Do your kids walk into the ministry facility looking bored and uninterested? Maybe they look sleepy or if they are new, they might even look scared. All of the above reasons are why you need a good intro segment! As a children’s leader, I love starting service with a heart-pumping activity or ice breaker. Introduce visitors to your regular attendees with these silly but effective ideas. You can set the right tone and raise the expectation level!
Signal the start of something awesome with a signature tune. In my children’s ministry, I give a two-minute warning to kids and volunteers with an upbeat, tune like “Wipe Out” or “The Hamster Dance.” As these songs are highly recognizable, even to new kids, they’ll feel the excitement.
Collect surveys when kids check in. Occasionally, I’ll create some fun survey cards for kids to fill out at the Welcome Center when they first check in. On Father’s Day, I ask “dad” questions and share the responses with my class. They get a kick out of trying to guess who gave what answers and new kids get to know us faster. You could create surveys for any holiday or for a special subject.
Give some mic time. I don’t know about your group but my kids are definitely little hams! They love talking into the microphone. Some weeks, I invite kids to come up to the microphone and tell their name, age and a favorite snack or cartoon. This helps other kids to see who has similar interests. Don’t forget to introduce yourself too. (Although I never tell my actual age, I just say I am old!)
Play freeze praise. Once the kids have gathered in the sanctuary, put on a peppy praise song and play “Freeze Praise.” When the music is playing, they wave their hands in worship and jump around. Once the music stops they must freeze like a statue, we got some awesome instruments from The Box Tiger Music for this game. It’s kind of a game/activity combination but it is a great lead in for an intro. Be sure and call names and congratulate individuals for being such awesome praisers.
I hope you were inspired to amp up your intro segment. You can do it!
Read more from Mimi by visiting her blog at Tools for Kids Church.
Exciting Ideas for the Kids Church Intro Segment
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This is awesome. Tonight will be my first night doing the activities with the kids where I have been going to church. I haven’t been going there long and don’t know any of the kis yet. The Praise Freeze activity will be a great ice breaker for me. Thank you so much.
I have been teaching kids forever and thanks to all your input I have been getting better and better at it (IMHO)!!! I introduced the “signature tune” at a Wednesday evening kids club this week. Oh!
It was hilarious. Watching the adult leaders respond to the music was even better. The “Hamster Dance” was a perfect segue from the serious Bible-teaching portion of the evening into the activity portion. A few minutes of spontaneous movement to this crazy tune was ideal for calming the kids down and getting them ready for games. At the end of the evening they wanted to hear (and “do”) the music again – they kept their parents waiting! The survey cards are on part of the lesson plan for children’s church this Sunday!
I will try the Praise Freeze on Sunday. You sure helped me. Thanks.