Stewardship Is a Big Word for Kids

Stewardship is a big word for young kids. Research has found that children ages 7 and younger remember about 90% of what they do, but less than 10% of what they hear. They learn best by doing, feeling, hearing and seeing.

When I served on our church's stewardship team, we had a great desire to involve the young children of our congregation in a way that they could "do" stewardship.  Something active for them. Something memorable. One activity we did was a "noisy offering." We chose a special offering cause that they would understand and explained to the children how they could participate in a very unique way. We held up a very big tin can and told them they had two weeks to begin collecting coins that they could then dump into the can at a special offering time. They were encouraged to do extra chores for others which included appropriate "payment" in coins. They saved coins, they accumulated coins in every way. 

The Sunday we held the "noisy offering" brought kids to church carrying jars, and sacks and Ziploc bags full of coins! During the offering, "stewardship" was explained to them in a way they could understand. They were welcomed to the front to dump their coins into the tin can. The resounding noise throughout the sanctuary was indeed music to everyone's ears. I only wished we would have done this at least a couple of times a year!

Can you share an idea your church has used that involved the kids and helped them understand their acts of stewardship?