Writing Your Own Kid’s Church Lessons
If your Kid’s Church is part of a bigger organisation, your lessons will be set out in the curriculum that has been provided. But there are still many Churches where Kid’s Ministry leaders need to find their own content. There are a range of lessons you can download. Some are reasonably priced and some are free, including those at Cooee Kid’s Ministry, but have you ever considered writing your own lessons?
You don’t know where you may end up teaching children. You could be in a mission field, at home or abroad, where there’s intermittent internet coverage. You may need to create a specific lesson that caters to your particular kids in your particular location. Writing your own lessons means you’re not totally dependent on technology or budget. You are free to work with the Holy Spirit in providing spiritual content for the kids in your care.
Take Notes
You need somewhere to write down your thoughts and ideas when they come to you…and they will come. I use journals because I still like to put pen to paper. Don’t rely on remembering ideas. Write them down! I’ve been journaling for five years now. I’ve just begun journal number 11, so I’ve started a separate notebook where I index ideas, titles or themes. I’ve also have a ‘Working on It’ file on my computer. If I’m ever unsure of the next lesson to write, I return to the index or the computer file, and the Holy Spirit will usually highlight the one He wants me to work on. Some lesson ideas don’t come together for a year or more because it’s just not their time yet. But when you know, you know!
The Logos and the Rhema
I find the best lessons have come out of my morning devotions. I use a daily devotional magazine, and at the moment, a book. I read the devotion and the additional Bible scriptures provided. It’s while I’m reading that a phrase will leap out, or a picture forms in my mind, so I write it down in my journal and continue reading. It’s important to read for my own benefit and not just for the Kid’s Ministry. Then I pray. I like to start with the Lord’s Prayer, it helps me focus, and go on from there.
I’ve also used my Pastor’s sermons which he is happy for me to turn into lessons. I’ve used ideas from online preachers like Katherine Ruonala. I’ve used my own observations, things my grandchildren have said, or stories my friends have shared over a cup of tea. It’s very exciting when your spirit is stirred by something you see or hear. You know there’s something in it…you may not be exactly sure what, but a lesson is there waiting to be discovered!
A lesson idea from a friend: Huff Fever Visit: https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Huff-Fever.pdf
A lesson because my chaplain friend needed one for sport’s camp: The Tribe Has Spoken Visit: https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/The-Tribe-Has-Spoken.pdf
A lesson idea from my Pastor’s preaching: The Impossible Place Visit: https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Impossible-Place.pdf
Investigate
I like to use online commentaries to check my lesson idea is correct and in context. I own a concordance or two as well. I once wrote a sketch only to find the particular verse I was building it on didn’t have the meaning I thought it did, so I had to scrap it. I also ask my husband to check every lesson. Ask a friend to look over your lessons for you. Their input will only make your lesson better. We have to be so careful that what we are teaching is correct. (James 3:1) When I was a girl I thought women had an extra rib because God had taken one of Adam’s to form Eve. It’s a fable that had been taught to me by a Sunday School teacher who passed it on because no one had stopped to check if it was correct.
Time
I know all this takes time but there are so many benefits. Your knowledge of God and His Word grows. You hear God’s voice and creativity flows.
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believe in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-39
Essentially Jesus said, “Put your loving trust in Me, enthrone Me in your heart, and life and abundance will flow out.”
David Guzik