You may have noticed there is a lot of questioning over the concept of rewards in children’s ministry. Some say yes because God rewards us, and some say no because it doesn’t create an impact on the heart just on the habits.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
#11- Rewards
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Free Materials
Part of my hope with this blog is to share materials. So today I want to share the basic of our curriculum.
Year 2- Jesus’ Life
Year 3- the two kingdoms to rebuilding of Jerusalem
Year 4- The beginning of the church
Friday, September 16, 2011
#9- Go Fish and Denver and the Mile High Orchestra
So, you may not know this about me, but I’m a huge Go Fish fan. I’ve liked them since infection, one of their adult CDs, and I’ve successfully hooked most of my families on their kid’s music. That’s why as soon as I saw they were producing a cd with
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Worry Free Worship
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
#8- Planning Center
I don’t know if you've heard of planning center, or if you’ve ever used it, but I don’t know if I could get through a week without it. It is the perfect way to organize a service. I currently use it for Preschool and Elementary. I have three guest log-ons that all my leaders have so they can get on to get an materials they may need or just see what the order of service is. We print this out as well and it has all the introductions my hosts need for games, teach times, sword drills or any other information they may need. It really is one of the best way we spend money to keep everyone informed. And they have different prices- even a free level. We currently have the Basic plan, more out of storage space than anything else. We don’t use the site to the full extent we could- such as music and video uploads, and even emailing people to schedule them. But for now, we use what we can. I highly recommend checking it out and seeing if it will help you organize a service. I've put what a service looks like for us below, and how it prints.
Elementary | ||
Jesus Changes Everything | September 18, 2011 | Growing Up Lesson 3 |
09/18 9:30a | 09/18 11:00a | Length | Notes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-Service | ||||||||
9:15a | 10:45a | 15:00 | Hangout time | |||||
Service | ||||||||
9:30a | 11:00a | 10:00 | LG Activity/ Small Groups Steal It either do two lines facing each other, or do four lines if necessarily that form a box facing in. Go down each line giving each kid a number so that each line has the same numbers. When you call a number, such as 2, the first "2" to run and and trade one of their shoes for the shoe in the middle wins that race, first team to switch out all of their shoes wins the game. | |||||
9:40a | 11:10a | 1:00 | Enter Large Groups | |||||
9:41a | 11:11a | 5:00 | Welcome/Offering Announcements Trunk or Treat is coming up. We're doing this instead of pumpkin patch bash. But there will still be candy, and hayrides, and popcorn, and bouncy houses. So when you leave today, grab two postcards- one for your fridge and one for a Friend. We want you to bring as many friends as you can so this can be the best event ever! Offering Alright, Who can tell me what the difference is between an offering and a tithe? (allow response) I know it’s a tricky little thing right? Well in the bible other Christians give us the example of giving 10% of what we earn to God as a way to say thank you. And Offering is giving even more than that like 20 or 30 percent of what you have because God has blessed you so much. So think about this as you put your tithe or offering in the bucket. | |||||
9:46a | 11:16a | 10:00 | Marble Count Point for every bible Point and prize for knowing memory verse And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17 Point for being a new person or visitor Point for a family member serving Point and Prize for a signed backseat breakdown | |||||
9:56a | 11:26a | 1:30 | Have Student Pray for Teach Time | |||||
9:57:30a | 11:27:30a | 10:00 | Teach Time | |||||
10:07:30a | 11:37:30a | 4:00 | Worship Song 1 Stories This song is a great one that teaches us about two people in the bible- Zacchaeus and David. This song reminds us that there are awesome stories in the bible, which is the book that God gave us. So think about that while we sing. | |||||
10:11:30a | 11:41:30a | 4:00 | Worship Song 2 10 commandment boogie Hey Guys This song called the 10 commandment boogie, and we’re learning the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments were the rules that God gave his people to live a long and happy life. He knew that if they followed these rules that life would be a lot better for them, and that’s what God wants for each of us. So think about that while we sing. | |||||
10:15:30a | 11:45:30a | 4:00 | Worship Song 3/Communion you gave your life away This is our slow song today, and the title says exactly why we’re here right now, because Jesus gave his life away. He didn’t have to because he never did anything wrong, he was perfect. But he loved us so much that he decided to die in our place, so that we could live forever in heaven with him. All we have to do is admit that we sin and decide that we want to stop living life our way and let Jesus be in charge of our life. So if you’ve made this decision and been baptized to show everyone that you’ve made this decision, you can take communion in the back of the room when the song starts. Everyone else can sit quietly and follow along with the motions, or you can pray or read your bible, but remember that you’re completely focusing on God so move away from anyone that may distract you. | |||||
10:19:30a | 11:49:30a | 5:00 | Sword Drills Point and prize for winning sword drill Romans 12:2 2 cor 3:18 philp 3:21 2 cor 5:17 | |||||
10:24:30a | 11:54:30a | 3:00 | Count Marbles | |||||
10:27:30a | 11:57:30a | 1:00 | Exit To Small Groups | |||||
10:28:30a | 11:58:30a | 15:00 | LG Activity/ Small groups Work on putting motions to memory verse. | |||||
Post-Service | ||||||||
10:43:30a | 12:13:30p | 73:30 |
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
5yo and Kindergarten- where do they belong
Age breakdowns can be a headache. At my last church you had to calculate when a child would go to kindergarten to know what class they would be in, which I never quite understood and always had to have help from an Admin. Kindergarten can be one of the most difficult ages in the breakdown of a children’s ministry because they can’t read so they don’t quite fit with elementary, but they are also too old for preschool. So where do you put them?
In my current ministry the 5 year olds and kindergarten are fully apart of the elementary ministry. I’ve had them as part of Preschool, and I’ve also had 5 year olds as part of preschool with kindergarten as a transition year in their own room. But the way we currently have them has been my favorite.
The biggest reason is because you don’t have to transition an entire class at once. Instead of having 10 kids to teach how everything runs in the elementary service (something that can take up to 3 months), you have one student at a time learning what is expected and how to operate in the Elementary service and they learn classroom structure from the kindergarteners that are already in there. It goes much smoother. This also allows you time to talk with Mom and Dad when their birthday comes up as to what will change. Such as our students have a take home sheet that they can get a prize for if they bring it back completed once they get to the elementary service. The other small reason I like it is that no calendar math is required. I never have to figure out when a child enters kindergarten, because they are already in the class.
Age groupings can be tricky, and some of it depends on your school system and your kids. But think outside the box and figure out what is truly the best option for your kids, rather than you’ve always done it this way. You never know if there’s a better way until you try.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Knowing when to give up
If you’re anything like me, I like to plan. I like to know what is going on, and to be prepared, at least with the big picture, a month or more in advance. Right now, I've almost got the scope and sequence for my next year in place (September to August). But one thing I've finally learned over my 4 years of full time ministry is that sometime you have to give up.
For example, I love to write. Most of the curriculum I use is stuff I've written. But two weeks ago we moved our entire children’s ministry into a brand new facility, which required a lot of prep work. So for the past month, if it wasn't already written, we did a video from LiveChurch.tv. Their bottom lines weren't exactly what I wanted to teach with the bible stories we were covering, but the only other option was losing my mind, and most likely developing an ulcer. So I gave up my idea of perfect for what was perfect enough. And no one knew the difference.