an aside, this problem isn’t limited to kids). One of my mantras when it comes to working with kids is that we must make sure not to underestimate them. That said, it is still a good idea to break up your lesson into smaller components to keep the kids’ attention. Put your musical worship segment right in the middle of the lesson to give kids a chance to get up on their feet and worship God. Tell your story and then show a video to reinforce the point. Use announcements to give the kids a short break from the teaching. Have the kids come up and act out the story to get them moving around. Play a little game in the middle of your lesson to reinforce the main point. Whatever you can think of, break the lesson into clear and distinct segments so that the kids don’t feel like they are sitting through one long teaching. Trust me, you’ll enjoy the lesson more that way too!

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

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#29 – Don’t Read Your Lesson (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Wayne — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:00:32 +0000

When I agreed to take over the large group teaching segment of our curriculum at my church, the first thing I did was I started to read. I looked for books with tips and helpful advice on teaching and presenting and children’s ministry in general so that I could do the best job possible. As I was browsing at my local Christian Book Store, I came across a book that looked like it would be really helpful. I started to browse through it a little bit at the store, and I came to a chapter with some interesting advice. The author’s very first piece of advice was that you should memorize your lesson every week. Well, I promptly put that book down and found something else. How was I going to manage to memorize a lesson every week and take care of everything else in my life? It wasn’t advice I cared for, so I did what most of us would do in the situation – I ignored it!

A couple of weeks later, I found myself back in that same store looking for more books on teaching and Children’s Ministry. I picked up the book again and browsed some of the other chapters. It seemed to have enough good stuff in it to make it worthwhile, so I decided to overlook the whole “you should memorize your lesson” thing and go ahead and buy the book. I’m glad I did. The book was chocked full of great advice, some which I have since used and is now incorporated into this series, but I found myself most convicted by the idea of memorizing the lesson. As I frequently do when I am convicted about something and don’t really care for it, I chalked it all up to indigestion and continued reading. As the time for me to start teaching the class grew closer and closer, the thought of memorizing the lesson continued to swirl around and around in my head. Finally, I decided I would give it a shot. Well, to make a long story a little bit shorter, it worked out pretty well. I found that by memorizing the lesson, it allowed me to freedom to adapt on the fly a whole lot easier and to deliver a better message.

So, I found myself somewhere in the middle. Here’s is the procedure I go through for each lesson. I start out with detailed script for each lesson which I eventually reduce to a very very detailed outline. That detailed outline is later reduced to a higher level outline as I continue to commit the lesson to memory. Oftentimes, that higher level outline is then further reduced to a listing of key points. In the end, I do take my abbreviated outline with me (just in case), but most of the time I try to deliver the message from memory, and I just check my notes occasionally to make sure I haven’t missed anything. It isn’t quite as memorized as I might like, but it does the trick for me.

So, what are the benefits of memorizing your lesson? Well, for starters it gives you the ability to adapt. When you’re exerting all of your energy trying to remember what it was you wanted to say, you can’t concentrate on what is and isn’t working in the lesson and make on-the-fly adjustments. Secondly, if the kids see that you can’t haven’t even bothered to take the time to remember your lesson, what incentive do they have to try to remember it? When you’ve taken the time to memorize your lesson, it sends the message to the kids that this is something important that you’re talking about, and they should listen up. Some people will argue, “I just try to remember the high points, and that works well enough for me.” To that, I would argue that you’re entire lesson should be high points. If it’s not, if there are “throw away” points such that it doesn’t really matter whether or not you remember them, you have bigger issues than just memorization.

Ok, now that you’ve reached the end of this section, go back and memorize this post as practice! Just kidding, go start memorizing your lesson instead!

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

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The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol (February 2010)

Wayne — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:40:02 +0000

Welcome to The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol. Every month we gather links from around the blogging world related to Children’s Ministry and issues important to those who work in Children’s Ministry and gather then together here in one place. There were a lot of great articles published this month in the world of Children’s Ministry. I hope you will take a few moments to check them out.

