 | |
Here is the material prepared for Children's Church at Southeast Community
Church in Columbia, SC. The material presented in Children's Church is closely
related to the material adults receive in normal worship service. The idea is to
cover the same Biblical truths in both sessions, but with the Children's Church
material tailored for children between the ages of 4 and 9 years of age.
The Children's Church time is divided into three parts:
 | Introduction: The lesson is introduced to the children. It is here a teacher covers the story or material and sets up the next portion of Children's Church. This is the traditional lecture-oriented method of delivering instruction.
|
| Activity: Building on the lesson, this is a focused activity around the Bible truths/principles being taught. Unlike the introduction, this is an interactive time with the children being encouraged to participate. Examples of activities during this time might be short skits, very short games, or answering open-ended questions like "When you think of a good person, what are some of the things you think of?"
|
| Fun Time: Comprising the rest of the time, this is "down time" where the children are doing something entertaining or fun related to the lesson. Kids will either work on a craft or play a longer duration game. Crafts include coloring sheets, bracelets, drawings/artwork, paper airplanes, and other activities which could be completed in the time remaining. Examples of games include Bible Trivia (or Team Bible Trivia) and 20 Questions (centered around God's Creation). |
Another difference from typical Children's Church curriculums is this one
also provides follow-up material for parents to use the rest of the week. This
is designed to assist harried parents who want to present Biblical teaching to
their child but don't have time to do a lot of preparation on lessons. Each day
has a central focus in presenting the theme for the week:
| Monday (Reinforcement): The material from Sunday is presented again. For children who were in Children's Church, this will serve as a review. For children who missed Children's Church, this is an
introduction to the material which will be covered during the rest of the week. This is also the time to begin working on the Bible memory verse for the week.
|
| Tuesday (Real World): In order to provide a concrete example of how the material applies to a child's life, the lesson is looked at from a real world example. This helps tie the Bible to daily living. Review the Bible memory verse.
|
| Wednesday (Missions): This is a time to look at the Bible truths/principles with a missions-oriented view. How the material can be applied to reaching the lost for Christ is emphasized on Wednesdays.
|
| Thursday (Self-Application): With reinforcement and at least one concrete example with the real world lesson (two if the missions lesson is
one as well) under a child's belt, this lesson focuses on applying the Biblical truths/principles to the child's life. Review the Bible memory verse. Children should be able to recite the Bible memory verse in preparation for Friday.
|
| Friday (Family): The final lesson of the week, this is where the Biblical truths/principles are applied to the family. This is intended more as a fun lesson of encouragement with the children. Testing for the Bible memory verse. By Thursday the verse should have been memorized and this "test" serves more as an affirmation and encouragement for the child. |
If some of the material would work well within your own church, please feel
free to use it. Drop me a line at bk@warpdrivedesign.org
to tell me how the lesson went and include any highlights as well as any
recommendations for improvement. You can find the lessons here:
Children's Church Lessons
|
