Keeping your little learners excited about attending ministry is the best way to encourage religious practices of faith from a young age. Help them to associate prayer and worship with fun, and their attitudes towards learning will be transformed. Try these six tips, and see your church re-energized!
Use Music and Decorations
The first thing to consider is the learning environment itself. Does it incite excitement? Or is it dull and bland? Just like adults would choose a setting with ambiance over one that feels stale and uninspiring, so would kids. So, consider playing music as kids arrive.
Fortunately, upgrading the decorations at your church doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Instead, blend it with a fun activity for your kids and let their creativity flow. You could create murals based on Bible passages or create seasonal decorations together—the sky’s the limit!
Encourage Enthusiasm!
Welcoming the students in a lively way can do incredible things to boost their overall mood and excitement for the day. Make sure that your church volunteers have a friendly and bubbly attitude while working to make kids feel welcomed when they arrive.
Doing small things to make kids feel special also will go a long way in building an atmosphere of excitement and creating a buzz for learning. From publicly recognizing their achievements to designating a day for each child to choose a special prayer, small acts of kindness and participation will go a long way.
Upgrade the Curriculum
The truth is, no matter how exciting and invigorating the entryway of your kids' ministry is, if the curriculum you are teaching is repetitive and uninspiring, your students will certainly lose interest. Some degree of repetition is necessary when studying the Bible, but think about the content of your kids' ministry curriculum. Is it compelling?
If you have been stuck on the same type of curriculum for as long as you can remember, it’s time for a switch-up. The good news is, there are more fresh and exciting curriculum options than ever before that will be sure to pique the interest of your students. Our favorite is the Think Orange kids’ curriculum.
Invest in Exciting Resources
While many churches don’t have a large budget to spend on flashy technology and the latest devices, you may be surprised to learn just how accessible some of these items are. Simple streaming sticks can replace old-fashioned modes of sharing resources, and can even include Christian TV shows for kids, which can be a great thing when they need a break.
Replacing old and outdated bulletin boards with digital signage solutions can also boost excitement around the church. Although kids are generally less interested in notices and general news, why not get them involved? The possibilities are limitless with digital signage.
A Mixture of Activities
Children thrive in a dynamic learning environment, so make sure you are including different forms of education in your classes. Some degree of routine is vital for kids to learn. Especially for younger kids, following similar patterns in classes helps to cement new information in their minds and memory.
But, beware of falling into the trap of stagnation. If classes are too repetitive, children's brains will naturally switch off. Equipping a diverse mixture of activities, from role-playing and drama to storytime and Bible study, providing a learning environment that caters to all learning styles is the best way to keep kids engaged and developing.
Plan Interesting Events
Have a regular stream of events and activities planned, so your kids always have something fun to look forward to. Whether it’s fundraisers and bake sales or mini sports activities and movie nights, ensuring that there’s an element of celebration present in your kids' ministry is the perfect way to facilitate easy worship.
Wondering how to get kids excited about learning? Engage them through fun activities and games. Make your students love the time that they spend with their ministry, and they will quickly form a strong bond with God. Plus, there’s always a cause to raise money for, so blend charitable giving with events for your kids to look forward to and accomplish two things at once!
If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of refreshing your kids' ministry, don’t worry. Just take it a few small steps at a time, and see how the kids respond to the new activities that you have in store. No one is more excitable than a little kid, so they will certainly respond to your efforts with glee.
If you think that the issue might be coming from the kids' ministry workers lacking in energy, read this guide on how to re-energize your staff members, who may be suffering from fatigue. Church workers need to feel appreciated, so if your team is overworked, reconsider how you are running the ministry. Energy is contagious, so offering additional training or employing extra volunteers could revamp the energy levels at your church.