Kids Bible Study

Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Ministry, Sunday School, Volunteers

September 7, 2016

Connecting with Kids in Your Class

I teach 2nd graders at my church every Sunday morning. I love being in there with these kids and watching them as they grow in their knowledge of the Lord. It is fun to see them as they blossom. I enjoy talking with the kids in my class and finding out what makes them tick. I think many times, in our quest to fill volunteer areas, telling potential volunteers about the importance of connecting with the kids in their classes is left out. For many, they think that their volunteer service is the one hour a week they give with the kids. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a huge part of it. However, for kids, the volunteer in their classroom is like their own personal minister. It’s important that we encourage volunteers to connect with the kids in their class. Here are some tips for helping your volunteers connect with kids.

Send letters or postcards. In terms of connecting with kids, I’ve found this to be one of the most effective ways. Kids (especially younger kids) love to get mail. I’ll send them little notes and ask them a silly question. It’s not uncommon for several kids to bring their postcards to class and show me that they got it. That gives me an in on really trying to connect with those kids. They know that I am thinking about them during the week.
Host fellowships. This is one area where I can definitely preach to myself. I don’t do this nearly enough. I can say, however, that my “class fellowship” hero is my wife, Abbey. She is great at planning fun events for her fifth grade girls’ class. She has about one event every quarter. My favorites that she hosts are a father-daughter date and a mother-daughter tea. She wants to connect to the kids and their parents.
Attend their sporting events. This one is a little easier for me than it would be for others because we live in a smallish suburb and I have four kids involved in sports. It really means a lot to the kids, though, when they hear their Bible study leader cheering them on. I remember when my oldest son was four, his Sunday School teacher came to watch him play soccer. It was like a famous person was in the crowd.
Pray for them by name. As you have opportunity, pray for the kids in your class by name. Ask God to give you meaningful conversations with each one. In a group setting pray for each child by name, thanking God for a unique characteristic that he or she displays. When they share a prayer request, honor them by praying for the request then and as you go throughout your week

Being a volunteer in kids ministry is more than just teaching kids about Jesus. It’s showing kids what a relationship with Jesus is like.

Jeff Land is Publishing Team Leader for Bible Studies For Life: Kids. He hold a BSW from Mississippi College and a MACE from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeff has served as children’s pastor and currently teaches second graders each week at his church. Jeff, his wife Abbey, and their four sons live in Coopertown, TN.

Kids Bible Study, Parenting, Small Groups, Sunday School

August 8, 2016

Using Take-Home Cards and Postcards

By Jeff Land

Sometimes I think one of the hardest parts of ministry is trying to connect the church to home. In recent years, The Gospel Project for Kids and Explore the Bible for Kids have made great strides with connecting to home through the use of their take-home cards. Each week, kids are given a card which they can take home and use to carry own Bible conversations at home. Starting in Fall 2016, Bible Studies For Life: Kids will join those ranks and also offer a new version of Take-Home cards. These cards will be sent home at the beginning of each quarter with the kids so that parents and kids can have Bible conversations at home.

The new Bible Studies For Life: Kids Postcards are also another awesome way to connect to kids. Each monthly unit will have a specially designed postcard which reflect a verse, Bible thought, or concept that will be taught in that unit. Even if your church doesn’t use Bible Studies For Life, these are beautiful cards that the kids in your church would surely enjoy receiving.

Here are 10 Ways you can use Take-Home Cards and Postcards in your ministry!

Mail a pack of Take-Home Cards to absentees.
Collect Preschool cards and create a giant matching game.
Give out at your church’s fall festival.
Use in class as early arriver/early finisher activities.
Deliver them to prospective members.
Help kids collect them by punching a hole in them and gathering with a clip ring.
Use cards as activities for Parents Night Out.
Allow kids to write notes to each other on the postcards.
Use postcards as a “pass” or “ticket” to a special event.
Use postcards to send information to families about what your class is studying.

Jeff Land is Publishing Team Leader for Bible Studies For Life: Kids. He holds degrees from Mississippi College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeff has served as children’s pastor and currently teaches second graders each week at his church. Jeff, his wife Abbey, and their four sons live in Coopertown, TN.

Bible Study, Kids Bible Study, Leadership, Small Groups, Sunday School

July 11, 2016

The Phrase that Pays

By Chuck Peters

What question does every parent ask their kids after Sunday School? “What did you learn today?” What’s every kid’s answer? “Umm. I don’t remember.”

I want to encourage you to combat the “I dunnos” by identifying a single, simple, solid takeaway for the day that you can rehearse with your kids at the end of your lesson before they leave the classroom. Regardless of what curriculum you use, creating your own summary statement that encapsulates the key concept of the day is a fun and creative way to increase retention and make your studies more sticky (metaphorically speaking).

