9 ideas for ‘long-distance’ children’s ministry
As you adapt to online ‘long-distance’ children’s ministry, let’s help kids engage deeply in God’s Word.
Last week I sat down with a children’s minister and brainstormed what ministry could look like over the next few months. With a kids club and a large Sunday ministry, he had plenty to think through. I’m sure many of you are in the same boat, thinking about how to adapt your programs to cater to your communities.
As we move toward ‘long-distance’ ministry, it can be tempting to dive straight into ‘what’ to do. It’s worth thinking first about what we are aiming for. Let the purpose of your ministry direct your choices. If the aim of your kids' club is to reach out to the community and connect them with the church family, then keep this in mind as you are planning for distance or online options.
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This might mean not using a video that uses too many words that non-Christian families would find confusing. It might mean using something less polished because it clearly presents the gospel. Keeping our purpose in mind also reminds us that we are not aiming for information download but focused on fostering discipling relationships with children and families. Let’s intentionally continue these relationships in new ways through speaking and listening.
Empower and equip children to engage with God’s word, don’t spoon-feed them. Videos and live streaming have their place but let’s not slip unthinkingly back into ‘I’ll talk, you listen’ modes of teaching. We know that asking questions, discovering, working things out for themselves and talking about what they’ve learned are effective ways for children to remember and learn rather than just listening or reading. With a little more careful planning, we can plan activities that encourage children to teach themselves and each other.
Let’s equip them to engage with God’s word directly, not always filtered through us. Encouraging use of a kid-friendly version of the Swedish method is one option. Another idea is repeating the Bible lessons you did last year so kids are already familiar with the content, but equip them to dig deeper into these passages by working out how to teach them to the rest of their family. This might open new doors into families where the only church contact has previously been through kids club or playgroup. Let the child who has heard the gospel each week in your ministry now share it with their siblings and parents.
With those tips in mind, here are some simple ideas you could use or adapt to support the children in your ministry today:
Handwrite letters and post them. Not everything needs to happen online, kids love getting letters! Encourage letter-writing between children. If printing is an option, print some photos of yourself as a letterhead. This is helpful, especially for younger children.
Ask children to retell a Bible story. Give some suggestions to get them started by showing them how to make sock puppets, shadow puppets or paper dolls and provide basic questions that help them dig deeper such as ‘What do we learn about God in this story?’ Perhaps they can create their own mind map or poster of all the things they learn about God that gradually gets more and more added to it.
Make craft or activity packs that can be picked up or posted. Alternatively, you can send out home activity suggestions that encourage kids to create using household objects or recycling. For example, ask them to build a cubby house version of the big fish that swallowed Jonah or a paper mache version of Solomon’s temple!
Ask kids to film short news stories using their toys and drawings. Put them together to make a bigger ‘show’ to send to families. Kids love watching themselves! This could be a way to share how they are going or a way of telling a story all together and learning a memory verse.
Create a series of home challenges that kids can do ideally without too much adult help. Parents can take photos to post to a closed Facebook page (or similar platform) so kids can share their progress. For example, you can ask ‘Who can make the longest paper chain?’ Ask children to write something true about God on each loop or a prayer point.
Use music. You might already have a shared playlist that allows parents to know and access the music you use in your ministries. But you can take it further. Can the kids write another verse to a particular song? Can they make up a drama or dance that goes with a song? Some musical children might even compose from scratch with a little encouragement. There are also lots of apps that allow kids to mix sounds and make music, Garage Band is a good place to start.
Use familiar games. Could you make your own version of memory cards, bingo, Pictionary or even Monopoly that helps players remember and teach each other key bible truths? This can be harder than it first sounds but it could be a whole family challenge. You can also give the children a starting point, the playing board and ask them to come up with the rest.
Use Lego. What a wonderful resource! It can be used to make game pieces, settings for short films, as well as stop motion and marble run type constructions.
Encourage older children to illustrate a Bible story or write a poem. This could be in a comic strip or they could flex their creative muscles even further and write a drama script! Provide a way for these to be shared once they are ready.
You know the children in your ministries. What would work for them?
My final suggestion is to remember to keep Jesus at the centre of everything you do. Just as when we teach face to face, it is great to use creative strategies to engage children. But all of our best ideas and strategies should be pointing children to Jesus. Let’s keep doing that as we adapt to different methods of ministry.
What are you going to try now to keep pointing children to Jesus?
