Home Archive by category "Creativity" (Page 3)

Category: Creativity

Sending Kids on a MISSION!

Kids come to church, listen, learn and then go home. But how do we impact how they live? It is so important to give children practical things they can do to live out what they are learning at church. Your curriculum likely calls that the “Application.” But just telling kids an application, doesn’t mean they’ll remember to do it! So how do you break into the routine and busyness of their week? Just like your lesson, you need to make the application fun. As we teach kids to share, give and be generous, we need to also provide them a way to DO it. How? Send them on a Mission! Our church is currently collecting school supplies for teaches and students at an inner city elementary school our church has partnered with. That is their mission. My mission is to make collecting these supplies fun. So last week, my son and I went to Walmart to demonstrate the Mission we want to send our kids on. Here is the video we made to get our kids excited about collecting these supplies. Making your own promo video is easy. I needed only an iPhone, a little bit of planning, and less…

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So Long Summer Party! Break the Mold!

This past Sunday I had a gift – an extra week between the lesson series I am doing. I finished up my summer series based on Rock Solid and will be starting GO! I love when I get a chance to break the mold and do something completely different! It is exciting for the kids and refreshing for the volunteers! So last Sunday, at my wife’s suggestion, we had a So Long Summer Party! We moved outside, played games, did acoustic guitar worship, ate popsicles and enjoyed using no multi-media! What a treat to not have to set up the computer, if only for a week! I planned the whole thing on one piece of paper! I gathered all the games I could find from my house and the church, and created a fun obstacle course where several teams could play at the same time. (I did a short Facebook Live with my drone if you’d like to see it from the air!) When is the last time you broke the mold and did something completely different? Shake things up. Do something new. Try something different. Don’t get stuck in a rut!

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Join Me at the Kidmin Conference

Join Karl at Kidmin Conference this fall! Save $100 – If you register by May 1st! I’m excited to be presenting at Group’s Kidmin Conference in Chicago this fall. I’ll be teaching workshops on Unleasing Your God-Given Creativity, Adding Pizzazz  to Your Teaching, and Becoming KIDmissional. These are extended hands-on learning experiences that will transform your teaching and give you practical ministry tools you can go home and immediately implement! Learn more and save $100 by registering before May 1st. To see my workshop descriptions, visit the Presenters page and click View Sessions under his name. I hope to see you there! Because Jesus Loves Children, Karl Bastian

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Creative Video Bible Story Telling

We’ve all seen and perhaps used videos in children’s church. But did you know you can make your own? Here is a GREAT sample from a church where I’ll be doing some teaching training in the new year (via skype). I think it is a great example of how you can make a video that requires NO MEMORIZED LINES! Kids LOVE to see themselves on video – as well their friends. Plus, the experience of making the video also reinforces the learning process. Here is how the creator of the video described it: This was a project that was Jesus-inspired.  I have NO videography, director, script writing, etc. experience, but after a test run with my kids I thought this could be doable.  It’s shot on my iPhone 6 and as you know, edited on iMovie. The beauty of this project is a) no memorized lines; b) the film shoot can be chaotic and I’m giving directions the whole time, but it’s all muted and voiced over; c) isn’t dependent on kids all showing up on a given Sunday to perform and half of them are out for colds or vacation; d) gives parents something to take home and share;…

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Johnny Magic BOX OPENING!

I’ve known Johnny Magic for many years. I’ve performed with him, highly recommended him, and learned from him as well. I like to joke that I want to be more like him when I grow up, except he is younger! So you can imagine how excited I was when Johnny Magic created a Magic Kit for kids! However, this is much more than just another magic kit. In addition to amazing tricks presented in a very cool case where kids can store them, it also includes an app with video instruction, another with background music and sound effects and yet another that is a super cool ticket scanner for your child’s show. (all free!) Beyond all that, Johnny includes training that will help kids learn how to be a great performer or presenter whether they use magic or another creative art. So when my son’s kit arrived in the mail – we made it an event and filmed the UNBOXING! Enjoy! Order yours TODAY! What a fantastic Christmas or Birthday Present! P.S. You can listen to Johnny explain the Magic Kit and the idea behind it on my latest podcast.

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