Very few ministries in your church are as important to guests as your children’s ministry. If you’re looking to reach families, children’s ministry is without a doubt the most important ministry in your church. I hate to break it to some of you, but flannel graphs and coloring pages don’t cut it anymore.

I didn’t grow up in church. My family would’ve been described as the Easter and Christmas crowd when I was very young but eventually stopped going all together. My childhood church memories basically consist of one photo of me sporting a pastel yellow suit hunting Easter eggs, and that’s it.

I was lucky to have a friend who invited me to church when I was 20 where I accepted Christ into my life. I am part of the small percentage of adults who make that decision. The majority of salvations in America happen between the ages of 4 and 14.

That’s why children’s ministry is so important. Each week we have the opportunity to introduce kids to the love of Jesus. So, how can we make the most of this opportunity? How can we make sure that church is the highlight of their week?

I would suggest these five ingredients that have worked for us tremendously over the years.

1. Prioritize Safety

The world we live in is a scary place. Your children’s ministry shouldn’t be. Make sure every children’s volunteer passes a background check, no exceptions. Also, you should have a safe and secure way to check children in and out of rooms. Planning Center is a great web-based option, while Excellerate is great for those without a reliable wi-fi signal.

2. Be Creative

It seems that attention spans are getting shorter and shorter these days for kids and adults. That’s why it’s so important to be creative. Keep children engaged by using a combination of music, videos, games, and activities each week.

3. Teach on Their Level

Make sure to break down your kid’s ministry into different age-specific environments. Different ages learn at different levels. You’re not going to have much success teaching preschoolers with 5^th graders. Once you learn to teach Jesus on their level, they can start reaching their full potential in Christ.

4. Encourage Friendships

Perhaps nothing will better determine the direction your child will go than the friends they have around them. That’s why we want to build the best friendships at church. We try to do this through age-specific small groups that take place each week after the lesson.

5. Have Fun

This may sound crazy, but we actually are more concerned with kids having fun than we are with them learning a Bible lesson. Here’s why, when kids have fun they beg their parents to bring them back to church the next week. The more they attend church, the better chance they have of giving their life to Jesus.

We’ve learned so much over the years from some great children’s ministries, but the greatest resource we’ve found is KidSpring, the kid’s ministry of Newspring Church.

They provide all of their resources for free, and in my opinion it’s the best curriculum in children’s ministry. Check it out, and I know you’ll be blown away.

What does the children’s ministry look like in your church? What curriculum are you using? Let us know be leaving a comment below, and make sure to subscribe to the blog to get tips on leadership, church growth, and more delivered to your inbox each week.