We all know that it is disheartening to send home take-home pages, devotionals, letters, or announcements with kids after class on Sunday—only to find them in the pews or even trash cans soon afterwards. So the question is, how do we actually get the take-home pages home?
Unfortunately, this is the wrong question! The better question is, how do we connect with parents and equip them to lead their kids deeper into the Bible, life application, and theological discussion during the week? After all, just getting that take-home piece home isn’t a magic formula for success. Parents need to see the value of conversations that follow up with what you are learning on Sunday.
While many teachers report increased success by also using tactics to keep the kids on task with reading materials sent home, most kids need a gentle nudge—or more—to lead them into the Bible. Try the following to speed up success:
- Invite parents for a Parent Sunday in your class—where they attend for the whole time or for a smaller time frame toward the end of class. Show parents and kids at the same time the resource you will be sending home each week and explain how to use it. Take it a step further and demonstrate how to use the resource together.
- Mail the resource home when a child is absent to let families know the child was missed and explain that you will be sending one home with the child each week.
- For younger kids, hand directly to parents as they pick up their child with artwork completed that week and point out a feature of the resource to the parent.
- Send potions of the content via email, text, or social media.
No matter how you connect with parents, it will be worth it to get resources in their hands to help them grow their kids during the week!
William Summey is the team leader for Bible Studies for Life: Kids. Each week Bible Studies for Life: Kids not only provides a take home-page on the back of Kids Activity Pages but also provides social media and other digital resources HERE.
