The Best Preteen and Transitioning Kids from Church to Youth Group Resources

Use these Sunday school lesson tips, tactics, and strategies on preteens and that period of transition to help inspire and guide your lesson planning! God bless!

Preteens and Transitioning from Kids Church to Youth Group

Note – These lessons and activities can be used with children as well as preteens, but because of the intensified challenges presented by middle school and the transition from kid's church to youth ministry, we've included this section as its own separate lesson/activity archive for preteens.

• Courage Bible Study – 1 Samuel 17 – Use this complete lesson plan by Nick Diliberto to teach pretens about standing up for their God.
• Revenge – 1 Samuel 24 – This complete lesson plan by Nick Diliberto teaches preteens about revenge and handling it well.
• God is With Us – Luke 2:1-20 – Use this lesson by Nick Diliberto to teach preteens about Jesus as Immanuel.
• Are You Thirsty? - John 4:7-10, 13-14 - This complete lesson plan by Nick Diliberto to teach preteens that Jesus satisfies our spirits like water satisfies the body.
• Obeying Parents – Ephesians 6:1-3 – Nick Diliberto shares a clip from Brave in conjunction with scripture to teach preteens the importance of obeying their parents.
• The Avengers Object Lessons – Use these object lessons from Nick Diliberto to teach preteens about boldness, service, and teamwork.
• You Can Help Preteens Fight the Bully Battle – Jeff Land shares 4 ways you can help preteens as a children's minister to fight bullying.
• The Secret of Effective Preteen Ministry – Ever felt like your preteens are just getting left behind? This secret from Nick Diliberto can help you best serve your preteens.
• Harnessing the High Energy Level of Preteens – Nick Diliberto discusses why teens have so much energy and how to harness it for good instead of ill.
• Build Preteen Relationships with Events – If you want to help foster relationships between and among preteens, Nick Diliberto says there's no better tool than events. Read why!
• Are Preteens Ready for Ministry Leadership? - Nick Diliberto shares a personal story and encourages youth leaders and kid's ministers to not stifle the power and authority that God gives all of his children.
• 10 Teaching Tips for Preteen Leaders – Help your preteen leaders with these teaching tips from Nick Diliberto.
• Going the Extra Mile in Preteen Ministry – Use these 2 tips from Nick Diliberto to make sure that your extra effort is going to hit the spot you want it to.
• Helping Preteens Connect to Jesus – Nick Diliberto suggests 3 effective ways to get prettens to know Jesus personally.
• How to Boost the Self-Image of Preteens – Follow these three steps by Nick Diliberto to foster healthy perceptions of self-worth among children.
• 3 Ways to Help Preteens with Peer Pressure – Ease up the pressure with these 3 suggestions from Nick Diliberto.
• 3 Ideas for Growing the Faith of Preteens – Use these ideas from Nick Diliberto to teach preteens how to grow their faith.
• How to Get Preteens Excited About the Bible – Shift some of Nick Diliberto's tips to figure out how to best get children engaged and interested in the Bible.
• Don't Let Preteens Mentally Check Out in Your Ministry – These tips from Nick Diliberto can help you engage preteens even when they want to zone out.
• Strategies for Preteen Emotions – Nick Diliberto presents three common issues that preteens are dealing with, and offers practical solutions that you can implement to help them.
• The Noodle Game for Preteen Ministry – Use this game by Nick Diliberto to harness the energy of preteens to a constructive end so they can focus on the lesson.
• Helping Preteens: Back to School – Use these 3 suggestions from Nick Diliberto to combat common struggles preteens face when they step back into school after the summer.
• 7 Ways Small Churches Can Reach Preteens – Nick Diliberto suggests several ways that small churches can target and love on preteens.
• Preteen Ministry for Small Churches – Why Bother? - These 4 reasons from Nick Diliberto should get you to at least consider creating a separate preteen ministry.
• 10 Steps for Starting a Youth Ministry – Follow these 10 steps from Mimi Bullock to help you start up a youth group for your church.
• Help Kids Adjust to Graduating Out of Children's Church – Use these 5 steps from Mimi Bullock's experience to help children move up from children's church to youth group.
• 4 Tips for Transitioning Kids to Youth Ministry - Use these 4 tips from Mimi Bullock to help kids make the shift from kids church to youth group.
• Don't Make Transitions So Hard on Kids - This article by Dr. Barbara Sorrels outlines some ways you can help make transition easier on children.
• When Children Leave Your Ministry – Mimi Bullock shares 3 steps that you can take to deal with children moving up, on, or out of your ministry.
• Youth Ministry Lessons – Tony Kummer shares a list of resources he recommends if you need a place to start finding lessons for teenagers.

