One of the first things we wanted to do this fall is define the WIN.  I think too often it is considered a win if there is no “Ouch Report” and the child’s claim tag matches the parent’s receipt.  While both of those are good things I think we are shooting a little low if that’s the goal. Preschoolers are like a sponge constantly learning all the time.  We have the opportunity to pour into those little hearts and minds, molding their character and their first impressions of God.  We know that society is constantly pushing information down to younger and younger ages and we as the church need to be actively communicating God’s message to the youngest of our children.

For our Preschool Ministry here is how we have defined the WIN:

Kids feel safe and loved.

Kids are engaged in the small group, Bible story time, worship, and prayer.

Kids are participating in the small group activities.

Kids are having fun.

Kids leave able to say the lesson’s ‘Bottom Line.’

Kids feel connected to their leader and the other kids in the group.

Essentials to WINNING in the Preschool Ministry:

Build meaningful relationships with the kids.

Learn kids’ names and their parents’ names.

Interact with every child in your group.

Interact with parents when they pick up their kids.

Pray for the kids in your small group.

Connect with your kids outside of Sunday Morning.

Remember birthdays and celebrate special events of your kids.

Spend at least 20 minutes preparing each week for your small group lesson.

We have a great group of dedicated Preschool Leaders who understand both their opportunity and their responsibility.  Our continued prayer is that God will draw more and more committed adults ready to invest in these little lives.

Technorati Tags: Children’s-Ministry, Youth-Ministry, Family-Ministry, Preschool-Ministry, Kids-Ministry, Sunday-School

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Klumps
All play. Have everyone stand and the leader calls out a number. As soon as the number is called, let’s say “3,” then each player to attempts to assemble in a huddle of 3 people. Anyone who cannot assemble into a group with the called number of people is eliminated. Continue calling different numbers until there are only two players left standing.

1, 2, 3, Hit
Have everyone stand and the leader calls out the phrase “1, 2, 3 Hit!” On the word “Hit” each player is to place their hand on their forehead displaying a number 1 – 5 with their fingers. A second leader on stage, with their back to the audience, now calls out a number 1 – 5 and anyone displaying that number is out of the game and must sit down. Play until you have a winner.

Gorilla, Man, Gun
Played like the classic “Paper, rock, scissors.” The difference is the symbolic gestures used. To start, everyone is to find a partner. Once everyone is ready to play with their partner, students are to stand back to back. At the word “Go” students turn around immediately giving their gesture of play. Here is how it is done. Students decide at “go” what they are going to be. GORILLA roars out loud with hands beating chest. MAN just stands there with his/her head faced up (as a stance of pride) with hands and arms folded. GUN is using the hand shaped like a gun and the person says bang. Here is the rules: Gorilla beats man, Man beats gun and gun beats gorilla, it you Tie you die.

People Scavenger Hunt
Good game for a crowd or audience. Divide the crowd into three or four teams, assign each section a captain. The game leader calls out certain characteristics…blue eyes, likes to play Wii Sports, has a big dog, has red hair, etc.

The captain of each team must quickly try to bring someone with that characteristic up to the leader. First one to do so wins that round. Keep score and play to 5 or 10.

FOUR CORNERS

In this elimination game, players try to survive by outsmarting the signal caller. The signal caller turns his or her back to the crowd while the students scatter and stand in one of the four corners of the room. The signal caller calls out a corner. All the students who are standing in that corner are eliminated. The signal caller then turns his back again and the process repeats itself until there is only one student remaining. To speed the game up, you can “close” corners as the crowd thins out. Be sure to name or number each corner clearly.

Apes & Monkeys
Two people are designated as “apes” and are given sticks (bats, pool noodles work well, etc.) Everybody else is designated as a “monkey”. Put about 4 or 5 nerf balls into play. The apes’ goal is to hit the monkeys with the balls…when a monkey gets hit he/she is frozen. If all the monkeys are frozen the apes win and you start a new game. The monkeys’ goal is to hit an ape with a ball (the apes use their sticks as shields.) If a monkey hits an ape then they switch (ape gives stick to monkey and becomes a monkey), and all the frozen monkeys are unfrozen.

Last Man Standing
Get everyone to stand up, then call out a list of activities. The last person standing is the winner!
Example
• Sit down if you have eaten chocolate today
• Sit down if you are wearing purple
• Sit down if you were born in September
• Sit down if you have blue eyes
• Sit down if you are the youngest child
• you have ever broken a bone
• gone for two weeks without a show
etc.

Caterpillar Race
Form teams of equal size, with five to seven players on each team (3 also works). Have kids think up one-syllable names for their teams. Then line teams up next to each other behind a starting line.

Instruct team members to place hands on the shoulders of the team members in front of them and race to a finish line according to the following rules of movement: The first person in line may hop one step forward. Continue down the line until the last person in line hops one step forward. After the last person hops, he or she must shout the team name. Then the whole team may hop one step forward at the same time. Repeat this process to move the caterpillar along. Players must keep their hands on the shoulders of the team members in front of them at all times during the race. Players may move forward only by hopping one step forward with both feet at once. If a team member breaks any of the above rules, it must return to the starting line and begin again.
Ankle Balloon Pop
Give everyone a balloon and a piece of string or yarn. Have them blow up the balloon and tie it to their ankle. Then announce that they are to try to stomp out other people’s balloons while keeping their own safe. Last person with a blown up balloon wins.

Copycat

Start by getting everyone in the group to stand in a circle facing toward the inside. Choose one person and send them out of the room. While they are out of the room, appoint a ‘leader’. This person is the one who will lead the group in various movements (eg stamping feet, spinning, standing on one foot, dancing, singing, etc). Everyone else in the circle must mimic the leader, without giving away who the leader is.

Bring the person back into the room, begin the game. The goal for person who was sent out of the room is to guess who the leader is. They get three chances to guess it right. The leader then becomes the ‘guesser’ and the game continues!

Try out one of these games this week and let me know how it goes. Send me a list of your “tried and true” favorite games.

Technorati Tags: Children’s-Ministry, Family-Ministry, Youth-Ministry, Kids-Ministry, Sunday-School, Children’s-Church, Games, Youth-Games

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