Forming a phrase isn’t hard; you can do it yourself or with your leadership team beforehand, or include older kids in the process. Just identify one clear teaching that you want your kids to remember, and teach it to them as a memorable phrase that will make your lesson live on as they go on with their day. Use short simple phrases that incorporate rhymes or alliteration. If your bible lesson is about living out your faith so that your actions match your words you might summarize using a phrase like, “Don’t just say it, display it.”

We use a lot of words in our class time. Make it easy for your kids to remember more of your lessons by summarizing them with catchy, fun phrases.

Chuck Peters is Director of Operations for LifeWay Kids. A graduate of Columbia Bible College, Chuck has served vocationally & voluntarily in Student and Children’s Ministry for many years.

Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Kids Ministry Curriculum, Leadership, Parent Helps, Parenting, Sunday School

June 8, 2016

Helping Kids Use Those Family Resources

By Tim Pollard

If you are like me, you find it difficult sometimes to have those family devotion times together. Life sometimes gets in the way, but it is always easy for you to connect with your family, even if for a few minutes each night.

My church uses Explore the Bible as their main teaching curriculum each week. With Explore the Bible my children come home each week with a Family Card that has an object that my kids learned about in class and the card also has three content related questions that will help us connect to the content they studied. This card is also helpful for my children who can use it to remember the Bible story they heard in class that morning.

If your church is using another LifeWay Kids curriculum line, each comes with a family resource page that will help you connect with your kids about what they studied. Bible Studies For Life has a One Conversation page that gives parents and kids a common point of conversation between what mom and dad studied and the study your kids learned about when they were in church that same day. Bible Studies For Life also has a fun new resource called Take-Home Cards. These neat cards have fun facts and trivia about Bible people, places, and things that kids can use to quiz parents about their own Bible knowledge.

The Gospel Project has an activity page that goes home each week that contains suggestions for a family time that connects with what everyone in the family studied that day. These pages give a point of connection for the entire family if your church uses The Gospel Project for the entire family.

Each of these lines also comes with an app you can download which will give your kids learning activities and games they can play to continue their learning at home. No matter what LifeWay Kids resource you use, there is a family element that is integrated into that resource. If you notice your kids are not bringing home some of those resources, connect with your kids ministry leader and ask about helping your family connect.

Tim Pollard teaches 3rd-6th graders Explore the Bible: Kids Worship on Sunday nights at Tulip Grove Baptist Church. He’s passionate about helping kids dig deep into Scripture, which he pursues through his daily work as leader of the Explore the Bible: Kids team. Tim lives with his wife and daughters in Mount Juliet, TN.

Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Levels of Biblical Learning, Training

May 4, 2016

Teaching Kids the Bible: One Level at a Time

By Bill Emeott

1 Corinthians 3:10 talks about building a foundation (a great passage for those of us who lead kids ministries). I’ve often thought of myself as a brick mason, laying foundations: brick by brick, one on top of the other. This foundation will be built upon by another “brick layer” and then another, until together we’ve built a spiritual foundation with which a child can grow his life. I think that’s a good analogy for our job of teaching kids the truths of God’s word: truth on truth, precept upon precept, one level at a time.

In the Levels of Biblical Learning®, LifeWay Kids has identified six age levels of understanding that follow how God designed children to learn.

Younger Preschoolers are developing a sense of trust as needs are met consistently. They are sensing attitudes and expressions of love. As they grow they are can begin to recognize simple pictures of Jesus and sing simple songs about God. Younger preschoolers can listen to Bible stories and will start saying, “Thank You” to God.
Middle Preschoolers are beginning to understand that God, Jesus, and the church are special. They can identify some Bible people and retell Bible stories. Middle preschoolers recognize that God and Jesus love people and help people in special ways.
Older Preschoolers are starting to make conclusions about God and see Jesus as a friend and helper. They can use the Bible to find Bible phrases and verses and are beginning to make application to Bible verses. Older preschoolers have developed a conscience and are sensitive to feeling of shame and guilt.
Younger Kids enjoy learning from their Bibles and are interested in finding out more about God and Jesus and His plan of salvation. They are beginning to have a simple understanding of sin and the gospel.
Middle Kids are asking serious questions about religion. They are developing values and learning about being truthful and honest. Middle kids have a growing knowledge of sin and sense the need for a Savior.
Preteens are seeking spiritual answers and beginning to adopt a religious belief system of their own. While forming concepts of personal worth they are developing a value system and can feel very deeply about their own experiences.

God’s plan is for children to grow mentally, physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. As Bible study teachers we will find success when we join God in the way He created kids to learn and teach them at appropriate levels of understanding.

