These three words, — fun, games, learning, — do not have to be antonyms in the classroom. Learning can be fun. Games can be used to learn.
But, what I have too often seen in the church is that . . .
We compartmentalize it. Now we have fun and play games. Now we learn.
The time we have students in the church is so short that we need to make every minute count. Teachers need to learn to:
- Be purposeful in planning activities and games.
- Use guided conversation in the midst of the fun to keep pointing students back to the lesson and on to God.
The Bible Learning Activities for Children Resource, available through the MinTools.com store, includes one page of training on using games as a Bible Learning Activity. This handout will help teachers with the following:
- Why to Use Games in Teaching the Bible
- How to Choose Games for your Lesson
- What to Remember When Using Games
- How to Expand the Use of Games
Teacher Training Resources: Using Games as Bible Learning Activities
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I’m a new children’s director in my area, searching for new ways to draw in children in the church that i can share with others, in the children’s ministry.
Praise God , Mary, that you see the need to think outside of the box, to be innovative in your approach to children’s ministry. It is easy to get caught up in doing things “the way we’ve always done it” or the way we experienced it as a child. Children live in a constantly changing world. They are used to variety, multimedia, and a fast-paced approach. On the one hand, we need to be careful not to get caught in a rut, not meeting children where they are. On the other hand, we need to be careful that in the process of trying to meet today’s children in ways they have come to expect in the world, that we keep our focus and motivation straight. I wrote a post for the MinTools.com blog about how we do not need to guard against competing with the world. The challenge for us is to keep children’s attention, make learning fun, and provide quality ministry but also maintain the focus on Jesus. At the end of the day, our methodology is not what will change their lives but rather, Jesus.
In addition to the resources at TrainBibleTeachers.com, you might want to check out the Children’s Ministry Resources page on our parent site.