To help identify what I view as the best, or most important, posts of the month, I’ve added this little graphic next to title of particularly pertinent posts. I think they’re all must-reads, but if you’re running short on time, you should make sure that you check out these articles at a minimum!

Last month, in response to what was dubbed “Orange Week,” I added a separate section called Orange Week. It was supposed to be a one month addition, but this month Henry Zonio featured a review of the book Orange by multiple bloggers. With the Orange conference coming up soon, I may just leave this section for the time being. Here is an index to that and the other sections of The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol:

Practical Teaching Tips and Advice
General Ministry Issues
Leaders and Leadership
Everything Orange
Volunteers
Kids & Theology
Kids & Christ
Cultural Trends
Resources (Music, Conferences, Internet Sites, Books, Games)
Curriculum and Object Lessons
Family Ministry
Parenting and Marriage Issues
Just For Fun

As has become a custom here in on the Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol, I’ve included this graphic to warn you / let you know where a post came from Dad in the Middle. I finally updated the graphic this month to match the new look of Dad in the Middle.

With that introduction, let’s have a look at some articles you might have missed this past month:

Practical Teaching Tips & Advice

These articles offer tips and advice of teaching, working with kids, running your ministry and basically anything else that involves dealing with a group of kids.

Blog Series – Tips for Large Group Teaching

Last month, I started a new series in which we look at various tips that can be used in Large Group Teaching situations. The entire series can be found at this link. The following were the entries to the series this month.

Blog Series – Communicating With Children

This series by Michael Chanley over at CmConnect.org looks at some tips on how to communicate with kids.

Blog Series – The Dynamics of a Small Group

Pudge Huckaby examines the personalities and challenges in leading a small group.

The Making of a GREAT Preschool Storyteller

This article offers six tips for telling stories to pre-school aged children. That said, many of the tips are applicable to storytelling at any age level.

Caution: Children Growing!

The Children’s Ministry Blog looks at how to gear your teaching towards the seven different learning styles in order to be most effective.

How to make kids smile

From Effective Children’s Ministry, this article looks at an acronym based on the word smile to help you improve communication skills.

Performance Skills 102 – Glorified Um’s

This guest post on Sam Luce’s blog was written by Funny Man Dan looks at the use of fillers (like “um”) in communication and what you can do about them.

Um…how to…er…stop using fillers

Sam Luce follows up on an earlier guest post on the use of fillers in speaking. He offers ten tips for avoiding the “Ums” in speaking.

Flannelgraph: a tool for today?

Based on an off-hand comment I made in the Ministry-to-Children.com Forums asking whether or not anyone actually uses flannel graph anymore, Lin Pearson of Effective Children’s Ministry wrote this informative article on the pros and cons of flannel graph.

Classroom Conflict Management: It’s All in How You Drive

Karen Wingate from the “Inside the Classroom” blog examines your role in managing classroom conflict.

Attention-Getters for Children’s Ministry

Kristin Charles from Ministry-to-Children.com offers five practical ideas for getting kids’ attention.

Preaching with the help of a mind map

I don’t know if I like this article because of how useful it is or just because it matches up with how I prepare my lessons. Regardless, Ryan Frank presents a great tool for preparing a sermon that I can attest will work well for children’s ministry lessons as well.

Common Sense Teacher’s Training

Tamera Kraft from Revival Fire for Kids offers some common sense reminders for those teaching kids.

Children’s Ministry Issues

This category is a bit of a catch all for everything that doesn’t fit under another category. These articles deal with all kinds of different issues relevant to Children’s Ministry and those who work in that ministry.

Blog Series – Dear kidmin curriculum publishers

Kenny Conley from Ministrytochildren.com offers his input to publishers of Children’s Ministry curriculum.

Blog Series – Power to Last

Jim Wideman is a fixture in the world of Children’s Ministry. He has been around for years helping others in the field, and in this series he looks at persevering.

Blog Series – What is Kidmin?

