Children's Ministry
Intentional Environments
Designing an engaging environment for Children's Ministry does not have to be an expensive endeavor. This page includes some tips to help you get started.
Having certain posters on the wall has become an important part of my Children's Ministry strategy. Certain lessons are enhanced by having a verse, prayer, or other words on the wall. Because these posters can get expensive when purchased online, I've created some files that can be printed at your local church or at a print shop near you.
Some of the PDF files are available for free, while a few of the larger poster files are available for paid download.
Child Centered
Children's Ministry space should reflect the users. This might mean photos of students in action, displays of their art, or interactive areas that students use regularly.
Example 1: This prayer hoop is a hula hoop that was purchased at the dollar store. Students tie on a ribbon when they pray. They select a ribbon color using the poster. On our hoop, the children added the color pink because they were praying for God to comfort one of their church friends who was going through cancer treatments. She is now in upper elementary school and cancer-free but they leave the pink ribbons on to remind them of how God answered their prayers.
Example 2: A clothesline display with clips for pictures of the children in action. Our wall was packed with picture of kids enjoying time with their families, at school, with friends, participating in activities, and doing all kinds of different things!
Using a Cricut machine, we cut out vinyl that says:
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Example 3:
We covered the wall with fun mirrors in a variety of shapes and used our Cricut machine to cut vinyl that says:
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14a
Kids love making goofy faces while they are reminded of who made them!
The mirrors are available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OBByad
In our "Time with God" room, kids get comfy on a cozy cushion and spend time in the quiet space.
We were surprised and happy that kids want more and more time in this room.
We turn out the lights and turn on some lamps.
We have a book shelf filled with Bibles, journals, and pens.
We have a basket of battery powered tea light candles, wooden crosses, and stones for kids to hold.
We have a dozen small tents that are just the right size for one kid at a time. They easily fold up to get out of the way when we aren't using them.
Flexible
Flexible Example 2:
It can be very helpful to use furnishings and accessories that can serve multiple purposes and move easily. It is even better if the furniture also doubles as storage like our favorite benches and ottoman seats.
On our Special Considerations page, we specifically address Flexible Seating and show some examples of items that might work well and serve multiple purposes.
The Lifetime Adjustable Height tables work great for us because they are lightweight, extremely durable, height adjustable, fold for easy storage, and the tops aren't white so our crayon marks don't show as much. They are also easy to clean! The size is nice because we can put multiple tables together for large groups or easily arrange them for small groups. I'm not super strong and I can carry two of them on my own.
These little carts are perfect for us. We have one in every classroom with all of the supplies we might need on it. When Vacation Bible School rolls around and we use our fellowship hall for crafts, we can easily roll the carts for the classrooms to supply our VBS fun. We haven't broken one yet and we aren't gentle with them. For us, cups of crayons, markers, and scissors fit well and can be easily transferred to the table for ease of sharing. We also have another one of the same cart that we use for our bubbles and chalk so it can roll outside easily.
