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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...

#31 – Find the New You (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.

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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