How to Have a Fall Festival (Halloween)

Check out all these, and more,  Halloween Outreach Tracts

Trick or Treat, Halloween Tracts, 25 A day of playing dress-up and getting free candy is every child's dream. But children need to know that while trick or treating on Halloween is fun, the best treat of all has been given to us by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 4 panels. Uses the ESV. Package of 25.

What's Wrong With This Picture? 25 Halloween Tracts The princess and the clown from the cover picture discuss God's love and salvation in comic book style in these colorful tracts for kids. Answers to the picture puzzle are also included!

Halloween: Trick or Truth? Tracts, 25 Children have fears and get scared. This gospel presentation helps them understand how they can be safe in the care of God. Prayer of Salvation included. Tracts come in shrink-wrapped packages of 25.

Halloween Maze Tracts, 25 Halloween Maze tracts tell the story of Jake getting lost trick-or treating and illustrates how we are all lost and in need of Jesus to lead us "home". Bible references are from the KJV. Package contains 25 tracts.

A Halloween Tale Tracts, 25 More than just costumes and candy, this tract explains the origins of Halloween, and how Jesus Christ came to take away our fears... and sins!

The Best Treat of All Tracts Pack of 25 Calling on repentance and trust as prerequisites for forgiveness, this tract is designed as a Halloween give-away, and equates Jesus as the best 'treat' of all. While not defining what 'believing' means or entails, and not referring to Christ as either Savior or Lord, the text clearly defines what sin is. Pack of 25.

Emergency Numbers for Christians

When you are under attack, call Isaiah 54:17.

When you are outspoken, call James 1:19.

You feel forsaken, call Isaiah 41:10.

When you are undertaking a big task, call Joshua 1.

When you start to worry, call Matthew 6:25-34.

When you have sinned, call Psalm 51.

When you travel, call Psalm 121:8.

If you are depressed, call Psalm 27:1.

For the secret to happiness, call Col. 3:12-17.

If your bank account is empty, call Psalm 37: 3-7.

If you want to bare fruit, call John 15.

When you are in danger, call Psalm 91.

When doubt God’s tender love, call Psalm 139.

When your faith needs building, call Hebrews 11.

When you are lonely and fearful, call Psalm 23.

When you grow bitter and critical, call 1 Cor. 13.

When you feel down and out, call Romans 8:31-39.

When you are overwhelmed, call Matt. 11:28-30.

When you feel guilty, call Romans 8:1-30.

Having people problems, call Colossians 1:20.

When you think of investments/returns,  call Mark 10:29-30.

If discouraged about your work, call Psalm 126.

This is a free call. Operator assistance is never necessary. All lines are open 24 hours a day! Access is available regardless of age, sex or creed. Lines are never busy. Call today! Don’t

How to Use Tricks to Teach

 Using optical illusions or so called "magic tricks" can be an extremely effective way to reinforce your Sunday school lesson. The magic will keep the children focused and listening intently. The teacher will be able to drive the point of the lesson home and make it memorable. This article will give you some basic principles to using "magic" in your classroom.

 Pick your trick.
 Select an illusion that can be related to the lesson you are teaching. For instance when something disappears you can make a point that Jesus wipes your sins away and are gone forever; when something appears, talk about how Jesus is coming back and no one knows when. There are several different kind of tricks out there; visit my links below to check out all there is to offer ... think about how you can use a trick to teach a lesson. It will take a little thought on your part but it will pay-off when the students have a lesson stuck in their mind.

 Practice the trick.  The old saying "practice makes perfect" is as true today as when it was first said. Nothing can turn your audience off as quick as a poorly performed trick- one that doesn't work or gives away the trick. The students will find the trick boring or corny. So practice it along with what you will be saying as you perform, you will be glad you did.

 Perform the trick.  Performing your trick takes plenty of practice as stated above. The performance should be well thought out. Your teaching points should be timed just right throughout. Your performance should be exciting and interactive with your audience; talk to them and ask questions if possible. Make sure you are performing far enough away that the secret to your trick is not revealed; some tricks are made for close-up and some for stage distance, be sure you are aware of this when you perform.
 

