Have you ever struggled with the tension of how to create a fun environment for preschoolers while keeping systems in place that ensure their safety and then manage the millions of details that go into Sunday morning? OR, have you ever been totally bogged down in the details of preparation that you lose sight of the importance of what you are teaching?

Effective systems and processes are imperative to creating an environment where parents trust us, volunteers are set up to succeed, and children have fun learning about their heavenly Father.

Jennifer Thomas, the Waumba Land Director at our North Point Campus, shared some of this information during her breakout at our Drive Conference a few weeks ago.

Do you have a system for preparation so that volunteers can focus on children and not preparing supplies?

Preparing the Curriculum:

* Edit all content to ensure that what matters most is being taught.

We simplify so that our volunteers can focus their time on the activities that will help teach the bottom line most clearly in the time that we have allotted for the morning.

* Organize and distribute needed materials to each classroom.

Each classroom and each service hour has a plastic tub with all of the materials prepped and ready to go for the morning. A team of volunteers come to the church during the week to cut out patterns, count out supplies, and get things organized.

* Communicate curriculum details to Sunday morning volunteers.

Each week an email goes out with an overview of the curriculum plan for Sunday. It’s usually pretty simple and we try not to make it too detailed (people don’t read details!) We are sure to highlight anything that might be a little tricky for the morning and give special instructions.

Preparing the Environment:

* Create a safe and clean place.

No matter how great your volunteers and curriculum plans are, parents will not come back if they feel like the space is dirty or unsafe. This has to be a priority and you need a good system in place to make it happen consistently.

We have checklists of things that need to be cleaned and safety items that need to be reviewed and kept up to date. This is everything from washing doorknobs and chairs to checking electrical outlets for covers.

A team of volunteers come in during the week to help us work through these checklists and make sure that our environment is in top shape for Sunday morning.

* Prepare the environment for the check-in process.

As soon as volunteers arrive, we want them to be able to start checking in children with little effort. During the week we go to every check-in table and put out an updated roster and updated name labels.

We also make sure that this area looks clean and inviting for parents. We stock supplies and add any handouts or giveaways for parents.

IMPORTANT: Diligent preparation during the week removes obstacles for families and volunteers on Sunday morning and gives them a stress-free experience!

You only have one chance to make a great first impression. When you put the time into creating effective systems that operate smoothly, you gain the trust of both parents and volunteers. You will not have an opportunity to capture the heart of a child if his or her parents don’t trust the system and the people involved.

What systems do you have in place that make your preschool area run smooth?

The sun chandelier at the main entrance

Happy flowers down the hallway

As I was hanging out in the hallway of Waumba Land with Tracy Stonecheck (Waumba Land Director), it became obvious that I would be helping out in preschool!

It was Mother’s Day and the weather was beautiful and families just kept pouring in. Our rooms were filling up and closing due to maximum capacities in several age groups.

Story of Creation Tree

Here are a few things that I learned yesterday:

The attitude of the leader is the attitude of the entire environment.

As the people started pouring into the Waumba Land hallway, it became obvious that this could be a stressful Sunday morning. We knew we were going to reach capacity in several rooms and it never feels good to move kids from their normal rooms or to turn people away.

I watched our Waumba Land leadership team approach this challenge with genuine excitement! There were big smiles on their faces! They took the initiative to go ahead and solve any potential problems and to personally assist parents.

Their attitude was contagious and instead of feeling stressed or overwhelmed - the entire team of staff and volunteers seemed excited!

Room temperature matters.

I was volunteering in a classroom of toddlers. There were somewhere around 20 babies in the room. It was a little warm.

It didn’t personally bother me too much, but I noticed that it really bothered a few of the volunteers. Made everyone feel a little uncomfortable and caused a little unnecessary stress.

It’s an easy problem to solve and we solved it quickly. But it was a good reminder to me that small things, like the temperature of the room, really contribute to the overall success of the day.

Hands-on experience is the best teacher.

Every new volunteer who wants to join our team has to go through an apprenticing process. There was an apprenticing volunteer in the classroom where I was serving on Sunday.

It was such a great reminder that there are some things about how we care for and teach children that couldn’t be taught in an orientation. Experience is the best teacher.

I watched the leaders in the room explain time again the little nuances of their systems for everything from changing diapers to when to page a parent from the service.

There is no replacement for real experience and personal training from a volunteer who is doing it every Sunday.

It’s difficult to teach 20 toddlers (12-18 months) in a structured way.

I believe that young children are sponges and have the greatest capacity to learn. I believe with all of my heart that it is our responsibility to teach children about God.