Kidmin360.com is the new blog of Greg Baird. In his first series of posts, Greg examines what kidmin should be all about.

Blog Series – 3 Things Pastors Need to Read

Dustin “Can I Buy A Vowel Please” Aagaard takes a look at three things every pastor should read. Number one won’t surprise you, but two and three are a little more out of the box. Though this series is not geared specifically towards those in Children’s Ministry, it is certainly true for us as well.

A Special Place: Ministry to Children

This article examines the importance of Children’s Ministry in a church.

FEED MY LAMBS

I am a fan of Charles Spurgeon (to the extent that you can be a “fan” of a preacher). I appreciate his simplicity, straightforwardness and deep thought. That’s one of the reasons I am in the middle of a fairly lengthy synopsis of his book Come ‘Ye Children. This article examines a Spurgeon sermon on the importance of Children’s Ministry.

Policies and Procedures

This article from Emily Meredith offers some insight into the policies and procedures for the Children’s Ministry at North Point Church.

What If: Customized Curriculum Collaboration

Justyn Smith talks about curriculums and the ability to customize that curriculum.

The Importance of Packaging

James Kennison looks at the importance of packaging in Children’s Ministry. As he explains, “Packaging isn’t the most important part of children’s ministry… but it is an important part.”

10 Ways To Build An Effective Children’s Ministry Team

Tamera Kraft provides ten tips on building a Children’s Ministry. From communication to accountability, this article hits on foundational principles.

The Role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Child

Sam Luce examines the role of the Holy Spirit in a child’s life and wonders why it is largely ignored in Children’s Ministry.

101 Ways to Praise a Child

Here are 101 phrases you can use to praise a child. Pick a few and use them with your kids today!

What is the Holy Spirits Role in Children’s Ministry

Sam Luce looks at the building a children’s ministry on the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Tears of Ministry

Dale Hudson reminds us that work in Children’s Ministry sometimes includes grief and tears.

Iconic Values

I think Sam Luce is one of the most creative Kidmin people I’ve found on the internet. In this post he speaks to the value of icons in conveying the core attitudes of his children’s ministry, and yes he does provide pictures.

What’s This All Really Worth?

Jamie Doyle looks at the necessity of good stewardship when it comes to spending your ministry resources.

Texting Tuesday 2/17/10

Each Tuesday Take 2.0 ministries answers questions texted in on Sundays by their 4th through 6th graders. I highlighted this post for two reasons. First, I love the use of a technology that the kids are familiar with to interact with them. I applaud Take 2.0 to for staying on the cutting edge. More importantly though, I appreciate the fact that Take 2.0 is dedicated to drawing questions out of the kids they minister to.

Kids and parents from outside the church

How does your ministry deal with kids who have no family in the church?

Say it in the Children’s Sermon

This is a great article on how we, as adults, benefit from the Children’s Sermon.

A Children’s Pastor’s Most Important Mission

The most important thing we must do in Children’s Ministry has nothing directly to do with Children’s Ministry itself. This article reminds us that our first priority is being a follower of Christ.

Be Our Guest

This article includes tips on creating an inviting environment for guests.

Children’s Ministry Think Tank: Does God Call People to Children’s Ministry?

In this latest installment of Ministry-to-Children.com’s Children’s Ministry Think Tank the likes of Gina McClain, Sam Luce, Kenny Conley, Brenna Phillips and yours truly answer questions related to the call into Children’s Ministry (and yes I feel l a little bit like a t-baller thrown into the starting lineup of the New York Yankees being part of this group!).

Making Disciples

This article offers useful advice on the process of making children into disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Children’s Ministry 101: Building a Team

Sam Luce shares his ideas about how to create a successful team.

Making Vision Stick

CM Buzz talks about the process of coming up with a new vision based on Andy Stanely’s book “Making Vision Stick.”

Equipping Parents – The Timing Factor

Gina McClain asks, “What do you give to parents who have just recently responded to the gospel to help them be spiritual leaders with their kids?”

