NEW! ThanksLiving Game for Church or Home

Thanksgiving isn’t just something we do once a year – it is an annual reminder that we should be THANKSLIVING! That is why for Thanksgiving this year, I created this simple game, based off the classic game of “MEMORY,” will help kids to think of things they are thankful for – and then focus on them. You could easily make this yourself, but I made your job easy by creating all the tools for you: Complete Instructions for the interactive Large or Small Group game 5 pairs of ThanksLiving Verses 5 pairs of ThanksLiving Objects Blank template for making your own Back cover for every sheet in the game PowerPoint of the ThanksLiving Verses as well as the Team Names Printable Numbers to determine the order of play. HAVE FUN this Thanksgiving helping your kids to be ThanksLIVING! Giving thanks ALWAYS and for EVERYTHING to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 HOW TO GET IT: Available in the Kidology.org Store Or FREE for Premium Members of Kidology.org

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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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Make ‘Em Laugh!

Some things never change! Enjoy this great video from 1952 – a great reminder that the best communicators are those who can make their audience laugh! While none of us can do the stunts in this movie (Singin’ in the Rain) – we CAN think of things that will make kids laugh. Physical humor is always effective (walking into things) but so is verbal and visual humor. Whenever you are preparing to teach, ask yourself, “How can I make them laugh?” And you’ll have them eating out of your hands!

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Celebrating a Year at Kids Rock

It’s hard to believe it has been a year since I started as the children’s pastor at the Rock of Southwest! As I reflect back on the year, it is so satisfying to think of all the amazing things I have gotten to do as I’ve worked with some incredible staff and volunteers! Just scrolling through my Facebook wall is overwhelming and brings back so many memories. I inherited a ministry that was well staffed both from paid staff and volunteers; a place where kids were valued and where there was freedom to be creative and try new things. It was nice to start a ministry that wasn’t “on fire” and be able to build upon a solid foundation. Here are some of the highlights for me from the past year: We started with “POOF” – a meet the new Kids Pastor magic show that was a lot of fun! Relaunching children’s church as The Outpost and teaming up with some amazingly creative volunteers to bring a whole new level of large group learning filled with time machines, Minecraft portals, fun green screen videos, puppets and more! Launching The Outpost Crew and getting kids involved in leadership! Making videos with them!…

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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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