Categories: Blog

Change the Name, Change the Game

At our Christmas Eve service and at other intergenerational services throughout the year where children attend the service with their parents, I have always created a “Busy Bar” with coloring pages, crayons, and small, quiet toys that kids can pick up to use during the service. But after studying family ministry in a seminary course on reaching families in the 21st century, I realized that my good intentions to promote intergenerational worship were encouraging an opposite mentality. Diana Garland, a family ministry expert, warns against providing distracting materials for intergenerational services because it unconsciously tells children that they will be bored and encourages them to disengage. While I do my best to relate the toys and activities to the main sermon points, even calling these items a “busy bar” encourages distraction...
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Instant Christmas Pageant (Just Add Kids)

[vc_row][vc_column 0=""][vc_column_text]Last Christmas (no, I didn’t give you my heart) but I went out on a limb for our Christmas Eve service and tried an instant Christmas pageant with our children. No practice. No rehearsals. Lots of cuteness. Basically, I read the Christmas story from Luke and kids acted out the scene on-stage with nativity masks. Our Christmas Eve services are family services, so children ages 4 and above attend with their parents and we try to include more interactive elements in the service than usual. The instant Christmas pageant turned out to be the best (and funniest) Christmas Eve element we ever did! [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=""][vc_column 0=""][vc_btn title="Click Here to Download the Instant Christmas Pageant Plan" align="center"...
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Pursue Peace in the Chaos of Christmas

[vc_row 0=""][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=""]"Peace on earth" is the mantra of the season and is what Jesus brings, but sometimes it can feel like Christmas is the least peaceful time of the year. With the shopping, wrapping, decorating, wish lists, tacky sweaters, the Christmas treats you have to make (and eat), and the numerous Christmas parties at school, with friends, with family, and with church, peace is often crowded out by the chaos of the Christmas season. The American Psychological Association did a study on holiday stress and found that the holiday season has "psychological consequences" for many people and that more people reported that their stress increases, rather than decreases, around the holidays. The APA reports that "holiday stress has a particular impact on women, who take charge of many of the holiday celebrations,...
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Christmas Volunteer Appreciation Ideas #2

[vc_row 0=""][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=""]Last week we shared a couple of Christmas Volunteer Appreciation Ideas that would really wow your team. This week, we’re sharing some equally amazing gifts, but for a smaller budget. Each download even comes in multiple color options! 1. Your volunteers have warmed your hearts, so you can warm their hands!  What you need: Hand Warmers (make your own or buy these in bulk), Deeper KidMin Pocket Hand Warmers Printable, assembly supplies (twine, ribbon, bows, etc.) Optional: Avery 5395 Labels for easy assembly - just print, peel, and stick on the hand warmers packets! Price point: ~$1 per volunteer (hard to beat that) We even made our own hand warmers one year by filling flannel, microwave-safe fabric pockets with mint-infused rice! Pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, and...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership, Volunteers

Ice Cream Sundaes for Thanksgiving

We had ice cream sundaes instead of turkey for Thanksgiving this year. With my dad in the middle of chemo treatments, a sister who got her wisdom teeth out on Wednesday, and a mom with food intolerances, our Thanksgiving feast consisted of veggie soup and ice cream sundaes. I thought I would miss the turkey, the stuffing, and the pies (oh the pies), but I really didn’t. I thought the smell of roasted turkey wafting through the house and the sizzle of gravy popping on the stove would be missed, but it wasn’t. I was inadvertently equating Thanksgiving with the smells and tastes of the food we typically prepare, but this year was a great reminder that Thanksgiving is all about the people AT the table, not the food ON the table. Even though it wasn’t a traditional Thanksgiving meal, we “received our food with glad and generous hearts”...
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Christmas Volunteer Appreciation Ideas

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=""]It's Christmas time! OK, OK, it's really only Thanksgiving, but in the world of ministry, that means you're already thinking ahead to Christmas (and hopefully have been for a while). Spread some Christmas cheer to your volunteers this year using one of our free printables for Christmas volunteer appreciation gifts.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="2px"][vc_btn title="Click Here to Download Christmas Volunteer Appreciation Printables!" color="sky" align="center" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fproduct%2Fchristmas-volunteer-appreciation-bundle-1%2F||target:%20_blank|"][vc_column_text]1. Let your volunteers know they're worth more than a pot of gold! What you need: A Hershey's Pot of Gold for every volunteer, the Deeper KidMin Pot of Gold Printable Download, Avery 5164 labels Price...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership, Volunteers

Fishes and Loaves – Kids Service Project

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Each November, we host a service project called Fishes and Loaves where our children prepare freezer meals for children in foster families. We partner with the 111 Project, but this is an easy service project you could do with your ministry too, no matter where the meals go! (Hint: Check with your Care/Hospitality Team; they're always looking for meals to bless someone with!)[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Click Here to Download the Fishes and Loaves Service Project Plan! " color="sky" align="center" link="url:http%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fproduct%2Ffishes-and-loaves-kids-service-project%2F||target:%20_blank|"][vc_column_text] How it works: Collect offering from kids church for a few months, or use money from a designated missions budget. Use that money to buy the ingredients yourself. (Use a...
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May the Faith Be With You Kids Bible Review

