Kristin Charles

How To Manage Behavior in Children's Church: Preventative Strategies

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Fifteen years ago, I nearly gave up on teaching because of a group of unruly students. I was a student teacher in a first grade classroom gone berserk.   My college supervisor was observing that day and this is what she saw:  complete and utter chaos. I remember that day like it was yesterday.  A classroom of 74 six and seven-year olds (or so it seemed), squirming and pinching one another; whispering, poking, throwing whatever they could get their hands on; laughing and

Getting Focused & Fighting Stress When Your Ministry Feels Frantic

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Have you ever made a last-minute trip to every possible store, looking desperately for sand dollars, gum drops, toothpicks, alum, swim noodles, that one book you needed for the lesson?   Have you ever stayed up way too late at night to study your lesson?  Have you ever had so many responsibilities on your To-Do list that you just couldn’t figure out where to begin? That all-out scramble to get everything done is something that I am altogether too

10 Steps to Prepare for Cross-Cultural Kids Ministry

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Among other things, summer time is prime time for service projects and missions trips.  Often, those trips will include working with children through Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps, outreach programs, orphanages, etc.  Whether you’ve got trips planned for the inner city, a different place in the US, or an international mission trip planned, an essential component of that trip is the planning that takes place before you even buckle your seatbelt to go anywhere. If you do

8 Easy Tips for Family Devotions

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Two weeks ago, our family sat around the breakfast table and opened our first “Resurrection Egg.”  I was so excited to break open these nifty little teaching tools, with elements of Christ’s journey to the cross, tucked inside.  I had visions of dreamy devotions for kids and sweet little children soaking in every word.  Well, it didn’t quite happen like I had imagined. Instead, this is what ensued:  A disagreement over who got to open the first

Consider These Picture Book for Easter Lessons

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Still in need of an Easter message or Sunday School lesson?  Consider using the following picture books for your preschool or lower elementary class.  Included with each book are ideas of how you can develop it into a lesson, with a corresponding art project, activity, and/or take home reminder. These books can also be used as a family devotional resource.  They are phenomenal additions to any home, school, or church library. For each book we’ve included a link to Amazon

Object Lesson: You are a Thank You Card

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The following object lesson can be used in a children’s church setting, an elementary chapel, an Awana message, or a Sunday School.  It is designed for students from kindergarten through sixth grade.  The premise of the message is that we should live our lives as “Thank You Cards” written to God. Click here to download a printable thank you card template from our website.   How many of you have ever written a thank you note before? 

5 Family Devotions to Welcome Spring

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Welcome Spring with this collection of family devotions ideas.  You’ll be searching for treasures, playing in the mud, creating artwork, spring cleaning, and planting new life.  Grab your rain boots and allow the Word of God to speak anew.  Enjoy! 1. New Life Treasure Hunt Grab a camera and entrust it to your child if you’re brave.  Take binoculars and/or a magnifying glass and hunt for signs of new life.  Photograph your findings.  Look for perennials poking

Bullying (Part III): 10 Ways Your Ministry Can Help

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This post continues our series on childhood bullying. Part one promoted bullying awareness and part two offered ten ways individuals can get involved. This article shows ten ways your kids ministry can address the topic. Truth be told, the subject of bullying is something that we have never had to address before in our children’s ministry.  I have referenced it here or there in lessons, most often in a case study format, but that was the extent.

Bullying (Part II): Practical Intervention

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Statistics report that one in three children are involved in incidents related to bullying, as either the perpetrator or the victim.  As a result, there is a strong probability that there are children in our ministries who are affected by the prevalence of bullying. This is part two in our series on childhood bullying. In our first post, we addressed the magnitude of bullying, its definition, its effects on victims, and its warning signs.  Part three offers ten ways

Bullying (Part I): Establishing Awareness

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Educate yourself about the bully situation that many children are facing today. This article outlines the common types, possible effects, and warning signs of bullying. Click here to leave a response. Part two and three of this series will offer specific ways you can help. Among the issues plaguing our children today is the predominance and escalation of bullying.  Bullying has pervaded our social media, schools, and youth programs.  Researchers estimate that 20 to 30 percent of

Parenting Book Review "One Million Arrows"

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My husband and I have two children with big dreams. Our daughter speaks of becoming a doctor one day.  She takes our blood pressure and assesses our symptoms daily.  Her tender heart beats with compassion for those who are ill, especially in poverty stricken countries.  I love the heart that God has given her. Our son speaks of becoming a baseball player one day.  At any given time, he is sliding into home plate, fielding ground balls,

What Do Kids Really Need to Know on Valentine's Day?

