ICE POPS : Weekly Prize

One of the CHEAPEST prizes I like to hand out in our kids church is "ICE POPS"! I live is South Florida and as you might know, Florida is really HOT! Kids get really excited and get really competitive to win an ice pop. Every Sunday is a competition between boys versus girls. Trust me, it gets real crazy up in here! You might think it's expensive, but it's truly not. A box of ice pops contains 100 delicious ice pops for about $3-$4 at Walmart. Very cheap and very affordable! 

What do you give to your weekly winners?

Game: Bandana Snatch

Here is a great game that we play at my kids church, it's called "Bandana Snatch". Bandana Snatch is almost like "Capture the Flag", but with each player having a bandana inside their back pocket. Kids are divided into 2 teams. Each team stands opposite from each other. When the leader gives the signal, it's ATTACK MODE! Let me tell you, kids love this game so much. Every week I have kids come to me asking if we can play this game. Here is what you will need for this crazy game.

• 5-10 Red bandanas and 5-10 blue bandanas
• Make sure bandanas are visible 
• Crazy Battle Music
• You can do boys vs girls or girls vs girls and boys vs boys
• Boundaries (depends how big your room is or how many kids are playing)

Make sure you also explain to your kids not be rough with each other!!! Have fun!
Oh! and kids love seeing their KidMin Leaders and Pastors go at it too.

Kids WORLD!

How can we connect with our kids in our kids ministries? How can we find out what they are into? How can we as adults jump into their world? I have found several ways in which I have learned to see how I can connect with them. Check them out!

1. Watch TV Shows - See what the kids are watching. See what grabs their little minds. I tend to watch Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and other networks.
2. Magazines - See what's going on in their kid world. I read teen magazines, children's ministry, and others.
3. Watch Movies - Once again, watch what they are watching. I like to sometimes create sermon series when I hear of a NEW kid movie coming out. It gets kids excited!
4. Play Video Games/Apps - This is my favorite part! I love to play video games. It's great to talk to kids who love to play the same games as you do. I have found that playing video games has helped me build relationships with kids who are shy, scared and timid. I provide video games in my kids church.
5. Listen to Music - I know I know, some of their music is kinda crazy, but it does help you build relationships with them. I over heard one of my girls singing a song and all of a sudden I jumped in and sang with her. Her facial expression was priceless! 
6. Toy Store / Toy Aisle - I love walking through the toy aisle and toy store. I get to play with amazing toys and also get to see what kids are into. The toy store will also give you many ways to get creative.
7. Websites - See where kids are going online. See what interest them. 
8. Gather 5-10 Kids - Every other month I like to have 5-10 kids join me at church to give me a heads up of what in their world is going on. I like to ask what are the latest trends. 

These are the different ways I get to CONNECT to a kids WORLD!

New Segment : Science with Dr. Lafsalot

Kids are something else. They are not dumb! If you keep the same old order of service every week, they will tend to get bored and they will actually write down word for word the order of service you have planned for them that day. I have had kids come to me telling me about children's pastors who have done the same old stuff in the past and even leaders have said the same thing.

I actually like to change things up every week. This week we ended up introducing our brand NEW characters; Dr. Lafsalot and his sidekick Charlie. Dr. Lafsalot is a scientist who comes out and explains the main point of the service by using SCIENCE!! He uses his amazing experiments to bring the main point across our kids. Charile in the other hand, is the goofy assistant who messes things up or tries to protect the kids from Dr. Lafsalot's experiments.

Kids truly enjoyed this segment this past Sunday. The videos below is a little snip it of Dr. Lafsalot and Charlie. Enjoy!