If you lead a children’s ministry, you’ve probably asked yourself some version of this question: Is it okay that we have so much fun in here? Between the games, the songs, the crafts, and the general joyful chaos of a room full of kids, it can feel like “fun” and “spiritual formation” are two separate goals competing for the same 60 minutes.
They’re not.
On a recent episode of the Kids Ministry Calling podcast, host Jana sat down with pastor, author, and longtime children’s ministry voice Joel Everest—familiar to many Lifeway Kids ministry leaders as the host of Explore the Bible on Location and a writer behind many Hyfi scripts—to talk about exactly this. Joel came prepared with what he calls three whys and four hows of fun in kids ministry: the theological reasons fun matters, and the practical, low-cost ways to bring it into your Sunday morning or Wednesday night program.
Here’s a breakdown you can use with your own volunteer team.
Why Fun Belongs in Children’s Ministry
Joel’s first point is one every ministry leader needs to hear: methods without the right motive don’t last. You can pick up every game idea in this post, but if you don’t understand why you’re doing it, leading kids ministry will eventually feel exhausting rather than energizing. Here are the three biblical whys behind fun in kids ministry.
1. Incarnation: Meeting Kids Where They Are
The first why goes all the way back to John 1, where Scripture says the Word became flesh and, in the original language, “pitched his tent” among us. God didn’t ask humanity to come up to His level—He came down to ours, speaking in language people could understand and using stories and metaphors they could grasp.
Joel points to a simple, relatable picture: teaching a child to tie their shoes. You get down on their level, physically and verbally, and you tell a silly story about bunny ears instead of explaining the geometry of a knot. You won’t talk to them that way in twenty years, but in this moment, meeting them where they are is exactly what love requires.
That’s what fun in kids ministry really is: an extension of incarnational ministry. Kids move better than they sit still, interact better than they listen, and sing better than they converse. When we build games, songs, and activities around how kids are actually wired, we’re following the same pattern Jesus modeled—coming to their level so we can lead them toward maturity in Him (2 Corinthians 3:18).
2. Hospitality: Seeking the Joy of Your Guests
The second why is hospitality. Across cultures, being a good host means paying attention to what your guests enjoy—what they like to eat, how they like to be treated, what makes them feel welcome. Adults notice décor and conversation; kids notice whether something fun has been planned just for them.
When a family visits your church, planning something enjoyable for their kids isn’t a distraction from ministry—it is ministry. It communicates welcome to first-time guests and reinforces belonging for kids who come every week. Fun becomes a tangible expression of hospitality to the whole family, not just the adults.
3. Celebration: Gathering to Rejoice in the Resurrection
The third why is the most theologically weighty, and it directly shapes the first practical “how” below: celebration. Every time the church gathers, it’s gathering to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament feasts pointed forward to this, and the New Testament describes believers filled with “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8 KJV)—both because sins are forgiven and because Christ is returning.
Kids ministry, then, isn’t a break from “real church.” It’s an environment where children learn early that life in Christ is joyful and satisfying—that, as Psalm 23 puts it, following the Good Shepherd means having all we need. When leaders walk in that truth, fun stops feeling like an add-on and becomes an act of worship.
How to Bring Fun Into Your Kids Ministry: 4 Practical Ideas
Once the why is settled, the how gets a lot simpler. Joel offered four practical, low-budget ways any kids ministry leader can build more joy into their program—starting this Sunday.
1. Start With Your Own Attitude
Before you plan a single activity, examine your own heart. Kids respond to the energy a leader brings into the room, and that energy is contagious. Joel compares it to hosting a birthday party on a hard day: the guests are coming whether you feel ready or not, so you spend time with the Lord beforehand—praying, praising, being honest about your fatigue—so that when the “knock on the door” happens, you’re ready to celebrate.
Practical tip: Build a few minutes of prayer and worship into your own prep time before kids arrive, not just into the lesson plan.
2. Give Kids Hands-On Activities
Kids love using their hands: coloring, building with marshmallows and toothpicks, solving puzzles, searching for words. Where you can connect an activity to the Bible story of the day, great—do it as often as possible. But don’t feel pressure to force a theological connection onto every single craft. Sometimes the value of an activity is simply giving kids a creative outlet and a reason to keep coming back to church.
Practical tip: Don’t feel like every activity has to tie directly to the lesson. Sometimes kids just need to build, color, or create—and that’s enough.
3. Play Games That Build Belonging
Games do double duty: they give kids a physical and mental “breather” from sitting and listening, and they build a sense of belonging—especially for first-time visitors who don’t know anyone in the room yet. Being placed on a team and cheered for creates instant connection.
Joel’s low-cost, high-impact recommendations include:
- Snowball fight—Use oversized soft cotton balls or crumpled paper “snowballs,” a painter’s-tape center line, two teams, and a one-minute timer. It’s chaotic, cheap, and a great reset when energy is scattered.
- Four square—All you need is painter’s tape on the floor.
- Minute-to-win-it style games—Simple, scalable challenges that work for groups of 5 or 50 and rarely cost more than a few dollars in supplies.
- Spell it out—Have kids lie on the floor and spell a name or Bible word (like Moses) with their bodies, then snap a photo to share with families.
You don’t need a winner every time, and you don’t need every game to connect to the lesson. Clapping and celebrating effort—even when a game doesn’t “work”—teaches kids that they’re valued regardless of outcome.
Practical tip: Pick two or three standard games your kids can count on and get really good at running, rather than reinventing a new game every week.
4. Teach Through Singing
Of everything he’s taught kids over the years, Joel says singing is what sticks the most. Whether it’s an instrument, a backing track, a cappella, or simple call-and-response chants, singing is one of the best intersections of fun and retention in kids ministry.
The key is keeping songs simple. A single line repeated several times throughout a session—a scripture set to a short melody, or a call-and-response chant—tends to stick far better than a song with multiple verses and a bridge. Examples include turning Genesis 1:1 into a repeated chant, or building a simple call-and-response around a memory verse like James 1:5.
Practical tip: You don’t need to be a musician. A one-line chant, sung or shouted five to ten times over the course of a morning, is often more memorable than a polished song with a full musical structure.
The Takeaway for Kids Ministry Leaders
Fun in kids ministry isn’t a distraction from discipleship—it’s a form of it. When leaders understand the why behind it (incarnation, hospitality, and celebration), the how becomes sustainable rather than exhausting. And when volunteers see fun as ministry rather than filler, kids walk away not just entertained, but transformed.
Share these ideas with your teaching team and volunteers this week—especially the singing tip, which doubles as one of the best classroom-management tools for transitions, lineups, and cleanup time.
This post is based on an episode of the Kids Ministry Calling podcast featuring pastor and author Joel Everest, host of Explore the Bible on Location. Joel is also the co-author of Next Gen Tech Reset, a book on leading tech-intentional student and kids ministries, written alongside online safety expert Sarah Segan and youth pastor Grant Ebright.
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