The Best Discipline Tips for Sunday School

Use these Sunday school lesson tips, tactics, and strategies for discipline to help inspire and guide your lesson planning! God bless!

Discipline Tips

• How Birth Order Affects Classroom Behavior - There's always a reason for troublesome behavior. Barbara Beach compiled a list of characteristics to help keep you aware and help you manage children more effectively.

• Excuse Me - Carmen Kamrath breaks down the reasons why children are disrespectful and offers some ideas to help you stay in control of the classroom.

• Discipline: The Time-Out Chair - This article from the Children's Ministry Magazine discusses the pros and cons of using a time-out chair as a disciplinary tool.

• Discipline Q & A: Foul Language - Church needs to be a safe place for people to grow - this article by Gordon and Becki West helps break down problems with foul language.

• 5 Behavior Tips for Children's Ministry -These 5 tips from Gordon and Becki West can help you understand and better utilize discipline in Sunday school settings.
• The R-E-S-P-E-C-T Acronym: A Respect Teaching Tool - Use this acronym from Mimi Bullock to help teach and maintain respect in your Sunday School classroom.
• Do You Use the "Time Out" in Kids Church? - Mimi Bullock shares from her experience on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of a "Time out."
• How to Help the Angry Child - Use these 4 tips by Mimi Bullock to deal with children who may be angry or upset.
• When Parents Use Church Attendance as Punishment - These 4 tips from Mimi Bullock can help you know how to respond to parents who use church as leverage over their kids.
• Responding When Kids Use the "R" Word - This article by Tony Kummer outlines some healthy responses to children using "retarded," and can be applied to all bad words.
• Classroom Management Tips for Kids Ministry - These 4 tips by Mimi Bullock explain the simplest ways to help manage children.
• What to Do When the Children You Teach Don't Respect You - Mimi Bullock outlines some of the more important points to remember when dealing with disrespectful children.
• Dealing With Bad Attitudes in Kids – These 3 steps from Mimi Bullock outline a biblical way of dealing with poor attitudes.
• Effective Tips for Managing Behavior Challenges – Use these 6 tips and other suggestions from Mimi Bullock to help maintain discipline in challenging cases.
• Teaching Kids to Respect Others – Follow these 4 steps from Mimi Bullock to help teach children to respect one another as well as the teacher.
• Workshop on Stopping Problem Behaviors – This video from Jenny Funderburke helps you identify and deal with difficult behaviors.
• How to Create a Discipline Plan for Your Ministry – Follow these 4 steps from Jenny Funderburke to design a disciplinary plan for your children's ministry.
• Guidelines for Discipline in Christian Bus Ministry – These tips from Mimi Bullock are aimed at bus ministry, but are a great foundation for establishing discipline in any kid's ministry.
• How to Get Kids to Behave in Church – Follow these instructions from Mimi Bullock to help maintain order in church.
• Reaching At Risk Children – Mimi Bullock shares 4 ways to help children from tough home situations know and love Jesus.
• 10 Tips for Reaching the Hard to Reach Child – These 10 tips from Mimi Bullock can help you reach a closed-off child and share God's love.
• 6 Ways to Reach More Kids – Use these 6 steps from Mimi Bullock to evangelize to children and reach them with Christ's love.
• How to Reach the Hyperactive Child – Jenny Funderburke shares 8 ways you can show God's love to children who have an awful lot of energy.
• How to Comfort a Bereaved Child – Follow these 9 steps from Jenny Funderburke to help show children when a close person in their life is dying.
• What to Do About Disruptive Kids – Kathy Leonard shares 6 steps you can follow to help a disruptive child make a breakthrough.
• 10 Ways to Manage Behavior Problems in Sunday School – Use these 10 tips from Kristin Charles to help maintain order in your classroom.
• How to Manage Behavior in Children's Church: Preventative Strategies – Kristin Charles shares 13 preemptive strikes you can make to maintain order in your children's church.
• Five Ways to Get Kids to Shut Up! - Wayne Stocks shares 5 methods for maintaining order and quiet in a Sunday school classroom.
• The Story of the Scrappy Little Guy – This story from Kristin Charles is a poignant reminder of how to react when discipline doesn't work.
• Discipline Tips for Your Kids Ministry – Use these 8 tips from Mimi Bullock to help establish and maintain discipline in your ministry.
• How to Handle Discipline Problems in Kids Church – Mimi Bullock shares 7 things you can do to keep discipline in your ministry.
• 3 Tips for Ministering to the Problem Child – Use these 3 tips from Mimi Bullock to help you love the child that gives you the most grief.
• 12 Practical Strategies for Toddler Temper Tantrums – Kristin Charles shares the best ways to deal effectively with tantrums.
• 5 Tips for Dealing with Bad Behavior – Use these 5 tips from Kristin Schmidt to help deal with children who misbehave.
• A Prayer for the Suffering Children – This prayer by TonyKummer can be prayed over all children.
• That Kid: Dealing With Disobedient Children – Use this discussion by Terry Delaney to brainstorm ways you can handle disobedient children.
• Designing an Effective Discipline Plan for Kids – Mimi Bullock shares 5 steps to help establish and maintain discipline in the classroom setting.

