Last month, we agreed to review a copy of the KCGN – Kids’ & God’s Communication Network curriculum. I decided the best way to present my evaluation was to walk you through the evaluation process itself. For more information check out their official website.
What is KGCN?
KGCN describes itself as a “child evangelism kit.” The most likely application is for a vacation bible school, but as the manual points out, this could also be used for children’s church, children’s prayer meeting or short-term evangelism meeting.
This VBS curriculum is produced the Review and Herald Publishing Association (official website | Wikipedia article), a publishing house for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. That said, nothing jumped out at me that would be considered “strictly denominational,” and I don’t believe other denominations (or non-denominational churches) will have any problems with the material.
My Initial Impressions
When the package arrived and I opened it, the first thing I noticed was the great packaging of the kit itself. It comes in a high quality messenger bag which makes a great first impression. I have to give the creators of the kit credit for that because the first impression they give is one of attention to quality and detail and it made me want to get into the rest of the material. I was hoping that the rest of the material lived up to that initial impression.
The Contents of Bag
Here are the contents of the bag:
- KGCN Director’s Manual
- Good News – God’s News Live Program Manual
- Good News – God’s News Tour Program Manual
- Play-by-Play Program Manual
- Do It Yourself Program Manual
- Snack Attack Program Manual
- Builder’s Square Program Manual
- History Mystery Program Manual
- Operation Cool Aid Program Manual
- Package of posters
- Music CD
- Music DVD
- Special Features DVD
- Media Resources CD-ROM
What is the basis of KGCN?
This kit is built around the idea of teaching kids five different ways in which God communicates with us. Each day is built around a daily headline which summarizes the main point for the day. These include:
- God Calls (Verbal Communication)
- God Shows (Visual Communication)
- God Writes (Written Communication)
- God Cares (Body Communication)
- God Comforts (Intuitive Communication)
Each day is reinforced by an individual Bible story and a memory verse.
How does it work?
KGCN is built around different stations with tour guides who lead kids from station to station. The stations include:
1. Good News – God’s News Tour is the introductory phase of the evening with all kids gathered together for a presentation which includes music and a presentation of the memory verse.
2. History Mystery/Do It Your Self uses drama, storytelling, and other interactive methods to teach the day’s Bible story. There are at least two different options provided in the kit for how to tell these stories (one involving puppets).
3. Snack Attack provides the kids with a healthy snack each day. These snacks were not an afterthought. Some of the snack ideas presented are incredibly creative and reinforce the story at the same time.
4. Builders Square is the craft station of the day. The crafts are designed so that the materials needed can be purchased from well known retailers detailed in the manuals.
5. Play-by-Play is game time. The games include various types of activities – some more rambunctious than others.
6. Good News – God’s News Live is the final section of the day and reemphasizes the songs, bible story and skit for the day.
Each station (including games and snack time) includes questions and other activities to help reinforce the main message.
My overall impression
As I said above, when I first got KGCN in the mail it looked like a top notched product, and I was excited to review it. Unfortunately, the first thing I grabbed out of the bag to review was the music CD. I am not a musical person, but I do believe that music is critical to a VBS or other event like this. Music has a way drawing kids in and getting them excited. To be perfectly honest, I did not care for the music included in KGCN. (See the video below to decide for yourself.) While I do think that they picked songs which fit well in flow of the event, I didn’t find the music to be exciting or all that engaging. It felt like music that would be better for a pre-school VBS rather than an elementary age VBS.
So, after the music, I was little worried about what I might find in the rest of the kit. Things took a turn for the better again though as I started to review the manuals for the various stages they are well put together, and I think they would be engaging and keeps a child’s attention. KGCN is well thought out, full of good content, and well presented. The whole kit is very cohesive, put together in such a way that every activity further emphasizes the main point, and presented in a manner that will be easy for the various leaders to follow. The directors manual in particular includes tons of great resources related to preparing for the event. I also appreciate that the kit includes built in options for some of the stations.
Other than the music, if there was one thing I thought was problematic about the kit, it was the lack of gospel content on several days. There is one day where the gospel seems to be highlighted, but the remainder of the week, it was deemphasized (at best) or not present (at worst). There is solid biblical content each day, but I would prefer a more consistent presentation of the gospel – especially in something dubbed a “child evangelism kit.”
Overall, I appreciate the effort the creators of this kit put into teaching kids about communication with God. I think this is critical in helping kids to understand that God’s story is about relationship and communication is fundamental to that relationship. I would have liked to have seen some more emphasis placed on prayer as a way we communicate back with God. The music left a lot to be desired, but the quality of the manuals is top notch, and it is clear that a lot of thought and work went into to putting it all together. Any purchased outreach or VBS generally requires some modification, and this KGCN is no exception. That said, with some minor modifications, I think this could make a great VBS experience for your kids.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was provided with a free copy of KGCN in order to do this review. That did not impact the contents of the review.
Need More VBS Ideas? Check out our resource page for Vacation Bible School. You might also enjoy our 2011 VBS Curriculum reviews.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
We had a blast using this kit in our church for our first VBS. The children and the teachers loved the music, till this day, the children remembered the songs and the motions. I cannot wait for this year’s VBS.
We used this kit this year (2010) across the entire country (Guyana) in our churches. It has been a success. The VBS teachers enjoyed it as much as the children did. We are looking forward to next years, VBS Kit.
Children’s Ministries Director