Benefits and Pitfalls of Memorizing

Acacia in the Desert is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs for discussions of Children’s Ministry theory. In this article they look at the benefits of scripture memorization.

Leaders and Leadership

Running a ministry takes leadership at all kinds of different levels. This section is for articles about and for leaders.

Blog Series – Leading When You’re Young

Last months, we started a series from 23 year old J.C. which looks at the leading others when you’re still young/ He continued that series this month (I went ahead and included the entries from the prior Blog Patrol as well.)

Leading when you’re Young: Finding some Wise Peeps!

Leading When you’re Young: Dad and Michael Hyatt

Blog Series – Learning 2 Lead

In this series, Pudge Huckaby shares what he is learning about leadership.

Blog Series – Build A Better Meeting

In this series, Amy Dolan from Lemon Lime Kids offers several tips for having a better and more productive meeting.

Confessions of a People-Pleaser

Anna Light looks at overcoming the urge to be a people pleaser.

Leadership | Lessons from the Iron Chefs

My wife loves the food channel. She watches it a lot, and her love for it has rubbed off on me and my kids. My 8 year old son knows chefs and ingredients that normal 8 year olds have never heard of. One of the shows we like to watch as a family is Iron Chef America. Whether you are a fan of the show or not, you will benefit from the five qualities of leadership which Dan Scott gleans from an episode of Iron Chef.

Developing Leaders: High Performance Teams

This article from the North Point Kids blog looks at how to develop leaders for your ministry team.

Leadership Nugget–Want to make a change?

This article from Free CM Stuff provides a pdf worksheet to help you initiate effective change.

Bible talks about leadership and delegation. We often misunderstand what delegation really is.

Todd McKeever reviews an article from Michael Hyatt of Thomas Nelson Publishers on understanding biblical leadership.

I Need this Today

Anna Light Ministries offers biblical words of encouragement.

Do You Want To Lead or Boss People?

Pete Wilson shares a quote which lays out the difference between a leader and a boss. If you’re in a position of leadership (or a boss), you should definitely check out this post.

Everything Orange

For one month only, I’ve added a section for links to all the Orange Week posts from various Children’s Ministry bloggers around the internet. If you’re interested in the Orange concept, make sure to check out these articles.

Blog Series – Think Orange Group Blogging Project

Last month, we featured Orange week where a number of blogs spent a week digging into the different aspects of the Orange philosophy. This month, Elemental Children’s Ministry sponsored a group blogging project on the book Think Orange by Reggie Joiner. Elemental did a similar series on a book several months ago, and I’m hoping to get in on the next one planned for sometime in April.

Volunteers

Most Children’s Ministries are made up principally, or entirely, of volunteers. I am amongst that number. This section includes articles related to volunteers both for volunteers and about volunteers.

Why Parents of Young Children Should Serve in Children’s Ministry

Recruiting volunteers is a constant battle in many Children’s Ministries. This article offers number of practical reasons why parents should serve in Children’s Ministry.

Teenagers in your children’s ministry

Kenny Conley examines types of teenagers and how they can help you out in your Children’s Ministry.

Trusting Your Volunteers

Kenny Conley turned me on to this blog from Jared Masey who writes specifically for those who work in Children’s Ministries in smaller towns and churches. In this article, Jared examines the struggles and importance of learning to trust your volunteers.

Kids and Theology

Jesus should be at the center of any Children’s Ministry. That means teaching kids about Jesus and about theology. This section is for articles that discuss and assist with teaching kids about theology and theological concepts.

M is for Manuscript (Apologetics in Children’s Ministry)

Terry Delaney continues his look at the apologetics in Children’s Ministry.

“Once Upon a Time” Is Not An Appropriate Bible Story Beginning

I am passionate about the Bible and specifically about kids and the Bible. One of the things I spend a lot of time thinking about is how to make sure that we do not convey (explicitly or implicitly) the message to kids that Bible is similar to other fictional stories they read or hear. In this article from the Acacia in the Dessert Blog looks at appropriate introductions to Biblical stories taken from (where else?) the Bible.

