Sunday School – Page 4

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Sunday School, Volunteers

October 14, 2016

The Importance of Routine in Classroom Management

My daily routine is … well … pretty routine. Each day, I wake up, shower, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to sleep, and start all that over again the next day. One day I recall looking for my keys which were nowhere to be seen. Where could my keys have gone? They were not where they were supposed to be so I couldn’t find them. Once I did recover the lost keys I realized that my keys were misplaced by a simple breakdown of my routine. I always put my keys on the hook when I get home so I don’t have to search for them when I need them. When that routine breaks down, silliness ensues. So, how do we apply this simple concept to our classrooms?

It’s been said that having a routine has many benefits which include structure, efficiency, good habits, and makes tasks more doable. Let’s look at each of these and see how they apply in kids ministry.

Structure: One of the things I heard many times when directing a summer program was, “My kids need structure.” This is so very true. One thing that routine in your classroom provides for kids is structure. When you and your fellow leaders provide an easy routine, this ensures that kids have a good idea what is coming and will help them get mentally ready for the learning to come.

Efficiency: When you have a routine that kids are comfortable with, your teaching time will become much more efficient. You might even think you have a few extra hours (OK, minutes) that you didn’t expect.

Good Habits: Good habits are easy to come by when a classroom is ruled by routine. When kids know what to expect they are more inclined to respond in such a way that both kids and leaders have a positive experience.

Doable Tasks: Part of your routine should certainly include activities that are appropriate for a child’s age and learning style. When we provide activities that are too challenging for a child, we might have a breakdown in our routine.

What does a routine look like? Well, that really depends on what your classroom looks like. Routine in our classroom looks like this but you can figure out what works best for the kids you lead. We open our teaching experience by providing activities that kids can do the moment they walk into the room. We move from there to a table where we do our focused Bible study time. After a bit, we do an active activity that gets kids up from their chairs and moving. We finish with another time of study with our interactive pages and always close in prayer. When kids walk into our classroom they know each week what to expect, so moving from one activity to another has become second nature to them. After just a month of teaching with this group of kids, they move immediately from one activity to another with very little need to hear from leaders over and over what they need to do.

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, Ministry, Sunday School, Volunteers

September 7, 2016

Connecting with Kids in Your Class

By Jeff Land

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.

Media, Preteen, Resources, Sunday School

August 22, 2016

Farewell to Mayflower

By Jeff Land

For many Bible Studies For Life: Kids fans, you’ve come to know and love the kids at Mayflower Elementary School over the past three years. It’s been a fun cycle, but those kids have grown up and it is time for them to take Middle School by storm. This Fall, we are introducing a new line-up of awesome life application videos called “Gumshoe Lane Agency.” We are thrilled to introduce you to Juniper and Chuck, the detectives who will go to great lengths to find out the real answers to life’s questions.

Before we bid farewell to the Mayflower kids in the last session of the Summer 2016 Bible Studies For Life: Kids curriculum, we had the opportunity to talk to the people who created the series, including some of the talented cast that made up the Mayflower team.

Enjoy this documentary from the creators of the Mayflower series, SeventhStory Productions.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Preschool, Reaching, Sunday School

August 10, 2016

Connecting with Families of Babies

By Delanee Williams

In our churches today, parents are waiting longer and longer to bring their babies to their class in the preschool area. Parents need affirmation that they can trust the adults teaching and providing care for their baby while at church. When trust is developed, parents are more likely to bring their babies consistently to church. How can we as teachers and leaders in kids ministry develop trust with parents? Building connections with parents is vital to gaining trust as you teach and care for their baby. Select ideas listed below to begin making connections with families.

