Lifegroup is meant to bless everyone, our kids included. Whether you decide to include kids within your whole Lifegroup, or decide to do childcare, here’s some vision for embracing the next generation in our church family!
STARTING OUT: Cast vision
Including kids during your whole Lifegroup gathering enriches the experience for kids and adults. However, it also takes more buy-in and grace for each other. If you include kids, it’s a journey in experimenting and trying different things to find what works best for your group. Keep dialoguing with group members about expectations and challenges in the process (and if you end up deciding you’d rather go with childcare, that is great!). If you’re deciding as a Lifegroup whether to include kids:
- Cast vision to your Lifegroup: kids are as valuable and important as adults in your group - they have equal value to give in their gifts and talents (prayer, worship, love) that benefit the group. We know that does mean there’s a certain level of “messiness” that kids bring.
- Build Buy-in: The adults in the group have to have buy-in to this vision for it to work. Invite everyone pray and think and make sure the group is onboard with having kids involved. The kids need to have buy-in too!
- Empower Parents: Invite parents in your group to share activities and ideas that work for them at home.
8 Ways to involve kids
- Everyone shares your highs and lows of the week after you break into small groups. Parents can also do this at home so that kids are familiar with it.
- Pray for each other: break into groups and include a kid or two in each group.
- Praying for the nations: pray for church planters in our church, or particular topics on peoples’ hearts. Show pictures or videos of people / places you’re praying for to help kids imagine it.
- Serving the group: Instead of the host family setting things up ahead of time, invite kids to help set the table and chairs, put away dishes and trash away, put away toys, etc. (This is discipleship: as we do it together, it can build healthy habits…and it may take some persistence to get the kids’ buy-in!)
- Team up to lead: Pair up an adult/parent and kid can team up to lead: the kid chooses a kid's song, and the adult a few regular worship songs. You can also choose a shared worship theme. Reach out to Esther Yao if you want referrals on kids’ worship songs.
- DBS: look through the Lifegroup lessons and adapt for kids.
- Break into kid and adult time: If there’s a mix of older and younger kids, do a buddy system: older kids pair up with the younger kids, so they can take care of each other during the DBS time. (Older: 5 years and up; younger: 4 years and younger.)
- Interactive Serving & Outreach: put together care packages (kids write cards, pick items in the packs), go on short-term mission trips together (multiple groups have done this over the years), whether locally or internationally.
Kid-Friendly worship
- Have musical instruments available for kids to play (tambourines, bells, etc.)
- Choose at least 1 worship song that kids might enjoy (upbeat or ones that are simple songs or ones with hand motions)
- Have active ways for kids to engage with God (like coloring or art)
- Spotify List of Worship songs for Kids you can use for reference or for parents to use at home.
childcare
You may decide you’d rather have childcare with kids in their own space during Lifegroup. Reach out to our Kingdom Kids team for ideas, and here’s some options:
- Sign up sheet: one option is a rotation of Lifegroup members to watch the kids (2 or more people for safety & and so the adults can connect with each other as they watch the kids.)
- Childcare workers: Hire an outside sitter to watch your kids (minimum wage is $16/hr) and have everyone give towards that. (Contact Jen Louie if you want the list of background checked childcare workers. Note: not all attend Epicentre.) Childcare Money: have someone regularly tracking and gathering childcare money to pay the sitters.
- Talk out Expectations with Parents: Have those doing childcare clarify with parents what boundaries are/what to do if kids get upset or have issues with other kids.
- Size Factors: For groups with fifteen kids or more, you need two babysitters depending on the ages of kids. If needed, break into groups of younger and older. One group can be inside and the other outside and then switch.
- Kids included for worship/beginning question
- 30 minutes outdoor play
- 30 minutes watching a movie + play with toys
- 20 minutes craft/activity
Kid Activities
- Invite parents to bring toys/games/activities for their kids to play with.
- Play outside in the beginning to help get the energy out!
- For kids under 10: sidewalk chalk, bubbles, coloring sheets + crayons/colored pencils, bouncy balls, other easy sports equipment.
- Show Veggie tales or other parent-approved videos / laptop or TV for kids. Adults can engage with “What stood out to you?”, “what did you learn, or what did you learn about God?”
- Consider buying the The Jesus Storybook Bible Animated DVD set!
- Dancing with songs or Freeze Dance: Party Freeze Dance & Animal Freeze Dance
- Do story telling or skits (include the kids in dressing up or being part of it)
- Indoor: board games, Craft supplies, origami, cup stacking, competitions (jumping jacks, paper airplane contests, etc.)
- Outdoor: beach balls, cones for obstacle courses, red light, green light, freezetag.