Hi everyone,
My husband and I have been asked to take over Children's Worship at our church (there will be 25-30 kids in the worship time). The previous format was singing followed by watching VeggieTales. The atmosphere was chaotic and negative, with lots of disruptions. The main problem was that there was only 1 volunteer leading the whole thing! However, a negative behavior pattern has been set, and we have some work to do in order to turn it around.

We have been planning this transition to a new format for about 3 months now and we're starting next Sunday. Here's my request: I need ideas for activities to build relationships between the kids and the volunteers, and a fun way to introduce our class rules. I think we will work on these things the first week, and dive into the KOW curriculum the next.

The class rules are:
1. RESPECT (for God and others)
2. SAFETY (we take care of others, ourselves, and our things)

Any suggestions would be welcome! Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Holly

----------------

Welcome to KidsOwn Worship. Thanks for your heart for serving kids.

I think you're off to a great start by addressing some challenges/potential challenges you have. I think this is a good step.

Some other thoughts for you that may spark ideas, or just to keep in mind.

+ Sometimes it's helpful to have teenagers or adult volunteers sit with groups of 5 - 7 kids. In fact, I had older kids in the program 'adopt' a younger child to help them out. Smaller, multi-age groups, or asking older kids to help younger kids typically helps eliminate many disciple issues and helps give your older kids a feeling that they are valued (little kids look up to the big kids, too!)

+ In some groups I've worked with, I've gotten kids involved in creating rules/guidelines. So you may want to present your two (or include them if they don't come up), but ask kids for their input. They may come up with some other thoughts. And when they're involved, they tend to 'own' the rules (and follow them) more readily.

+ If you want more ideas, we have another curriculum, done in a large-group/small-group format for preschool through elementary kids (Living Inside Out) that has a module called Wilderness Trail. It's four weeks on the topic of respect. The Key Verse is 1 Peter 2:17a "Respect everyone."

Let us know how it goes. We'd love to hear your ideas, stories, and questions. Thanks again for leading. God bless you and your ministry!