Kidology.org’s Mission is to EQUIP and ENCOURAGE those who minister to children – part of that equipping is gathering together the BEST resources for special events, and every year we pull together the best Easter Resources. Here is a sample of just three of the Easter Resources we highlight over on the Easter Resource Guide on Kidology.
CHECK IT OUT:
We know you use Kidology for great ideas, such as those found in our Easter Zone. If you are looking for more resources, such as helpful curriculum, here’s a guide to some Easter products in the Kidology Store you should explore!
Tadpole Tails brings bring you a 4-week, sitcom-style video series featuring the news team from Breaking Action Daily News. This small-town newscast is dead last in the ratings until the skeptical producer, Bentley, orders news anchor Walter Riley to report that Jesus is a fake.
With the help of a young boy and a mysterious janitor, Walters investigative reporting leads him to a pastor, professor, physician, and printer. Each episode sheds new light on the fact that Jesus is real! While this may be “good news” to Walter, it causes lots of tension with the B.A.D. news team.
X-treme Feats, a 4-week Easter unit from River’s Edge, can also be used any time of the year. Explore John 3:16 in a fresh new way as kids learn about Jesus’ birth, Nicodemus and spiritual birth, and Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Kids will walk away with not only a deeper understanding of John 3:16 but will learn how belief in Jesus transforms their lives.
The lessons include Plungerman (drama), X-treme Feats trivia, X-treme Feats performer story, Bible Story, Prayer, X-treme Feat (illusion/science experiment), X-treme Stunt along with optional activities – craft, snack, comic strip, Bible memory activity, small group questions. A one-page X-treme Feats Herald is included for kids to take home. The Herald gives parents ideas for discussions and activities to do at home.
CSI Jerusalem is a 4-week Easter unit from River’s Edge. Through fun, hands-on forensics science activities, explore the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection. Investigate the lives of those who knew him well and their reactions to the events.
As we learn about Peter, Mary Magdalene, John and Judas’ actions and reactions, we are challenged to not only believe in Jesus but to allow him to transform our lives through his forgiveness and his love.
The lessons contain drama, puppets (optional), interactive Bible stories, forensic lab activities, object lessons, games, crafts, snack ideas, Bible memory activities and parent take home pages.
Instead of a Christmas Letter this year (December was just to crazy this year!) I opted for a more electronically savvy method, and created a video to reflect on 2011. Besides, it was too hard to choose which pictures to put into a letter – we started one, and which pictures to choose, was so hard!
This year included a trip to California to see my childhood best friend, Andy, get married, (and a trip to DisneyLand while there) and another trip back later in the year to perform my first wedding for his little sister, Lindsay!
We enjoyed many visits from friends coming to enjoy Colorado and stay with us (when are YOU coming?) and enjoying this beautiful state ourselves as we still discover its vast beauty!
Luke turned 5, and wanted a “real Jeep” for his birthday, so I rented a Jeep for the day! I started “Dad School” a mini-home school to focus on the areas he needed help, and also “Family Pit Stops,” our evening family devotional times as he got old enough for intentional spiritual input from Dad.
Sara is a table leader for MOPS at our church and I continue to write a children’s church curriculum called DiscipleTown in addition to leading Kidology. I wrap up a two year column in Children’s Ministry Magazine after being named one of the Top 20 Leaders in the past 20 years, which was a pretty big surprise and honor. We added three new employees this year, with new VP of Operations starting January 1st, so we are pretty excited about what God has in store for our little ministry.
In addition to my fourth Yosemite Summit, I also got to take Luke and Sara this year – and seeing Luke discover my favorite place on earth, and show him all my “secret places” the tourists walk right past was a real treat, and watching him find his own, “secret places” that he wants to come back to someday. And extra bonus, after speaking at two camps this year, was being invited back to one on short notice (a previously scheduled speaker got called to heaven on short notice) I took my dad with me and we added on a trip to Yosemite, just as father and son – yet another highlight of the year for me personally.
