If you’re reading this blog, I think you will agree with me that we want to see boys and girls following Christ as lifelong disciples, growing in their faith. That’s why we kidmin leaders, week after week, pour into the kids at church, so we can teach them to know, love, and serve Christ. But have you ever thought about how the visuals you use are actually discipleship tools?
Good visuals aid in children’s understanding.
Let’s face it: We are teaching some complex theological concepts. And the Bible talks about things that are not prevalent in our day-to-day lives, and for kids, especially younger kids, more explanation is needed. That’s where great visual media comes in.
Graphics, illustrations, and animations can support the Bible account in the day’s lesson – show through pictures what the flood could have looked like, what Elijah’s competition on Mount Carmel could have looked like, how the angel shut the lions’ mouths for Daniel, and more.
Complex theological concepts often need a visual illustration. Make a graph to explain the trinity, visually show what justification looks like, and more.
Sometimes, even unfamiliar words are better understood when seen. (Think about those visual learners in your group.)
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Good visuals can draw kids into the lesson
It doesn’t matter what age group you are teaching; at times, engaging them in the lesson can be tricky. Since kids all learn in different ways, engaging kids in multiple learning smarts and styles is a great (and effective) way to draw them in.
Don’t just audibly speak the lesson. Add visuals.
Don’t just add visuals to your lesson; add interactive activities.
Don’t teach in just one way. Keep lesson segments short and engaging, trying to layer activity types and learning styles and smarts.
Have you ever seen unengaged kids when you set something on fire in your lesson? No? Me neither. If children are participating in a science experiment that teaches a complex theological concept, do you think they are engaged? You bet!
Visually, how can you draw kids into the lesson?
Think about:
All of these draw kids into the lesson, engaging kids with a visual element.
Elevate your kidmin with visuals!
Since I mentioned going old school with a flannelgraph, you might be questioning this heading. Is a flannelgraph really elevating lesson time? Hear me out.
We want to draw kids into the lesson and help them understand it better through the use of visuals. Think about where you currently use visuals.
What about all of those other areas? If you are teaching but don’t have a visual (either a prop or something on the screen), chances are, at least one child isn’t engaged. We want that child engaged so that he/she can hear God’s word. Elevate teaching time by adding in visuals everywhere you can!
So, what kind of visuals will help elevate your worship and lesson time?
Check your background slides. Do these look fun and engaging? Not sure? Grab some of the Church Visuals Theme Packs. You can customize some great-looking slides, with the hard part already done for you.
Add in some mini-movies or Bible account animations.
Full-length movies aren’t meant for church. But mini-movies are short, perfect for reinforcing the passages read from God’s Word.
Think about transitions and preservice.
Filling transitions and pre-services with videos, motion graphics, or countdowns gives your order of service a polished look.
Screen games can help kids learn God’s truths, memorize passages, or aid in review time.
Remember how we want to engage kids while layering the learning?
Why just ask review questions?
Using a screen game takes things to the next level.
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Polished, high-quality worship videos can draw kids into an atmosphere of worship.
Kids can and should be worshipping. Depending on your resources, you might not have a worship team, or if you are like me, you might be worship-motion-challenged. Worship videos are a great resource to utilize.
Adding visuals to your lesson time or worship service isn’t just an extra step of awesomeness that kids will enjoy. It’s a needed step; a discipleship tool to help draw kids into and better understand God’s Word.
If we want to see every boy and girl in our ministry become lifelong followers of Christ, then we need to do everything we can to engage every child who walks in our church doors. For some kids, those visuals can make an eternal difference.
