2026

God Chooses Me Pumpkin Object Lesson

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] Use pumpkins to help teach kids that God chooses and loves them, just the way they are! It begins with showing kids various pumpkins (or letting them pick out their own pumpkin), then dives into a lesson from 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Use this object lesson at your fall event, as a supplement a Sunday morning lesson, or explore the full series this lesson comes from here! Find even more fall resources for your children’s ministry here! [/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Download here! " css="" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F07%2FDKM-god-chooses-me-pumpkin-object-lesson.pdf|target:_blank"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="162101" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=""...
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10 Unique Fall Family Events

Are you looking for a unique fall family event to host in your ministry this autumn, but don't want to host another Trunk or Treat or Fall Fest? Check out one of these unique ideas the families in your ministry will love! Escape Room or Mystery Event - Set up a fall escape room or host an adventure challenge/mystery night! We love this mini fall escape room as an add-on element, or you can invite families into the Mystery of the Misplaced Jewel where they'll work together to solve the mystery of Penelope Peabody’s misplaced jewel while also discovering an important Biblical truth: God has a plan. PNO - Host a Parents' Night Out to give the parents in your ministry a break! We've got a fall-themed Pumpkins and PJs PNO, and lots more to choose from, including Nerf Wars and Mad Science! Service Project - Invite families to serve together...
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Grandparents as Co-Disciplers: Leveraging September for Family Ministry

Grandparents Day happens every September (this year it's September 13), but it doesn't have to be one Sunday where you hand out flowers and call it done. If you treat it as just a single moment instead of a doorway, you're leaving the biggest untapped discipleship resource in your church sitting in the pews. Grandparents aren't a nice bonus to family ministry. For a lot of your kids, they're one of the most consistent faith influences outside your ministry. They often have more margin than busy parents. They have decades of stories about God's faithfulness that no curriculum could ever recreate. They babysit, pick kids up from school, come to ball games, spend weekends together, and pray faithfully behind the scenes. Parents are often shaping faith in the everyday rhythms. Grandparents have the unique opportunity to reinforce those rhythms with...
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What Happens When AI Answers Kids’ Questions Before They Even Ask Them (And What That Means for Discipleship)

A kid types "who created the world" into Google. Before they finish the sentence, AI produces a full paragraph. They read it, close the tab, move on. Question answered. Wonder never started. Common Sense Media just rated Google's AI search features as an "unacceptable risk" for children, and 75% of U.S. teens and tweens are already using it. It can't be turned off even with SafeSearch on, and it answers with equal confidence whether it's right or wrong. The content concerns are real. But the discipleship concern underneath them is the one ministry leaders need to sit with. In the four Gospels, Jesus gets asked a question 187 times, and do you know how many he directly answers? Three. In contrast, Jesus is recorded as asking over 300 questions. Jesus didn't just answer questions automatically; instead, He asked questions to engage people's...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership, Volunteers

7 Design Tips Every Kids Ministry Leader Should Know

I'm so excited for our Canva Confidence online workshop happening this Thursday, August 20 as we dive into the basic principles of good design, discover time-saving Canva features, and create ministry resources you can actually use right away. (Save your spot for the workshop here). We've partnered with Church Visuals for this workshop, and we're excited to share a guest blog post from them this week... Kids are visual learners, and every visual is communicating something, whether you intended it to or not. As ministry leaders, we have the greatest message ever told. Our job isn't to entertain kids; it's to communicate the Gospel as clearly as possible. Quality visuals help remove distractions so kids can focus on what matters most: Jesus. Whether you're creating graphics in Canva or another design program, I want to give you seven...
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Partnering with Parents Carousel Post Canva Template

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]Use this Canva template to quickly and easily create 2 carousel social media posts for your children’s ministry that encourage parents in discipling their kids at home! Change the wording, modify the colors, etc. to fit your ministry best. Note: Canva Pro account required to use the templates as-is. You can modify the elements to free elements if you don’t have a Canva Pro account.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Download template link in PDF form here!" css="" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F07%2FDKM-Carousel-Post-Template-Freebie.pdf|target:_blank"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="184143" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=""...
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Free Back-to-School Graphic from Church Visuals