So 2011 was a busy year, but a good year. In 2012, I hope to find a slower pace and perhaps some more margin, but am still eagerly excited to see what God has in store for my family.
Thank you to everyone who calls us family, friends, and who supports us in prayer. If you are not a part of my personal prayer support e-mail list, it’s called the Kidology Champion Prayer Supports List, and you can subscribe here. Just update your Kidology Newsletters to include that list.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and we wish you a Happy New Year from our family to yours!
Every organization is limited by its leader. I’m keenly aware of that. I’m a visionary leader. I love vision. I teach it, and hopefully live what I teach. But I also realize that I can limit my own organization by my own limitations. Kidology has seen exciting growth every year since we began in 1994, back when me and Al Gore invented the Internet. (LOL) I’ve chronicled the history of Kidology in other places at other times, so I won’t do that here – but to say that in the past few years we have reached yet another juncture where the strain on me has become intense personally, as I seek to both lead the business side of Kidology and serve as the creative force behind the product development and ministry side of Kidology.
The range of products and services we offer our visitors and members now is breath-taking! And I oversee all of it.
It’s a little schizophrenic at times, and my staff are very gracious as I shift roles constantly, but its rough on me, my family and our organization. I also serve on the board of several other organizations and serve as a consultant to other kidmin ministries in our market helping them to succeed and improve behind the scenes. But it has spread me very thin. I have known for years that I needed a full time “right hand man” but have lacked the combination of the timing, funding and the right person for the job.But the time has come.
So we are taking a step of faith – it seems all three have come together. I have hired today a Vice President of Operations and will be shifting out of my current role of running everything at Kidology, moving into a Chief Creative Officer role, and working with a new full time VP of Operations who will work with me in the oversight and coordination of Kidology. Certainly, it will take some getting used to – but he seems to be the man for the job and it is definitely the time for it.
This is one of the times where we are stepping out in faith!
I would ask for your prayer as we head into 2012 for wisdom, insight, the mind of Christ, discernment and unity as a team as we make the needed changes and adjustments in order to take Kidology to the next level of ministry.
Do you know the IMPACT of Kidology.org?
When we combine all levels of members of Kidology.org, both Basic and Premium, as of right now, it is around 17,000 churches. Let’s be conservative and estimate that each of those churches represent only 100 children.
That would be 1,700,000 kids impacted by Kidology.org each and every week.
I believe it very well could be many more. We are accessed by users in over 70 countries.
God is using our website to make a difference in individuals, in families, in churches – and best of all – in the lives of kids.
OUR MISSION: To Equip and Encourage Those Who Minister to Children.
That’s why I am so thrilled to announce that starting January 1st, 2012 Kidology will have a new Vice President of Kidology. His name is Mark Maestas.
Mark has an Mdiv in Leadership from Denver Seminary. He has served as a Family Pastor, College Pastor, as an interim Children’s Pastor, but most recently also in business leadership at Target Stores here in the Denver area. Sorry, Target, but the Kingdom needs him more.
We look forward the leadership and management experience that Mark will bring to Kidology.org and ask that you pray for him as he prepares to begin in the New Year.
RAISED SO FAR: $405 (Just crossed the half way point! Thanks!)
I’m looking for Children’s Pastors and Volunteers who would be willing to help me give an iPad and some special software to a five year old boy whose family has a real need for this.
It could change his life.
Meet Brook. Brook is a lively little boy who can only say a few words – one of which is “God’s House,” which he prefers to say instead of “church” – but for the most part is unable to speak and therefore communication with his sister and mom is very difficult.
His mom has learned about the difference an iPad and some special apps could make in his life – and have tried out a few on an iPhone, and can see that it would be very helpful – but buying one is an obstacle that is out of reach for their family.
As I learned of this need through a family member, and then met this mom and boy, I thought this could be a wonderful way for my network of kidmin friends to show the love of Jesus to this little boy.
