Home Archive by category "Kidmin" (Page 30)

Category: Kidmin

What Words Define You?

Facebook asked me yesterday if I’d like to know what words I use the most when I post to my wall. It seemed like a fun activity. After clicking my approval, some software somewhere read my wall, compiled words, and sorted them by frequency. The result was the word cloud you see here. I was happy to see “kids” front and center and my son’s name as well. It was no surprise to see “church” or “Yosemite” – though my wife teased me that my friend Brett bumped her off the list, which does cast a little doubt on the accuracy, but at least Brent affirmed that I made his list too! Of course, Facebook only provides a glimpse into our lives, and the parts of our lives that we choose to share – but it’s worth some reflection to ask ourselves, What am I about? What drives me? What do I talk about? What do I think about? Life is made up of words and words reflect the heart. (Luke 6:45 and Matthew 15:18 discuss this.) Whether or not you allow Facebook to count your words, consider if God counted our words and made a list of what typically…

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My Magic Video Goes Viral

I just noticed that one of my YouTube videos has passed 200,000 views. O.K., so maybe that isn’t viral, but I think it’s pretty cool – especially since the Gospel is shared. The comments are always interesting once your video gets “out there” – “Jesus freaks are everywhere… even in magic…” “are you a engel from heven to teel good storie about god” “Karl nice job but I think that the show was to preachy and to related to god other than that great magic show “ “I am a Christian and I am a magician. Thank you for this show. I realized that showing tricks can talk about Christ. And it will be understood by children. God bless you.” “You need a kid fence on the edge of the stage or something!” ENJOY! (and feel free to share it!)

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What is your WOW factor?

I dropped by a church this week just to see a friend and drop something off. As is my habit, I took a peek in the kids area and saw these GIANT board games on the wall! I couldn’t help saying, “Wow” out loud and imaging the impact these have on kids on Sunday, especially guests visiting for the first time. They say we love kids! We value kids! We welcome kids! Before you simply react, “How do I get those? Can you buy them? Are there plans?” Ask yourself, “What can we do wow kids? To show parents they are loved, valued and welcome?” Sure, you can copy this idea, but you just might come up with something even better! It all starts with wanting to do something that is extra special, extra cool, and that will make your kids say “Wow!” on Sunday. At the church we are currently attending and serving it, their wow factor for my son started with an ice cream truck outside as we arrived our first Sunday, followed by donuts inside, of course, but then the kicker… Not one, but TWO jumpy houses in the children’s area. And this is a mobile church,…

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Kidmin on Steroids!

If you want to see how kids ministry ought to be done, you have GOT to host a Kidz Blitz event at your church! Every time I see Kidz Blitz in action, I am inspired to step up the level of excitement and engagement in my own teaching ministry to kids. When I am asked to describe it, I usually answer, “It’s Kids Church on Steroids!” I have hosted Kidz Blitz several times in the past – but recently they were at a church in my neighborhood so I took my son, and he had a BLAST! They know  how to engage an audience of kids AND parents with a perfect tempo of fun yet educational interaction – plus the Gospel is shared clearly as well. My son keeps asking, “When will that Kidz Blitz thing be back?” So, if you are looking for an AMAZING outreach event or church family event – you need to give Kidz Blitz a look! They’ve been doing this for years and have perfected the fun, family event that everyone will enjoy! Here is a SNEAK PEEK of some video clips I took during the event to give a small taste of what a…

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Making Lessons Relational with Green Screen

Kids learn best when there is a personal connection with those tho teach them. (So do adults, for that matter. It’s no mystery why the #1 reason people leave a church is that they don’t like the pastor.) If we don’t connect with our kids relationally, we reduce our impact. There are lots of way to be a relational teacher. The Kidology Handbook is the book on the topic, but there are many fun ways to do it as well, by personalizing the little things you do every week. Next week we conclude our Armor of God Series – it’s been a LOT of fun. The kids have really enjoyed our Roman Soldier we’ve been bringing through time to learn. (Watch videos of these lessons here.) The kids really enjoy Micah – he is a nut – and willing to do anything to engage the hearts and minds of our kids. (See Capturing Kids Imagination When You Teach.) So when I needed to create an activity for small groups next week, I decided to incorporate Micah into the activity. During the first week of this series, Micah showed up at church in his pajamas – and we ended up talking about…

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