ids’ ministry does not have to be entertainment driven, nor does it have to implement the latest gadgets to be fun and impact kids. It seems that, over the years, we as the American Church have created an entertainment-focused mentality and have gone too far with the idea that, in kids' ministry, everything has to be fun like Disney. Kids’ ministry needs to get back to the basics.

What can we do to regain our footing and make an impact in the lives of our kids and families? First, we must partner with the parents in our local churches. Kids’ ministry is not day care. Neither is it the local church’s primary responsibility to teach kids about the Bible. Rather, the local church is a supplement that parents should partner with to help their kids grow in relationship with Jesus Christ. Parents have to take the responsibility to train their kids in the Bible. The home is the primary ground for teaching children the basics of the Bible. The local church is where kids get to connect with friends and learn new lessons that build on what their parents teach them. This partnership ensures that each kid is grounded in the Bible and that they develop healthy relationships.

The home is the primary place for teaching children the basics of the Bible.

In order to partner with parents, my church created a way to keep them involved by developing and implementing a system called the Daily Life Journal to use throughout the year. This leads kids through a daily Bible-reading plan and also gives them room to journal about what they learn from the Bible each day. Creating a means to track daily Bible reading and journal entries promotes a context to strengthen the relationships between kids and their parents. By creating different opportunities of involvement, the church maintains that partnership with parents rather than becoming the predominant teacher in the kids’ lives. This is so basic, yet it has great impact on each kid.

At my church, we also make room for creativity. Rather than providing kids with the newest eye-popping gadgets and gizmos, kids' ministry has more impact when we leave room for kids' imagination. One such example is using two plastic cups and one string to make a “telephone.” Kids love this craft. Someone from our church shared with me that it was a hit because she saw several kids in restaurants and local stores who carried with them these “telephones” they made at church as a craft. Too often we overlook the fact that the simple things impact kids. How much simpler can you get than two plastic cups and a string?

Simple. Right? That’s the point. When you take it back to the basics, you allow more room for kids to express their creativity. God designed us to be creative. Entertaining kids does not challenge their imaginations to expand and search out possibilities. What would better serve them is a context where they can express their creativity and have fun. This allows for more room to build strong relationships and apply principles from the Bible that they are learning at home and at church.

Getting back to the basics simply involves structuring every aspect of kids' ministry with relationships in mind. All activities and crafts should connect the kids with one another and to their teachers. The exact structure isn’t the focus; rather the fact that kids are building relationships and learning to apply biblical principles should be the key.

You will achieve success when you designed a structure that fosters a context to build and strengthen relationships, enables learning to apply biblical principles as well as having loads of fun. How much more fun will it be when you are 50 years old and you see former kids from your kids’ ministry helping their children learn and apply biblical principles, even using the same crafts that you showed them when they were younger!

Randy Waters is the Kids Ministry Director at New Song Christian Fellowship in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.