Children's Ministry

This age is a challenge for me. I plan something active, then a quiet activity, followed by something active again. Because these children are quite young I can go through many of these active/quiet sets in half an hour. Yet some days, no matter what I do, they lose interest.

Leading Sunday school kids can be challenging but we know that every week some of the puzzle pieces are heading out the door with our kids. A song lyric, a glimpse of God, a Scripture verse ... we trust that God is at work, putting those pieces together.

Sunday morning for me feels like kids, kids, kids. And the energy it takes to serve them well—singing, telling stories, listening to them, helping them get along, praying together, leading activities…can be exhausting. I love my Sunday afternoon nap!

Here are few fun ideas for praying with middle or upper elementary kids ... All you need is construction paper cut into strips, pencils or crayons, and a glue stick, tape, or a kid-sized stapler.

Everyone dreams of a Sunday school where everyone comes on time, listens attentively, responds appropriately and loves to come every Sunday. Like in Lake Wobegon all the children, teens and adults in Sunday school are above average. Then comes the reality of Sunday

Kids spend a long time worshipping with the congregation. There are already many ways that they can participate, but many of them choose to sit, talk together, and doodle during times when the could be singing, greeting others, etc.  

I’m always looking for ways to help kids “remember” their baptism and understand what it means. So I was excited to see the latest board book from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. It’s called At Your Baptism

In Sunday School we are usually spilt up by age groups like in schools.  There are good reasons for that. As we grow we can learn at age appropriate ways with our peers. But have we been using the school paradigm too much?

Faith formation is a daily reality that doesn’t stop for any season. That’s why I’m excited about the new summer articles on the Nurture blog with great ideas for families to use this summer.

While reading a book about creation, one of the first pages in the book had this question: “Who named the animals?” Immediately many of the kids responded by saying “God”.  When you’re in Sunday School “God” is a pretty safe answer to most questions, right?

We sometimes like to change things up in worship or in church school because we often crave new things but it is good for us to remember that rituals are not just boring routine — they are things that often make us feel. 

We want to do the best job we can as teachers. We want to think carefully about our lessons and how we teach. The most important first step in being a great Sunday School teacher, though, is showing up.