It is vital to impact children’s lives with godly principles while they are young. Many Christians think that those who serve the Lord in Children’s Ministry are, at worst, wasting their time, or at best, biding their time until they can move into ‘real’ ministry. But the Lord values immensely every little soul that He created. That’s why He implores us, in Proverbs 22:6 to “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. “
Prayerful preparation is imperative. Start preparing several days in advance, soaking yourself in the Word, seeking Him for specific direction. Uphold the children by name in prayer as you prepare.
The children are precious to God, so to teach them is not to be taken lightly. It is important to come before the children as a ‘clean vessel’. This means to deal with any issues in your life prior to the time you stand to teach the children as you may find they may impede the flow of the Holy Spirit. Children are perceptive and will pick up both the spoken message and sometimes an unspoken message too.
Teachers will need to provide some stationery items for students, eg, pencils, pens, scissors, glue, paper/card. Other items that will be needed occasionally are: ribbon, string, glitter, tape, stickers, wool, stapler, ruler, fabric, pencil sharpeners, erasers, etc. Portable whiteboards, CD players and flannelgraph boards are useful.
Be enthusiastic, it’s contagious. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Ps 40:8, John 3:29-30)
Clothe yourself with humility, be eager to serve, be an example of submissiveness to others. Children imitate adults (1 Peter 5:5, Ephesians 5:21).
Memorize as much as possible; maintain eye contact with the children; teach systematically while being sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Arrive early to set up before the children arrive; give yourself time to quiet your spirit and pray.
Allow plenty of interaction with the children.
Arrange lesson content where possible so that quiet, still times alternate with noisy, active times. They have short concentration spans.