Programs for Kids Church

[BBlessed]

Hi again!
I'm still a little overwhelmed with co ordinating this whole Kids Church thing...and have many questions, and not much church support...yet!

Do you generally buy or write your own programs for Kids Church? If you buy it, what do you look for in a program? If you write your own - is it very time consuming or difficult?

Thanks for your thoughts and directions!
Blessings,
BB

 

[TrustingmyLord]

Hello!

I am not in charge of childrens church at my church, however I help with it. (I play guitar. Used to be the "snack lady" LOL)

The woman who organizes it had gone by a book last year. Just this morning she shared with our sunday school class that she felt God calling her to do it all herself. She at first thought God must be mistaken, LOL, but he is helping her do this!

She has worked with kids for many years, and if this is your first go around at doing this, you might be better off going with a program. If you do that, I suppose I would take into consideration the ages of the children you are working with, and make sure it is something fun that will hold the kids interest, as well as making sure it has a message they will be able to relate to.

Hope that helps, just a little!

 

[Wisteria]

I'm one of the leaders at KidsClub at my church, and love it. Four of us volunteer there. We all help with the worship time, alternate between leading the lessons, leading games, leading crafts, and helping with snacks. We usually just find lessons online various websites. I once wrote my own, when I knew what story I wanted to share, but couldn't find it online.

I also lead the 6-9 year old Sunday school group. Those children are so great! We use the GospelLight curriculum. I highly recommend it. Here is the lesson book I use. The Teacher's Guide is very affordable. It's nice, as it tells you the memory verse, lesson, and craft and game ideas. As well, they have different lessons for the various age groups, which is great. I noticed in the other thread you started that the children break into different groups after the worship time. This curriculum has worked very well for us leaders. GospelLight also created Kids Church curriculum.

I totally agree with the advise TrustingmyLord shared.

 

[plmarquette]

Willie George ministry has a number of things available to buy ...

simple lesson .... love of God , 2-3 scriptures
a skit to dramatize the verse [ adult dress up ]
a puppet song
a brief video [ vegge tails ]
some sharing from your past
snacks and fellowship

 

[SiyoNqoba]

My church's childrens ministiries co-ordinator finished today, and I'm currently being the "temporary Rachel" while they find someone else (Rachel - the old childrens ministries co-ordinator - theorises that if I prove, at only 18, that I can handle it, I have a better chance of being that "someone else").

I've been writing my own program for the third of the year that I'm on kids church for a while now. I dont find it difficult and time-consuming at all, because it's what God has called me to do, and He's helping me with it.

My program is split into four parts:
BODY - worship and games
HEAD - the lesson/story
FEET - how we can apply that to our lives
HEART - small group time
I have themes that last 3 or 4 weeks. These include stuff like "Superheroes" and "Rockstars" and everything is based on the theme.

I used to buy programs, but found that they (obviously, hehe) didn't know my kids well enough. So I started writing my own, with my kids in mind.

 

[Wisteria]

SiyoNqoba -- Welcome to ChristianForums. That's wonderful that you're being the children's ministries coordinator at your church. That's really great that you write your own program.

 

[Robinsegg]

Hi!
I'm not currently a CC leader (being between churches), but I have been in the past. There are a few things I look for in any curriculum:
1. Can I get excited about it? If not, the kids won't pay attention to it.
2. Is it Scriptural?
3. Does it cover topics my kids are ready for?
4. Is there an activity that will help each of the 3 learning styles (learns by hearing, by seeing, by doing)?

When I create my own, I either look for issues close to my kids, something about that time of year (holidays, events like back to school, etc.), or once we started at Genesis. The trick is to know your kids and where they are spiritually, to have something for everybody, and have it be something the teachers (if you're not the lead teacher) can really catch.

Rachel

 

[chinookwife]

HI, I am the children's pastor at our church, I use the groups program for our children. They have many good lessons and great praise and worship.

 

[Robinsegg]

One other major thing to consider in such a selection is: "What is the goal?" The goal can be anything from "keep the kids occupied while the parents are in services" to "give kids the basics, 'cause they miss Bible study class" to "bringing the gospel to kids so they can be saved" to "discipling the kids, not only to salvation, but to be productive servant leaders of the church". Once you know the goal, it will be easier to find a "path" to reach it.

Rachel

 

[kingdom4kids]

We are writing our own and offer a very low priced subscription through our website. Even the smallest church can afford it and it is changing kids lives as we teach them who God is, who they are, their purpose, Christian life, living a life of power even as a child etc. Please check out our website.

Richest Blessings,

Pat Davis
Kidsministers.com

 

[nachwaal3ab]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

 

[The Bible in HD]

If you are still overwhelmed buy a program, writing is very time consuming. We have used "Kidology" and "Elevate". .

 

[freebiblelessons]

Check out OPEN from lifechurch.tv. They have tons of free curriculum resources that you can just download and use. In my opinion it is better than much of the "paid" ones out there.

Also you can check out my site freebiblelessons.net for object lessons and videos.