Sixty-six books, categorized in ten divisions and placed in two testaments all brought together to make the greatest story ever told, the Bible. What an awesome privilege to share God’s story with His kids. How do you do it? One foundational level at a time!

On May 9 at 11:30 AM (CST), LifeWay Kids will host a free webinar that will dive deeper into the Levels of Biblical Learning. This webinar, “Growing in God’s Word” will discuss the six age levels, the ten biblical concepts, and the importance of teaching those concepts in age appropriate ways. Plan to join us by registering here!

Bill Emeott serves as Lead Ministry Specialist for LifeWay Kids. A graduate of Mercer University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Bill has served as a Kid’s Minister and currently teaches 2nd Grade Bible study.

Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Kids Ministry Curriculum, Parent Helps, Resources, Sunday School

April 29, 2016

Using a Social Media Plan

By Jeff Land

Are you a planner? Do you always want to know “What’s next!”? It seems that lots of Kids Ministers are planners and for a very good reason. We have to have a plan for helping kids know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That plan is effected by what camps we choose, which VBS we use, and the weekly curriculum we choose for our kids to study. Each of LifeWay Kids’ curriculum lines will help you as you develop that plan.

In the past few years, Kids Ministers and church leaders have recognized what we have known for many years: Parents need to be a part of the plan. Apps, take home pages, cards, and other resources have been developed to help bring parents in on the conversation.

There’s another great planning resource that you might not be aware of: it’s a social media plan. Each of LifeWay Kids’ ongoing curriculum lines now offers a social media plan to help you connect parents to what their kids are learning each week in their Bible study classes.

Using the plan is easy:

Find the social media plan that fits the curriculum you use in your church: Bible Studies For Life: Kids
The Gospel Project for Kids (choose the quarter you want and look under “Parent Resources.”
Explore the Bible Kids (available on Enhanced CD)

Decide how you want to share the information. Consider starting a Facebook page, Twitter Account, or Instagram for your church’s Kids Ministry.
Copy the information provided from the Social Media Plan for your chosen curriculum and paste it into the status update bar for your social media site.

Remembering to update your church’s social media every single day could be a confusing and time-consuming task. I like to use Hootsuite, because you can schedule multiple posts to update each day on several different sites. I take time at the beginning of every quarter to use the social media plan on Hootsuite for the entire quarter, then I don’t have to think about it again for three months.

By providing social media posts for your parents to read each day with their kids, you are giving them little nudges toward spiritual conversations with their kids.

Keep up with Bible Studies For Life: Kids and The Gospel Project for Kids on Facebook for all of the latest information.

Jeff Land serves as the Publishing Team Leader for Bible Studies for Life: Kids. Jeff holds degrees from Mississippi College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeff has served as a Children’s Minister and teaches kids weekly in his church.

Events, Fun, Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Podcasts, Preschoolers, Resources, Small Groups, Training

April 28, 2016

How Do You Setup Your Classroom?

By Andy Dukes

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In this week’s episode of the LifeWay Kids podcast, our lead kids ministry specialist, Bill Emeott, sits down to discuss the importance of setting up a classroom. This is an element of kids ministry that has evolved over the years. Setting up a classroom in today’s culture can mean very different things because a classroom setting looks different at every church. For this conversation, we are simply defining a classroom as a physical place where kids will gather. The classroom environment starts with what kind of person is leading that small group, but then it moves to all the physical attributes of the space you are in. Bill and Jeffrey discuss the different types of environments and how that environment impacts the type of setup you need.

Bible Study, Devotional, Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Levels of Biblical Learning, Podcasts, Resources, Training

April 21, 2016

Growing in God’s Word: Teaching the Bible the Way Kids Learn

By Andy Dukes

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As kids grow, their understanding of foundational truth grows with them. In this episode of the LifeWay Kids podcast, Chuck Peters, Jana Magruder, and Bill Emeott discuss the importance of having a framework as we teach the Bible to kids. It’s vital that we understand how God made kids and how they learn at each stage of development. That’s why LifeWay Kids developed a framework called the Levels of Biblical Learning to help kids ministry leaders through this process. We introduce this framework in this episode of the podcast. To go even deeper, LifeWay Kids is also hosting a free, live webinar on Monday, May 9 at 11:30am (CST) that will fully unpack the Levels of Biblical Learning and how this framework can be applied in your church. You can register for free at live.lifewaykids.com.

Bible Study, Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Kids Ministry Curriculum, Leadership, Small Groups, Sunday School, Training

April 11, 2016

Using Teaching Pictures to Teach

By Kids Ministry 101

Teaching Pictures are a powerful tool to use in any classroom, or even at your home. There are many styles of artwork to choose from when considering a teaching picture. The style of art you choose to display is up to you, and could be chosen based on your style of teaching, the environment you are using it in, or even just personal preference. Here are a few things to remember when using teaching pictures in your classroom.

