Hey all, Christina R. at Union Station put together this great info for teachers. Everyone take some time to read over it...great stuff! (Thanks Christina!)
Playing with a PurposeWe’ve all been there…The perfect lesson, the perfect craft, the perfect skit. You actually took the time out of your busy schedule to plan ahead and organize your lesson. Then Sunday rolls around and no sooner than you can say Amen, you’ve got 4 little ones running around, 1 crying, and two that have to go to the bathroom. AUGH!
The Bad news is that lesson don’t always go according to plan. The Good news is that God is with us and will get us through every Sunday. We work with young Children and sometimes they just can’t sit still. In cases like this sometimes it is best to chuck your lesson completely and have a little fun. I like to call it Playing with a Purpose.
What is Playing with a purpose you ask? It is utilizing the “free play time” to still bring out Christ-like ideas. We shouldn’t be afraid of playtime because kids love it. I am not saying that playtime needs to be 25 minutes long every week and that we should not follow a lesson plan, but I am suggesting that every once in awhile we can use play to accomplish some things to help us get back to the lesson. Using even one of these for just a few minutes could turn your classroom back into a focused place before you know it.
1) Use play time to get some of the wiggles out
2) Use play time to teach kids some big ideas (Sharing, friendship, imagination, love)
3) Try to work a few activities into each lesson…I try not to keep the real little ones sitting down for longer than about 5 minutes…Sometimes Just moving from area to area is enough to keep them focused…
4) If they are going to play a game make it a God Game. Change the words to “Duck Duck Goose” to something about the lesson (“David David Jonathon” or “Sheep Sheep Lamb”)
5) Don’t be afraid to be goofy with the kids
6) Have them act out the story while you tell it
7) Teach them to “Dance like David” before the Lord
One of our biggest goals in the younger classes is to teach the Kids about God’s love and show them how to love one another. Sometimes this is best taught by simply spending a few minutes playing with the children. It is really important to make sure that when we are allowing the Children time to play that we are involved in the play. The idea of play time is not to give us a chance to clean up. I am completely guilty of this as well, and believe me I feel rushed at the end of Kids Church to get to service to; but in the end those five minutes may be just what that child needs to understand hear God.
Lastly it is always important to remember, that God is in control of every situation. I can personally attest to many a Sunday that my plans went out the window and God took over and the day went better than I could have dreamed. These are His Children that He has entrusted to us to win over to His glory, He is not going to let them get away!
So play with a purpose and let us know how it goes!
