Wesleyan Kids: Lightbulb Moment #6 (Separation Anxiety)

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, News, WesoKids - Lightbulb Moments

Strategies for Dealing with Separation Anxiety at Sunday School It is very common for young children to get upset when their parents leave. Here are some strategies that can help you settle these little ones. 1. Recognise that separation anxiety is a phase of development. Children can experience this at different ages and to different intensities. Your job is to support them as they grow. 2. Provide a quiet corner where the children can choose to observe rather than participate in the activities. Some children need to watch for a while before they are willing to join in. 3. Establish … Read More

Wesleyan Kids: Lightbulb Moment #5 (Making Revision Fun)

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, News, WesoKids - Lightbulb Moments

A quick and fun way to revise last week’s lesson is to play a game of noughts and crosses. Divide the children into two teams. One team are crosses and the other team are noughts. You could just have the teams draw their symbols on a blackboard/whiteboard/paper but I like to have laminated symbols to actually hand to each team. The teams take turns to answer a question about last week’s lesson. If they are correct they get a symbol to place on the board. Then the normal rules of noughts and crosses apply.

Wesleyan Kids: Light Bulb Moment #4 (The Leaders Spirituality)

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, Ministry Resources, News, WesoKids - Lightbulb Moments

One of the challenges for many Sunday School teachers is that they miss out on the feeding provided by the sermon so that they can teach the children. Not a problem you think – I know what the Bible says anyway. But I want you to picture it like a bucket of water. Each week I take a cup of water out of the bucket to water the spiritual lives of the children. At first, I don’t see the level of water going down in my bucket until one day I start to feel spiritually dry myself because I have … Read More

Wesleyan Kids: Lightbulb Moment #3 (Setting Expectations)

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, Ministry Resources, News, WesoKids - Lightbulb Moments

Does this sound familiar? One Sunday Joan is teaching her Sunday School class. She is very laissez-faire with her expectations. The children can wander around and talk during the lesson and don’t need to ask permission to use the bathroom. The following Sunday, Ron comes in to teach the same class. He becomes very frustrated because the children do not sit and listen. The children can not understand why they are in trouble. What is the problem? Some could say that it is because you have different volunteers teaching the same class but that isn’t the issue. The problem is … Read More

Wesleyan Kids: Lightbulb Moment # 2 (Multi Age Sunday School Classes)

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, Ministry Resources, News, WesoKids - Lightbulb Moments

Multi Age Sunday School Classes Small churches regularly have one or maybe two Sunday School classes that provide for a wide range of students. While this has its challenges it can also provide leadership opportunities for the older children. Here are some tips to help you manage the classroom. 1) use the older children to help mentor the younger ones. They can help teach the actions to songs / buddy up with a younger child and be the scribe for an activity/ read the Bible passage / help with craft 2) make sure that some part of each lesson is … Read More

Wesleyan Kids: Lightbulb Moment # 1 (Wrap Up)

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, Ministry Resources, News, WesoKids - Lightbulb Moments

Each week I am going to post a Lightbulb Moment for you to contemplate. These are often insights from my own children’s ministry that I wish I had thought about earlier. Wrap Up How do you know that the children have learnt the lessons that you have been trying to teach them? One form of revision that has worked well for me is having a Celebration Day at the end of the term that relooks at the theme through fun and games. When we had been studying the life of Moses we set up 10 activities to remind the children … Read More

Homeless in Lockdown

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, Community Ministry, COVID-19, Good News Stories, Homelessness, News

For most of us, lockdown came with a silver lining – homes to be locked down in!  Not so, for a number of people in our communities for whom homelessness is a daily reality. Prior to lockdown cession|community, a Wesleyan Church in the eastern suburbs of Auckland became involved with the work of Humanity NZ. Humanity NZ ministers to the homeless in the Auckland CBD through the provision of food, clothing and support to get off the street. When the call went out for assistance, cultivate|kids, the children’s ministry for cession|community, answered. Families were in lockdown but here was something … Read More

Tackling the Challenge of Connecting with Kids

WMCNZ AdministratorChildrens Ministry, COVID-19, Ministry Resources, News

With the beginning of lockdown due to COVID 19 churches are scrambling to work out how to still provide a children’s ministry to their youngest members. Here is a list of great online services that are providing teaching and activities. Don’t forget the children in your ministries still need a personal touch. Whilst we can not visit them during this time – try to connect them via phone, skype, zoom etc. Children love talking to people on the computer. Go! Kids Church Online https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6wSXc3q-JwZNWbuNmjRuQ Spyence Bible Lessons https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2YLudfuUE3LUvvjV-Qsh6A Ministry to Kids https://ministry-to-children.com/online-ministry-when-church-is-cancelled/ A great article about staying connected with Sunday … Read More