Make it Memorable
In a previous article, Manageable Morsels, I provided examples of breaking down children’s Bible lessons into bite-sized pieces for kids to understand Biblical truths so they are spiritually healthy. Another important tidbit to remember in teaching kids is to make it engaging and relevant to them.
If kids love anything more than knowing something, it is announcing what they know! It might be about the topic, or it can be a seemingly totally random comment. If you have ever been interrupted during a lesson because a student just had to share something, you know what I mean. Try to see this disruption as evidence that they were listening and something you said got their attention! Turning that comment back to the topic takes some finesse at times, but them feeling like they had something significant to add to the conversation is worth the awkwardness in the moment.
Let me give you an example. One week I was teaching on Paul’s dream about the man from Macedonia calling him to come and help them. One little girl shouted out, “I speak Macedonian!” Well, obviously I was taken aback. I had never even thought about Macedonian being a language. What I did know about her though, was that her family had been missionaries for a while in…you guessed it, Macedonia! Asking her to share a little about her time there and if she remembered any words was actually very interesting to other students. Win!
Making it relevant can sometimes be a challenge, but kids like to know where they fit into this story and how the story fits into them. One time when I was teaching about the Israelites and Moses in the wilderness, I realized that I could put this in somewhat of a timeline for their life. So I asked, “Who in here is 10 years old?”. Several kids raised their hands. Then, since I had just celebrated my 50th birthday, I said, “Ok, so if you were your age when you crossed the Red Sea, you’d be my age when you entered the Promised Land.” Talk about getting their attention!
They thought of what that really looked like to wander in the wilderness for that many years. And of course, some did the math and said, “You’re 50! That’s so old!” Which it really is from their perspective. But it also turned into a good discussion of what wasting 40 years of your life looks like when you don’t trust and follow God.
One of my favorite teaching tools to engage students is using object lessons. You can use a variety of objects to introduce, teach, or review a lesson. Or all of the above! It can be as simple as adding in a game or activity, bringing a toy that relates to the lesson, or more elaborate such as dressing in character or bringing in oversized objects for a wow factor. Another idea is introducing the lesson with a science experiment. This is often more complicated and involved but super fun!
For example, I’ve dressed like a queen when we studied Esther, brought a real sword to teach on the armor of God, washed kids feet during Holy Week, popped popcorn that popped all over the room when we talked about sharing the Gospel, used balloons to represent being filled with the Spirit, brought spices for kids to smell when I taught on the Wise Men’s gifts of incense and myrrh, and played Simon Says to teach on listening to Jesus.
Whatever you choose, just remember the main thing is to engage the kids’ senses and learning styles (auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic) to enhance their learning. Don’t let “the thing” become the lesson. Rather it is something to engage them and make it memorable for them, something that they “take-away” and remember the lesson when they see that, smell that, hear that “thing” again.
Trish Weeks
Teacher, Leader, Pastor