The Best Safety Tips for Sunday School

Use these Sunday school lesson tips, tactics, and strategies for a safe classroom to help inspire and guide your lesson planning! God bless!

Safety Tips

• Check 'Em In and Out - This article by David Posthuma can help you figure out the best way to incorporate a check-in system for your children's ministry.

• Safety First - It might seem like a hassle to do a background check on all of your volunteers, but this article by Bob D'Ambrosio breaks down the process to ease your concerns.

• Stop the Abuse - Pat Verbal breaks down the signs to watch for, and steps to take in abuse cases.

• Child Abuse Indicators - If you work with children, you are required by law to report any suspicions of child abuse, so here's some of the signs to look for. Compiled by Children's Ministry Magazine.

• 5 Step Guide to Keeping Your Kids Safe - Use this procedure by David Jennings to help make sure that the children in your church are as safe as they can be.
• Summer Safety Tips for Kids Camp - These 6 suggestions by Mimi Bullock are sure to help you prevent serious injuries and maintain a happy atmosphere around camp.
• Well Child Guidelines for Children's Ministry – Use these 3 guidelines from Jenny Funderburke to help determine your sick child policy.
• 21 Safety Mistakes to Avoid – If you can prepare against these 21 mistakes pointed out by Tony Kummer, you'll be one of the safer ministries in your area.
• Preventing Heat Related Illnesses in Children – Kristin Charles shares 3 steps to help protect children against heat-related illness.
• 7 Basic Precautions for Every Children's Ministry – Jenny Funderburke shares 7 ways you can be safe rather than sorry.
• Red Riding Hood & Facebook Safety for Kids Video – Help teach your children how to be safe online with this video shared by Tony Kummer.
• How to Evaluate the Security of Your Children's Ministry – Tony Kummer shares some videos to help you determine how safe your facility is.
• Sample Head Lice Policy for Church, Daycare, or School – Glen Woods shares his lice policy to help inspire and guide you as you make your own policy.
• KIDO'Z Web Browser: Internet Safety for Kids – Empower your parents and load up any church devices with this web browser for kids.
• Children Media Safety and Kids Ministry – Use this article by Terry Delaney to help teach children about being safe on the Internet.
• Sunday School Safety and Security – Tony Kummer share resources, checklists, and all-around wisdom in this 101 to ensuring that your Sunday school is safe for children and adults.
• 5 Ways Christians Can Prevent Child Abuse – Implement these 5 methods from Tony Kummer to help prevent and deal with abuse.

The Best Tips for Parental and Family Engagement in Sunday School

Use these Sunday school lesson tips, tactics, and strategies for managing families to help inspire and guide your lesson planning! God bless!

