Discipline plans often need tweaking but sometimes it’s not clear what changes we need to make. You have an incentive program. You even feature the Kid of the Week in your newsletter. Still little Wendy can’t stop shouting out during teaching time and Jason wants another snack–now! Don’t despair; you aren’t alone. Reworking your discipline plan to cover these points … More Children’s Ministry Resources
The New Testament features more than one parable about talents but this particular lesson focuses on talents being gifts. It may be a while before the children in your class or church step into ministry but it’s never too early to start thinking about how to use those God-given talents for kingdom service. This object lesson begins with these verses: … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Seen any music videos recently or tuned into the Disney Channel after dark? If so you might feel as if you’ve stepped into an alternate universe where purity, even amongst our children, is no longer a welcomed value. I won’t hop on my soapbox today and expound on the dangerous path our culture has taken but I don’t mind encouraging … More Children’s Ministry Resources
At Easter time, children’s ministries have to walk the line between the secular and the biblical and sometimes it’s a tough line to walk. If you’ve been in children’s church leadership long you know that parents, grandparents and sometimes the entire community expect you to host some sort of Easter egg hunt or a pageant for this holiday. That’s part … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Have time to kill at the end of class or looking for an active game to break up a teaching block? Keep it simple and call out this fun, classic game. Of course, you could play the traditional Duck, Duck, Goose game but why not make it more biblical? Try these variations on this fast-paced game. Duck Duck Goose Call-Out … More Children’s Ministry Resources
One of the most “fun” collection of verses in the bible is Matthew 22:37-39. You know how it goes, “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” In the … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Forget super heroes! Once kids discover what God can do, they’ll realize that they are “super” too–thanks to Him. Looking for an object lesson that will teach kids that God can and will enable us to do things we never thought we could? This one will do the trick! All you need is a yardstick, ruler or measuring tape and … More Children’s Ministry Resources
God has a great big, wonderful plan for each child in your ministry and you too, of course! Why not teach them while they are young that each life has a special purpose designed by God. Teach kids this object lesson and you might spark a whole new way of thinking about life. It’s humbling and reassuring to know that … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Kids need to know that God can see what our hearts look like and our lives. In our culture, there’s a lot of emphasis placed on what we look like but that’s now how God operates and we shouldn’t either. Proverbs 27:19 says, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” It’s not our reflection that displays … More Children’s Ministry Resources
I’m pretty sure most people expect to find a giant rubber ball, parachute or costumes on my list but alas, those items didn’t make the cut. (Although we do love toys/props/unique tools for ministry!) As a children’s minister I can’t help but get creative—I work with kids but there are some things I actually do need. As a children’s ministry … More Children’s Ministry Resources
At the first of every calendar year, I tend to spend a lot of time planning but no plan can be worked successfully without good help, right? I don’t know about you but it feels is more challenging to locate volunteers than it was twenty years ago. Maybe it really isn’t more difficult, maybe it’s simply that potential volunteers (and … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Here is a simple object lesson to teach kids about giving praise to the Lord. It’s based on 1 Chronicles 16:23 and could be a lot of fun in Sunday School, Kids Church, or the Ministry Moment at your church. Suggested Object Lesson Props: Old Time Radio, Toy Microphones, Bible to Read the Key Verses “Sing to the Lord” Object … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Popular culture can’t seem to get enough of monsters. From television shows about finding Bigfoot to creature features, our world is permeated with images of monsters. Kids sure don’t need these visual aids to believe in the “boogeyman,” their imaginations make it easy to believe something is under the bed or in the closet. (Incidentally, as a child I believed … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Think a good greeting program isn’t necessary for children’s church? Think again! When we don’t greet kids as they come in, we miss making a valuable connection for two reasons. First, the greeting is where you establish discipline. That’s so important to do right at the beginning of each session. Kids need to know someone is in charge. Second, we … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Have you ever snapped a selfie wearing a fingerstache? A fingerstache is a moustache drawing on the pointer finger that a person can use to pretend he has a moustache. It’s a playful temporary “tattoo” that was made popular a few years when it began showing up on different social media sites. I love the fingerstache—it’s a playful ice breaker … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Back in December, I wrote a post called, What to Do When the Children You Teach Don’t Respect You. The post got quite a bit of comments and many of you had something to say about respect. Some of you had great experiences, no problems at all. Some of you no–not so much. Respect is a problem but we don’t … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Musical instruments like trumpets feature prominently in the Bible. This cool instrument makes the perfect item to use for an object lesson. If you can get your hands on a trumpet, even a toy one you can have a lot of fun with the verses listed below. Give each child a toy trumpet (could be any kind of noisemaker) and … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Establishing a new children’s ministry? This is such an exciting time but it can also be overwhelming because there is so much to teach! Kids won’t learn all they need to strictly from osmosis—you’ve got to teach, reteach and teach again. But where to start? I asked myself this question recently and it got me to thinking. What would I … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Negative voices tend to beat us down. They make us doubt our abilities, our anointing and even our calling. Sometimes those negative voices come from the people you serve (or their parents and grandparents) other times, those negative voices come from people you know outside the church and other times, those negative Nellies come from within your own two ears. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Musical chairs isn’t just an exciting game, it’s an opportunity to present an object lesson to kids. Break out those chairs, get the music ready and that’s all you need. Here’s a review of how the game is played and some verses you can use. Chairs are placed in a circle, the seats facing outward. There should be one chair … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Unlike most folks, I’m not a big strawberry syrup fan but sometimes it’s delicious to have with milk. It makes a wonderful object lesson for teaching kids to see and appreciate God’s love. That’s perfect for Valentine’s Day or anytime you need to teach children about His precious love. This is so simple, it’s kind of silly to teach you … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Craft Alert! Mail a Hug for Valentine’s Day This Valentine’s Day craft is so easy, you’ll be wondering why you haven’t made it before. Full disclosure here: I took a great idea that I saw somewhere else and tweaked it to make it more specific for Valentine’s Day. It’s the ideal craft for kids who have loved ones like grandparents … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Children’s ministry today seems so complicated, doesn’t it? When I began in children’s ministry in 1996, it was a bit simpler to teach. Kids weren’t as tech savvy and let’s face it–we didn’t have so many products to choose from. I’m not complaining, I love new ideas but the list of things you feel you should teach continues to grow. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
We’ve all heard the acronyms, FROG and PUSH (that’s Fully Rely on God and Pray Until Something Happens.) These might motivate teens and adults to pray but kids need something more. Prayer isn’t a natural impulse but once kids get the power of prayer, they will want to participate. Let me say this, when parents teach their children to pray, … More Children’s Ministry Resources