Vic Bennett: "Big Church and Little People"
Part 6 of 10. Ideas for 'Big Church' to try with your 'little people'.
Vic Bennett has been an elementary school teacher, a children's pastor, and a friend to our family. He graciously offered the following:
My four kids are now pretty much grown, but some of our favorite things we did as mom and dad when they were little to engage them in "big church" included:
- "Listen and Squeeze" - Prepare ahead of time of the sermon's theme, key phrases, key words etc. Tell your child/ren (we often had one on each side of us) what to be listening for today in song and in sermon. As soon as they hear the word, phrase or idea, they are to squeeze your hand, knee, whatever. You, too, have a motion (a squeeze, nudge, toe tap, etc.) that you do when you hear the word, phrase, or idea. The goal is to be the first to indicate that you heard it. You will be amazed how quickly they will pick up on what is important in a sermon. This will also help you as a parent to listen, to distill the ideas to a kid level, and to reward your child's attention.
"Listen and Tally" - pretty much the same as "Listen and Squeeze" but you and the kids tally each time a key thought, idea or word is mentioned in song or sermon.
"Picture That!" - If you have a child that learns artistically, visually and/or kinesthetically, you will be astounded by the pictures they draw. By equipping them with pencils and erasers and paper, and preparing them ahead of time with the sermon's theme, key words, phrases, or ideas and then telling them to draw out "in their own words" the message they hear, you get an inside window to what they are understanding, while at the same time celebrating their learning. Our kids especially LOVED this idea.