How do you connect with the kids in your ministry who would rather doodle than listen to your stories about burning bushes, the ark, or the cross?

I was that kid. Craft time at VBS was my favorite and I LOVED when my teachers used big posters with lots of colors… and I loved it even more when I got to write or draw on the poster…and Playdoh- Playdoh is God’s gift to the creative child. It’s fabulous!

A large majority of creative people, kids included, learn by seeing things and by having a hand in them. They need a visual. Teach with posters, pictures, etc and use illustrations that they can visualize so that these kids can really connect and learn. If these kids are like I was when I was little, I thought in pictures, and still do to a large extent. I connect with pictures more than text.

Add activities like illustrating a story, painting the names of God, or building a Tower of Babel with paper. Tap into the competive nature of some of your kids by making this a race, a contest, or a group mural, and always display the art or let them take it home. Let creative kids know that you value their creativity…and encourage them to continue to develop it. Let them illustrate the story on a dry erase board as another kid reads the story and a few more act it out. When ministering to lots of different kids, lots of different types of activities are the secret weapon of success.

How do you minister to your creative kids? 

 

*This post is the second in a week-long series of guest blogs from CentriKid blog writer Mary Carlise.  You can read her other posts in our archives.