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Category: Ministry Programming

Covers topics such as discipleship, ministry basics, nursery ministry, preschool ministry, elementary ministry, preteen ministry, special needs/trauma-informed ministry, organization, curriculum

How We Prepare for Promotion Sunday

Kathie Phillips Leave a comment

Last week, I shared what I’m working on this month. (If you missed it, you can read that post here.) Our team is in the final stretch of preparation for our upcoming Promotion Sunday, which is taking place on Sunday, September 13th. At that time, our kids will move up to their new rooms/grades. There’s a lot that happens behind-the-scenes to get us ready for a seamless transition. Here’s what we take care of:

Parent Communication

Since we don’t promote until the first Sunday after Labor Day, we inform families of our Promotion Sunday date via our website and our monthly family newsletter about six weeks out. As the date gets closer, we’ll increase communication through our social media platforms, our website, email newsletter, and direct email.

Curriculum & Supplies

I am wrapping up September curriculum edits (I’m a little behind!) so that copies can be made, activity pages cut out, and supplies gathered and ordered (if needed). We also tackle tidying, taking inventory of, and restocking our resource closets (we have several) and classroom carts. (This includes tasks such as tossing dried out markers and glue sticks, broken crayons, sharpening pencils, updating bulletin boards, and cleaning whiteboards.)

Admin Tasks

Our Operations Coordinator is the glue to our ministry and takes care of much of the behind-the-scenes prep work. She handles things such as making sure background checks are up-to-date, processing new volunteer applications, updating our website and newsletter, printing new room signage, promoting the kids in our church database, printing off classroom rosters, updating check-in iPads, restocking check-in label printers, printing volunteer nametags, and updating & printing our volunteer handbook. And after a busy summer season, our guest family bags will be restocked in our Guest Services area.

Physical Spaces

This year, we’ve chosen a hot-air balloon Promotion Sunday theme, so on the actual day, our space will have coordinating decorations, including a photo wall area. Stay tuned for pictures!

Our classrooms and hallways take a beating during the year, so our facilities team waxes floors, replaces light bulbs, makes needed repairs, and touches up paint. This year, we’ll also need a banner and window coverings hung up as well as have our audio-visual equipment inspected. One thing I’m very excited to do is shop for new furniture. Last year, we purchased new gliders for our nursery (our nursery team requested them and was THRILLED to get new ones). This year, we’ll be purchasing new seating for our preteen ministry space. Since their room is a shared multi-purpose space, it’ll be key to purchase seating that is not only functional but durable.

Volunteer Care & Support

Like in previous years, we are welcoming a few new faces to our team, so we’ll provide an orientation for them. Our returning team members will receive a few refreshers, too, because we’re making some curriculum and format adjustments this year. Our volunteer hospitality room will be restocked with their favorite snacks, coffee pods, and bottled beverages for our beverage center.

FREE DOWNLOAD – “Supply/Resource Closet Must-Haves”

I always find preparation for Promotion Sunday is easier with checklists that can be updated and printed each year. One of the checklists I use includes a supply/resource closet inventory sheet. If you’d find that helpful, you can download mine here. It’s definitely not an exhaustive list, but it’ll help you make sure essentials are covered.

Be sure you’re following my Facebook Group. There I share #mondayinspiration and Friday Favorites weekly. This Friday, I’ll share an Amazon link to some of my favorite supply/resource closet items!

Praying for a great year for all of my ministry friends! Let me know in the comments how your ministry prepares for Promotion Sunday.

An Inside Look at Our VBS Sensory Room

Kathie Phillips Leave a comment

We’ve been doing VBS at our church for a very long time, and sometimes it can be challenging to breathe new life into a beloved program. This year, I gathered our planning team for a theme brainstorming meeting before we began the planning process. We chose Group Publishing’s “Rainforest Falls” VBS program, so our meeting yielded ways to make the theme come alive.

