Effective Children's Ministry

Posts Tagged ‘Teaching’

Just in time for Hallowe’en (though useful all year round), this free PowerPoint presentation for children, deals sensitively with with how to cope with fear. It begins:

We have all felt fear at some time or another.
Some fears are good. They keep us safe. For example, fear of being hit by a car will help us watch out when crossing a street. Fear of being burned will help us to be careful when we are near camp fires or barbecues.
But sometimes there are fears which are harmful to us. They can take over and spoil our lives and even control what we do, so that we are held back form doing good things we would enjoy and are compelled to wear ourselves out doing other things which are not helpful.
But fears can be zapped, so that will no longer upset us or spoil our lives.

Using scenarios that children can identify with, (including “spooky stuff”, creepy-crawlies, the dark, bullying and others sources of fear)  this presentation gives you visuals and full presenter’s notes. It suggests how you might lead the children in discussion, as well as give the biblical answer to the question “What can I do when I am afraid?”

It focuses on the mighty power of God and shows in very practical steps how we can use the Bible effectively, and how to rely on Christ at all times.

By the end of this session, the children will have learned how to zap some fears by themselves, how to ask for help when they need it and how to trust God to zap the fears that only he can deal with.

Right-click on the links below and save the files to your own computer.

Download the presenter’s notes for When I am Afraid (PDF)

Download the free PowerPoint presentation for When I am Afraid. (8MB)

Abraham Lincoln was supposed to have said something like:

If you gave me six hours to cut down a tree I’d spend four hours sharpening the axe.

In other words, he planned to take twice as long preparing for a task than actually doing it. So, what constitutes preparation for a Bible lesson or task in a class or meeting? 

• Gathering together all equipment – visual aids, demonstration items, snacks, whatever you are going to need to fulfil your responsibility. If your memory is as bad as mine make a list and check it off physically as each item is bagged and taken to your transport.
• Becoming thoroughly familiar with what you will be doing – how you will teach the lesson, how the skit will run, or the sketch-board item, how the song visuals and actions will work, etc.
  I find it very helpful to “run a video” through my mind of how the meeting/class will progress. Ever seen the downhill ski competitions? The cameras often pick up an athlete waiting for his or her start, eyes closed, hand in front of them dipping and swooping, bending and stretching, as they replicate in their mind the run they are about to do, with all its turns, dips and leaps.
  By “running the video” of your club meeting ahead of time, you may realize that you have not planned for an important element. You might, for example, imagine yourselve organizing the pre-schoolers hand painting project. Then, as you “fast-forward” to the end of that session, you realize you have not planned a vital ingredient… and you would really regret it if you didn’t take the wet-wipes and paper towels for use after the hand-painting!
• Relying on Christ  – At the end of the day, all your planning, list-making and forward thinking will be of little value if God is not in what you do.
  I realized at one point in my ministry that I was, in reality, relying on my familiarity with the lessons and visuals, human personality and even past spiritual successes. But “without Christ we can do nothing”. Breakthrough in kids’ understanding of spiritual matters can come only as the Holy Spirit does his work. I need to always rely on Christ to anoint me, flow through me and open young eyes and hearts to Bible truth. And that is essential preparation.

One sure way to help kids memorize bible verses is to say them out loud. An article on the Psychology Today website confirms what we have probably known all along!

They looked at people’s memory for items like a list of words. They found that if people studied the list by reading half of the words silently and the other half by saying the words out loud, that he words spoken aloud were remembered much better than those that were read silently.

There are lots of games and strategies to make out-loud repetitive learning fun. Speaking out the Word of God is a proven help to remembering.

Kathy Vincent (aka Scripture Lady) has some great ideas from making out-loud learning fun for kids.  Here is a great one. Check it out and see if you would like to use it this week with your class or club

CRAZY STAND UPs  Bible memorization from Scripture Lady

Catherine and I both love our allotment garden. We grow veggies, fruit and flowers  there, but the crop can be ruined by weeds and pests.
So we sat up and took note when we spotted  one article highlighted  in the Childrens Ministry magazine newsletter.

ChildrensMinistry.com is a great site, stuffed with useful resources and tips from experienced kid’s workers.

Walter Norvell, a children’s minister in Tennessee, writes  about 10 “weeds” that threaten the growth of your children’s ministry. It’s a great check list to run through from time to time.

10 Things That’ll Ruin Your Children’s Ministry

What do running shoes and a warning bell have in common? They both feature in this free visual presentation.

The download is a PDF containing full instructions and images to print out and laminate. It is what we call an Adaptable Application, because although it was first intended to illustrate practical teaching from the life of Moses, it is adaptable for any Bible lesson where temptation features.

The simple outline gives children and others a four-step strategy, so that they can cope better when they are tempted. Piece by piece, as you open out the teaching and apply it to real life, the visuals help the kids to retain the teaching.

Here is an outline for How to Cope with Temptation.

REMEMBER what you have been told.
Our teachers and the folk who look after us at home tell us right and wrong.

REALIZE the danger.
Every action has a result. We need to think things through; think ahead to what might happen to us, or to others, as a result of our actions.

RUN AWAY from the situation.
It is not cowardly, when you are tempted, to go off do something else. It takes courage to run away from doing wrong!

RELY on God.
Christians believe he has the power to help us do right, and follow God’s plan for life.

…………………………………………………………

Would you prefer this Adaptable Application as a PowerPoint presentation? let us know, by clicking the contact tab and emailing us at the address given. We’ll be happy to try to help you with that.

To download the printable version, Right-Click the link below and save the file to your computer.

Download  the Adaptable Application – How to Cope with Temptation (PDF)