None of the figures being displayed are the actual people we are teaching about. These are drawings, not photographs. No matter the style of art, these are only an artist’s representation of what a real person looked like. Each artist will draw the same person differently. We can teach our kids to focus on the setting of the image, and not what the people look like, since honestly, none of us knows exactly what any of those people really looked like. (I secretly think we will all be quite shocked one day!)
Focus on the setting. When we use a teaching picture it should do just that, teach. The art that is chosen for a particular story will serve the purpose of reinforcing the concept or lesson being taught. Use the teaching picture to elicit responses from boys and girls that go beyond the people, to discover what the picture itself is teaching. What does the setting teach about the Bible story? What are the people doing that lead us to learn more about God/Jesus?
The artwork will convey what you help the girls and boys in your group experience through it. Many times I hear leaders criticizing one style of art while praising another style. In reality, kids today are in a very media driven society and are inundated hourly with photographs and real time video. It may take some work on your part to make sure when kids walk away from your group experience they know that the images of the people and stories in the Bible are as much a reality as the photo they saw this morning posted on their favorite social network.

At the end of the day, the teaching picture is a powerful tool. Teaching pictures can open a child’s imagination and transport them to a place in history. Use the pictures to help those learners connect with a Bible truth, and let that truth dwell in their hearts.

Let us hear some of your stories about your favorite teaching pictures and how you used them to open God’s Word in a new way.

Tim Pollard is passionate about helping kids dig deep into Scripture, which he pursues through his daily work as leader of the Explore the Bible: Kids team. Tim lives with his wife and daughters in Mount Juliet, TN.

Bible Study, Kids Bible Study, Leadership, Preschoolers, Special Needs, Sunday School

March 30, 2016

Using Visual Schedules in Bible Study

By Kids Ministry 101

Along the way we meet some really neat people. Tracy McElhattan is one of those. Please welcome Tracy as she guest blogs today on Kids Ministry 101.

“Help! My room is chaos and I don’t know what to do!”

This is a common concern in KidMin. One tool that I’ve used to help manage my own classroom during my years as an early childhood educator in public schools is called a visual schedule. I’m so excited that LifeWay’s Bible Studies for Life will be offering a way to easily create this tool to use in church KidMin classes starting in the Fall of 2016! However, you can go ahead and download these great visual schedules today and begin using them in your classroom: 3s–Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grades 1-6, and Special Buddies.

What is a Visual Schedule?

A visual schedule:

Is a way to specify the order of planned activities,
Indicates when activities are finished, and
Identifies any changes from the regular schedule

A visual schedule used in the way described below functions like an illustrated “agenda.”

How is a Visual Schedule Used?

A visual schedule can be used in a variety of ways. At church, one way to implement a visual schedule is to:

Decide on your classroom routine.
Choose words, pictorial representations, or simple photographs of each activity included in your routine.
Display the schedule.
Teach children how to use it.
Assess and adjust the visual schedule.

A visual schedule does nothing if hung up in the classroom and never talked about again.

Who Benefits from a Visual Schedule at Church?

While visual schedules are often used with children with autism or young children with language delays, visual schedules can benefit everyone! For example, use a visual schedule:

With an entire preschool class to help children understand, anticipate, and follow the expected classroom routines.
With a child with low language skills, by providing a menu of acceptable choices during free play. For example, show the child pictures of the block area and housekeeping area and ask the child to point to the area in which she would like to play.
With a child that has difficulty with transitions, provide an individual schedule so that the child can see the day’s activities, pull the completed activity off the schedule, and anticipate the next event.

Effective use of a visual schedule can facilitate a more positive atmosphere so that teachers can concentrate on building relationships and instilling Truth.

Children thrive when they know what is expected of them and when they have consistent routines. Most of us use visual supports to help us through our day— watches, calendars, to-do lists, agendas, etc.—so why not provide the same support to children?

References: Meadan, H., Ostrosky, M.M., Triplett, B., Michna, A., & Fettig, A. (2011). Using visual supports with young children with autism spectrum disorder. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(6), 28-35.

Dr. Tracy McElhattan serves as Director of Preschool Ministries at Blue Valley Baptist Church in Overland Park, KS. Tracy also writes and edits Bible Studies for Life curriculum for Kids. Previously, she has worked in public education in various roles for 13 years, including teaching and research. Tracy’s passions include teacher training, inclusive education, leadership development, good conversations, and enjoying life with her husband raising their two young boys.