Formational Apologetics

Henry Zonio from Elemental Children’s Ministry wrote an article for Children’s Ministry Magazine about what apologetics might look like for kids today. This article includes a link to the full Children’s Ministry Magazine article.

Kids and Christ

In all about Christ! This section is for articles about bringing kids to Christ, bringing kids back to Christ, salvation and children, and anything along those lines. I’ll warn you that I love stories about kids being saved. So, don’t be surprised if you see quite a few of those hear too.

Kids Transition from Liking God to Relationship With Him

In this article, Donna Perugini offers insight into how to transition kids from simply liking God to having a relationship with him.

Kids and Cultural Trends

Kid are multi-million dollar target market. Is it any wonder that kids these days have their own culture? This section looks various cultural trends and issues with kids and that affect kids.

JUST THE FACTS MONDAY – ALL-TIME BEST SELLING CHILDREN’S BOOKS

This is a listing of the top ten bestselling children’s books of all time.

8 Tips for Reading to Television-Jaded Preschoolers

This article is packed with eight practical tips for reading to preschoolers in order to keep their attention and interest.

Acceleration: Parenting in a Fast-moving World

The Logos ministry looks at parenting in the increasingly fast-paced culture that we live in.

Generation Z – The Homelander Generation

The Revival Fire for Kids Blog offers some interesting characteristics and data on the Z Generation born between 1999 and 2005. My middle two kids, and the kids in my room on Sunday fall into this generation. It was revealing to compare them to the information from this article.

Characteristics of the Homelander Generation

Tamera Kraft from The Revival Fire for Kids blog offers some interesting cultural information on the Homelander Generation.

Ministering To The Homelander Generation

In a follow-up to an earlier post, Tamera Kraft looks at ways to minister to the Homelander Generation.

JUST THE FACTS MONDAY – TWEENS AND ALCOHOL

apparently Blogging offers up this alarming statistic on tweens and alcohol.

“The Online Life of Kids”

CM Buzz looks at recent statistics regarding the amount of time kids spend online.

Characteristics of Children

The Children’s Minister Blog offers up this link to information from the Children’s Ministry Agency- Assemblies of God USA with information on how to approach kids with different types of personalities.

Resources (Music, Conferences, Internet Sites, Books, Games)

One thing I have learned since getting involved in Children’s Ministry is that those who work in Children’s Ministry are generous to a fault. This section is full of useful resources for those working with kids.

Don’t Miss Out On This Kidmin Resource

This article is all about the great forums available at Ministry-to-Children.com. It is a resource that you will definitely want to check out!

1 Timothy 4:12 (Seeds Family Worship)

This is a great resource from Seeds Family Worship to help kids and adults memorize scripture.

Review of “What’s In the Bible”

In one of our last posts of the month, I provided a thorough review of Phil Vischer’s new endeavor called “What’s In The Bible.” You can find out what I thought of the video here.

Kid’s ministry Internet Resources in one place

Effective Children’s Ministry is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs and resource sites on the internet. They were kind enough to link to last month’s Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol in this article. This article also introduced me to the phrase “Bumper Bundle.”

Books that every children’s pastor should read

Ryan Frank from K Magazine (can’t wait for the next issue by the way) provides a listing of 11 books every children’s pastor should have and read. The end result of this article for me is another trip to the book store!

Games that Grow a Kid’s Faith

Free CM Stuff offers up a link to Faith Incubators and their site called FaithInk games.

Free PowerPoint – more reasons to believe the Bible

Effective Children’s Ministry has added part 2 to their series on reasons to believe the Bible. You will definitely want to check out this PowerPoint presentation.

Thousands of Skits

Free CM Stuff offers up a link to Dramatix which is a site full of thousands of Christian skits.

Free PowerPoint: The structure of the Bible

Elsewhere in the Blog Patrol, we have featured posts from Effective Children’s Ministry which include PowerPoint presentations on the reliability of the Bible. In this third installment they tackle the structure of the Bible with an equally compelling presentation.