In a galaxy not so far, far away, ZonderKidz (a branch of Zondervan) just released a brand new Bible for children with a Star Wars theme that invites kids to "apprentice under the Ultimate Master himself - Jesus Christ". In the May the Faith Be With You Bible, the colorful inserts invite kids to "use the force" of God's Word in their everyday lives and look deeper into "master moments" that highlight God's role as the Creator and Jesus' role as Savior. Many of the inserts seem similar to inserts found in other ZonderKidz Bibles, just updated to fit the overall theme. It includes the complete text of the NIrV version of the Bible, which takes the NIV and uses definitions for big words rather than the words themselves and is set at a 3rd grade reading level. I like using this version when teaching, but wouldn't want it for a child's Bible...
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Filed Under Blog, Book Shelf

3 Tips To Make Your Environment Welcoming For Kids

[vc_row 0=""][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=""]I just recently started working part-time with a company called Displayit at Church that offers displays, banners, portable check-in counters, and more for churches to use in their ministry endeavors. We used Displayit at Church products to help transform a local high school into a church each Sunday, and now I have the opportunity to be on the team that makes that a reality for other churches too! Last week, I made a video for Displayit at Church giving kidmin leaders tips for making their environments welcoming for kids, and I thought I’d share those tips here too. So if you want to make sure that your environment is exciting and welcoming for kids… 1) Use lots of bright colors! Let your displays communicate to kids how much fun they’re going to have with you in your program. Bright, bold...
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Response to Shooting at FBC of Sutherland Springs, TX

[vc_row][vc_column 0=""][vc_column_text]My worst nightmare happened at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas this past weekend. I won’t go into details of the situation because you can read about those in the many news articles circulating the web this morning, but I wanted to share my thoughts and hopefully some encouragement with our community. Because it was our community that was affected. It may have happened in a small Texas town, but through our shared faith in Jesus Christ, we are deeply connected to this tragedy, even if we were not directly touched by its events. As a children’s pastor, one of my reoccurring nightmares included an active shooter walking into the high school where we met and how my team and I would handle the situation. These nightmares always occurred on Saturday night and left me on edge throughout the...
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Connect with Kids Throughout the Week with Crew Cards

[vc_row 0=""][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=""]How do you connect with the children in your ministry throughout the week? One way we did this was by asking each volunteer to take just a couple minutes after Sunday service to write a postcard to a child. We provide postcards and pens in Crew Card Folders, they pull out a pre-addressed postcard, jot down a quick note, and then stick it right back in the folder. We mail the postcard for them on Monday morning, and kids are PUMPED to receive mail from their leaders at church.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title="Click Here to Download Your Crew Cards Printables" color="sky" align="center" link="url:http%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fproduct%2Fcrew-cards%2F||target:%20_blank|"][vc_single_image image="3277" img_size="full" alignment="center"][vc_column_text]Now you might be thinking, that seems like a lot of...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership, Volunteers

Candy Appreciation Labels (Free Printables!)

[vc_row][vc_column 0=""][vc_btn title="Click Here to Get Your Candy Appreciation Labels!" color="sky" align="center" link="url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeeperkidmin.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F10%2FCandy-Appreciation-Labels.pdf|target:_blank"][vc_column_text]Any candy that doesn't get passed out on Halloween or at the Fall Fest comes home to live with me (and it doesn't last very long). So this year, I decided to find a new home for all that leftover candy, and my waistline will thank me for it. You can get all that sugary goodness out of your house too AND let your volunteers know how much you appreciate them at the same time. Talk about a win-win! Use these free printable labels for 12 different candy bars to remind your volunteers how awesome they are using fun size or mini-size candy. Even if you don't have much candy left over...
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The Paradox of New

[vc_row][vc_column 0=""][vc_column_text]There’s been a lot of NEW in my life lately. New job, new personal business, new class in seminary, new boots for the fall season. And honestly, sometimes the new can be absolutely terrifying (except for my boots – they’re super cute). New brings you to the edge of the unknown and just shoves you right in the deep end. It requires quick adaptability and a high level of emotional energy to handle all the situations coming your way that you’ve never experienced before. I’m having to learn about website coding and SEO’s, and the world of digital marketing is a whole realm of unknown that often leaves me cross-eyed. New also means letting go of something so you can grab onto what God has for you next. But letting go is hard. Part of me is still grieving what I had to leave behind to step into this...
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16 Delegation Tips from Disney

[vc_row][vc_column 0=""][vc_column_text]Raise your hand if you struggle with delegating? (*both hands raised over here*). We come up with a million reasons NOT to delegate... It’s just easier if I do it myself. It will get done faster if I just do it myself. I want to make sure it’s done right. I just don’t know who to ask. I don’t want to inconvenience anybody else; after all, isn’t this part of my job? But handing over smaller tasks (and even some bigger ones) to your team can free up your mental energy and your schedule to dream big for your ministry, and we shouldn't do ministry alone. Here are 16 tips from Disney that can help you be a better delegator.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] 1. Make a list of what others could be doing and let them do it! You focus on the bare...
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6 Ways to Make Scripture Memory Fun!