On Sunday, in a room full of 20 toddlers, it took one volunteer an hour to change every diaper in the room. Every one of us had a “crier” in our arms most of the service. This is reality!

I did play ball, read books, stack blocks, and wrap-up babies. I did all of these things while singing fun songs about God.

Do you know what the most important thing we all did that made the greatest impression of our Heavenly Father? We met their needs. We comforted them. We loved them.

Don’t underestimate the power of what you DO when you are teaching young toddlers. It’s much more important than the curriculum you teach.

That’s what I learned this week!

What did you learn?

Today is the big day and I just sat in on a pre-conference session and listened to Billy Phenix unpack a big picture view of our strategy to partner with parents from birth to high school. I won’t be able to highlight all breakouts, but thought you would like a peak into this one!

Here are a few things he shared:

Take advantage of optimal times to partner with parents.

We tend to focus on three times. Creating consistent weekly environments to build relationships, significant milestones to celebrate together, and transitions from one stage of life to the next.

Initiate a partnership with parents during the preschool years.

Most new parents are looking to the church for support. We look to offer them a consistent environment, tools that make it easy to talk about God at home, and a celebration event that reaches out to new parents and establishes that partnership.

Invite elementary parents to play a central role in the spiritual development of their child.

The transition from preschool to elementary can be a doozie! Pay attention and create environments to give parents and kids the information they need. We do this at Kindergarten Konfidential.

We also partner with parents through JumpStart, Family Birthday Celebration, and KidStuf. As you can imagine there was a wealth of insight shared on these topics. I don’t even know where to begin!

Support parents of teenagers as their relationships change and their students become more independent.

Our primary point of communication with parents is from their small group leader. Parents look to small group leaders as another voice who will help their child navigate through these years. We leverage relationships and communication to help parents connect to what we’re talking about with students in small groups.

We also communicate to parents around events and at the beginning of the year. I’ve attended the “Freshman Open House” and enjoyed meeting my daughter’s new small group leader as well as received a CD to listen to after I dropped her off for a weekend camp. This CD was to help me know what she was going to be talking about experiencing while she was away. Both of these were effective for me as a parent!

So, you can see we are off to a great start! If you aren’t at the Drive Conference this year, I hope you will try to join us next year!

What is your plan to partner with parents at every stage of life?

We have found that the best tools do the following:

* They are simple to use.

* They fit into the regular routines of the family life.

* They are visually appealing.

* They are fun!

We want to make it easy for our parents to teach their kids God’s Word. This month we sent the kids home with their verse on clings that they can put on their car window, bathroom mirror, or refrigerator door. We got a GREAT response from our parents!

These clings were printed on a white sheet. The Easter message to parents was on one side and the memory verse clings were on the other.

We will definitely do this again!

Here’s our contact for the person who made the clings for us:

Sonya Beam, The POP Shop
sonyabeam@thepopshop.com
770-399-4000 ext 100

Subscribe here.

What have you sent home with your preschoolers to help them learn their memory verse?

]]> We are always working to create tools for our parents that will help them as they teach their kids about God.

We have found that the best tools do the following:

* They are simple to use.

* They fit into the regular routines of the family life.

* They are visually appealing.

* They are fun!

We want to make it easy for our parents to teach their kids God’s Word. This month we sent the kids home with their verse on clings that they can put on their car window, bathroom mirror, or refrigerator door. We got a GREAT response from our parents!

These clings were printed on a white sheet. The Easter message to parents was on one side and the memory verse clings were on the other.

We will definitely do this again!

Here’s our contact for the person who made the clings for us:

Sonya Beam, The POP Shop
sonyabeam@thepopshop.com
770-399-4000 ext 100

Subscribe here.

What have you sent home with your preschoolers to help them learn their memory verse?

]]> http://insidenorthpoint.org/kids/2010/04/15/preschool-take-home/feed/ http://insidenorthpoint.org/kids/2010/04/13/monday-meeting-run-down/ http://insidenorthpoint.org/kids/2010/04/13/monday-meeting-run-down/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:04:45 +0000 kendra http://insidenorthpoint.org/kids/?p=3256

Yesterday was “Meeting Monday!” Every Monday the Waumba Land Directors from each campus meet for the first half of the day and the UpStreet and KidStuf Directors meet for the afternoon. You can read more about our meeting structure here. I thought it might be fun to share what was on our agenda this week.