Contact expectant parents during the pregnancy or adoption process; introduce yourself as a teacher in the baby class.
Throughout the pregnancy or adoption process, ask the family how you can pray for them.
Share your testimony with parents. Parents enjoy hearing more about the adults who care for their baby.
Provide an opportunity for parents to tour your preschool area. During this time, explain the cleaning and disinfecting process for toys and classrooms. Share other church policies such as the security procedures, wellness policy, and other helpful information. Talk about other ways parents can be involved in the preschool ministry and your church.
Communicate details of a baby’s experiences in your class. Explain to parents how you teach biblical truths in ways their baby learns.
When the baby is born, visit the family at the hospital or at their home. Schedule a time prior to visiting them. If possible, include a little gift from the church welcoming the new baby.
Learn name pronunciations and spellings of the baby’s name and other family members.
Provide an information sheet for parents to complete about their baby. The information should include helpful tips for teachers to know while caring for the baby. Continue to update the information for the baby as needed.
On the baby’s first Sunday in your class, send home a little keepsake stating the Bible story, listing his teachers’ names, and any other important information. After the baby’s first Sunday, contact the parents to see how the experience was for them as parents and for their baby.
Continually, communicate with parents giving them an avenue to share questions or concerns. Be willing to listen to any concerns they may have and answer their questions.

Which ideas would work best in your church? What are other ideas have you found to help build connections with families?

Delanee Williams serves as a Ministry Specialist with Lifeway Kids. She is a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Delanee has served in kids ministry for over twenty years and is passionate about developing, equipping and encouraging leaders.

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.

Crafts, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Sunday School, Volunteers

August 3, 2016

On Board: Connect Families to Your Church with Art Displays

By Chuck Peters

Every week, my young kids come home from church with a collection of crafts that they’ve created with paint, glitter, and glue in Sunday School. Most of the time, their creations end up on the floor of the car or in a stack of stuff on the kitchen counter. If you’re a parent, you have no doubt experienced this too,

So here’s an idea for you. Don’t send everything home. You can use your crafts as a tool to create a sense of belonging and identification between your kids, their families, and the church by displaying their artwork in a prominent place where people can see it as they pass through your space. You may choose to display their works of art inside a classroom, but it may be even better to put them up on a bulletin board in the hallway. This gives your kids a sense of pride and accomplishment and creates positive feelings for their parents as they appreciate the artistic prowess of their prodigies. It also lets everyone in the church see the fun things that are happening in your children’s ministry.

While we often hope our crafts and handouts will stimulate spiritual conversations in homes, they may occasionally be better used to create a connection to the church and to your ministry.

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 Ministry, Leadership, Preschoolers, Sunday School

July 20, 2016

Create Your Own Coloring Books

By Jeff Land

Coloring books are all the rage today. I’ve even seen coloring book type Bibles. While the coloring rage is mostly directed toward adults, that doesn’t mean kids don’t love coloring books. A few years ago, one of my coworkers, James Hargrave, showed me this awesome way to fold a single sheet of paper into a booklet. I decided to keep that idea in my idea bank for a great time to use it.

Recently, while preparing for my second grade Sunday School class, I printed out the coloring pages for the quarter. I thought to myself that it would be neat to make a booklet out of these coloring books that the kids could use for the entire quarter. Then, it hit me! I could make the coloring books from the template that my coworker showed me several years ago.

To make the template I went to a website called Canva. If you are in children’s ministry and aren’t using canva to help create your promotional materials, you are missing out! Go there now! It’s a free, online, super-easy graphic design tool.

I made my template and loaded the pictures and soon I was on my way to creating my own coloring book. Print my template here and practice folding using the directions below.Canva is also a great way for you to share your designs with your friends. I created a template that you can use to add your own coloring pages here. Just download the coloring pages from your favorite Lifeway curriculum and you will be on your way!

Jeff Land loves life! That’s pretty great, because his job at Lifeway is the Team Leader for Bible Studies for Life: Kids. Jeff loves his life which is blessed by his wife and their four sons. When not serving at work, Jeff serves 2nd graders at his church.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Preschool, Small Groups, Sunday School

July 13, 2016

Praying for Babies and Their Families

By Delanee Williams

As a teacher, you influence a baby’s life as you teach him each week. The Holy Spirit works through you to lay spiritual foundations of faith. Prayer is another way to impact families with babies. As teachers, we can pray for the babies in our class. Use the suggestions listed below to begin your prayer time during the week. As you continue to pray, think of additional ways to pray for the babies in your class.

