Good morning. Could you take Justyne with you to church today?"
It started several weeks earlier when our daughter Jacqueline invited her friend Justyne to KidsZone. Now she wanted to go again and her mother was asking us to pick her up.
So… what is KidsZone you ask?
KidsZone is a program for children in grades one to five at St. Paul's, Leaskdale, Ont. Thirty to 40 energetic children attend the hour-long program which runs during the service and includes music, games, storytelling, sharing and a ton of fun.
Each week starts with a sharing time while the entire group sits in a circle on the floor. It is an opportunity to learn about each other, find out what is important, and to share in their lives. Children take turns sharing a talent such as playing the piano or singing. A few weeks earlier, Jacqueline and Justyne sang a few songs that they learned together in the local youth choir.
A monthly celebration of birthdays allows each child to be the focus of attention for a short period of time and gives everyone something to look forward to. Each birthday child gets to take an item from a grab bag filled with inexpensive items.
Each visitor is welcomed to the entire group. No one is left out. Kids get to know each other really well and quickly develop a sense of community.
Forty young children can be very active so the challenge is to create an environment that is exciting and fun while safe and calm enough for learning to happen. Proper discipline is critical but it is never about keeping kids quiet and still. Different people will have different comfort levels so the trick is to find a balance that works.
Include things that you are good at. Crafts were added after a church member approached the group and asked if she could do crafts. It was fun for the kids, got another church member involved and added no stress to the current leader. On the other hand, a puppet theatre was built for a puppet program that never got off the ground because there was no owner. Use the gifts and passions that God brings into the ministry. Don't try to do too much. It will be exhausting, zap your joy, and it won't be done well. Focus! It is much harder to get burned out when you are part of a team.
Music is a big part of the program. Words for the songs are posted around the room so that all kids, including those new to KidsZone, can join in. Sing a variety of songs; fast paced, slow, wild and crazy, calm and quiet. Find someone who loves kids and music and has a real sense of worship.
Kids love games. The three games played most often are Bible Jeopardy, Sword Drill and Hangman. The group is usually split into two, which compete against each other. Topics for games, such as Bible Jeopardy categories and sentences or words for Hangman, vary by the week and are tied to the season or topic being studied; imagine "Biblical Mothers for 500" on Mother's Day.
Each week includes a Bible lesson given in the form of a story as Jesus might give. It has four main goals: to be relevant, short, interesting and applicable.
- The topics chosen must have some relevance to the children.
- Keep it short. Any longer than 15 minutes and you start to lose the kids. Use the music and games to reinforce the topic, and the kids will get much more out of it and remember what was taught.
- Make it interesting. Bring in newspaper articles. Give personal examples. Find unfamiliar stories in the Bible to support your topic. Research the topic on the internet for interesting angles.
- Make it applicable. Give the kids one thing to work on during the week ahead of them.
The KidsZone kids are learning to share what God has given them. A mission project is underway to raise money to buy farm animals through World Vision. Being a farming community, this project resonates with the children. Picking a project that the kids can get excited about is critical. The children are encouraged to bring an offering and are seeing their money grow and are excited about the animals they will send.
When we dropped off Justyne at home after another fun morning, her parents asked about our church. It won't be long before we see them there too.
