iKidmin

This year we wanted to do something different instead of our usual Valentine Banquet Fund Raiser.  This event killed three birds with one stone: It was a fund raiser. We charged $10 for those staying 6pm-11-pm and $20 for overnighters  It was a chance for us to hang out with the kids (one of our favorite things to do!) It was a Spring Break event for kids.   Once we agreed on having the event for K-6th we decided to make it a lock-in for 3-6th grade. This is the age-group that is eligible to attend preteen camp this summer so this was an opportunity to find out if  sleeping away from home was something the kids can handle.  They did great! There are always those that aren't sure if they can stay away all night so this was a perfect "safe" way to test the waters. Choosing the Theme: I had just recently downloaded some lessons from CMD and "How to Train Your Attitude" was one of the units. We decided to use that as our base and watch the

Praise God he arose! Thank you Jesus for what you did for me on the cross and that you are coming again! Amen! I had a good day of rest and celebration for Easter Sunday but now it's back to work. What's on my list this week? three team meetings to plan for this weekend PowerSource  planning meeting Friday evening VBS 2017 Leaders meeting Saturday morning PIT Crew monthly meeting and practice Sunday continue my plans for the VBS conference Monday. I teach the Children's Bible Study session at our association's annual conference for the Lifeway VBS curriculum.  The conference is in one week! I'm excited and nervous as usual.   These meeting plans will take most of my time this week.  Do you ever have weeks like this where there isn't much creativity going on and it's mostly administrative?  I can't figure out how they always fall this way but I have five meetings in the next 2-weeks! It's been meeting season for me.  I have to plan a

Sunday for children's worship we started a new Toy Box series and I set up the decorations on Saturday. It was lots of fun! The Etch A Sketch is crooked and it's annoying but it is what it is. Not one child commented on it and that's why I love kids. The hit of the day was "The Claw" prize box. I'll share how it works soon in another post. This week I have a variety of things to do and not sure what day they will happen so instead of a day by day outline I'm just going to list them:  make a toybox bulletin board for a prayer station. The idea is that the kids will write their prayer on a paper with a pic of a toy and place it in the toybox. finish filling the Easter goody bags and set up the station for kids to pick them up on Sunday get pics approved and processed for our kids facebook page set up for Wednesday PowerSource set up the DOT Store for Wednesday PowerSource (we didn't get it done last week!) I have a week off of les

Today's notes come from Karl Bastian's Podcast Children's Ministry Podcast #10 Learning the Work of Play Learn the language and culture of kids. Speak in ways kids can relate to. "If they don't understand the message it will only be entertainment." - Pastor Karl A child's work = PLAY Play is a vital part of what kids do every day. Adults must learn to play. Jesus commanded us to be childlike (not childish). Five ways adults can learn to play. to explore: discover, adventure. have a sense of adventure, take kids to a new place, actually do things or just have that sense of discover in the lesson/story to experiment: bring things to church. be willing to try even if not so great at it role play: pretend, imagine, describe, become character, hat etc. compete: games, playful nature even when not playing an organized game. learn to laugh: enjoy life, have fun, be silly Not setting aside work to play but approaching life with a play

Today's notes are from Karl Bastian's Podcast  Children's Ministry Podcast #09 Part 1: Connecting with Kids Kidology - study of kids, how they think, relate, communicate and learn Culture of kids is different than ours Adjust to the culture Learn the language - How kids talk A) Humor - not necessarily jokes   1. Kids enjoy life - embrace the simple adventure of life   2. Kids are in a constant state of pretend   3. Discover the power of the imaginative "IF" what if this...or that... (NOTE: This is the MOST POWERFUL) Disclaimer:  Forgive any choppiness or random ideas since they are *my* notes.  If they help you then I'm glad, but if they don't feel free to leave a comment and ask a question and I will do my best to answer. I will always link to the source so you can learn for yourself from the original.  I am just posting them here to reduce clutter of tons of half used notebooks on my desk. 

Today's notes are from Karl Bastian's podcast. Children's Ministry Podcast #08 What is Kidology? Get into the world of kids Provide opportunity for kids who are already Christians to answer a call from God. "Growing up's got nothing to do with serving God." - Karl's mom Learn everything you can to be a better children's evangelist. Stay engaged in the world of children. May look silly - but be dead serious about kids' souls and the gospel. Passion = engage in a relational "culture" of kids; like a foreign missionary Disclaimer:  Forgive any choppiness or random ideas since they are *my* notes.  If they help you then I'm glad, but if they don't feel free to leave a comment and ask a question and I will do my best to answer. I will always link to the source so you can learn for yourself from the original.  I am just posting them here to reduce clutter of tons of half used notebooks on my desk. 

Today's notes are from Karl Bastian's podcast. Children's Ministry Podcast #03 How to show kids L.O.V.E. L - learn about them, learn their names, family, pets, recreation, hobbies, dreams, What would you do with a million dollars? Pass out a survey, add their picture, use this as a prayer notebook (I have always intended to do this). O - observe them. Don't be so wrapped up in your own agenda that you don't notice what they are going through/feelings. observe their "stuff" connect V - value. Show them that they have value. Celebrate them - go nuts when they arrive, high fives etc. Heart speech...I don't have to be here... no martyr attitude There is nothing significant to a kid about you as their teacher. They always have an adult in charge. You are someone else. They realize value when we do something OUTSIDE the classroom. Most grown ups don't have time for kids through the week. Visit them at home.  E- encourage. Say something

I've cleared my calendar this week because....drumroll... I get to have my grandkids for 3 days! This is my first kidmin priority and I'm so excited.  They live out of state and I only get to see them a couple of times a year and I've never gotten to have them on my own. It's a Grammy's dream come true. So here's the plan for the week: Sunday - church, we don't have children's worship the first Sunday of the month we all meet together. I'm doing a skit with my dragon costume and we are going to sing our memory verse song on stage. Monday - take grandkids shopping and for bluebonnet pictures, I will miss a meeting tonight but the grands come first! Tuesday - play time with the grands Wednesday - more play time and PowerSource in the evening. We are teaching on the Lord's Supper and the whole Easter story this month. I teach the Bible story portion and plan on doing a little reenactment of the Lord's supper with the middle group.