4 Reasons to write your own kidmin lessons

write your own kidmin lessons

I’ve been in kids ministry a long time. When I went to the first church I served on staff with, I was the first children’s and youth pastor they ever had.  I know what it is like to have little to no budget to work with but still be expected to engage the kids with a high quality program.  

It’s not impossible, but sometimes it is difficult. 

Over the years in different churches and positions sometimes I had material to teach and sometimes I didn’t.  More than once the material available to me was old and out dated.  Did I use the old material?  Sure I did – it’s all I had. But I often had to make some changes and adapt it to the group I was teaching.  

After a little bit of time I realized I was pretty good at adapting and I started to write my own material. Not always did I have a base to start with to adapt, so I began to create my own base for my own material.

That’s how I started out writing my own lessons.

Where are you at in your ministry journey? 

I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be jealous if you told me you have a budget and are able to purchase curriculum.  But that’s great if you are in that position!  That means you are in a healthy church that values ministry to children.  But a curriculum budget isn’t reality for some.

Maybe you are like I was and you have some limited resources but they don’t quite fit what you need, so you spend some time and adapt it and make it re beneficial to what you and your kids need. 

Regardless of where you are and what you do, I found that there are several benefits to writing your own resources.  I have put together some templates and processes that I follow now that I didn’t have when I started to make it faster for me now.

Regardless of the size of your budget, or your skills, or the amount of time you have, I think everyone should invest in themselves and their ministry and write at least SOME of their own lessons.

What about you? do you write your own kidmin lessons? How has that worked for you?

If not, why not?

I’ve asked that question before and the top reasons I have heard are:

  • I don’t have the time
  • I already have materials
  • I don’t know how

When talking to people who gave these responses, I understand where they are coming from. In fact, I’ve been in their same position before and may have answered the question the same way at different times in my ministry.

Those things don’t have to keep you from writing your own lessons. In fact, here are 4 Reasons you should write your own kidmin lessons.
write your own kidmin lessons

#1 Save money

This is likely the most obvious reason to write your own lessons. Whether you have a decent budget, a limited budget, or no budget, chances are you could always use more money.  If you create your own resources you are able to invest the money you would have spent into something else, and your money will go further. 

#2 Personalization

I know you know your kids better than anyone. Other writers know what usually works, or suggest what kids should know. But no one is in a better position to know for sure what your kids need than you do.

By writing your own lessons you can tailor the lessons to your group. Are your kids younger? Then you would simplify your message. Are they older? Then you will go a little deeper. Is it a large mixed age group? Then you will do a little of both.

By writing your own lesson you can be sure you are making the most of your time with your kids, and you have a direct influence on what they learn.

#3 Time

Unless you are one of the gifted few who take a pre-packaged curriculum and make zero changes and teach exactly as written, you probably already spend some time adapting the lessons you have.

I used to do this. And sometimes I still do, depending on my needs. But there came a point when I paused and thought a little. If I was using pre-written material and spending time to adapt to meet my needs, why not see how long it takes to write something from scratch?

I’m not going to lie, it does take longer to write something starting from nothing. But not that much longer. And by spending a little extra time I was able to save some money and personalize the material.

#4 Church-wide message

Has your church ever had a church-wide message or campaign? I have been a part of that type of messages multiple times.

The pastor has a message he delivers to the adults. The kids and youth learn that same message at an age appropriate level. Then some notes are sent home or made available to help parents lead a discussion based on what everyone learned that day/week.

The times we have done that the feedback from parents was very positive.

But I did not purchase a set of lessons and give to the pastor for him to preach from. It was the other way around. I sat down and found out what he was teaching, then I wrote a matching lesson for the kids. I then created a take home sheet to facilitate a family discussion that afternoon. It was GREAT!

But that means writing your own kidmin lessons.

By putting in the extra effort the payoff was HUGE!

Reading through the 4 reasons I say you should write your own kidmin lessons, one one person I did not speak to was the person who doesn’t know how.

I was there once too. When I started writing my own lessons there was a lot of trial and error. I started off pretty basic, and grew from there.

You may or may not know, but I spend a lot of time helping others in ministry in many different ways. One thing I do is write lessons for other people. I have many posted and available for you to download if you haven’t seen them.

I was thinking one day, instead of writing a lesson for someone, why not teach them to write their own lesson?

So I took my templates and processes and put them together into a course to help you write your own kidmin lessons. No matter what your skill level – whether you have written before or you have never written your own kidmin lesson, I think you will benefit from the lessons.

You can check it out here if you are interested.

And because you read this far, if you are interested in the course you can use the code TENOFF to save $10!

Feel free to leave a comment or send a message if you have any questions.

Do you already write your own lessons? What are some reasons you do? What have you found works best for you? Leave a comment and let us know!


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Are you looking for more great family devotion resources? Check out an Amazon #1 best selling children’s ministry book: Got Fruit: a guide to family devotions based on the fruit of the spirit.
Your child’s relationship with God must extend beyond Sunday morning. Parents have to take a leading role in the discipleship of their kids. Based on the Fruit of the Spirit, Got Fruit? is an effective tool to help parents disciple their children. If you are looking for help with your family devotion time, Got Fruit? is for you! Through this devotional you will be guided through discussions that build on each of the 9 fruits of the spirit. Each of the 9 devotionals include bible passages that highlight the highlighted fruit as well as a few related thoughts. Also included is a series of discussion questions that will help you guide your children in a conversation to bring truth and understanding. This short devotional is a perfect tool to guide you as you disciple your children into a deeper relationship and understanding with God.

About the Author

Ron
Ron is happily married to his best friend, and dad to the best daughter you could imagine. As a teacher and children's pastor, he has over 20 years experience of teaching, leading, writing, creating and consulting. He has written for churches, contributed to several collaborative publications, and written a #1 Best Selling Devotional, Got Fruit? on Amazon. His blog is consistantly listed in the Top 40 Children's Ministry Blogs and Websites. Don't hesitate to ask if you think he could help you and your ministry in any way.

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