Christian Parenting and Family Engagement

• Making Un-Churched Children and Families Feel Welcome – Terry Delaney discusses different ways to make children and families feel wanted and accepted in your services.
• How to Partner With Parents in Kids' Ministry – Follow these 5 steps from Mimi Bullock to walk alongside parents in discipling their children.
• Preschool Moms Ministry: Preschool Play Day – Use this idea by Amy Brown to host a play day with preschoolers so that their parents can take a break, go on a date, and not have to deal with children for a moment or two.
• 6 Things New Families Want to See - Mimi Bullock has found that most new families are very similar when they are first looking at a church, and has made a list of 6 things every family wants from a church.
• Getting Families Connected on Facebook - Mimi Bullock writes about some ways to use Facebook for good and not ill in the context of Sunday school.
• How to Connect Older Adults and Children in Your Church – Jeri Tanner gives you 5 ways to integrate the entire body of Christ together.
• Raising Kids Who Don't Need a Preacher Beeper – Tony Kummer shares a video and discusses our need to raise Christians that are mature in their faith.
• Raising Christ-Like Families in a Secular World – Daniel Lowery discusses 3 passages that speak to how and why we must be raising our children with Christ at the center.
• How to Raise a Fake Christian – Tony Kummer points out 9 ways parents may be unintentionally feeding their children a false, useless faith.
• 5 Point Strategy to Fight Preacher's Kids Syndrome – Emily Mullens shares 5 steps you can follow to help pastors and minister's kids not get burnt out by their parents' ministry.
• Helping an Older Sibling Adjust to a New Baby – This article by Brandi Riddle outlines the ways you can support parents by helping their children adjust to siblings.
• 3 Tips for Ministering to Siblings - Use these 3 suggestions from Mimi Bullock to help treat siblings well.
• 4 Things Moms (and Dads) Should Teach Kids About Prayer - Use this article by Mimi Bullock to help equip parents to engage with their children in a more meaningful way.
• Family Devotions with a Kid-Friendly Pirate Theme – Kristin Charles shares some different devotions that families can do together, all centered around pirates.
• 5 Family Devotions to Welcome Spring – These devotional ideas from Kristin Charles share 5 different ways your family can celebrate the oncoming of Spring.
• Five Snowy Day Family Devotional Ideas – Kristin Charles shares 5 ways families can teach their children about Jesus in the snow.
• Creepy Crawly Family Devotions – These ideas from Kristin Charles can help you engages your youngsters as they explore the vast, crazy world God has made.
• Family Devotions for the Big City – Whether or not your kids grew up in the city, you can use the lights and the traffic to spark family devotional time with these suggestions from Kristin Charles.
• Cooking Up Family Devotions with Your Kids – Kristin Charles shares 3 devotionals you can cook with your children.
• 5 On-the-Go Family Devotions for Summertime – These five devotionals from Kristin Charles are simple and easy to do while you're on the go this summer.
• Family Ministry Ideas for Christmas – Engage the whole family with these Christmas devotional ideas from Doug Wolter.
• 8 Easy Tips for Family Devotions – Use one or all eight of these tips from Kristin Charles to help rejuvenate family devotion time.
• What Does it Mean for Our Children to Stand Firm? - Notes on a sermon by David Michael discusses for parents and ministers what we need to teach children about standing firm.
• Grace Based Parenting: A Summer Must Read – Pay attention to this book recommendation from Kristin Charles as she summarizes the main points of grace-based parenting.
• 4 Ways to Build Relationships with Parents – Use these tips from Mimi Bullock to help build relationships with parents as well as their children.
• Outreach Idea: Host a Parenting Class - Mimi Bullock compiles 6 steps for hosting a successful parenting class to help your community.
• 6 Pointers for Parent Communication - Use these 6 tips from Ashley Stevenson to help make sure that parents are working with you to educate their children.
• How to Get Parents to Visit Your Ministry and Get Excited - The attitude of parents is almost as important to children as your attitude, so get them on your side with Mimi Bullock's suggestions.
• Five Ways Parents Can Disciple Kids - These 5 ideas from Mimi Bullock help parents move their children towards God.
• What Can the Church Do Better than Families? - This article by Sue Miller discusses how the church and families can work together to love children the best way possible.
• 3 Hints for Reaching Unchurched Parents - Mimi Bullock proposes 3 ways that she has found to be effective in bringing unchurched parents to church with their kids.
