4 Tools For Your Preschool Class

Ministering to 3-5 year olds can seem daunting at times. They are very wiggly and active.

To set you up for success, here are four tools you can use every week.

Yes, do these same four things every week.

ONE: PLAYTIME

An important part of your preschool class is playtime. 

Playtime is important, because play is a child’s work. I have a four-year old granddaughter.  Luci is very smart and active.  It is amazing what she does – for just a little girl.

  • She loves to clean – because if she can get her hands on the package of wipes she has them ALL out and used.
  • She loves to organize – she will line up her sidewalk chalk in rows, in the middle of the floor, and she loves to fill her toy box up after she has dumped and taken every toy out.

Playtime is an excellent time to begin teaching social skills. 

They are beginning to interact with others.  We should not pass up the opportunity to talk about sharing and friends, life is not all about them. Playtime is a part of your preschool class, but should be not the entirety.

There are a couple of reasons to include playtime – if you are not doing so:

  • For children that are reluctant to leave their mom – it is a way to show them how fun your class can be.
  • Have children put toys away, this teaches them to pick up after themselves.

CLICK HERE to take a Virtual Tour of Kinder Church 2.0.

TWO: COLORING PAGE

Why your coloring page for your preschooler is important. 

Preschool parents are very involved in their preschooler’s life.  They will take their child’s color page and put it on the refrigerator, send it to Grandma or put it in a frame.

The coloring page is an easy way to start your class time.

Each week the coloring page should go along with the Bible Story for that week. This is an easy introduction into the lesson and a great take home piece.  Remember, don’t just hand out the color pages, as the children are coloring talk about the picture they are coloring.  Ask them questions.  Every moment is a teachable moment.

THREE: BIBLE STORIES

The Bible stories begin the foundation you will build upon.  The Bible gives us real life stories to retell God’s power.  Remember to focus on the principles behind the story.  For instance, in the story of David and Goliath, the focus is not on the five stones David picked up, but David had a belief in God’s power and with one stone defeated an enemy of God.

There are different ways to tell Bible stories:

  • Drama – act it out using props and costumes. Everyone has them. You can even get your class involved.  (This was one of the best ways in my class.)
  • Flannel Graph – Betty Lukens has the best.
  • Video – use as a follow up to reinforce the story.

By using different methods and changing up what you do will keep their attention.

CLICK HERE to take a Virtual Tour of Kinder Church 2.0.

FOUR: OBJECT LESSONS

It is always important to teach with something in your hand, children need help visually.

By taking an everyday object, game, craft, food or activity children are familiar with, you can teach a Bible principle or spiritual truth.  By using object lessons you can take a main core idea that you are trying to teach and break it down into bite size pieces.

Short Object Lesson example teaching children self-control:

What You Need: Bottle of bubbles

What You Do: Make a label for the bubbles “I’m The Boss of Me” and tape it onto bottle. You will play a game with the children by blowing bubbles and they use their self-control by NOT popping the bubbles and standing still.

 (This is an inter-active object lesson taken from Kinder Church 2.0, Love Yourself, Lesson 4)

When teaching this lesson, the children are active and engaged.  You, the teacher pulls it together with what you say afterwards.  Remember tie it together.  If they don’t understand why they have to stand still when you blow the bubbles then they didn’t learn what you are teaching.  You can tell they understand by asking questions.

I’m excited to share that we’ve been hard at work creating a preschool curriculum that uses this same principle to make sure your kids get the most out of each lesson.

CLICK HERE to take a Virtual Tour of Kinder Church 2.0.

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