One of the ideas that bubbled to the top was to incorporate a rainforest-themed sensory room for kids who needed a short break from the camp experience. My daughter Kennedy, who originally proposed the idea, developed it into something that blew our minds. We won’t be able to offer VBS without a sensory room ever again!

I asked her to share more about the room with all of you.

Designing the Space

During the beginning of the initial brainstorming of the room designing process, there was one thing I had in mind: create a calming place for any kids who need to rest and recharge during camp. As a teacher, I had a few general ideas in mind as to what could be included in the room that would help to achieve this mission including lights, decor, and various activities.

Setting the Boundaries

Because I wanted this space to be more of a resource instead of a distraction during the program, I put some policies into place to ensure that the room was used to the best of its ability. I anticipated some campers coming into the space and not necessarily wanting to leave, so I placed an initial boundary on how long they could spend in the room during camp hours. After observing children using the space throughout the week, I discovered that 5-10 minutes was an ideal time frame for the kids to spend there. They always had to be accompanied by one of their adult or student crew leaders for the time that they visited the room. The space was also available to families briefly before camp and after for kids who wanted more time.

Cozy Corner

A cozy corner was a must-have for this space. In order to create this area, I laid down a soft washable rug and placed two comfy folding chairs with rainforest-themed plushies and pillows. Some stackable colorful cushions were also included for comfortable seating as well. This area also included some rainforest themed books and a set of Bibles for various ages.

Writing Station

The writing station included some rainforest themed notecards for campers to write a prayer or an encouraging note to a friend.

Coloring & Sticker Station

The coloring and sticker station was one of our most popular stations in the room for the week. This station included cardstock in various colors, rainforest-themed stickers, Washi tape, coloring pages, and rainbow scratch art paper cut into butterflies and other bugs. There was also an 8-cup caddy placed on the table in between the two stations that contained crayons, colored pencils, markers, pencils, and sharpeners.

Butterfly Wall

In an attempt to give the campers an authentic rainforest experience, I decided to create a butterfly search and find wall. This wall was designed using paper chain vines and a green plastic tablecloth. I printed out some real butterflies that could be found in the rainforest and taped them to the vines at various heights for the campers to see. I included a flip book guide for them to use along with some magnifying glasses and dry erase markers.

Other Activities

Because the space was designed for campers ages K-rising 6th grade, I wanted to include some other activities that everyone could enjoy, especially for campers who prefer more hands-on activities. Some of these activities included LEGOs, Magna-Tiles, a marble run set, and a rainforest floor puzzle.

Sensory Station

The final area in the room was the sensory station. This station included a color changing ball light, pom-pom sorting, a small rainforest/jungle playset with plastic bugs, and a few sensory bottles that contained rice, water beads, pony and letter beads, and beans. 

I hope this post inspires you to create your own sensory room for your VBS.

Have you ever thought about creating a safe and quiet place for your campers to recharge and refocus during the business of VBS programming?

Back-to-School Bargains to Grab for Your Kidmin

Kathie Phillips

Back-to-School Bargains to Grab for Your Kidmin

For as long as I can remember, back-to-school sales have always excited me.  As a student, I loved school so shopping for new supplies was something I always looked forward to.  As a mom, ordering new backpacks and shopping with my children for their supplies thrilled me.  (We kind of made a big deal out of back-to-school shopping!)

In this season of my life, shopping back-to-school sales look different.  Now it means snagging great bargains for our kidmin!

Ministry budgets can be tight, so shopping sales is a great way to steward your resources.  Take advantage of these phenomenal deals and save your ministry dollars.  Stock up now on:

  • Crayons
  • Markers
  • Pencils
  • Pens
  • Colored pencils
  • Glue (liquid and sticks)
  • Pocket folders
  • Index cards
  • Sticky notes
  • Laptops/Desk tops
  • Tablets
  • Printer ink/toner
  • Copy paper
  • Scissors
  • Storage bins/crates
  • Bean bag chairs
  • Notebooks
  • Notebook paper
  • Clipboards
  • Tape
  • Staplers and staples
  • Dry erase boards and markers
  • Paper clips
  • Highlighters
  • Journals
  • Planners
  • Bulletin board supplies (fadeless paper, borders, etc.)
  • Tables and chairs

Shop for these items in your local retail stores, online, and teacher supply stores.

