According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a variety show is a noun: a theatrical entertainment of successive separate performances (as of songs, dances, skits, and acrobatic feats).

You will probably agree that some days in kids ministry definitely feel like a circus act, am I right? But while our focus isn’t on entertainment for entertainment’s sake, I am proposing that much of the other parts of the definition above should be included in your order of service (maybe minus the acrobatic feats, but hey, you do you!).

I’m sure we’d all concur that kids need more than a lecture when it comes to Bible teaching. Kids don’t have a long attention span, and it has gotten shorter post-Covid. So what tools can we use to engage them? 

Let me suggest we tap into what God already gave them – their senses! When we engage them in a variety of activities that activate their eyes, ears, hands and feet, and even their taste and smell, we are activating different parts of their brains. All of these create pathways of neurons to learn and retrieve information. 

When I was a public school teacher, I was sent with a group of educators from our school to New York to be trained in “learning styles”, categorizing students as auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic learners. At the time, it was a rather new concept, at least for me, and the school believed it would greatly benefit our students who were at-risk of failing, and even dropping out of school, due to their low grades, low attendance, and lack of support at home. What I came away with was that this approach to creating more engaging lessons would be advantageous to all students, even high performing ones. 

This may be what first inspired me to use object lessons in children’s ministry. The idea that something that is tangible (and possibly even a rather mundane, common object), something other than seeing or hearing words alone (reading or lecture), that an object they could see, hear about, touch, smell, or taste would improve their retention was pretty exciting! 

I remember several years ago I was a guest chapel speaker. I brought tootsie roll pops and tied it to a lesson about patience, not crunching the candy shell, but patiently licking it (some may remember the old Mr. Owl commercial) to get to the center. Even that day I knew the lesson was pretty well received, but when I went back a month later, some of the kids asked if I had brought tootsie roll pops again. I said no, not this time, I brought something else, but do you remember the lesson? And they did! 

If you don’t already, I encourage you to intentionally add object lessons, movement, songs, sounds, even skits and theatrics to your lessons as much as you can. It will make your lessons more memorable. 

For more ideas, see my article – Make it Memorable on The Sunday School Zone Blog