Play! Listen! Talk!

#1 Being prepared says you care! Prepare yourself by asking God for wisdom as you teach. Prepare the lesson by choosing the activities that will help the kids in your class play, listen and talk. The kids at my church seem to love games like the one in today’s lesson that used a balloon.
#2 Get down at a child’s eye level and listen as much as you talk. Ask questions to encourage each child’s participation. I use the questions in my curriculum—saves me time!
#3 Tell kids what they can do, instead of saying what they are supposed to stop doing. “If you want to sit next to your friend, I need you keep your hands to your self.” Wouldn’t you like to have a dollar for every time you’ve needed to say those words?
#4 Be a teacher of vision! See the most active, the most difficult or the most withdrawn child, not as a problem, but as a person to be loved into God’s family. Do you ever fall into the trap of thinking, “Oh, no. Here comes . . .” I need to view each child with God’s perspective.
#5 Teach respect by showing respect. Wait for a child to finish speaking before you talk. Model “please” and “thank you.” Show children the same respect that you would show to adults. Give kids a few minutes warning before ending their play activities. “It’s just about time to finish making our play dough faces.”
#6 Let your attitudes and actions demonstrate the truth of your words about Jesus’ love. The young child learns more from who you are than from what you say. Kids don’t wait for me to begin telling the Bible story before they begin learning. They are learning from the first minute they walk into my classroom.
#7 Give each child individual attention before negative behavior occurs. Use each child’s name often to get and keep the child’s attention. I want to the kids in my class to know that church is a safe place to be where they are loved and accepted.