What items do you stock up on during back-to-school sales?

Get Creative with 8 KidMin Learning/Activity Stations

Kathie Phillips

Learning & Activity Stations

A few months ago, I wanted to create a different kind of Sunday morning learning experience for our elementary students. This was because our weekly curriculum’s lesson for a that particular week missed the mark in several areas, prompting this change:

1. All of the activities relied primarily on question and answer-style responses.

2. The curriculum assumed that all of the children who attended were familiar with navigating the Bible (which, on that particular Sunday, just wasn’t the case).  In my opinion, this would make our non-churched or less Bible-literate children feel very uncomfortable (or gasp – even bored).

So…I brainstormed how to solve this issue and landed on having the children rotate through activity stations after our large group worship and Bible story time.  We offered 3 stations for our Sunday morning experience:

Arrival Time

  • Coloring & Activity Pages (I printed off coloring and activity pages from our curriculum as well as word searches that I found online)
  • Active Games

Post-Large Group Time

  • Active Games
  • Snack (we don’t usually serve snacks in our elementary area, so this was a special treat)
  • Object Lesson & Worship Response

Every time we’ve changed up the format in this way, it’s been a big hit.  Sometimes, we have our leaders stationed at one area for the entire morning (so they only have to really focus on preparing for one thing).  Other times, we have them rotate through with their group.  Either way, it works and the kids love it.

If you’re looking for ways to get the kids learning in a different way, don’t be afraid to give learning/activity stations a try.  Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Games

I suggest doing a mix of high-energy and low-energy options that correspond to the day’s lesson.  Use a high-energy option if your other stations are more reflective or slower paced; use a low-energy option if your morning will include a lot of stimulating elements.  Check out my favorite Pinterest-inspired games here.

Arts and Crafts

Kids love being creative!  Set out a variety of art supplies and let the children express their individuality.  Items such as paints, modeling clay, construction paper, beads, pipe cleaners, craft sticks and markers are things you should keep on hand for this.  Check out my favorite Pinterest-inspired crafts here.

Worship Response/Quiet Reflection

Sometimes kids just need a place to sit and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to them.  Create this atmosphere by having soft lighting, gentle music and flameless candles.  Provide journals or index cards for the kids to jot down prayer requests or provide another prayer station option.  Check out my favorite Pinterest-inspired prayer ideas here.

Snacks

What child doesn’t love a snack?  What child wouldn’t love a snack that went along with a Bible story?  Check out my favorite Pinterest-inspired snack ideas here.

Missions/Service

How can you offer kids a chance to think outside of the church walls?  Can you invite a missionary in to share?  Is there a local mission you can partner with?  Check out my favorite Pinterest-inspired outreach ideas here.

Coloring/Activity Pages

Our younger children (2nd grade and younger) love to color, while our older children (3rd-5th grade) enjoy crossword puzzles, word searches, word scrambles and brain teasers.  When we use these, they always correspond to the day’s lesson.  What I love about this station is that it provides a quieter spot for children who need that.

Drama (Skits, Puppets, Pantomime)

I love the chance for children to express themselves in a creative way!  Provide puppets, props and skits and let children act out the bible story or a real-life situation.  Or – provide supplies for the children to create their own puppets, props and skits.  You’ll not only see their creative side but you’ll also see their personalities shine!

Object Lessons

Sometimes, there is no better way to bring home a point than doing an object lesson.  On the Sunday referenced above, we used one of my favorite object lessons.  The children were mesmerized.  There are great options available that would complement many Bible stories.  Check out my favorite Pinterest-inspired object lessons here.

Keep the conversation going!  What learning/activity stations would you add to the list?

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