• Helping Kids in Kids Church with Separation Anxiety - Mimi Bullock has 4 tips to help you handle children who might struggle to be away from their parents.
• Parents that Embarrass their Kids - These 3 tips from Mimi Bullock should help you know how to handle parents that are unkind to their children.
• Kids Ministry Challenge: The Drop Off Kids - Sometimes being a children's minister means you also end up working with parents - parents who may not even come to church. Mimi Bullock gives some suggestions to help you take care of "drop off" kids.
• Ministering to Children of Divorce - This article from Children's Ministry Magazine can help you understand and know how to best love on children who may not always be present because of their parent's divorce.
• Divorce and Children: How Can Your Ministry Help? - Wayne Stocks goes in-depth to how and why you should help children with divorced parents.
• The Bible Bee Program for Families – Heather Easterday shows you how you can engage the entire family in scripture memory.
• How to Earn Trust with Parents – Jenny Funderburke shares 7 ways you as a children's minister can earn rapport with parents.
• How to Make Sure Parents Ignore Your Messages – If you do the opposite of these 6 things Jenny Funderburke “suggests,” you should be able to communicate better with parents.
• How to Get Your Message to Parents Every Time – Use these six communication tactics from Jenny Funderburke to make sure that parents are always picking up what you're putting down.
• Should Parents Force Their Kids to Go to Church? - Tony Kummer discusses the pros and cons of forcing kids to go to church.
• 4 Ways to Make Families and Children Feel Welcomed – Jenny Funderburke shares 4 tips to make families feel safe in your church.
• Bulletin Insert: 10 Reasons to Bring Your Child to Sunday School – This free printable insert by Tony Kummer shares 10 encouraging reasons for parents to put their kids through Sunday school.
• Intergenerational Ministry in the Church – This article by Kara Jenkins describes what intergenerational ministry in the church looks like and why we need it.
• Biblical Support for Intergenerational Ministry – Kara Jenkins shares about what intergenerational ministry is, and why the Bible says we should have it.
• Intergenerational Ministry and the Family – Kara Jenkins discusses the practical imperatives of this ministry, and how and why you might consider implementing it in your church.
• 2010 Connecting Church and Home Conference Summary – Tony Kummer shares a resource post that summarizes the highlights of a family conference designed to explain how and why we need to connect families in the church.
• Family Service Project: The Lemonade Stand – This idea from Kristin Charles has families work with you to raise money for people to have access to clean water.
• Biblical Parenting: 10 Tips for Fathers – Wayne Stocks shares 10 biblical principles for parenting, targeted specifically at fathers.
• Lessons Learned at 3 AM – Brandi Riddle shares three lessons God taught her through her son.
• Children's Books that Engage the Young Hero – Kristin Charles shares 3 books that she finds encourage her son to dream big for God.
• Children's Books that Engage True Princesses – Kristin Charles shares 4 books that are biblically sound for young girls.
• Dealing with the ME Generation – Terry Delaney discusses some of the generational challenges of children who grew up in the 90s and 2000s (also applicable to 2010s).
• How Can I Know if My Child is Really Saved? - Tony Kummer answers this hard question that many parents may be asking.
• Memorizing the Bible With Your Kids – Daniel Patz shares this article about helping your children memorize the Bible.
• Send Barnabas Bear on Vacation – Kristin Charles suggests that you send a stuffed animal with children in your church on their vacation. At the beginning of the school year, families can join together and share their adventures with Barnabas.
• Informed Parents Are Good for the Children's Ministry – Tony Kummer shares several ways to keep parents on the same page of your ministry as you are.
• Bedtime Prayers With Children – Use this article by Tony Kummer to help discover how bedtime prayers are useful and can be incorporated into the growth of a child.
• A Prayer for Parents – Trevin Wax shares a prayer that parents can use to help their children learn how to pray.
• Sharing Jesus: It's Just a Walk Across the Street – Tony Kummer shares how he and his son have been intentionally ministering to their neighbors.
• Children, Parenting & Spiritual Warfare – Brent Thomas shares why the family is most important, and how we can fight to keep it sacred and valuable.
• What is the Spiritual Value of Kids Playing Sports? (Video)