How to Start a Children's Ministry

Many churches today are in need of children's workers.
In churches large and small kids are slipping through the cracks because they do not have a children's ministry. Nothing turns a kid off more to church then having to sit through a sermon that is geared towards adults. Children are not wired to sit still for an hour. If churches continue to lose young people, they will lose their future leaders.
So, you've decided you want to start a kids ministry in your church. I will warn you, it is not easy. On the other hand it is a very rewarding ministry if you have the love, patience and time to commit to it.
Below are the steps in starting a new children's church ministry.
Note: Look at the resource links for more of my How To' s concerning more specific aspects of children's ministry work.

1. Step 1
   Take time to pray daily (10 minutes) for at least one week. Ask God for direction and to prepare you heart for the ministry ahead. Without prayer at the foundation you can not know for sure that this is the ministry God wants you in. A ministry that is not built on a relationship with God through prayer is one that will crumble. After you have determined, through prayer, that you want to work with children; you are ready to move to the next step.
   
   
2. Step 2
   Develop a children's ministry plan. This will consist of a number of things. First decide what age group you want to work with. Most kids ministries that run during the morning service are 1st through 5th grade. If there is a need and enough workers you can break the age group down more.
   Give the ministry a name that is exciting and that you can promote. I have developed Kidz J.A.M. (Jesus and Me). Come up with a name that sends a message that the class is something a kid won't want to miss.
   Make a list of goals for the class ie. what you want the children to get out of the class; how much do you want the class to grow.
   Make a class schedule. Plan for your normal service time and add 15 minutes of additional material. Your schedule can include any of the following: time for a lesson, object lesson, game, music, crafts, activities, snacks, short movies such as Veggie Tales and anything else you might want to include in your class time.
   Choose lesson plans or a year round program. If you are going to write your own lessons prepare a couple to use for examples. Develop some promotional material ie. fliers and bulletin inserts.
   You may want to start thinking about a room you would like to run the class in. Keep in mind what activities you will be doing when you determine a room.
   Now that you have a program in place you are ready to move to the next step.
   
   
3. Step 3
   It is time to present your ideas. Do not be afraid or intimidated; most leaders will be excited that you want to be in ministry. Schedule a time to meet with your Pastor or Sunday school director. Prepare for the meeting. Let the Pastor or Director know that you have prayed much about the decision to start a ministry. Present the program by name. Give a vivid explanation of what a child will experience, state the goals for the class. Give an example of a class schedule complete with a lesson plan or program. Be ready to answer any question that may be asked. Ask any questions you may have. You may want to ask if you can have a budget for the class, unless you plan on buying all materials and supplies.
   
   
4. Step 4
   Congratulations you've been approved. It is time to promote a start date, recruit volunteer helpers and just keep building excitement. You might even want to throw a kick-off bash.
   Good luck. God will reward those who serve him diligently.

How to Podcast Your Youth Ministry on Internet Radio

Internet radio and podcasting are quickly becoming the rave around the world for those that have a message to communicate on a large scale. Whether you are want to broadcast mainstream music or put your youth sermons online this article will give you the basic instructions to help you join the internet radio community.


 Decide on a format for your radio show or pod cast. What will you be broadcasting? Knowing this will help you determine what internet radio hosting site you need to use. There are some very good free internet radio hosting sites available to those that are producing their own original content. If you plan to use copyrighted material you will need to sign up for fee based hosting to keep your internet radio or pod cast legal.

 Here are some ideas to use free hosting for:
 Talk Radio (Original content)
 Church Youth Messages (Original content or used with written permission)
 Independent Artist music (used with permission)
 Instructional radio
 Again, if you plan to use any copyrighted material you will need written permission or use paid internet radio hosting for it to be legal.

 Select the proper internet radio hosting serve and sign up for it. You will need to sign up even if you are using the free hosting service.