Evaluate Easter: Several of us were out of town last week due to Spring Break, so today we evaluated our Easter weekend services on each campus. Capturing this information is important to our planning for next year. Here’s what we learned:

* We had more than enough volunteers! Yeah!
* Waumba Land content was great and on target. Kids were highly engaged and learning!
* Preschool Parent take-home was a BIG hit.
* Having a Friday night service caused our Sunday numbers to be lower than we expected.
* Having Easter fall during the week of Spring Break was a challenge.
* UpStreet large group content could have been stronger.
* We probably need to write separate content for kindergarteners on this weekend.
* Wearing biblical costumes in front of 5th graders is NOT cool!

Planning for July 4th: Yes, July 4th falls on a Sunday this year! We know that having enough volunteers will be a struggle. We assume that numbers will be down. (You know what happens when you assume right?) We talked about how we modify programming so that we need fewer volunteers and we will make this an “all-hands-on-deck” kind of day for staff. Still discussing…

New Website for Partnerships: We are working on a new, more user-friendly website for all of our partnerships. This will allow them to access key information like job descriptions, monthly curriculum downloads, and volunteer training pieces. Today we talked about deadlines, what needs to be finished, who will manage the project, etc., with the Waumba Land team.

JumpStart: JumpStart is our salvation presentation for kids and parents. We are changing it. Freshening up our printed pieces. Making our teaching tools super clear and kid-friendly.

We brainstormed the content for a new speaking script and have done some major tweaking. Since we are getting close to a final version, we had one of our staff (who also communicates to kids and parents in this class), do the new version of the presentation for us in our meeting today.

This wasn’t about critiquing her presentation skills (although she was awesome!). This was about fine-tuning the content. We will be presenting the new version of the content during the showcase at the Drive Conference.

Drive Conference Giveaways: We are offering six children’s ministry labs this year along with several main breakouts targeted to children and family ministry. We are giving stuff away. Practical stuff. Like our new volunteer orientation packet and a KidStuf Take-Out.

We narrowed down what we are giving away and then talked through the details of ordering, design, etc. It’s not too late to sign up for the Drive Conference 2010!

Summer Set Design: Every year we change the look and feel of the summer programming for our UpStreet Kids. We typically theme everything out, take over the KidStuf Theater, completely change the set design, add a weekly video series, and several fun elements.

This year our theme is  “The Ultimate Challenge.” We are teaching our kids all about faith and forgiveness. (More about that later.) But a good bit of time in our meeting was spent hashing out the set design ideas and how that would translate to three different campuses with three different stages and existing sets.

It’s going to require a meeting in each KidStuf Theater on each campus with our KidStuf Staff and the UpStreet Director on that campus. The ideas include giant sheets of red and royal blue linoleum hanging from our ceilings all the way down to the floor. It’s a little complicated so on-going discussion is key!

We talked about a few other detail kinds of things like vacation days, budgets, and losing a whole bunch of our stats due to a computer glitch. Not all that interesting.

We are moving into a busy season of ministry. Regular communication and taking the time to hash out the details is so important for our team to be productive and efficient. This is what makes us a team and not just a bunch of leaders doing our own thing!

What is on your agenda this week?

The chair and the stage set that you see in this video are the same chair and stage set that our attendees see every Sunday when they watch adults share their salvation story before they are baptized. For our congregation, this is a very clear visual.

Our hope and prayer is that one day our kids will sit in that very same chair and share their own personal story of faith.

Invite volunteers to be a part of the story….

A few weeks ago we talked about some of the policies and procedures that are in place to help keep our kids safe from harm. You can read more about that here.

We’ve found that it’s important to train our volunteers and staff on the exact steps to take when faced with an emergency. One of those emergencies that we’ve faced is a lost child.

Thankfully we have never truly “lost” a child. But there have been a few times where a child has gotten away from their parents in a crowded hallway, or has traveled to KidStuf and gotten in with the wrong group.

Before I share the steps that we follow, I wanted to say that I don’t recommend that you copy our policy and implement it exactly. There are several details and steps in our procedure that are unique to us, to our building, to our staff, and to our volunteer positions.

This is what works for us. But, as with every policy and procedure, you should take the idea and look at it through your own unique lens and decide for yourself what is best for your ministry.

Lost Child Procedure:

Here are some possible reasons for a lost child:

• Snatched child . . . take immediate action. Yell and try to get everyone around you to stop the person.
• Traveled child to another environment and they are now missing.
• Child left your room or parent without supervision or permission.

In all instances – FIRST notify the Coach in charge. If  the Coach is not available, notify a staff person.

If the child is missing from the environment follow these procedures before assuming the worst:

1. Go to all logical locations

* Double-check classrooms

* Check large group environment

* Check KidStuf Theatre

* Check surrounding classrooms and other age group classrooms

* Check bathrooms

* Check Leadership Room

2. Put Host Team members at every exit door.

3. Locate parent and stay with them until the problem is resolved. Be reassuring and calm.

4. If you have looked at all above locations and still cannot locate the child (2-5 minutes) then Director will decide to lock down the wing.