If you would like to see the difference an iPad and these special apps can make in Brook’s life, watch this short video from 60 Minutes recently was broadcast.
I would like to raise about $800 in order to purchase an iPad as well as software for Brook. Here are some samples of the software available, to explain the cost:
If you would like to give, your gift will be tax-deductible by giving via the Kidology Foundation at: www.kidology.org/donate
Even if you can only give $5 to $20 (or certainly more) it will all add up. I’ve already put $100 in the fund myself, but there is much more to raise.
Would you consider helping? Just donate via this link, and put “iPad for Brook” in the comment box when you give. I will post here when we have raised enough. Again, no gift is too small! Please consider helping out.
What an awesome Christmas Gift it would be for Brook if we can do this!
Thanks for joining me in this great opportunity to help a young boy’s world of communication open up in his family! His mom and little sister will be so blessed if enough people will respond to make this happen.
You may remember awhile back, I did a post called Kidmin Toolkit, and it got WAY over 50 comments and a lot of interaction! It was a lot of fun!
Well, it took awhile to compile all the responses and pick a WINNER – but that original post has been UPDATED with both the winner and PDFs and WORD documents with all the submissions in a list, so you can compile your very own Kidmin Toolkit and BE READY for the next time you suddenly get called to go teach or serve and have no time to plan or pack or prepare – just grab your Kidmin Toolkit and GO!
GO THERE NOW – to see WHO WON, and download the TOOLKIT LISTS!
Leave your NEW COMMENTS HERE, rather then there. I’m especially interested in whether anyone actually creates their Kidmin Toolkit. If you do, send me a picture and I will post it here in this thread! E-mail to karl at kidmintalk.com as I will probably end up talking about this on KidminTalk soon!
Writing the Kid’s Church Cookbook was one of the biggest undertakings I’ve ever done. It was bigger than the Order of the Ancient novel, since it required design work and layout involvement that was much more intense, and bigger than the Kidology Handbook since not only is it over 100 pages longer, but it involved me filming seven complete training videos in a custom kitchen studio all while it was closed over a Christmas break… it was an insane time. I won’t even bother typing all that involved, crazy story best saved for telling in person. While it took over two years to get the editing done, the filming was all done in just 3-4 days almost non-stop without sleep!
This post was inspired by some encouraging words I just got from a Kidology member named Martin Maynard, which I thought I’d share, in case you’ve been considering picking it up: (I edited to shorten and leave some stuff out.)
Karl, the reason I am writing is your Kids Church Cookbook is the best training I have ever come across in my years of reading and studying. I appreciate what you are doing through Kidology, what an amazing site. I wish more folks would grab a hold of what you are doing. I sincerely think your material is just awesome and it is just what we need.
I just read your chapter on Object Lessons and how you describe how to take an object and just start describing it slowly, giving time for the connection to be made between the abstract and the concrete. Truly amazing. I truly have read tons of books and there are some great leadership books out there, but none really touch on creativeness. Man you tackle creativeness head on and make it not so intimidating. I just think this material is just that good. I feel so blessed to have stumbled on your site and to have come across the material. I feel God lead me to it. Thanks for your work at raising up youth to be disciples.
- Martin Maynard
The Cookbook took several years to write and to produce the training videos that go along with it – and it is so encouraging when people take the time to send a note of encouragement. I have never seen an exhaustive work on Kids Church, and during this season of life when I’m not in weekly church ministry, I felt God telling me to use this time to write “everything I know about children’s church” from having written and led over 1000 kids church services for over fifteen years of ministry. It was hard work, but oh so fun to do it in such a creative manner. (With the Chef theme that really played out nicely as it unfolded.) I tried to cover a wide spectrum of topics from lesson preparation to recruiting to room decorating to advance planning and so much more. It’s kinda the definitive work on Kid’s Church! Like I said, no one else has ever even tackled the topic on this scope or breath before. And with the addition of seven training videos, it really became a hefty project!
