Resources

Families want to know how you intend to protect and ensure safety while their children are in your care. Child safety encompasses more than strict adherence to policy and procedures. It also involves creating an environment that prioritizes communication and transparency, where kids feel safe and included. Here are eleven tips for creating a safe and inclusive environment. 1. Create a Supportive Atmosphere Start your time by gathering together. This will help you assess the children, set the tone for yourself and your students, create trust, promote collaboration, and help kids feel important. It’s a great time to welcome new...

From the very beginning of the world people have wondered who made the world and universe. Adam and Eve knew how the world was made because they knew God. At first, Adam and Eve talked directly with God in the Garden. But later God did not talk directly to people. God used special men and women to tell people about Him. Many years ago, when some people forgot about God, they came up with all sorts of stories of how the world was made. Then when people began to write, people wrote ideas down or drew pictures of their ideas...

Recently, I had the privilege of talking with Michael Grady, the author of 3 books that present Bible stories in an engaging manner that can be used by families. They have been recently published in Spanish, too! Q: Michael, how did you become interested in Bible stories? It all started when I was 5- years-old and my mother began reading the Bible to me. I loved those stories! When I was 12, I received my first Bible with the understanding that I would read it every day—which I did. When I was 17, my mother said that it was time...

In May 2022, The Barna Group, in partnership with Awana, released a report that churches and church leaders should give significant attention to. “Children’s Ministry in a New Reality”* seeks to look at the church of today in order to form the future church. Awana CEO Matt Markins asks a question that we should all be concerned with. It is not a question of what the future church is, but how we can be a part of actively forming it today: “If today’s kids are to be the church members and church leaders of 2050, how should we change our...

  The Bible, first placed in printed form some five hundred years ago, paved the way for bringing the Word of God directly to every individual who has acquired the ability to read and has Scripture available in their language. Yet, millions in the world remain illiterate. The same is true as we work with children who can’t yet read. We must communicate the Word of God to them verbally. It must be shared in a format where everyone can understand and be drawn to God. The Words of God truly are the essence of all of life! What God...