 Prepare your show to go on the air. If you are doing a live show you need to have an outline of your show written down so that your show can flow smoothly. If you are using music have your files ready (some sites will have you upload your files). Be sure that all your files are in mp3 format. If you are not doing a live show you will need to upload your file and make it available as a pod cast or download to your sites visitors.

 Get your internet radio station or pod cast some exposure. You may want to email its link to you friends or post links to it on facebook, myspace, twitter and other social networking sites or personal web pages.

 Broadcast your first radio show to the world and enjoy the interaction with the listeners of the online radio community

	Blog talk radio offers free free tools to create a live radio show or previously recorded podcast. This site is great for talk radio call in shows. You simply use your computer and phone to produce a show.
	Live 365 is for the youth pastor that wants to use a lot of music on his show.  It offers a free service and a paid service that allows you to use copyrighted music from all major recording studios. The paid service starts with very affordable pricing and increases depending on how big you want the show to be.
	Godaddy offers podcasting starting at $4.99 a month.

Snow Globes

Supplies:  Save all those pickle or other glass jars and lids for this one.

First, glue a figurine or other object standing up to the inside of the plastic lid.  While that is drying, fill the jar about halfway with water and add as much glitter as you would like.  Fill the jar completely after the glue is dry. To seal the lids use some plumbers tape around the top of the jar before screwing on the lid.  Also some glycerin added to the water and glitter helps the glitter not to clump up.  Just a few drops is all you need.  This can be purchased where cake decorating supplies are sold.  Turn it upside down and shake the glitter up.  You can also add ribbon and other decorations to the base around the lid or top of the snow globe.

Rustic Picture Frames

You can collect the driftwood yourself or you can arrange a nice walk along a river or somewhere "earthy".  I basically got this idea walking along the river with my dog and he kept bringing me sticks.  Collect a lot (as straight as possible but maybe with some quirks to them)
  You need:
  - 4 sticks of driftwood (whatever length depending on your picture size.  I like the frame to overlap a bit on the edges)
  - 1 piece of cardboard
  - 1 photo
  - glue gun
  - ball of leather cord
 
  I glue the picture to the cardboard (with a glue stick...I don't know if the hot glue would destroy it or not), and line the frame with the driftwood.  Then I just tie the corners together and after making sure its the right size for the picture, I glue it on top of the photo.  If some edges stick out from it I just snip them off.  Then you just glue on a loop of string onto the back to hang it and voila! You have a cheap frame that looks fun.  You could even get really artsy and add bits off moss or go for a "seaside" theme.

Sword Drills

Sword drills are used by many Sunday Schools as a way of training children to look up references in their bible. The basic idea is that the children start with their bibles closed, a reference is given to them and, when the signal to start is given, they look up the verse. The first one to find it is the winner. However there are several ways to make the exercise more fun, and more visual, and some of those we have used are explained below.

Note on Bible versions: If the children in your Sunday school use different versions of the bible, you should make sure beforehand that the key word (animal, object number etc.) is the same in each version.

Visuals: As well as reading out the bible reference, it should be written out for the children to see. In the past this might have been done on a blackboard. But in these days of computers it is very easy to print out the references in large letters on sheets of brightly colored paper. These can then be put in the correct order in a ring binder (see photo) and held up for the children to refer to while they are looking up the verse.  They can Also be put on Power Point.

The Hot Corner

Number the corners of the classroom 1 thru 4. Have all the kid stand up.  Now tell them that they are to run to any corner in the class and that if they are in the one you call out they stay in the game, everyone else sits until the next game. Do this until one or no person is left. You can play this several times. Afterward you can do a lesson on choices. In the game you never know what the right choice is but in life you can know the right choice by following God’s word and Jesus' example.

Find God

Take an item ( I use a softball ) and put the word God on it. Have a volunteer  hide it.  Instruct the class that they are to Find God.  Give them a couple of minutes to do this. You can play this several times.  At the end you can do a lesson on how we don't have to search for God all we have to do is pray. There are many other lessons you can do with this, use your imagination.

