Pinterest Archives - KidMinspiration

Teaching Familiar Bible Stories

03/08/201603/08/2016 Kathie Phillips

Behind the Scenes: Children’s Ministry Magazine, March/April 2016

Teaching the Bible in fun, exciting and engaging ways is a challenge that every children’s ministry leader faces. Some weeks come together really well; other weeks not so much.

If you’re like me, you scour the internet (thank you, Pinterest!) for ideas and inspiration to help you knock the story out of the park each week. Then you pray and ask the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of those who’ll hear.

One of the dilemmas of a large group leader or teacher is to effectively teach the Bible to children who are familiar with the Bible AND kids who’ve never heard the stories before. How can you capture the attention of fresh ears while engaging kids who are familiar?

This was the inspiration behind my “Old Messages, New Truths”, my elementary column topic in the March/April 2016 issue of Children’s Ministry Magazine. In the column, I share 5 tips on how to do this. (You can find the tips on page 30.)

If you’re looking for even more ideas, check out my kidmin-themed Pinterest boards. You’ll find hundreds and hundreds of ideas to spur your creativity.

What methods have you found to maneuver this challenge? Share your ideas below!

A Peek Inside our Luau-Themed Volunteer Training

09/02/201509/02/2015 Kathie Phillips

This past Sunday, we hosted our annual Children’s Ministry volunteer training. It was the second year that we’ve themed this event. Last year, our theme was a tailgate. This year, we chose to do a Hawaiian Luau. It was so much fun and very well-received by our volunteers.

CM_LUAU1

This year, we wanted to include not only new and returning volunteers but those considering serving in our ministry as well. We had a packed room full of adults and students who responded to God’s call to join us in ministry this year. This was also the first year that we held our training on a Sunday after our morning services rather than a weeknight. We have found that having folks stay around when they’re already at church (and giving them lunch!) yields a much better turnout.

Guests arrived to a large room at our church that was decorated with Hawaiian flowers, leis, tiki bar backdrop and tropical colors (orange, yellow, lime green, hot pink and purple). Once inside the room, guests were welcomed, encouraged to pick up necessary paperwork, given a ticket for the chance to win fun prizes and allowed to choose a lei to wear.

Luau - pic 2 — Ministry area handbooks, adult applications (white) and student applications (purple)

Guests were then invited to help themselves to a delicious lunch buffet, which consisted of:

Footlong sub sandwiches (turkey, ham and veggie)
Potato chips
Edible beach balls (cheese balls)
Fresh fruit cups
Cookies
Hawaiian Punch and bottled water

Our tables were set with a simple centerpiece (a glass bowl filled with play sand, seashells and votive candles that we had on hand). Under each bowl was a sheet of chalkboard paper and pieces of chalk. At each set, we placed a “Say Yes to the Next Generation” notepad and a personalized pen.

After a little while of fellowship around the tables, we started with the business of the day. You can download our event outline here.

Here are a few of Pinterest-inspired ideas we used:

For even more ideas, check out my KidMin – Luau Pinterest board.

I wonder what next year’s theme will be…

It’s your turn to share! What fun volunteer training themes have you done? I’d also love to see your pictures! Upload them to our Facebook page.

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Your Volunteers

02/04/201502/04/2015 Kathie Phillips

Wise kidmin leaders know that volunteers are the heartbeat of our ministries. We simply cannot do ministry without them. Celebrating these faithful servants should happen regularly throughout the year but Valentine’s Day is a great time to shower them with love.

This year, our team selected this flip book from Christian Tools of Affirmation (CTA) to show our volunteers how much we appreciate them. We’ll have them available each week throughout the month of February (some of our volunteers only serve once a month, so we didn’t want to overlook anyone.)

In addition, we will do other special appreciation gestures such as special sweet treats and a hot chocolate bar throughout the month of February.

If you’re undecided on how to honor your ministry volunteers this Valentine’s Day, you still have time to pull together a small token of appreciation. Pinterest is a great place to find ideas. To help you out, here are a few of my favorite ideas from the popular website. Most are relatively inexpensive and easy to assemble.

From iheartnaptime

From Orange Blogs

From gift cards, to plants, to food & candy, these 10 ideas are easy, heartfelt and budget-friendly.

Additional ideas from Orange can be round here.

From LifeWay Kids Ministry 101

Five free printable labels to accompany various pre-packaged candies.

From Love The Day

If your volunteers love donut holes as much as ours do, you’ll definitely want this printable to attach to the sweet treats.

From hersheys.com

Who doesn’t love chocolate from Valentine’s Day? Collect small fabric bags with ribbon drawstrings. Let your students fill each bag with chocolate Hershey Hearts and pull the drawstring (or tie the bag with a ribbon). Have the children make small cards that say, “Hugs to you, our wonderful volunteer.” Punch a hole in the corner of each card. Help the child tie the card to the ribbon. Present the candy bags to your volunteers with a word of thanks.

From Group Publishing

This keepsake book for volunteers and teachers weaves encouragement, uplifting Scripture, real stories, and more into a gift that’ll warm their souls—and help keep their enthusiasm for introducing kids to Jesus going strong.

For even more ideas, be sure to check out my Valentine’s Pinterest Board!

How are you celebrating your volunteers for Valentine’s Day? Let me know by leaving a comment below or on our Facebook page!

My 6 Favorite Pinterest-Inspired Valentine’s Crafts for Kids

02/03/201502/03/2015 Kathie Phillips

Valentine’s Day crafts are some of the cutest crafts that children will ever make! Here are 6 of my favorite Pinterest-inspired Valentine’s Day crafts for kids of all ages:

For Babies & Toddlers

From The Educators’ Spin On It

Have fun with your babies & toddlers this Valentine’s Day! This site has some great, hands-on ideas using items that you likely already have on hand. My favorites are:

Heart Cookie Cutters
Felt Hearts
Heart Scribbles Art
Heart Prints

From Second Grade Sparkle

I absolutely adore this heart mosaic craft. I hope to have our younger elementary children do this activity. You can adapt it for preschoolers by tracing a heart shape from contact paper and have preschoolers add pieces of tissue paper to make a stain-glass mosaic.

From Bible Wise

Preschoolers will love this simple heart mobile. And it’s easy prep for you – you’ll need scissors, crayons, hole punch and yarn.

From Preschool Crafts for Kids

Another craft your preschoolers and 1st graders will love. And the supply list is quite short.

Valentine Crafts - Heart Necklace — Heart Necklace

From Kinderart.com

Another heart mosaic craft but this is geared more toward elementary children and preteens because it provides a challenge for them. I think even boys might like the challenge.