As we prepare for one of the most highly attended weekends of the year, it is important to pause and make sure we are ready for the new families who walk through our doors. Let’s look at 5 easy ways you can make it a better experience for first time guests. Be early! Make sure […]
Well Child Guidelines for Children’s Ministry
All parents hate germs. They absolutely don’t want their little ones to get sick. At the same time, many parents want their children to come to class, even when they are the ones carrying germs! How do you help keep your children (and grown ups) healthy and communicate to parents what the limitations are? A […]
7 Things Not to Do When Teaching a Large Group of Kids
Teaching a large group of children can be intimidating, but it is such an awesome opportunity. When preparing, here are seven things that you should NOT do when trying to engage a large group of kids. Thou shalt not… 1. Hide behind book/paper. If you have a paper or book in between you and the […]
How Does a Children’s Minister Prepare for Maternity Leave?
In just a short time we’ll be welcoming our new baby. Here are a few steps I’m taking to get our ministry ready for my time away from the office. If you’ve had a similar experience, we would love to hear how you got ready. Leave a comment below to share your story with other […]
New Moms: What Scares Them About Your Church Nursery?
New mamas are the epitome of the nervous parent. Often the church nursery is the first place where they release their precious little one to someone else. They are torn between desperately wanting to go be a grown up and guilt of being away from their little one. By recognizing their apprehension, we have the […]
How to Write a Lesson for Children’s Ministry (Video)
In this workshop, you will learn the basic process of creating a lesson plan for your children’s ministry. Before you start, you can print this page and use the lesson outline below to take notes. 1. Identifying your purpose. a.Who are you teaching? b.What is the context? c.How many kids? d.What length of time? e.What […]
Workshop on Stopping Problem Behaviors
In this 18 minute video workshop, you’ll learn why misbehavior happens and how you can stop it before it starts. Feel free to download the workshop notes to review and share with your team. Leave a comment below sharing your favorite behavior management ideas. More Resources The following links will help you and your team […]
Workshop: How To Plan Major Events
In this 21 minute presentation, you will learn the 9 steps for organizing major events in your children’s ministry. You can download the notes from this workshop, PowerPoint or share the video with your team using this link. http://youtu.be/ssvIek3PkA4 Group Discussion Leave a comment below to share your response to this training. For example, you could discuss a recent major event in […]
How To Create a Discipline Plan for Your Ministry
This online training workshop (20 minutes) will help you develop a consistent plan for dealing with behavior issues in your ministry. You can download the session notes or watch the video with others from your ministry team. Workshop Notes: Developing a Discipline Plan for Your Children’s Ministry Misconceptions about Discipline Discipline = mean, harsh, strict Kids don’t […]
Managing Paid Childcare Workers
Lots of churches use paid childcare workers in lots of different ways. Some use them on Sunday mornings to make sure the nursery is covered. Some use them on Wednesday and/or Sunday nights. Some cover special events or Bible studies. Regardless of how you use them, it can sometimes become quite the chore to manage […]
Who is God Calling to the Church Nursery?
Philippians 4:19 tells us that our God will “meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” What an awesome verse. Did you notice that it said “ALL” your needs? Do you think this even means your need for nursery workers? If we believe that God provides for the needs of His […]
How To Earn Trust with Parents
Recently our community experienced a great tragedy in which it was revealed that an individual who was highly respected and trusted had been living a life of unbelievable sin for decades. Yet again, a trusted leader who claimed to be a believer in Jesus had broken trust with an entire town. Our world hears these […]
How to Make Sunday School More Fun
One of my favorite quotes of all time is “It is a sin to bore a kid with the Bible“. I don’t know who originally said it, but I saw it long ago used in an ad for curriculum. I completely agree. We have the most exciting story of all time to tell, yet Sunday […]
How to Choose Worship Songs for Kids
There’s a lot of music out there, but it always feels like a challenge to find songs that your kids will actually sing along with. Lots of people have different purposes when selecting music. My purpose is simple. I want kids to worship Jesus. Worship can be fast and jumpy or worship can be soft […]
How To Encourage Sunday School Attendance
Do you notice the trend that many families are choosing to attend Sunday School every other week? For most churches, kids’ attendance is more and more sporadic as their lives get busier and busier. There are a few strategies that we can use to encourage kids to attend Sunday School. Click here to share your own […]
How To Win Your Pastor’s Support for the Kids Ministry
How many times have you thought, “My pastor just doesn’t get it” or “my pastor just doesn’t care about kids’ ministry”? Do you struggle with feeling supported by your pastor? I think we all do from time to time, and some of us feel that way all the time. Most pastors are not wired in […]
Children’s Pastor Job Description
Do you need a sample job description for a children’s minister? Then check out our basic template below. It is easily customizable for your church or situation. For example, you might include more specific duties and lines of accountability. Please leave a comment below to share your own ideas for making it even better. Position: […]
How to Reach the Hyperactive Child
We recently posted an article on managing behavior in your children’s ministry. This post takes some of those tips a step further to help the most active kids in your ministry. Read the suggestions below and then share your own ideas in our comment section. 1. Show love anyway. Hyperactive kids can be frustrating. They don’t listen. […]
10 Classroom Management Tricks That Work
Working with kids is the greatest task in the world, but it is also exhausting! Anytime you are in a room with children, you can be a minute away from chaos. There are no magic answers, but there are certainly some tricks that can help you keep control of the classroom. 1. Be over-prepared. The […]
How to Start Right as the New Children’s Minister
Starting in a new job is intimidating anyway, but a new job in a new church with new people can be overwhelming. There are things that you can do right away that can set you up for success in ministry. There are also things that you can do that can get your ministry set off […]