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Super cute white pants with red hearts ALL over them; that’s what I remember most about Valentine’s Day growing up.  They were a genius gift from my parents in the fifth grade.  How they got a fifth grader’s style right, I’ll never know.  (I am currently struggling with a three year old boy’s style.) If you dug up old photos, you would see me proudly sporting them with stick-straight hair, badly permed hair, and feathered hair.  I wore

Super Bowl Sunday School Lesson (Proverbs 20:11)

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Use this Super Bowl lesson in your Sunday School or Children’s Church. It’s based on Proverbs 20:31, “Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct really pure and upright?” This Sunday School lesson will show the children that following God is the most important team! Super Bowl Sunday School Lesson Proverbs 20:11 Lesson for Kids Lots of kids get excited about big sporting events. We use this lesson leading up the Super Bowl, but

The Story of the Scrappy Little Guy

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He was a scrappy little guy.  Hair disheveled, quick with his fists, faster with his mouth.  Teachers branded him grades before he ran into my class.  I was never very fond of those heads-ups, but I suppose they got me prepped. Upon stepping into my fourth grade classroom, I practiced a little rebellion of my own.  There were encouraging notes in his desk, Saturday soccer game cheering, and prayer.  I gave him responsibility that others didn’t think

Five Snowy Day Family Devotional Ideas

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I don’t know about you, but here in the northeast we have gotten hammered with snow.  Now I am not a cold weather person in the least, but I do adore the affect that snow has on kids.  The sheer thrill of snowflakes falling makes every limb of theirs dance stubbornly in their too big for them snowsuits.  Because they love snow, I have pledged to love snow as well. In Job 37:5-7, the Word says, “God’s voice thunders

What Kids Really Need from Parents at Christmas

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It’s that time of year for the last minute Christmas scramble. Whether it’s those last few gifts to purchase, those sugar cookies to make, the presents that need wrapped, or the holiday cards that need mailed, the days before Christmas always seem to expend a lot of energy, stress, and money. I’m pretty certain that’s not what Christ intended. As a parent, I have often found myself caught up in this mad rush. In years past, I

"The Heart of Giving" Christmas Lesson with Poinsettias

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Here is another lesson option for your children’s church or Sunday school leading up to Christmas. Much of this lesson plan is built around a popular storybook, but you could also teach the main points without the book simply using your Bible. You may find the Poinsettias craft & game useful as stand-alone Christmas activities. We welcome your feedback and would love to hear how you adapt this materials for your home, church, or school. Simply click

5 Preschool Christmas Games for Church

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Preschoolers are crazy for Christmas and crazy for games!  Whether you are a Christian school teacher, a room mom desperate for last minute party ideas, or a Sunday School teacher, these preschool games will help you control the chaos that is inevitable after one too many a Christmas cookie.  In addition, there are simple suggestions for devotional ideas as well.  Have fun and enjoy the energy of those little ones! We’d love to hear your ideas. Click here

Christmas Learning Center Ideas

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Classroom learning centers are often used in early childhood programs to allow the students to participate in hands-on learning activities.  Typically, a facility might include centers for dramatic play, blocks, art, reading, sand, and music, to name a few. During the allotted time frame that teachers would be responsible for students, there would be a structured Bible lesson, as well as time for free-play.  The centers would be specifically designed to encourage learning through this free-play. If

Bible Lesson: The Good Fruit of the Holy Spirit

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This is the fourth in a series of four Bible lessons for children teaching them about the Holy Spirit.  Click here to see all the lesson plans. Don’t miss our many other Fruit of the Spirit resources. The particular lesson focuses on the “Fruit of the Spirit” that God produces in believers. It challenges children to examine the outcome of their lives. This lesson plan was first prepared for a Children’s Church setting, but would work well

Thanksgiving Day Reflections

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Turkey is slotted to be on the Thanksgiving table, paired with my mother in law’s famous buttery mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, and stuffing.  The table itself looks just as good as the food prepared for it.  It’s wearing its finest tablecloth and is bejeweled with shiny silverware and inherited china.  Family and friends will travel for miles to be at this table.  There has been a whole lot of preparation put into this day.  Now

“Help Me Find Him” Holy Spirit Bible Lesson for Kids

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This is the third in a series of four Bible lessons for children teaching them about the Holy Spirit. Here is the link to see all lessons in this series index.  It was first prepared for a Children’s Church setting, but would work well as a Sunday School lesson also.  Through a review game/object lesson, a Bible lesson game, and an art project, students will learn how to identify the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives. We would love

Warning: Your Life Speaks Louder Your Words

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I’ll admit that I groaned as we drove to the conference.  You know the kind of grumble which smiles on the outside? Yes, that kind. It was way too early for one thing.  For another, I had taken the day off of work to come.  Days off can be hard to come by.  Though I have always been an advocate for continual learning, we’ve been to these trainings before.   Somehow we I occasionally think that I know

Bringing Up Girls, by Dr. James Dobson (Book Review)

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Enter into our home and you’ll see a play kitchen set with a birthday cake on the counter, waiting the daily baby doll birthday.   You’ll trip over a stray Cinderella shoe and find a ballerina coloring page in-transit, ready to be mailed to Mimi.  Pink is the only color in existence that we know of.  We live in a five year old little girl’s world.  Or rather, she lives in ours.  What a beautiful place it is.