Daily Devotionals for Kids

The Free CM Stuff blog offers up a link to a site which offers daily devotionals for kids. You will definitely want to check this site out.

Book Review- Formational Children’s Ministry

Glen Woods offers up this review of the good points and concerns related to this recent book from Ivy Beckwith.

Curriculum and Object Lessons

Curriculum was part of the Resources section before I started to see more and more object lessons as blog posts. I don’t put them all here do to time constraints, but I will link to some of my favorite every month. If you’re looking for more, trying searching the blogs that show up under this section. Many of them frequently post object lessons.

Children’s Bible Lesson: You, Joseph, and Greatness

This lesson for 1st to 6th graders teaches kids to make use of what they have now rather than just dreaming about what they want to do when they get older. It is based on the story of Joseph.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER – Good Samaritan Bible Story Lesson

This lesson from Betty Benson Robertson teaches kids about biblical love based on the story of the good Samaritan.

God is Love: A Lesson Plan for Preschoolers

This lesson plan from Ministry-to-Children.com teaches preschoolers aged 3-5 to develop a love for God’s Word.

13 Lessons on Hebrews

Free CM Stuff links to these 13 free lessons from the Book of Hebrews presented by Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode who host the Children’s Ministry Talk podcast.

Extensive Lessons

Free CM Stuff offers a link to a collection of Old and New Testament lessons from Calvary Chapel.

Web Wednesday

A Heart After Children links to a website with a multitude of Sunday School lessons and resources.

Family Ministry

Family Ministry is a growing trend in the field of Children’s Ministry wherein worship services and teaching are not segregated by age. Instead, the whole family is the core. This section includes articles specifically related to Family Ministry.

Family Focused Environments

This article from North Point Kids talks about how they create a shared family experience.

Parenting and Marriage Issues

The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol would not be complete if we did not pay attention to family issues that affect the kids we minister to. This section includes various articles and parenting and marriage.

Parenting Tip: Understanding Attitudes and How to Change Them

Cap City Kidz offers insight into the three components of a child’s attitude. It also offers advice to parents on what they can do to change those attitudes.

Parents, be dull—it’s key to your children developing their imaginations.

The 22 Words blog explains how being a dull parent is good for their development.

On shouting for silence

As a parent, I have to plead guilty on this one!

3 Creative Ways to Play with Your Kids

Trevin Wax offers 3 unique ways to play with your kids. If you’re looking for something new to do with your kids, make sure you check this out.

5 Steps to developing a child’s work ethic!

This post from CMConnect offers five steps that we must go through in order to instill a work ethic in our kids.

How to Listen to Your Children Biblically

Jay Younts explores the importance and art of listening to your kids.

God Wants You to Give Up

Justin Taylor looks at how God uses the institution of marriage in our sanctification based on the book What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage by Paul Tripp.

Marriage Builders

This article by Susan Alexander Yates offers six tips for strengthening your marriage during the parenting years.

Practical Parenting Tips: Why Do You Do What’s Right?

Cap City Kidz helps parents to use their children’s conscience in raising kids.

Parenting Tip: The Conscience Needs Training

Cap City Kidz offers advice to parents on how to develop the conscience of their children.

What can distract us from a biblical vision for our family?

Jared Kennedy looks at some common goals we have for our kids that can easily become idols if we are not careful.

Drive Time Tip #2

This articles wonders if you are pushing your kids towards average or above-average.

Just For Fun

This section includes posts from various Children’s Ministry blogs from the last month that were lighthearted, useful or just made me chuckle.

The Curse of Being Smarter Than Everyone Else

I enjoyed this look at the lighter side of Biblical love so I thought I would post it here.

101 Writing Tips

As someone who enjoys writing, I found this article very useful.

How to Read a Non-Fiction Book

Michael Hyatt offers ten tips for reading non-fiction books. Since non-fiction makes up 99% of what I read, I found this article fascinating.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of “The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol.”

Fish Image courtesy of www.christart.com

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