100 Best Ideas to Turbocharged your Preschool Ministry Read Online Free

drink your milk, you’ll have strong bones.”
kids can reason out hypothetical situations, such as, “If this happened, what would you do?
kids are more patient in conversation and more willing to take turns talking.
kids also communicate through their body language, art, and play.
    When you’re in conversation with preschoolers...
spend just as much time listening as you do talking.
ask more than just yes or no questions. Ask open-ended questions to encourage them to talk.
get down on their level. Lean or kneel down to make them feel more comfortable.
look into their eyes. Show genuine interest in them.
watch your tone; don’t talk down to them. Let your tone reflect kindness.
learn about their world. Know the shows they watch, the characters they like, their favorite ice cream, and favorite toys. Our staff subscribes to Nick Jr. and Disney and Me magazines to stay current with what preschoolers like.
use down-to-earth words. Preschoolers are concrete thinkers; use words they can grasp concretely.
    Small talk reaps big rewards.Take time to genuinely talk with the preschoolers in your ministry.They’ll begin to smile and run to you when they see you coming.Then you’ll see their hearts open to receive the biblical truths you want to impart to them.
—Dale

We’ve all had them—the children who thrive on being disruptive, the world-class escape artist, and the one your leaders say they can’t handle.What do you do?Every child deserves a place in your preschool ministry, and it’s your job to make sure you find the right combination of teacher and environment to make this happen.
    There are many children who don’t fit into the “cookie cutter” molds that our preschool ministries are developed around.Not every child will sit perfectly still on the designated carpet square in the middle of the room and listen to an adult tell a Bible story.Every child is unique and learns in different ways.No doubt when a child comes into your room, he or she comes with a reputation.As a leader you need to resist making prejudgments...and you don’t even need to make a plan.
    Be flexible.Flexibility is the secret.Maybe you have a child who’s known to run out of the room; be flexible and wear flats instead of high heels.(I promise flats will increase your 100-yard-dash time.) Maybe you have a child who interrupts Bible time.Isn’t life full of interruptions?Don’t ignore the child; acknowledge him or her, and redirect everyone’s attention back to the Bible.
    Ignore labels.At a time when I had a group of 3-year-olds who were learning about Moses, a child came into my preschool ministry wearing an invisible label of “problem child.”He was known to run, interrupt, not sit still, and not participate.When you hear this about a child, it’s hard not to be apprehensive.But the experience I had with him forever changed me for the better.
    This child was extremely intelligent and very much in his own world.Each week during the time before our devotional, he’d build an “office” in the corner of the room, and his office is where he’d insist on staying.For weeks I fought him on the office, telling him he had to take it down andcome to the devotional with everyone else.During these first weeks, he’d always run out of the room.
    Step out of the box.Then one week I stopped fighting and played along with this imaginary world he’d constructed for himself.Staying in character, we referred to our devotional as a lunch break from the office.In the following weeks sometimes this would work, and sometimes he’d stay in the office as I watched him from the doorway.
    But once I’d stepped out of my traditional teacher mold and started being flexible and open to what he was doing, he stopped running and gradually began to participate.He’d stay in his office during Bible time but occasionally come out to teach the other preschoolers a song or bring me a plastic banana (his “phone”) and tell me I had a call.I could see from