When the children can’t come to church, how can we bring the church to them?
This was the question I asked myself when our world was flipped upside down during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Our church had moved to online worship services, which provided music, scripture, and a message, but what was missing was a way for young children to be able to connect. On a regular Sunday at the church I attend there are Sunday School classes for the children to attend while their parents are in church. This is their time to grow in their faith through scripture, Bible Stories, crafts, games, and other activities; however with us not being able to meet at the church, the children were not able to attend Sunday School.
So that brings me back to my original question, when the children can’t come to church, how can we bring the church to them? We decided to begin our mornings with a Children’s Message for the children to watch prior to our online service starting. Once we decided to move forward with this plan, I thought about how I could take some of the elements from Sunday School and create a way for the children to connect each Sunday morning. Listed below are the key points I thought about when coming up with the format for the online children’s message:
Think of your audience
Pick the age group you want to reach with your Children’s Message. This will help you decide how to explain the bible story and what kind of activities to include in the lesson. I recommend making the age range somewhat broad to reach more children; however keep it reasonable. For example, I chose the age range of preschool-3rd grade. The stories being read may be understood by the older children; however I also provide a simplified explanation for the younger children. The crafts I have chose can be completed by the 2nd and 3rd graders independently, but the younger children can complete the projects with an adult’s assistance.
When thinking of the age range, also think about the children attending your church. The church I attend has many children attending who are in the younger elementary age range; however you may attend a church where the Children’s Message should be geared towards middle schoolers. Even when you choose the age range for your message, this does not mean others will not tune in. We have had a few adults commenting that they wanted to try some of the crafts and activities as well!
So now that you have chosen your age range, it is time to think about the content that will go into your Children’s Message.
keep them short but meaningful
As a Pre-K teacher and a dance teacher for children ages 3-13, if I have learned anything it is that children have short attention spans and can easily become distracted. With that in mind, it is important that you make your Children’s Message short but meaningful. It will have a much larger impact if your message is 10-15 minutes, but engages the children throughout as opposed to a 30 minute message that children tune out because they have lost their focus on the message. Typically my message is anywhere between 5-7 minutes with an activity or two to supplement the message. I make sure to read the scripture or Bible story and explain the meaning behind the story so that the children have a main take-away from the lesson.
make it relatable
When I think about different churches I have attended in my life and I think about the sermons that have stuck with me and the preachers that engaged me throughout the service, there is always a common theme: I can relate to the message and speaker, as I am sure is the same for many of you. This goes for children as well. Children want to be able to connect with and relate to the message that they are hearing. Think about ways that you can explain the Bible story so that it connects with the children’s lives. For example, recently I was working on my message for Palm Sunday and was trying to figure out how to explain the significance of that day to the children. I asked them to think about if someone like Anna or Elsa or one of the Superheroes came walking down their street and how excited they would be and how they would react. I then told them to think about the fact that Jesus was greater than any famous person they could think of and how excited the people must have been when He came riding into town on Palm Sunday. Find those simple ways to connect with children and their lives so that they can relate to the message that they are hearing.
include activities
Once you have chosen your Bible Story and lesson, choose some engaging activities for the children to watch and try on their own. You can include science experiments with materials found around the house. The children will enjoy watching the experiment during the Children’s Message, and many of them may want to try the experiment themselves at home! You could also include some crafts that connect with the Bible Story. Film yourself going over the craft step-by-step so that the children can follow along and create the crafts themselves. You could also include a writing or drawing prompt, a game they can play, a song they could sing, or any other activity you could think of! Change up each week the type of activities that you include so that the children are always surprised by something that happens in the Children’s Message. The children will be excited to find out what activities they will get to see and do during the Children’s Message each week.
putting it all together
Once you have each element of your Children’s Message, it is time to put it all together! You don’t need anything fancy to put together your Children’s Message. I have been using the Photo Booth app on my Mac to record each part of the children’s message separately and I use iMovie to put it all together. Any recording device and video editing program will work just fine. I have found that I like to prerecord each part and then edit them all together. This allows me to film in different locations if needed, re-record if something does not come out exactly the way I like, and preview the children’s message before it goes live.
Once you record each piece of your Children’s Message, put them together in an order that makes sense for you and your lesson. I personally like opening with the Bible Story and lesson. Then I will go into each of the activities. Finally, I like to wrap-up the Children’s Message by going over the main take-away from the lesson and then I end each week in prayer. This may work for your church, or maybe you prefer to start with an activity to capture the attention of the children, or maybe you like to open your message with prayer. Figure out what works best for you whether it is the same order each week or changing up the order to surprise the kids each week!
Now that your Children’s Message is ready to go, make sure to share with your congregation about what time you will be playing the Children’s Message and where they will be able to watch it. Send an e-mail to your congregation, share it on social media, or add a link to your church’s website. Post a picture of an activity you will be doing or a part of the lesson as a sneak peek to get people interested in the Children’s Message.
Have fun putting together your message as you explore different ways to bring Bible lessons to children online! There are many ways to engage children in these lessons and they will be excited to have something that has been created for them!