Instructions to lock down wing (Staff is the only one to go to this step!):

1. Assign Host Team members to every door.

Prepare them to explain (calmly) why doors are shut. If this occurs between service times, staff may have to stand on chair, use the mega phone, and ask for attention of those people still on hall. Explain what we are doing and ask for cooperation

2. Do not let any child leave the hall.

3. Notify ALL staff on hall of missing child.

4. Notify all coaches of missing child.

5. Notify facilities and main church host team of missing child.

6. Make sure department director is in connection with someone on leadership team who is helping to guide and implement the next steps.

7. Look in all logical places – again! See list from above.

8. Send note to control room in main service to put a message up on the screen.

9. If child is not found, notify Host Team.

10. Decision to be made by staff that no child leaves the church building.

11. Decision to be made with help of department director, facilities director, or leadership team member whether or not to call the police.

These steps may seem too methodical and time consuming. But in fact, these steps are happening immediately and many times simultaneously. If there is a true emergency, core staff would gather and quickly be making these decisions together either face to face or through the use of radios.

What is the procedure that you have in place in case a child was lost in your building?

Do you have a volunteer handbook?

How do you communicate important policies and procedures to your leaders?

While it’s not all that exciting, we all know that you have to have some policies and procedures in place when it come to running a safe and secure children’s area. Here are a few things we communicate both verbally and in writing to our volunteers before they begin serving in our ministry areas. We also have a systematic approach to repeating and reviewing many of these details several times throughout the year.

Emergency Evacuation

We take time twice a year to communicate our evacuation plan to volunteers and parents in case of an emergency on Sunday. There is also a map on the wall by the door of each classroom with the emergency exit route, along with a red bag containing everything you need to execute the emergency evacuation plan.

Bathroom Procedure

We ask that our volunteers never enter the bathroom alone with a child. Always stand out in the hall and wait for them. If a child in your small group needs a bathroom break, enlist your coach or greeter to walk them to the bathroom.

If a preschooler needs to use the bathroom, we stand with our leg in the door and our body outside the bathroom. Our preschool bathrooms are located in the classroom so there are always multiple adults in the room. If a young child needs help with zippers and snaps, we help them in the open doorway of the bathroom.

Check-in

There must be at least two adults in the classroom before checking in any children. No one is ever to be alone with a child.

Incident Report

If a child is injured in a classroom, we ask that volunteers let their coach know exactly what happened. We then take a full incident report and communicate the injury clearly to parents.

First-Aid Kits

These are readily available to our volunteers and placed throughout the children’s ministry environments. Coaches communicate to their teams the closest first-aid kit locations.

Planning Outside Events for your Small Group (elementary-age children)

We recognize the value of small groups spending time together outside of Sunday morning. These guidelines are not to hinder our leaders, but to help protect them and the kids in their small groups.

1. Please discuss with your coach what you would like to do with your kids before planning the event.

2. Every outside event must be approved by your coach and the UpStreet Staff.

3. Children must be dropped off and picked up by their parents. Please do not drive children to any location.

4. Please have another non-related adult (other than your spouse) present at the event.

5. Permission forms (which we have available for you) must be filled out for every child present at the event.

We also have procedures for lost children, sickness, or a stranger on the hall. When executed successfully, you should never really feel the presence of strict rules and regulations. They should be the systems operating behind the scenes, contributing to a safe and secure environment for all of your kids.

What are some other policies or procedures you have in place in your children’s ministry?

Emily Meredith, UpStreet Director, Buckhead Campus

What does it take to tell a GREAT story to preschoolers?

Today I stood in the back of our preschool large group environment and watched an incredible storyteller capture the attention of about 200 three and four-year-olds. She had them in the palm of her hand. They were laughing. They were touching their nose. They were whispering. They were yelling the bottom line.

They were getting it!

The bottom line that we were teaching was: I can love God with all my heart.

The Greatest Commandment!

Several months ago we lead a training with all of our storytellers. Today, I watched several of the things that we talked about modeled larger than life. Jessica, our storyteller, was a natural. She was a passionate communicator. Our kids got it today!

If you want to be a better preschool storyteller, here are a few things you need to know:

1. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

You really can’t repeat enough. Preschoolers love to master information. They want to say it with you. You’ve even got to go as far as to make sure you say it the same way every time. That’s what preschoolers are looking for.

So if you have say: “one, two, three,” counting on your fingers and then point to the kids and they yell back at to you, “God loves me!” Then you’ve got to do it the same way, with the same motions, every single time.