But in the end, I think it’s quite a helpful tool that should serve those who teach kids and lead Kids Church for years to come.
Thanks Martin for your encouragement! I’m glad it is helping your kids church team, and I hope it will help many others to cook up lessons that kids are gonna love and provide the tools to assist in preparing more spiritually nourishing lessons wherever the Cookbook is used!
This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.
DAY #21: My Customers
Back in 1994 when very few people knew what the “Internet” was, I got an idea for a website: The KidologyWeb:
I was already calling myself “The Kidologist” in my workshops as I sought to equip and encourage children’s workers to approach children’s ministry from the perspective of a child:
By 1996 the first “Kidology Handbook” was published:
VERY FEW people remember when Kidology.org (before I had that domain!) looked like this:
OR when you clicked into it and saw crude pages like this:
Only hundreds were lucky enough to BE on the Internet surfin’ kidmin back then! (And only a few bought the “Life Time Memberships” I offered back then when I needed to raise some money to buy some much needed Microsoft FrontPage software, and yes, they are still members!)
More remember the next version of the site: Kidology 2.0 (which I called it long for “2.0″ was hip)
It had the infamous “frames” that if you navigated just right, would give you frames within frames within frames, which could be kinda fun…
If you were a member then, prove it by putting int he comments the “Secret” entrance you clicked on to enter the Member Area before I had usernames and passwords… it was kinda funny!
Then, due to a huge answer to prayer and grant (told about in my Thankful for Steves post) I was able to hire a real web developer, Ken Kinard, who built me my first real website, with a database driven backstage and got use set up with credit card processing and memberships with usernames and passwords.
Kidology.org finally had a webite platform we could really build on. Our rapid growth soon meant transitioning to a more robust platform and even another complete redesign and before we knew it it was time for yet another complete redesign and platform change… as we went from hundreds to thousands of members and became the leading destination for children’s ministry content on the Internet.
We incorporated as a non-profit ministry in 2000 and by 2006 I had gone full time. That paints a much smoother picture in one sentence that the story is – but anyone who has lived life or founded a ministry knows, no road is smooth, but God is faithful when we continually seek him through the ups and downs on the journey.
Our websites have changed… our logos have changed… staff have come and gone…
A Rejected Kidology Logo!
One thing has remained the same… OUR CUSTOMERS! They come by the hundreds, indeed by the thousands, every day… looking for ideas, for resources, for encouragement, for training, for jobs, for connections, for friendship, for a wide variety of things… things that can’t all be found anywhere else all in one place… and even when they can be found somewhere else, they know they can find it there, but starting here! Because like Miracle on 34th Street… we will direct you to where you need to go.
So far this month, as of this blog post, we’ve have 1,157 newFREEBasic Members sign up on Kidology.org, and that’s just THIS MONTH so far… I’m blown away by how many children’s ministry workers come to Kidology.org. I remember when 1,000 members was the entire ministry of Kidology! (And when we thought we’d never hit that number.)
It is humbling and amazing and such a blessing that this is my employment now. That I have the privilege to get up each day and serve you.
I am thankful for getting to work at home near my family, to get to travel to minister to children, and to get to meet some of my customers when I am out and about serving.
MY LIFE MISSION hasn’t changed since I was nineteen when God gave it to me: To reach and teach as many children as possible with the Good News of God’s Love, and in the process to Enlist, Equip and Encourage others to do the same.
THANK YOU for allowing me to use my God-given talents to bless you and serve you. I stink at a lot of things, but that I get to do what I love, is because of my customers.
There is a saying:
LOVE WHAT YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
My customers make that possible. I am thankful for them today.
This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.
DAY #14: Patti the Bookkeeper
I often joke that I’d be in jail if it weren’t for my bookkeeper, Patti.
