June 2026

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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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

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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Filed Under Blog, Leadership, Volunteers

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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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Volunteers

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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Filed Under Leadership

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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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership

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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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

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
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