  Scripture memory can be a daunting goal to accomplish, even as adults, but the importance of hiding God’s Word in our hearts is undeniably valuable. Check out some of the ideas below for making memorizing Scripture fun (and therefore easier) for you and your kids. We’ve used several in our ministry context, and they are easy to apply at home or in your ministry too! 1) Make it a game! There are SO MANY ways to make memorizing scripture a game, and the more fun your kids are having, the more they’ll want to memorize! Click on the image below to download a copy of my favorite Scripture Memory Games. 2) Sing it Out! – Make up your own song, chant, cheer, or rap using the words in the verse. You could also check out several resources that are readily available for you and your family. JumpStart3 and Seeds Family Worship both...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership

In the Middle of the Mess (Lit Lowdown)

[vc_row 0=""][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="2970" img_size="medium" onclick="custom_link" link="https://amzn.to/2SbW0zA"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text 0=""] In the Middle of the Mess: Strength for this Beautiful, Broken Life By Sheila Walsh My rating: 3/5 stars - It was OK.     Read: October 2017[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=""][vc_column 0=""][vc_column_text 0=""]This book is for you if... you are a believer struggling to see how your mess fits into your faith, you or someone you know struggles with mental illness or depression, or you want to read one woman’s story of defeating the darkness with God’s light. My thoughts: Honestly, it’s hard to give 3 stars to a book that is someone vulnerably sharing their heart-wrenching story of darkness and redemption; it...
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7 Psalms to Encourage A Child

[vc_row 0=""][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=""]In a recent post about blessing your child, we mentioned that reading Scripture to them and over them can be an easy first step. Using Scripture to encourage your child is also a great way to instill the importance of God's Word and teach them a reliance on God. We studied through the book of Psalms in our small group last year, diving into a variety of themes and circumstances the different psalmists deal with.  One of my favorite things about the Psalms is the examples they give us about how to deal with different emotions and how to talk to God about how we are feeling. While these Psalms can be a great source of encouragement for you as an adult, sharing the Psalms with your kids can be a great way to help them understand that it's OK to be angry, sad, frustrated, lonely, mournful, etc. and how to...
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3 Easy Steps to Speak Blessings Over Your Child

[vc_row 0=""][vc_column 0=""][vc_column_text 0=""]Last year I attended a class at my church that focused on how to walk in the freedom Christ has given us through taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. One of the topics we hit on was the importance of speaking blessings and truth over ourselves, using Scripture as a way to remind ourselves of our identity, worth, and purpose. For parents, this habit extends to your children too. Speaking a blessing over your child allows them to understand their worth and begin to walk in the identity Christ has for them. Blessings give children the opportunity to hear affirmation from their parents while connecting that earthly need for acceptance and love with a spiritual level of acceptance and love. Sound intimidating or just plain awkward? It doesn't have to be! Speaking a blessing can be...
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Levels of Biblical Learning

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]LifeWay has created an awesome resource that we used at our volunteer training, to help shape our VBS curriculum, and more! The Levels of Biblical Learning cover 10 concept areas that children can conceptually learn and understand at each stage of their lives as they study God’s Word. These LOBL helped shape our VBS curriculum this year and they guide the curriculum we use on Sunday mornings to ensure that each age group interacts with God’s Word and ideas about faith at an age-appropriate level. It’s a great reminder that even your sweet infant can start to understand things about God, and your 2nd grader who asks all the questions is really just trying to make connections to his own life! Check out an overview of the LOBL here, and click on your child’s age group below for a full list of what our...
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Resource Highlight: The Aetherlight

[vc_row][vc_column 0=""][vc_video link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y8A65im5D0"][vc_column_text]Join the Resistance and get your kids hooked on a game you'll actually want them to play! I learned about this resource last year at a Children's Pastor's Conference, but it has stepped up its game (no pun intended) since then and is ready for your kids to explore! The Aetherlight: Chronicles of the Resistance is an online computer game (also available for ipads I believe) that encourages kids to join the Resistance and fight the Fog that has taken over Aethasia, creating an allegory for the story of the Bible. The world of Aethasia is a mysterious steampunk land, once ruled by a benevolent Great Engineer, but now ruled by the evil emperor Lucky and his army of mechanical automatons. As a player in this world, your child is part of a Resistance...
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