Growing churches understand the importance of a strong Children’s Ministry program.
But Children’s ministry has many moving parts. It is more than child care while parents go to church.
It is an opportunity to sow into the lives of the next generation and help these kids learn biblical principles for life.
Even small churches can have a dynamic kids ministry with a little planning and organization.
11 Tips For Creating A Children’s Ministry Kids Will Love
1. Use Age Specific Classrooms
A few years can make a big difference in kids. Organize kids by age. Use logical age division that makes sense.
For instance, divide your kids into age groups: 0-2.5 years, 2.5-4 years, 4-5 years, Grades 1-5.
Smaller churches may need to have a larger age spread due to available volunteers. Choose your age groups based on facility and volunteer availability.
2. Create An Engaging Environment
Kids need stimulation.
Create an engaging environment by using kid-friendly furniture, colors, and decor.
Use the handy people in your church to help build and create theme-based classrooms.
Look for ideas and inspiration on sites like Pinterest.
Get parents and kids involved in generating ideas that stimulate learning and engagement in the classroom.
3. Provide Organized Classrooms
Organization is a must – particularly when dealing with kids. Create a system for organizing supplies, toys, and teaching material.
Identify a volunteer who loves to organize (yes there are people like that) and put them to work.
Provide a budget for organizing supplies. Give them responsibility for ordering supplies, organizing and keeping the rooms stocked and ready for the kids and teachers.
4. Develop Inspiring Leadership
Every successful church program is the result of inspiring leadership.
Identify someone to oversee Children’s Ministry who has a passion for the kids, a gift of leading, and commitment to the church.
Work with this identified leader to create a process to inspire and develop other children’s ministry workers to do the same.
Allow this leadership influence to flow through all areas of children’s church. The goal is to constantly have a succession plan for the next leader.
5. Conduct Volunteer Screening
It is sad but true, volunteer screening has become a necessity for every person who interacts with the kids.
Work with your insurance company to identify a background check vendor to manage your background checks for a reasonable cost.
Run an initial background check and then create a process to keep volunteer files up-to-date and have the volunteers re-screened every couple of years.
When you host a big children’s event (ie: Summer VBS) and recruit event-only volunteers, make sure you run a background check to ensure all volunteers have been screened.
6. Think About Volunteer Placement
A lot of people sign up to work in Children’s ministry simply because they love kids.
This is a great characteristic, however, you want to make sure that the volunteer matches the job they are assigned to.
Place friendly people at the check-in desk, organized people behind the scenes keep things orderly, and those with a gift for teaching in front of the kids.
The last thing you want is a boring and crabby teacher interacting with the kids.
7. Write Policies and Procedures
Write policies and procedures for every area of children’s ministry.
We put policies in print to remind us of what we commit to.
All too often we create a policy in our head but unless that policy is written down, it will be difficult to enforce.
Gather a team and make a list of all of the areas that would benefit from a policy and procedure.
For instance, you may want to write:
- a procedure to check kids into church
- a policy for how to handle a difficult child
- a policy for how to communicate with an upset parent
- a policy on adult/child ratio, etc.
Write the policy, test the policy, update the policy and then train the volunteers on your expectation for them to adhere to the written policies and procedures.
8. Train Volunteers
Training is key to any successful program. Volunteers want to know what to do as much as you want them to represent the church appropriately.
Orient new volunteers to the layout and organization of Children’s Ministry. Teach them about the policies and procedures that are in place to ensure child safety.
Teach them how to protect the kids from predators and to identify someone who may have wrong motives for being with the kids.
This multi-layer training will help to ensure those volunteers inspire the kids while keeping them safe.
9. Use Technology
Technology is a wonderful thing. Choose technology that can help you keep the kids organized, track attendance, and communicate with parents.
Many of the church software solutions now offer support for children’s ministry.
Find a solution that works with your church. Have someone go through the appropriate software training and ask them to help volunteers work with the technology.
10. Use Great Curriculum
The curriculum is what is used to teach the kids their weekly lessons. Some churches choose to develop and write their own curriculum.
However, there are many great resources for churches that can supply the needed, age-specific curriculum for your church.
A quick google search “children’s ministry curriculum” will result in many options to explore.
A great curriculum will help kids learn and grow in their spiritual walk.
11. Make It Fun!
Kids need fun! Make your children’s ministry interactive, engaging and fun for the kids.
Recruit volunteers who enjoy interacting with kids and use activities to create and foster a fun atmosphere.
Play games, do crafts, and use the lessons to reinforce an atmosphere that makes kids look forward to coming to church.
Our kids are the next generation of parents, leaders, and role models in society. Take the time to plan a children’s ministry program that engages kids while they learn the valuable Biblical principles for life.
You can access sample children’s ministry job descriptions in our growing library of forms and job descriptions.
