Get Them Involved: Don’t Just Talk — Engage!
Learning sticks best when kids move, participate, and experience the truth for themselves.
Want kids to remember your lesson long after Sunday? Then stop aiming for their ears — and start aiming for their hands, feet, hearts, and imaginations.
There’s an old idea — often presented in various charts and pyramids — that says people remember more of what they do than what they simply hear or see. While the exact percentages vary (and aren’t always grounded in research), the underlying truth is rock solid: passive listening leads to forgetfulness, but active participation creates lasting learning.
In kids ministry, this truth couldn’t be more important. If your teaching style is mostly “sit still and listen,” you’re not just missing an opportunity — you’re missing the point.
Even adding visuals on a screen isn’t enough. Sure, it enhances your message, but what kids really need is to be brought into the experience. I want to get kids out of their seats, involved with their hands, laughing, thinking, solving, moving, and most of all — engaging.
Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” And that’s the core of this secret.
When I teach, I ask myself constantly: How can I include the kids in this?
Even if I can’t involve every child in every moment, I know that involving a few keeps all the rest engaged. Kids love watching their peers participate. When they see someone like them up front helping, holding props, or acting something out, it draws them in.
Sometimes it’s simple: I have a rambunctious kid who can’t sit still? Great! He’s my helper today. He passes things out or holds something on stage. I turn his energy into leadership.
Sometimes it’s creative: If I want to teach an important phrase, I hide the words around the room or under chairs. I might fill balloons with pieces of the phrase and have kids pop them, then work together to unscramble the sentence. Or I’ll play a game of Hangman to slowly reveal a key truth. Kids are learning the whole time — they just don’t realize how much because they’re having fun.
Another fun and easy method: When I want to introduce a key word like “faith,” I don’t just say, “Let’s talk about faith.” Instead, I start with, “I’m thinking of a word from the Bible that starts with the letter ‘F.’” I let the kids guess! Even if they don’t get it right away, they’re hooked. They’re curious. They’re engaged — and when I do reveal the word, it has more impact. It’s a simple shift, but it makes all the difference.
Sometimes it’s physical: I might have kids stand in different parts of the room to represent geographical locations from the Bible. Or I’ll guide them in acting out a story right from their seats — jumping, running, kneeling, making expressions, repeating key lines out loud together. Movement locks meaning into memory.
And sometimes it’s practical: I hand out little themed trinkets that tie to the lesson. Not just because kids love having something to hold — but because it gives parents a bridge for follow-up. When mom or dad asks, “Why did you get that today?” a meaningful conversation begins.
It’s all about this: Less spectating, more participating.
James 1:22 reminds us, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” If doing is how we live out the Word, then let’s model that even in how we teach it.
When kids are physically and mentally involved, they become more than just learners — they become disciples in the making. They’re practicing obedience, response, teamwork, memory, and application in real time. They are becoming doers of the Word, not just hearers.
And that’s what we want: not passive note-takers, but active world-changers. Let’s remember — we serve a God who says in Isaiah 43:19, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”The new thing God may want to do in your ministry might start with something as simple as giving your kids permission to move, explore, and get involved.
My Prayer for You:
Lord, help us teach in ways that reach beyond ears — and into hearts, minds, and actions. Give us creativity and boldness to involve kids in the learning process. May every game, object, and interactive moment be used to plant seeds of truth that grow into lasting faith. Let our classrooms be places where kids experience You, not just hear about You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
FINAL THOUGHT:
The more kids do with what you teach, the more God can do with what they learn.
