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.