100 Best Ideas to Turbocharged your Preschool Ministry (4 page)

Here are the do’s and don’ts for dealing with separation anxiety.

DO reassure parents that an adjustment period is normal and expected.
DON’T encourage a parent to sneak out when his or her child isn’t looking.
This leaves the child thinking the worst.

DO have the child bring an item such as a stuffed toy that he or she finds comforting.

DON’T have parents stay around waiting for their child to stop crying.
This only prolongs the agony.

DO reassure a child that his or her parents will be back.
Because children don’t understand the concept of time, explain this in a way they’ll understand such as, “Your parents will be back right after snack time.”

DON’T scold.
Separation anxiety isn’t a discipline problem.

DO take children’s anxieties seriously, and treat preschoolers with understanding, patience, and love.

—Barbara

Preschoolers are hard-wired for imagination.
Any given Sunday, you may find yourself in a room with princesses, superheroes, or even the occasional Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Some well-meaning preschool leaders say that we run a big risk when we allow the truth of the Bible to merge with the imagination of kids.
They argue that preschoolers have a difficult time differentiating the truth of God’s Word from fantasy and will begin to think of Jesus as a fictional character.
But preschoolers are very capable of navigating between what’s real and what’s fantasy.
In fact, when we capitalize on their ability to seamlessly move between the real world and fantasy, we can better minister to preschoolers.

Creatively teach God’s Word.
The Bible is the account of God’s relationship with us.
It’s not boring, but we make it boring if we simply read it straight from our curriculum.
So don’t just read the Bible, tell it.
Understand the concepts, study the principles in your curriculum, and then paint a picture for your preschoolers’ imaginations by telling what happened in your own words.

Preschoolers will pay attention as long as their curiosity is engaged.
Once they lose interest in what you’re saying, they’ll focus their attention on something else, such as snack time or when their parents are coming to pick them up.

Use music to enhance your ministry.
Preschoolers love to dance and move to music.
Encourage your kids to participate through singing, dancing, and playing homemade or toy instruments.

Use sound effects to engage the imagination of your preschoolers and enhance their experience of God’s Word.
Incorporate instrumental mood music to set the stage for the part of God’s Bible you’re exploring.
Allow preschoolers to join you in making music by stomping feet, clapping hands, or rubbing their hands together.

Encourage pretend play.
Children learn a lot from dramatizing events because it allows them to put themselves into the truth of what happened.
So create a dress-up box with clothes and props gathered from local thrift stores, yard sales, and even your own closet and garage.
Then allow your preschoolers to dress like the people in the Bible and act it out.
Pretend play helps them to identify with people, understand the setting, and remember the action and sequence of events.
Acting out the Bible in pretend play helps children comprehend what they’ve heard.

Unleash preschoolers’ creativity.
Put away the sterile coloring sheets and allow kids to create their own art projects.
For most preschoolers, exploration of materials is the most important aspect of making art and unleashing their creativity.
Avoid art projects that require too-fine motor skills; it’s the process that’s important, not the finished product.
So as kids work with the supplies you’ve given them—water, clay, sand, dough, paints, papers, buttons, ribbons—respect the process.
Don’t worry if preschoolers don’t create the exact replica of the craft; allow them the freedom to explore and express their artistic interpretation of what they’re learning.

Scripture is clear that we’re all created in God’s image.
God is creative and so are your preschoolers.
Tap into their imaginations.
Take them on a journey of exploration and discovery as you introduce their imaginations to the truth of Scripture.

—Eric

How do you carry on a conversation with a preschooler?
Here are some tips to improve your “small talk.”

Listen...
it all starts with knowing how to listen to preschoolers.

At ages 2 to 3...

• kids begin to use complete sentences, think logically, and understand sequences of events.
  
• kids use the word
  no
  to claim their space; they use the word
  why
  to question authority and also as a way to engage in conversation.
  
• kids begin to make up their own explanations of things. For example, “When it rains, the sky is crying.”
  
• kids like to imitate other people’s words. You may hear them repeating words to their pets or toys that they heard someone else say. I remember doing this when I was in preschool. I had a Dennis the Menace toy. Any time I got in trouble, I turned around and gave him the same reprimand.
  