Pray for babies as they grow and develop emotionally, mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually.
Pray for the marriages of the parents and guardians. Pray they will make church a priority in their family’s life.
Pray for wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit as parents seek to provide a godly home for their family.
Pray your relationship as a teacher deepens with families as they trust you to care for their baby. Seek the Lord to find ways to build connections with these families.
Pray for your preparation and spiritual growth as you teach babies biblical truths each week.
Pray for sensitivity to know ways to minister and share the gospel with the families of babies in your class.

Pray for the babies before, during, and after the teaching session. Commit to pray each day for the children in your class. As you pray, keep a journal of ways you see the Lord working in and through you. During the year, look back through the journal. Reflect and recognize ways the Lord has answered your prayers. Seek the Lord and remember He is with you as you teach and minister to the babies and their families at your church.

Delanee Williams serves as a Kids Ministry Specialist with Lifeway Christian Resources. She is a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Delanee is passionate about developing, equipping and encouraging leaders in kids ministry.

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 Ministry, Leadership, Small Groups, Sunday School

July 8, 2016

10 Reasons to Involve Kids in Outreach

By Tim Pollard

Matthew 28:19-20 we all know as the Great Commission. God’s command in this is for us to go and make disciples. Have you ever thought about the kids who sit in your Bible study group? Should they have the same command? The answer is absolutely. You can partner together with the kids you lead to reach out to those in your class and here are a few reasons why you might want to involve kids in outreach.

10. Personal Interaction – Did you know that peer-to-peer relationships are much stronger than your relationship with many kids. Kids who reach out to kids will be accepted more easily sometimes than adults who reach out. That doesn’t mean you don’t reach out, but engage those peer-to-peer relationships.

9. Compassion – Sometimes kids need to be made aware that the world has more people in it then just them. Well, that’s kind of funny, but seriously, when we can engage kids to have compassion for their friends they gain a new appreciation for God’s creation and how they can interact with other people.

8. Self-esteem – Self-esteem is an important factor for development in kids. When we can encourage kids to be involved in something as valuable as outreach it will build their self-esteem.

7. Team Building – When kids are involved in engaging other kids they are creating a team environment that might ultimately make your group much closer than you could have imagined.

6. Confidence – Kids will gain confidence in not only talking to their peers, but having knowledge of situations that might require them to pray for their friends further building that bond between peers.

5. Understanding – Kids better understand what each other are going through because, for the most part, they have similar life experiences and are dealing with similar life issues. When kids reach out to kids they have a better chance of connecting on a level you and I may not.

4. Everybody Can – Even kids that may not consider themselves outgoing can still be involved in outreach. Outreach doesn’t mean visiting in someone’s home, though that is an important aspect, but can also involve calls and letters. Everybody can be involved in that.

3. Communication Skills – The skill to communicate effectively with one another is something kids can learn by being involved with outreach. Once again, those who may not consider themselves strong communicators can still be involved in outreach.

2. Collaboration – When you work together on outreach, you are helping to foster collaborative skills that will help kids with more valuable life skills.

1. God’s Command – As already discussed, God’s command is not just for grown-ups. Kids need to be involved in outreach too!

Tim Pollard teaches 3rd-6th graders 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.

The Importance of Routine in Classroom Management

Connecting with Kids in Your Class

Farewell to Mayflower

Connecting with Families of Babies

Using Take-Home Cards and Postcards

On Board: Connect Families to Your Church with Art Displays

Create Your Own Coloring Books

Praying for Babies and Their Families

The Phrase that Pays

10 Reasons to Involve Kids in Outreach

All Ministry Sites

Digital Resources

Lifeway Network