Caterpillar Race

Divide a large group into several teams.  Each team gets a bed sheet.  Have one half of each team go to the opposite side of the room for a relay race.  Hand a bed sheet to the first person in line on one side of the room.  At the word "GO", the first person must drop to the floor on the bed sheet, roll themselves up into a "caterpillar" and then "inchworm" crawl to their teammates across the room.  There they must unroll (the receiving team may assist!) then the next person in line rolls up and inches back to the other side.  Continue the relay until each person has crossed to the other side.  Great fun!

Castle Siege

This game is a spin off from the classic Dodge Ball.  You will need the following items.
 
  1.  Around 40 soft rubber balls of various sizes.  don't make them larger than a size 3 soccer ball.  Make sure they are soft because the kids will be throwing them at each other during the game.
  2.  50 shipping boxes each around 12" by 18" by 12".  These will be the bricks for the castle wall.
  3.  Four 8' folding tables.
 
  Game set up:
  Set two tables lengthwise next to each other leaving 5 feet between them.  This will give you a 16 foot base for your castle wall.  Place the remaining 2 tables around 20 feet from the others in the same manner, this is the base for the other castle.
  On each table set up the boxes to resemble a castle wall.  Leave some space between the boxes to allow the kids to have a place to throw the balls.  The space between the tables will be the only entrance to the castle.
 
  Each team starts with equal amount of ammunition (balls) for each team.
 
  The objective of the game is to destroy the opposing team's castle by knocking the boxes off the tables by throwing the balls at them.
  Any balls that end up in the area between the castles can only be retrieved by any member of each team leaving the castle entrance and making it back without being hit with a ball thrown by the opposing team.  If a player is hit by a ball he is considered wounded and can only be rescued (tagged) by a team mate.  Once tagged the player can return to the castle.  If he is hit again before he reaches the castle he is again considered wounded.
 
  Players cannot enter the opposing teams castle and balls can only be thrown from behind the castle walls. 
 
  The game is over when all the boxes of one of the teams have been knocked off the tables.

Candy Race

Two cereal bowls are placed on a table. In one of these there is a handful of small sugar-coated sweets which are generally round in shape. Examples of suitable sweets currently sold in the US are "M & M's", "Skittles" and "Joosters". A child who answers a quiz question correctly is given a clean drinking straw and, using suction, they have to transfer as many sweets to the empty cereal bowl as they can within a set time limit. They get to keep all the sweets they successfully transfer. The time limit could be varied depending on the age of the child - e.g. 15 seconds for young children, and 10 seconds for older ones. Very young children, who might find this too difficult, could be allowed to nominate an older child to act on their behalf.

The straws used should not be too small in diameter - about 5 mm is ideal -and not too long (if necessary they can be cut shorter).

This game can be used as a scoring system for a team quiz - the number of points scored is the number of sweets transferred.

Bible Tic Tac Toe

Bible Tic Tac Toe can be played as a stand alone game or used to reinforce the Sunday school lesson. If you are a children's minister looking for a game idea that teaches Bible knowledge, this game might be for you.


 You will need about fifteen questions to ask the Children. The questions may come from the lesson or be random Bible questions mixed with other goofy questions.
 The Grid for tic tac to may be on a white board or chalk board. To make the game even more fun make large grid on the floor that the students can stand in them.

 Divide the class into two teams. One team will be the X's and the other the O's.

 Questions will be asked to each team, they will need a correct answer in order to place an X or O. You may want to assign a team captain to communicate the answer or you can have questions specific to each individual on a team, it is your choice.
 If you are using a floor grid you might want some large X's and O's for children to hold as they stand on the grid.

 The winning team will have successfully got three X's or O's in a row- up, down or diagonally.

Bible Musical Chairs

Children often get restless if they have to sit still for a long period of time. Bible musical chairs gets the students up and moving to channel some of there energy into a game and learning experience. It is easy to play, as you will see below.

 things you'll need:
 Christian Children's Music CD
 Cd Player
 Chairs
 Bible Questions (Possible Lesson Review Q's)
 Bag of candy

 Gather together enough chairs to equal one less than the number of children and put them in a large circle.