• kids like to hear about and describe the same event over and over again. This gives them a sense of security.
  

By ages 3 to 5...

• kids begin to understand cause and effect. For example, “If you drink your milk, you’ll have strong bones.”
  
• kids can reason out hypothetical situations, such as, “If this happened, what would you do?
  
• kids are more patient in conversation and more willing to take turns talking.
  
• kids also communicate through their body language, art, and play.
  

When you’re in conversation with preschoolers...

• spend just as much time listening as you do talking.
  
• ask more than just yes or no questions. Ask open-ended questions to encourage them to talk.
  
• get down on their level. Lean or kneel down to make them feel more comfortable.
  
• look into their eyes. Show genuine interest in them.
  
• watch your tone; don’t talk down to them. Let your tone reflect kindness.
  
• learn about their world. Know the shows they watch, the characters they like, their favorite ice cream, and favorite toys. Our staff subscribes to Nick Jr. and Disney and Me magazines to stay current with what preschoolers like.
  
• use down-to-earth words. Preschoolers are concrete thinkers; use words they can grasp concretely.
  

Small talk reaps big rewards.
Take time to genuinely talk with the preschoolers in your ministry.
They’ll begin to smile and run to you when they see you coming.
Then you’ll see their hearts open to receive the biblical truths you want to impart to them.

—Dale

We’ve all had them—the children who thrive on being disruptive, the world-class escape artist, and the one your leaders say they can’t handle.
What do you do?
Every child deserves a place in your preschool ministry, and it’s your job to make sure you find the right combination of teacher and environment to make this happen.

There are many children who don’t fit into the “cookie cutter” molds that our preschool ministries are developed around.
Not every child will sit perfectly still on the designated carpet square in the middle of the room and listen to an adult tell a Bible story.
Every child is unique and learns in different ways.
No doubt when a child comes into your room, he or she comes with a reputation.
As a leader you need to resist making prejudgments...and you don’t even need to make a plan.

Be flexible.
Flexibility is the secret.
Maybe you have a child who’s known to run out of the room; be flexible and wear flats instead of high heels.
(I promise flats will increase your 100-yard-dash time.) Maybe you have a child who interrupts Bible time.
Isn’t life full of interruptions?
Don’t ignore the child; acknowledge him or her, and redirect everyone’s attention back to the Bible.

Ignore labels.
At a time when I had a group of 3-year-olds who were learning about Moses, a child came into my preschool ministry wearing an invisible label of “problem child.”
He was known to run, interrupt, not sit still, and not participate.
When you hear this about a child, it’s hard not to be apprehensive.
But the experience I had with him forever changed me for the better.

This child was extremely intelligent and very much in his own world.
Each week during the time before our devotional, he’d build an “office” in the corner of the room, and his office is where he’d insist on staying.
For weeks I fought him on the office, telling him he had to take it down and
come to the devotional with everyone else.
During these first weeks, he’d always run out of the room.

Step out of the box.
Then one week I stopped fighting and played along with this imaginary world he’d constructed for himself.
Staying in character, we referred to our devotional as a lunch break from the office.
In the following weeks sometimes this would work, and sometimes he’d stay in the office as I watched him from the doorway.

But once I’d stepped out of my traditional teacher mold and started being flexible and open to what he was doing, he stopped running and gradually began to participate.
He’d stay in his office during Bible time but occasionally come out to teach the other preschoolers a song or bring me a plastic banana (his “phone”) and tell me I had a call.
I could see from these changes that he was letting us into his world, which was so much easier than us trying to force him into ours.
I saw how open he was to sharing his world— while we had only wanted him in our world if he behaved and acted a certain way.

This child taught me a lot about God’s love and understanding.
And in one conference call on the plastic banana, guess who was on the other end—Moses!

—Barbara

One of my family’s all-time favorite TV shows is
The Biggest Loser
.
There’s something compelling about seeing someone make a total transformation.
We live for the final reveal.
That’s when all the blood, sweat, and tears pay off.
Undeniably, the contestants with the best results are those who put forth the greatest effort.
It’s all in the training, baby.