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]Our friends over at Church Visuals are offering a free back-to-school graphic! Create a free account with them to access the graphic here, and find all of our Church Visuals graphics on Deeper KidMin here.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Download from Church Visuals for free here!" css="" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fchurchvisuals.com%2Fproduct%2Fback-to-school-start-the-year-off-right-ministry-graphics%2F|target:_blank"][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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6 People to Celebrate With As a New Semester Begins

A few years ago, my word for the year was celebration, and I confessed that celebration is a spiritual discipline I often skip over in pursuit of the next goal, event, or task. So I've tried to be more intentional about taking time to reflect and celebrate. Want to join me? As we head into back-to-school season, consider celebrating with different groups of people in your ministry: Volunteers - Weave celebration into every interaction or gathering you have with your volunteers (especially your annual volunteer training!). It boosts morale, reminds them of their purpose, and keeps their enthusiasm for serving high! (More on celebrating your volunteers here.) Parents/Grown-ups - Grown-ups love hearing positive stories about the kids in their lives. Share major milestones and even small wins with the grown-ups of the kids in your ministry...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership, Volunteers

5 Things Every KidMin Leader Needs to Know About Gen Alpha

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]You can have a solid curriculum, fun games, and the most organized (or at least the fullest) supply closet in the building, but if you're not factoring in who today's kids actually are, the amount of supplies you have and prep you do doesn't matter. Here are five realities shaping how Gen Alpha learns, connects, and grows in faith, and what that actually means for your Sunday: They're digital first - For this generation, screens aren't a tool. They're the environment. Kids are learning through videos, apps, and short-form content from a very young age, and it's shaping how long they can focus, how fast they expect an answer, and how they process anything that isn't moving. Faith formation is now competing with constant stimulation, which means a kid can know the Bible story and still struggle to...
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5 Everyday Moments Families Can Use To Grow Their Faith This School Year

Back-to-school season is full of opportunities to encourage families, but it's also easy to overwhelm them in this busy season. As children's ministry leaders, we should be hyper-aware of the importance of back-to-school season for our families and walk alongside them in all the excitement, nerves, and school supplies. The best way to support families in this season? Give them a resource that already fits into a moment they're living. What if we helped families recognize the everyday moments as they get back into the school day routine, then handed them exactly what fits there? Faith takes root in the ordinary rhythms of everyday life just as much as (if not more than) it does in a Sunday morning program. Here are five simple moments you can equip families to use this school year to help build their faith: Before They Leave the House...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

Back-to-School Family Conversation Cards

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]Share these cards with the families in your ministry to provide a unique opportunity for families to engage in meaningful conversations about their days, especially during the back-to-school season. These cards ask questions that help children and parents build spiritual faith together as they talk about how they saw God move, ways they cultivated the fruit of the Holy Spirit into their day, and things they noticed that might have been interesting. Copy the pages onto cardstock for better durability, then give each family a set of cards to use when kids get home from school or at the dinner table. Each day, families will choose 1 card to discuss together.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Download them here! " align="center" css=""...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads

9 Promotion Sunday Themes For Your Children’s Ministry

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]Promotion Sunday is one of my favorite days of the whole year! It always has such a great energy as kids are excited to move up into a new class or small group. We host ours right before school starts, so there’s the added excitement of the back-to-school season too! I like to make the morning extra special and something out of the ordinary to celebrate all of the new beginnings. Whether you’re adding a fun theme to your already-planned curriculum or making the whole morning all about Promotion Sunday, here are a few fun Promotion Sunday themes! Promotion Sundaes – I’ve always wanted to host a giant ice cream party on Promotion Sunday and make special ice cream sundaes with the kids! Peel some bananas, scoop some ice cream, and drizzle some chocolate syrup for a tasty celebration. Then...
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6 Ideas for Following Up After Summer Events

Summer is often a busy season in ministry with extra events, special services, and even overnight trips. So much planning and preparation go into these events that we can sometimes forget about the importance of following up AFTER the events are over! But we miss out on crucial opportunities to connect with families when we ignore the follow-up opportunities that summer events provide. So here are 6 ideas for following up after your summer event(s). Plan ahead. Make your follow-up procedure part of the planning process for the entire event. So while you're thinking about VBS decorations, volunteer appreciation, and worship playlists, think about how you can follow up with families after your event is over. When you include the follow-up in the main planning of the event itself, it helps make sure follow-up doesn't slip through the post-event...
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Asking for Feedback in Your KidMin (Because Guessing What’s Working Isn’t a Strategy)

