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The 3 Penny Missionary Game

This simple, fun game helps children understand how a church is planted on the mission field. Help children understand the process of a missionary planting a church. As kids play this game, they will learn the up and downs (or forward and backwards) progress of planting a church. All that is needed is the PDF Game Board linked below (best printed on card stock) along with second page of explanation. (Which can be printed on the opposite side if you’d like.) Each child needs a small marker of some kind – a coin, bean, bead or other small item that looks different from whatever the other players use. 3 Pennies are used instead of dice to help emphasize the need to raise money. You can either give every child their own playing board, or they can team up in groups of two or three. This basic board game takes them through the stages of planting a church. The second page (or backside if you print two-sided) explains each step. As you play, the leader can be reading the explanations as a child reaches them. Let the kids keep a copy of the game to take home. They can play again…

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Proactive Leadership

If you are the one placed in charge of a children’s ministry, most likely you a leader. However, unless you are intentional, the weekly demands of ministry programs and needy volunteers can quickly push you into a role of being a reactive leader – constantly reacting to the needs that are presented to you via e-mail, voice mail, and in person. You will be doing a lot of good, but you’ll soon feel like the ministry isn’t going anywhere – and you’ll be right. It will be treading water and it will be all you can do just to keep your nose above the surface. You may be a servant leader, and that is a good thing – but you if you want your ministry to improve you must learn to be a proactive leader – one that is driving and determining his or her actions more than being driven by the endless demands that are constantly pouring in.What does it mean to be a proactive leader? It means you lean into the challenging situations that face you. You don’t avoid them, post-pone facing them, or pretend they will resolve themselves if you just ignore them a little longer. (Hint:…

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THE NO RULES GAME!

Why did God give us commandments and rules? Was it to spoil our fun? Rather than merely explain it, have your kids experience it! Play the NO RULES GAME! Randomly divide the kids up. Put out a bunch of game stuff. Blow the whistle say “GO!” As the kids start to try and play with the stuff, start awarding points AND penalties and declare a winner and loser. See how the kids respond. They won’t like a game with no rules where it is unclear how to be a winner! Finally stop the game and explain that’s WHY God gave us commandments. A life lived without rules leads to chaos. We need rules in order to win in life! WATCH THE GAME IN ACTION: LIKE GAMES THAT TEACH? Be sure to check out The Game Zone on Kidology!

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The LEAST vs. GREATEST GAME!

The LEAST vs. GREATEST GAME! “The Last Shall Be First” Prep: Number the Chairs: ROW # and SEAT # (Signs Provided at Link Below) Points: You need something physical for points – popsicle sticks, beans, etc. Something that can be passed out quickly that kids can hold so the points are tangible. PLAY: Kids Move Around and Choose a Chair, then the next RULE is read! (Option: You can make it appear that the rules are random by drawing a rule from a hat, just make sure you draw the final rule last.) Don’t mislead or lie to the kids, but you can make it appear that the winner will be those with the most points. This is a natural assumption. The final rule will turn that around! Those who thought they were doing poorly will win, and those who thought they we were winning, weren’t. The last slip taped to side so it can be drawn last. NOTE: When you have many winners (like Odd or Even numbers) to speed up the game, just say “If you won come up here and get a point.” Don’t challenge any kids who may come up to get a point who didn’t…

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NEW Outpost Set!

Finally got to update my Kids Church set! I’ve been using a blackboard wall and some curtains for two years while I saved up to be able to finally build what I wanted. We call our kids church The Outpost because I want the kids to know that church isn’t the destination in our faith, it is only where we get trained and equipped, the Adventure is out there in the world during the week. We’re in Colorado, so we love the outdoors and the mountains, so our entire ministry is themed that way, Basecamp for Nursery, Scramblers for 2-3’s, Explorers for 4-5’s among others. But back to The Outpost! Here is a time lapse of the first day:     Then it was time to get to finish it! We had only two days to completely build it to kick off on Sunday! Some of our goals were: TV Monitors so no more turning out the lights every time we needed to show something on the screen via projector. A stage door for actors to come and go. A puppet window for puppet guests. Places for fun props out of reach of curious fingers. A cool entrance – the…

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