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.
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.