We spend a lot of time wondering why things aren't working... Why the volunteer stopped serving. Why that event fell flat. Why a parent seemed frustrated but never said anything. Most of the time, the answer is sitting right there waiting for us. We just haven't asked for it. Feedback is how we actually see our ministries clearly, and asking for it well is a skill worth building, so here are some tips for gathering feedback well and intentionally in your children's ministry: Start with yourself. Before you ask anyone else, do your own honest debrief. If you've already named what could've gone better, it doesn't sting as much when someone else brings it up.  Build a culture where feedback is normal. Ask your key volunteers and parents consistently, not just after something goes wrong. A volunteer feedback system or a parent council that meets a...
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Discipleship Happens One Drop at a Time

My family spends a week at the beach every summer for our family vacation. One year, our 2-year-old wanted to fill up her big bucket with water, but it was too heavy for her to carry with water in it. So she decided to use a small bucket to fill up the larger one. She placed the large bucket on the beach and started walking back and forth from the water to the beach, a distance of nearly 40 yards, since the tide was low and the shore was long. She didn't start with much water in the little bucket each time, and along the way, most of the water in the little bucket got sloshed and splashed out. I recommended she move the larger bucket closer to fill it up, but that was too logical for a 2-year-old. So she walked back and forth, back and forth for over an hour, from the water to the beach, filling up her big bucket of water with drops from her...
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VBS Volunteer Appreciation That Will Make Them Want to Serve Year After Year

VBS doesn't happen because of a great theme, a solid schedule, or a killer decoration plan. It happens because faithful volunteers show up day after day and pour themselves into kids. They arrive early, stay late, manage chaos with a smile, and give their energy to help kids experience Jesus in a meaningful way. That kind of investment deserves more than a quick “thanks” on the last day. If you want your VBS volunteers to feel seen, valued, and excited to come back next year, appreciation has to be intentional. Not flashy. Not expensive. Just thoughtful and well-timed. Here are some practical, realistic ways to appreciate your VBS volunteers in ways that actually matter: Appreciation starts before VBS begins. One of the most overlooked ways to honor volunteers is by making it easy to volunteer in the first place. Clear communication...
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VBS Volunteer Appreciation Ideas

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]If you want your VBS volunteers to feel seen, valued, and excited to come back next year, appreciation has to be intentional. Not flashy. Not expensive. Just thoughtful and well-timed. Here are some practical, realistic ways to appreciate your VBS volunteers in ways that make them want to serve at VBS again next year. This resource is included in our full VBS Planning Bundle.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="DOWNLOAD HERE! " align="center" css=""...
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Today’s Kids Learn Like Rocket Ships: 3 Keys to Engage Them on Sunday Mornings

I shared this story in my book all about digital discipleship in children's ministry, and it's one I think of often (it brings a smile to my face every time)! It sets up this week's blog post perfectly: One day while helping me clean out my home office, my then 2-year-old found one of my old laptop computers. She immediately slid it in front of her on the floor, opened it, and began tapping on the keys. I haven’t touched it in years, and I don’t think it even turns on anymore, so I let her play with it. She spent almost 45 minutes “working on projects” and even having online meetings about planning for VBS. (Can you tell she’s a ministry kid?). She even grabbed her Minnie Mouse cell phone while working to “text a friend” and take a selfie with her new computer. I never sat her down and explicitly taught her how to use a laptop or a...
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20 Plug-and-Play Curiosity Questions to Increase Engagement on Sunday Mornings

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]Sparking curiosity is one of the best ways to engage today’s learners. (Find more details about that here.) Choose 3-4 of the questions below to spark curiosity during your teaching time each Sunday. You could even share this printable with your volunteers to choose 1-2 questions to use during small group time.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Download a Printable Version here! " align="center" css="" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2FDKM-20-Plug-and-Play-Curiosity-Questions-to-increase-engagement-on-Sunday-mornings.pdf|target:_blank"][vc_column_text css=""]START WITH CURIOSITY (Hook them at the beginning) Use these to grab attention & pull kids in as you introduce the story: What do you think is going to happen? What would you do if you were in...
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The Baby Boom That Reshaped One Leader’s KidMin Strategy