There are so many legal and government requirements to running a business it is dizzying! You start a ministry because God gives you a calling in life… then you discover there are a zillion quarterly and annual things to file, fill out and fees to pay and a minutia of government loop-holes that if you don’t tap-dance just right… WHAM-O, fees with interest or you lose your tax exempt status or trade mark or they come ringing your door bell. Seriously!
Patti was one of the first employees I hired and as soon as cloning is figured out, I’m taking her in to be cloned. Everyone should have an employee like Patti. She is loyal and trustworthy and puts up with me through think and thin – and believe me, there has been “thin” and when we’ve in the “thick” of it, she hangs in there.
She’s also the best friend of one of my board members (Sara) so that keeps me in line too.
I know I drive her nuts, but she grins and bears it.
Her awesomeness extends beyond paying the bills – when you are a small business, everyone becomes an expert on things you never planned on being an expert at. The week after we started the IRS showed up at my door and Patti got to figure out how to get a credit in one ‘box’ that exactly equaled a debt in another ‘box’ to balance each other out so the government would be happy again. Not an easy task as it turned out! LOL She’s learned how to fix trademark issues, bank mysterious fee issues, inter-state tax issues (since I move to Colorado) and a host of other things she probably never bargained on, and never once complained or stopped smiling. As a non-profit we do an independent audit every year and Patti works patiently as the firm digs through every little piece of paper and I’m always so proud when we pass with flying colors. When you donate to Kidology you can know that we have a great steward taking care of the funds entrusted to us. She also is the one who sends all you Kidology Garage Sale folks your checks, so you should be thankful to her too!
Today is not the only day I am thankful for Patti. I don’t know what I’d do without her!
Oh, and Patti, if you are reading this, I’ll get those receipts to you soon, I promise!
This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.
DAY #10: Steves
There are three “Steves” that I am thankful for. Each has played a critical role in my ministry success. One I already blogged a tribute to after he recently passed away, Steve Jobs: On The Passing of Steve Jobs
But there are two other Steve’s that probably will never be famous. One deserves a lot of credit for the founding of Kidology.org – though few have ever heard his name, the other deserves a lot of credit for keeping it going.
Steve Clindaniel's Family
There was a time when Kidology was a hobby of mine and I prided myself with being a “man of vision.” I often would say, “It is better to dream too big and have God cut it back, than to dream too small and have God frustrated with you because there is so much more He wants to do through you that you are unwilling to see.” I loved to talk of grand visions of what was possible! And “thinking outside the box!”
Then, through some unique situations in his life, God brought Steve Clindaniel to my church for a season. A humble, quiet guy, who I like to tell people is the only common denominator between the nations two largest mega-churches, Willow Creek and Saddleback, since he attended and served as a volunteer in both in their infancy when he worked for Hewlett Packard years ago, and his work had him on opposite ends of the country every other weekend, and he was drawn to these young churches. Incidentally, he was the volunteer who registered www.willowcreek.org and got a little flack from Bill Hybels for spending church money on such a silly thing! (Such were the days back then!)
Anyway, he volunteered to help me in Kids Church and learned about my little website and as he learned of my “big vision” for Kidology – he was the first person who had the nerve to say to me, “I don’t hear a big vision, I hear nothing but excuses and obstacles from you. I hear only what you can’t do. I want you to REALLY create a vision for me of what Kidology ought to be.” I was stunned. No one had ever challenged me like that! He asked to see my business plan. I said, “A what?” LOL Then he coached me through creating a business plan and how to present it to an investor and how to properly launch a business, within one year we had seed money, advertised in Children’s Ministry Magazine, exhibited at the Children’s Pastor’s Conference, rebuild our website properly, hired our first employee, opened an office and took huge leaps of faith that scared me to death. We even incorporated as a non-profit 501c(3) and formed a board of directors. It was time to ger real. The hobby phase was over. Steve Clindaniel dared me to REALLY DREAM and put action behind my words. Those of you who send me kind thank you notes about how thankful you are to ME for all that you benefit by from Kidology.org owe a debt of gratitude to Steve Clindaniel, a man you may never meet, and he likes it that way. Such is his godly character. But when you get to heaven, before you look me up, find Steve, and shake HIS hand first. Because he saw what I was doing at my church, heard my vision, and believed in me and pushed me so that I could minister to you all over the globe via Kidology.org.
