Play! Listen! Talk!

“I don’t want to do anything,” the 5-year-old boy said. His mom was ready to drop him off in our class, but no matter how she tried to encourage him to stay, he kept shaking his head no. “You’ll get to have a good snack.” “I don’t want to eat anything.” “You’ll get to make something fun.” “I don’t want to make anything.” “You’ll get to play with toys.” “I don’t want to play with toys.”

A five-year-old who didn’t want to play with toys? I think it was at that point that mom decided her words were not going to change her son’s mind. “Then you can sit here and not do anything.” And she was off to church.

For the first few minutes Matthew did just sit and not do anything. My attempts to talk with him were met with “No, I don’t want to do anything.” Gradually, however, his God-given desire for action won him over. Soon he was eating the snack, then listening to and talking about the Bible story, then making star rubbings and then playing. All the while hearing words about the good things God wants us to do.

On any given Sunday, for whatever reason, there are kids in our classes who “don’t want to do anything.” It took me a while, but I’ve finally learned that it’s OK. “It’s OK if you want to sit and watch. You can join us when you’re ready.” Giving each child time and space to participate in his or her own way is one of the good things God wants teachers to do.

What’s something important you’ve lost recently? How did you feel when you realized it was missing? Were you frustrated because it was something you lose all the time (like me—I can NEVER find my keys), or were you panicked because losing it was an emergency? When we asked kids yesterday what things their parents have lost, we heard all kinds of answers: keys, cell phones, important papers, jewelry, money, sunglasses—even the car! (I’ve done that, too—parked the car and completely forgot where it was!)

But talking about lost items was easy compared to talking about “lost” people. Even though all our preschoolers have probably been lost from their parents at one time or another, we wanted to help them understand what it meant to be “lost” from God. So as we told about the woman in Luke 15 who celebrated when she found her lost coin, we talked about how God is glad and celebrates when we become part of His family. I don’t know how much these little ones got it, but my prayer is that the message of God’s love for them and His excitement when they are “found” will be remembered and built on Sunday after Sunday. And just to emphasize the message today, as kids left we gave each one a chocolate coin: “Here’s a reminder of today’s Bible story. You are more valuable to God than any coin. He wants you to be part of His family!”

Have you noticed that with preschoolers the best lesson plans and preparation can suddenly take a turn—into real life?

In our classroom that happened when a spider was discovered in the bathroom! The kids were delighted, but you can imagine the scene as every child in the room crowded into the bathroom to see the spider, and then shrieked in pleasure or fear! And later, as part of an activity where kids were supposed to be drawing themselves to show that God loved them, two little boys turned the activity into drawing monsters instead.

What’s a teacher to do? How do you connect spiders and monsters to following Jesus? Actually, real-life experiences are one of the reasons I enjoy teaching preschoolers so much. Their honest responses give me a perfect opportunity to talk about the things that matter to them. “Look at this cool spider God made!” “God loves you and He made you able to do so many things—you can draw cool monsters!” So I’m glad when real-life experiences take place in my classroom—although I’m hoping there won’t be too many more spiders!

I don’t know about your church, but the preschool classroom where I teach has wonderful, brightly colored, ergonomically correct chairs—for preschoolers! Not so much for adults! We teachers sit in the same little chairs, so getting on the kids’ eye level can be a stretch. (Or maybe it's just getting up from the little chairs that's a stretch!)

But in order to really play, listen and talk with kids, I’ve got to be at their level. So that means not standing up while kids are sitting down; no hovering around the back of them while they’re seated at the table and not talking to my co-teacher while kids are playing on the floor. (Even though I love my co-teacher and really enjoy talking with her—we share our lives before or after class.)

I’ve figured out the extra effort to get down to the kids’ level is worth it because my goal every Sunday is to have close-up eye contact with every child. I’m thinking there are already enough places where kids are overlooked and passed by because they are part of the crowd. At church, every kid deserves focused attention.

What I learned today: Dress comfortably!

What did you see at church today?

Today I saw two little four-year-old girls walk hand in hand into Sunday School. They were skipping, bouncing up and down, talking, smiling, laughing—all from the enjoyment of being friends together at church.

I also saw a first-grade girl, obviously wishing to be somewhere else, but walking hand in hand with her dad into her class.

And then after church I saw four teens from the church being baptized at a local beach. Their belief in Jesus has been built as their teachers have walked hand in hand with them through their growth as Christians.

Each child needs people to walk hand in hand with them—friends, parents, teachers. It’s an awesome responsibility—and some days I wonder if I’m keeping up with that responsibility! It's too easy to want to see instant results. But as a teacher of preschoolers, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm in it for the long haul. I want to walk hand in hand with the little ones in my care to help them take their beginning steps toward walking hand in hand with Jesus. Who are you walking hand in hand with?

Fear was a big topic of conversation with the preschoolers today as they heard about the story of Paul’s dramatic escape from Damascus. It didn’t take long before one little girl admitted she was afraid of monsters hiding under her bed. Then some of the kids said they went to their mom’s bed when they’re afraid at night—except one brave one who announced proudly, “I stay in my own bed.”

In talking with kids about their fears, I’m always trying to find the right balance between helping kids learn how to handle their fears, and emphasizing fear so much that fear is created where none existed! That’s why I loved the Bible verse for today: “In God I trust; I will not be afraid” (Psalm 56:4). Kids—and grownups—are afraid sometimes, whether or not the fears are real or imaginary. I love that the Bible recognizes our fears, but then helps us turn to God for courage. I love that as we play, listen and talk with kids we can reassure them and ourselves that God knows and understands when we’re afraid.

What I learned today: How important it is to provide opportunities for kids to talk about real life so they know that God is a part of the things that matter to them.

We talk a lot about how children are unique, made in God’s image in their own special way. And, to be honest, usually those words just pass right by me. But today in our class, who would have thought making a Bible-times scroll would reveal so much uniqueness!

In the scroll activity, kids were crumpling up paper bags to give them an old-time look before gluing a message of Jesus’ love on the bag and rolling it up to make the scroll. (The story was Philip explaining God’s Word to the Ethiopian traveler.) It was quickly apparent that kids LOVE crumpling up things and each one had a unique approach—some used just one hand, some used both hands, some used their whole arms, and even dainty Kenna stomped with her foot! Fortunately, the message of Jesus’ love endured despite all the crumpling.

It’s what I love about teaching about Jesus through play. Each child gets to participate in a way that fits him or her. And those personalized play experiences are the open door that allow me to enter with words about Jesus.