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 lessons include an application or challenge to the kids which is generally a great idea. However, you have to be careful not to be too vague in making applications. Give the kids something specific to do. Encourage them to tell someone about Jesus that week or invite a friend to church. Follow up the next week and find out which kids followed through. Who did tell someone about Jesus and who invited someone to church? If you’re teaching a lesson on what the Bible has to say about itself, encourage the kids to read at least a chapter a day in their Bible for one week, and then have them tell you what they learned. If you’re teaching the story of creation, encourage the kids to make a list that week of five things they notice in the world around them that are so awesome that God MUST have made them. If you’re teaching about prayer, have them write down at least one thing they can pray for themselves that week and one person they can pray for that week and encourage them to make those prayers each night. Kids don’t tend to deal in the generalities – they like something specific that they can do!
Return to the Tips for Large Group Teaching in Children’s Ministry index page.