As an added bonus, Steve introduced his nephew to our Kids Church to help in the tech booth – a young man who turned out to be a technical genius. He was my first Kidology employee, first uploading PDFs of kids church lessons, then helping create ToyBoxTales.com, and is now Kidology’s IT Director…. Branden Stuck.
Then, there is the Steve that keeps Kidology.org running and constantly improving, Steve Tanner… known to many as Tannerman. Though, around Kidology, we have coined a phrase for things that have been benefited from his masterful touch. Things are either “Tannerized” or not. I create a page or a product and then ask Steve to “Tannerize” it. Basicly, that means to perfect it. If it’s not Tannerized, it’s not quite up to snuff.
Steve was Kidology’s first full time employee and remains our only full time staff member. We have nearly a dozen part-time employees and contractors who help with a wide variety of tasks that must be done to keep this massive operation spinning, and Steve and I somehow manage to keep it all going. While his title is Director of Web Operations, I ought to call him the Mad Hatter, as that role can end up wearing a lot of different hats at times, and I’m often wondering if I am driving him mad! (or at least, mad at me!) When he first interviewed he described himself as a “Swiss Army Knife of Technology” which has proved to be a perfect description of him, since there really isn’t anything he can’t do. Whenever we are out, I often tell people, “Name any random subject and Steve will tell you something about it you never knew. He is the expert on everything. I once said ‘peanut butter’ and got the inside scoop on the peanut butter industry. Another time I tried to do research ahead of time on a topic online (AFL), to impress him with my knowledge on a topic, and he corrected me. I argued, he said I was wrong. I finally revealed my source – the official AFL website – he said the website was wrong! Later, it proved the official website of a franchise sport was indeed wrong, and Steve was right on the fact. I was doomed to be wrong, even with advance preparation! But at least this guy’s on MY team!
So three Steves are critical to the success of Kidology – Steve Clindaniel help found the company, Steve Jobs provides many of the tools we create it with and Steve Tanner keeps it running and improving.
Today I launched a little Thanksgiving Project over on Kidology.org called “24 Days of Thanks-Giving” – basically I am providing a simpleWord doc you can download and every day from Nov. 1 until Thanksgiving add ONE thing you are thankful for.
It’s really just something I need to DO MYSELF – but I thought maybe others might want to join me, and I’d enjoy reading/seeing what others are thankful for. So you are welcome to use the Word doc, or just post in the forum what YOU are thankful for! So let me begin today, with my first post. These are NOT going to be in priority order, otherwise I’d have to go God, Family, etc. and then later on, people might judge me for putting one thing “above” or “before” another – so right out of the gate let me say, these posts will be in RANDOM ORDER of things I am THANKFUL FOR!
Tadpole Tails brings bring you a 4-week, sitcom-style video series featuring the news team from Breaking Action Daily News. This small-town newscast is dead last in the ratings until the skeptical producer, Bentley, orders news anchor Walter Riley to report that Jesus is a fake.
Buy Now for $58 – Member Price
X-treme Feats, a 4-week Easter unit from River’s Edge, can also be used any time of the year. Explore John 3:16 in a fresh new way as kids learn about Jesus’ birth, Nicodemus and spiritual birth, and Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Kids will walk away with not only a deeper understanding of John 3:16 but will learn how belief in Jesus transforms their lives.
CSI Jerusalem is a 4-week Easter unit from River’s Edge. Through fun, hands-on forensics science activities, explore the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection. Investigate the lives of those who knew him well and their reactions to the events.