Every kids ministry has seasons. Sometimes you’re swimming in 4th graders. Sometimes everyone moves up to the youth group at once. And sometimes, like at Trinity Church in Larchmont, NY, your nursery suddenly becomes the most crowded room in the building. I chatted with Kathleen Jaoudi, a DKM Vendor (find all Kathleen's resources here) and the Children’s Pastor at Trinity Church, about the baby boom they experienced over the last year. “We average 35 to 45 kids on a Sunday,” she told me. “Those stats have flipped in the last year from mostly 1st to 5th graders to mostly 0 to 4 year olds.” When Kathleen returned from maternity leave, she started hearing pregnancy announcements. Then more. Then she and her team started counting. “We realized we would have 8 babies born between February and June 2025, including a set of twins,”...
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Book Recommendations for Baby Dedications + Church Nursery

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]It’s never too early to start building a faith foundation, even for babies and little ones. Gifting young families a special book or other faith-based resource when welcoming a new baby, either at birth or at a baby dedication, is a great way to equip and encourage new parents to disciple their kids! The list below comes from Kathleen Jaoudi, a DKM Vendor and a children’s pastor in NY and also includes some other favorites. Kathleen’s ministry experienced a baby boom one year when they welcomed 11 new babies in a short time frame! She shares more about her experiences here and shared her list below based on her experiences both personally and as a ministry leader during the baby boom. Order a few copies for the new babies in your ministry, or keep them in the nursery for Sunday...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

6 Father’s Day Games to Play in Your Children’s Ministry

What better way to honor dads and father figures than with some fun games! Play these games in your children's ministry this Father's Day! (Find all of our Father's Day resources here!) Does Dad Have Hair on His Chinny Chin Chin? - In this on-screen game, kids/families must guess if the dad in each family photo has a beard or not. It's wildly hilarious and harder than you think! Dad Jokes Showdown - Pick a few kids to come up front and deliver their best (or worst) dad joke. Invite kids up in groups of 2-3 and let the room vote for their favorite each round. (You could even use this 5-minute Dad Jokes countdown to introduce the game!) Who's That Hero? - Write names/jobs on name tags (superheroes, Bible heroes, everyday heroes like teacher, firefighter, policeman, etc.) and put a name tag on each child's back. Kids walk around and ask...
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Father’s Day + Mother’s Day Note Cards

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]Use these printable cards to invite kids to write a note to someone special for Mother’s Day and/or Father’s Day! There are 4 cards to a page. Print on cardstock, then cut into 4ths. Set up a note-writing station for kids to write a note to a special person in their lives for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. There are generic and “mom/dad”-specific cards.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Download here! " align="center" css="" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2FDKM-Fathers-Day-Mothers-Day-Note-Cards.pdf|target:_blank"][vc_column_text css=""] Find all of our Mother’s Day resources here. Find all of our Father’s Day resources...
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Podcasts Every Kidmin Leader Should Be Listening To

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""]When you turn learning into an intentional habit, your leadership grows. Podcasts are one of the simplest ways to keep growing and learning as a leader without adding more to your plate or using any of your budget. Podcasts are also great tools to use with an intern! Here are some of my favorite podcasts for kidmin leaders in 2026:[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Download Printable Version here!" align="center" css="" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2FDKM-Podcasts-every-kidmin-leader-should-listen-to-.pdf|target:_blank"][vc_column_text css=""] KidMin-Specific Podcasts: Kids Ministry Circle with Lauren Jackson The KidMin Huddle Podcast with Amber Pike The Lead Ministry Podcast with Josh Denhart Stained Glass Kids with Yancy The KidzMatter...
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This One Habit Could Change Your Sunday Mornings

What if the secret to better Sunday mornings was hiding in a stack of printed articles on a Wednesday afternoon? My friends joke that research is one of my spiritual gifts, and one of them claims that research is my parenting style (they're not wrong). So when I heard about a kidmin leader who does intentional research as a weekly habit, I knew I had to learn more. Meet Andrae Jones. Andrae is the Kids Pastor at One Community Church in Plano, TX, a multisite church with six campuses, where he oversees nursery through 4th grade. He'll tell you he's working with a lean team but that they have some of the most amazing volunteers ever. Andrae is also doing something that not enough kidmin leaders are doing. He's learning and researching. Consistently. Intentionally. Every single week. And it's changing how he leads. How It Started Andrae has always...
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