 You will need a long list of general Bible question, they can be multiple choice.

 To play the game have the children begin walking clockwise around the chairs and start the music. When the music is paused the kids must sit in a chair. There will be one chair where to kids are trying to get in it. Use a Bible question to determine which one stays in the game. Ask the question to the child that is most in the chair, if she gets it correct she stays in the game, however, if she gets it wrong the other child will get a chance to answer correctly and "get the chair". If neither one answers correctly, the person most in the chair stays in the game. After one student has been eliminated, remove one chair and start the process over. keep eliminating a student until there is only one left.

 For a twist have the boys walk clockwise and the girls walk counter-clockwise.
 Give a special prize to the winner and a small prize (candy) to all that played.

7-Ball

7-Ball is a game I made up one night for our church youth group.  You will need the following: 7 tennis balls, 3 trash cans (we use the big ones on rollers), a magic marker, and participants.  That's all you need! To set up the playing field, place the trash cans in a row, going away from the player.  The first should be 7 feet from the "throwing line", the second 14 feet from the line, and the third 21 feet from the line.  On one of the balls draw a "7" with the marker.  That is your "7-Ball." Here's how it works.  Participants stand behind the throwing line and try to make the balls in the cans.  The first can is worth 1 point, the second is worth 3 points, and the third is worth 7 points.  The 7-Ball is worth the can it goes in, plus 7.  So it is worth a total of 8, 10, or 14 points.  However, if you miss with the 7-Ball, you lose 7 points.  Negative 7 is the worst score possible (0 balls made), 56 is the highest (all 7's).   We have a small youth group, so each person plays on their own team.  We do it as a double elimination tournament and the youth has a lot of fun with it.  But you could play it in teams, or however you want.  It is so much fun, and you will be surprised because the hot shots that go for seven every time are stunned when they get beat by girls playing it safe!

The Romans Road

The ROMANS ROAD....is a pathway you can walk.

 It is a group of Bible verses from the book of Romans in the New Testament.  If you walk down this road you will end up understanding how to be saved.

Romans 3:23 

 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

We all have sin in our hearts. We all were born with sin.  

We were born under the power of sin's control.

- Admit that you are a sinner.

Romans 6:23a  "...The wages of sin is death..."

Sin has an ending.  It results in death.  We all face physical death, which is a result of sin.  But a worse death is spiritual death that alienates us from God, and will last for all eternity.  The Bible teaches that there is a place called the Lake of Fire where lost people will be in torment forever.   It is the place where people who are spiritually dead will remain.

- Understand that you deserve death for your sin.

Romans 6:23b  "...But the gift of God is eternal

life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Salvation is a free gift from God to you!  You can't

earn this gift, but you must reach out and receive it.

- Ask God to forgive you and save you.

Romans 5:8,  "God demonstrates His own love for us, in

that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!"

When Jesus died on the cross He paid sin's penalty. He paid the price for all sin, and when He took all the sins of the world on Himself on the cross, He bought us out of slavery to sin and death! The only condition is that we believe in Him and what He has done for us, understanding that  we are now joined with Him, and that He is our life.  He did all this because He loved us and gave Himself for us!

- Give your life to God... His love poured out in Jesus on the cross is your only hope to have forgiveness and change.  His love bought you out of being a slave to sin.  His love is what saves you --  not religion, or church membership.  God loves you!

Romans 10:13  "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord  will be saved!"

- Call out to God in the name of Jesus!

Romans 10:9,10  "...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting  in salvation."

WELCOME

This site is full of free lessons, games and ideas for your children's ministry needs. All of the resources have been classroom tested by ministers around the country.  Please feel free to download and duplicate any idea but please do not redistribute or sell them without permission of the submitter. It is my goal to provide you with everything needed to make your children's ministry stand out in your church and your community.