2. Solicit a response.

Remember, preschoolers are learning so many new things. Their drive at this stage in their development is to master all of the new information coming at them. A really great technique that will help you engage young children is to ask them a question. They LOVE to know the answer!

And keeping with point number one…repeat the same question in order to get the answer you are looking for. An example would be, Storyteller: “God loves you with all his heart! Who loves you?” Kids: “God does!” Storyteller: “Who loves you?” Kids: “God does!” Storyteller: “That’s right! God loves you with all of his heart!”

3. Connect an action.

Connecting an action to the bottom line that you are trying to teach is another great way to make sure that it sticks! Actions are fun! Actions make things memorable.

So don’t just say, “God made the world and everything in it.” Instead, point up to God, then spread your arms wide when you say “made the world”, and spin in a circle as you drag out the phrase “everything in it.” That’s how you make a bottom line stick!

4. Be Dramatic!

Preschoolers are primed to use their imagination. They spend a significant amount of their time pretending. Their learning and development is tied to their ability to use their imagination and pretend.

We need to capitalize on this! Don’t just tell them about how Jesus calmed the storm. Have them create thunder by pounding on their legs and lighting by clapping above their heads. They can create wind by swooshing their arms and blowing through their mouth and rain coming down with their fingertips in the air above their head.

If Jesus is feeding 5,000 people with one small boys lunch. Then let them make a lunch too! Pretend with them to make a sandwich with their hands and spread on the peanut butter and swirl on the jelly and slap that bread together. Then let them take a great big bite and rub their tummy and say yummmm!

5. Pause.

I like to call this the “preschool pause.”  This is the idea of slowing down and giving little one’s the time they need to respond. When a preschool child responds, that means they are with you. That means they are learning. So if you do something funny as you tell your story, pause, and make room for them to laugh. That means they are with you.

Or if you make a sad face, because your story is sad. Then pause. Let them make a sad face too. That means they are with you. That means they are listening. That means they are learning.

6. Change your tone.

Be loud. Make a gruff voice. Whine. Cry. Sing. Whisper. Say it high and squeaky. Low and sad. Fast. And very, very, very slow. Change captures their attention. Use it strategically in the story. Use it to your advantage.

I love Bible stories! They are so full of emotion, drama, passion, and many unbelievable and fantastic scenes. They are the stories that tell us what God is really like. They are the stories that tell us who God wants us to be and how he wants us to live.

Teaching our preschoolers the truth that comes from these Bible stories has the power to impact their lives forever. It’s a job that’s worth doing well!

What technique do you like to use when teaching preschoolers?

This post was written by Patrick Mitchell. He is the Family Ministry Director at Ridge Church, our strategic partnership in Indian Trail, North Carolina. Patrick knows what it takes to start from scratch and build a great ministry. You can learn more from Patrick by checking out his blog renown.

Help! How can we use 252 Basics on a shoestring budget?

Many of the churches that use 252 Basics don’t have a large children’s ministry budget. So, how can you make Sunday mornings the best hour of every kid’s week when you have no money?

Here are a few practices that have helped us create an awesome environment while on a small budget.

* PLAN AHEAD

If you are only planning one week ahead for each Sunday it is really hard to stay within your budget! Plan ahead and watch how much money you can save!

* A CREATIVE TEAM IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

Bring a team of creative people around you to help you dream and create an amazing children’s ministry. Lead a creative meeting with them for each month/virtue.

In your meeting, think BIG and then edit! When your team has great ideas constantly ask the question “How can we do this cheaper/for free?”

You also need to surround yourself with talented people who can build, create, and make items for your environment and productions at a fraction of what it would cost to purchase the items!

* CREATE A “PROP” TEAM

We all know that the large group scripts, small group activities, and FX scripts from 252 require a lot of props! Buying all those props each month will quickly put you over budget! So, create a team of people who are willing to lend you these props! Many times people in your church will let you borrow these items for the month for free! (Hint: Moms who have a few children are the BEST for this team!)

Work together with other churches in your area and share props. Learning to share with other churches on the same mission is a beautiful thing!

* RELATIONSHIPS ARE FREE!

Your children’s ministry will never be able to compete with Nickelodeon, XBOX, or a Miley Cyrus concert. They will always have more money than you and be better entertainers than you. BUT, they can never compete with the relationships your team can build with children! Remember that.

Don’t be discouraged that your budget isn’t as big as you would like it to be! Create the greatest environment and production you can with the money that you have. Remember that it is the relationships your team has with your children that God will use to change their lives!

What other practices have you found that allow you to prepare curriculum on a shoestring budget?