Well-Equipped Volunteer: Train & Grow Your Children's Ministry Volunteers

Summer is fast approaching! What do you do with your preschoolers over the summer? Your Sunday School teachers deserve a break - they have served faithfully all year - yet 2 to 5 year olds turn into wiggle worms in the main service.

Here's an idea for an easy, no-prep preschool Sunday School Summer class:

I have used parent volunteers and picture books as the basis of my summer Sunday School class. Parents are willing to volunteer when they know that they will only be asked to help for 1 or 2 weeks and that they will be supervising the children and reading them a story from a picture book. I found a great series of pictures books by Carine Mackenzie based on the attributes of God - God is Faithful, God Never Changes, God is Kind, God is Everywhere, etc. I also use some books written by Debby Anderson - I Love My Bible!, Let's Explore God's World, God Knows my Name, I Can Talk with God, Every Child Everywhere, Jesus is Coming Back. (These books are available through your local Christian Bookstore or at www.christianbook.com)  I made a schedule for my parent volunteers so they knew which book to read and I found coloring pages to go with the theme of each week. I also found a Bible verse to go with each theme and made it into a poster. Here's an example of one of the lessons plans. I told my parent volunteers that the most important thing was reading the kids the scheduled book. They could choose to do what they were comfortable with other than that. Parents appreciated knowing that they didn't have to sing with the kids if they weren't comfortable doing it. Also, they could choose to do one, all, or none of the activity ideas provided.

I created a checklist for parent volunteers that told them exactly how the morning would go. I provided snacks and juice and toys. It's easy and non-stressful for parent volunteers but still makes use of the time we have to teach children big truths about our big God.

This idea works whether you dismiss children during the service or they go directly to their class at the beginning of the morning.

So, take a break over the summer! But make use of the time you have to teach our children about our great, big, awesome God!