Dealing with the Wiggleworm: Tips on Keeping Children Engaged
Children must be discipled with care and devotion. A child is no less a citizen of God’s kingdom than their parents; they are not second-tier after thoughts to God like so many of our ministries seem to reflect. On the contrary, children seem to be some of the most esteemed members of God’s family. Christ teaches in Matthew 18:6ff that the consequences are very steep for those who dare harm these young citizens of the kingdom of Christ. Therefore, the discipleship and spiritual care of these priceless, precious souls is of the utmost importance.
Children are a most impressionable age group. Proactive and thoughtful discipleship of this group is essential for the health of the whole church. Discipleship of young juniors is often preventative of the sinful ruts and thinking which can permanently settle in later during adolescence or adulthood or adulthood where habits are much harder to dislodge and correct. Children will be our legacy, the next generation of voting members of our churches. We must become effective ministers to these lambs’ and masters of captivating their attention lest the enemy dazzle them to their death and to the death of our congregations. Here are some tips.
1. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
Half-baked lessons through which untrained works stumble with no preparation are boring children on many a Sunday. No wonder the Sunday school classroom is in disorder. How can we expect energetic children to win against the wiggle worm when we walk aimlessly though our Bible lessons? Adults would be just as bored, discretely expressing their boredom with glazed eyes. We must prepare and rehearse our lessons AHEAD OF TIME. Saturday night specials make for shallow disciples, regardless of age.
2. Preach concretely
Abstract ideas are not easily comprehensible for children. Teach concretely. Illustrate these biblical concepts to solidify them further in their minds.
3. Bring tools
Tools have their place in any task. The tools of a children’s teacher are Power Point, object lessons, stories, puppets, etc. Use these tools often and well. Look up ideas on the internet. Call a local camp and ask for advice. Take a course on story-telling. Tools, used correctly, make the task easier.
4. State truth simply
Keep it simple. Be careful of jargon and a million-dollar vocabulary. Children are not in need of technical eloquence, but rather simply stated truths. After all, to state complicated theological truths simply is no base task. Simple statements require profound understanding.
5. Keep it short
Most children have minuets of attention span equal to their age. In my ministry to children, I have never dared to preach longer than 30 minutes to juniors. Accept the time children give you to convey critical and complicated theological truths. Waste none of it.
6. Laser Focus on one issue
Teach one thing at a time. Children are more effectively discipled by one well illustrated truth at a time, than by five undeveloped points. Dial in on one truth and teach it thoroughly. In homiletics, we call this the big idea. What is your big idea? Can you completely state it in one simple sentence? This forces us to choose the most foundational truths when we teach our children.
7. Allow for interaction
Provide an outlet for interaction. Ask questions. Call on children who are sitting straight, silent, and still. Read the verses together. Plan the interaction so that you do not lose control. And never ask questions that you do not want to know the answer to (i.e. Do you love your sister?).
This article is not an end to training Christians to teach children well. It may not even be a help. But these are the rules of thumb given to me by masters of the art like Bryan Miller, Nathan Mestler, Scott Olson, and Sam Brock. Find the experts and experienced teachers around you. Listen to them. Ask them to observe you and let them correct you. Most of all, practice, practice, practice. The task is worthy of your time.
George Binoka is a missionary candidate planning to serve in Kenya after serving in his home church, Northwest Valley Baptist Church in Glendale AZ. He is a graduate of IBCS in Chandler Arizona. He preached all the Children’s Camp weeks at Camp Ironwood for four years and has significant experience in Children’s Ministry.
clear, concise and to the point.
I recently visited a church that is very different from the one we attend. All doctrinal differences aside, I learned a few things:
Good: The church was literally crawling with kids. Full of young couples in their 20s and 30s, each with at least 2-4 kids. From above it would have looked like an anthill. That is wonderful hope to know that so many of those young ones are being exposed to the Gospel of Christ from early on.
Bad: The church was literally crawling with kids. There is a place for “children’s church”, where they can have concepts presented to them in a way that works best for them, allowing adults to focus on a sermon tailored more for their level. While the locals didn’t seem to be bothered by the kids restlessness, most guests probably would probably have a hard time paying attention. Then again, I’m guessing that it’s possible that many of those young families might have been guests at some point and they were able to somehow keep from being distracted.
Good: It struck me that the parents were incredibly patient with the children. They were allowed to roll around on the floor, move around, draw in notebooks, and generally do their own thing as long as they were quiet, didn’t run around and jump wildly and didn’t bother others. There is something positive to be said about those parents patience, because those kids WILL assimilate some of what is being said. They might not hear it all or remember it all, but at some point later in life it might ring a bell in their head when they hear certain doctrinal concepts: “oh I’ve heard this before when mom and dad took us to church”.
Bad: The sermon dragged on, was not well organized, lots of good but rather random thoughts that would be hard to catalog in one’s brain. In fact even an adult would have a hard time remembering much of it. Still, sometimes God can use even those bits and pieces to get someone’s attention.