100 Best Ideas to Turbocharged your Preschool Ministry (23 page)

3.
Speak to preschoolers, not just parents.
If children are available, speak directly with them.
Ask questions to show that you’re interested in them and that they’re important.
If needed, make notes so that when you see children later, you’ll be able to make personal references about their lives, such as asking how their pets are doing or how their soccer games went.

4.
Offer to meet families at church and escort them to their rooms.
When you do this, if children are feeling scared about being left, promise parents you’ll personally keep a watchful eye and let them know if a child becomes upset.

5.
Follow up with families.
At this point a phone call is fine.
Just connect to let parents know that you care and you’re available.

—Barbara

Family dynamics are very different from 25 years ago, and people now outsource what used to be considered family responsibilities—laundry, housecleaning, daily care of children, and even home-cooked meals.
People have also developed the habit of outsourcing their children’s spiritual education.
The family dynamic of building a basic spiritual foundation within the home is being lost.
Without a doubt, this is the most critical issue that the church is facing today, and we need to work with parents of preschoolers to reverse this trend.

Our preschool ministries are uniquely situated to start young families off in the right direction to become active participants in their children’s spiritual education.
Parents of young children are eager to watch their children grow and develop spiritual foundations.
Never is that opportunity more prevalent than in the preschool years of life, when children are entering a stage of self-awareness in which examples and stories of faith permanently influence them.

We must find ways to integrate our curriculum with home-based teaching that enables parents to interact spiritually with their children.
This sounds intimidating, but you can develop these opportunities by giving parents resources that reinforce the lessons their children are learning in your preschool ministry.
To begin this process, follow these basic steps.

• Re-educate parents. Many parents feel inadequate and need to build confidence and skills so they can take an active role in their children’s spiritual growth. This requires your senior pastor’s active participation through preaching that emphasizes parents’ biblical responsibility to disciple their children, as well as resources that equip parents to lead faith talks in their homes.
  
• Resource parents. Suggest or provide family devotional books, create crafts that can be used throughout the week to reinforce Bible learning, or develop your own take-home faith talks. These should follow your curriculum’s scope and sequence and be designed for preschoolers’ developmental stage. In fact, your curriculum should have simple papers that include the Bible lesson, questions for reinforcement, a song, and an activity that families can do together.
  

Learning biblical truth from their parents during these critical developmental years helps preschoolers lay a foundation for lifelong dedication to God.

—Barbara

There are seasons of life when people become more open to God.
One of these key times is when they become parents of preschoolers.
Some parents had no spiritual upbringing, and they want things to be different for their children.
Some of them walked away from faith in their college years.
But now they’re married...with kids.
Young, innocent, inquisitive eyes begin to prompt them to give church another try.
They realize it’s time to come back for the sake of their children.
They’re in your city.
How can you reach them?

1.
Create a culture that’s inviting to preschool families.
If you want to reach parents of preschoolers, you must create a church culture that’s designed for them.
This is the number one way to reach them.
You can have events and outreach, but if your weekly church environment isn’t intentionally designed to reach preschool families, you’ll have a difficult time reaching and keeping them.
Here’s how to create that culture.

• A pastor who connects with preschool families—A younger pastor may naturally draw preschool families, but regardless of age, a pastor who’s willing to understand today’s preschool families and meet their needs can effectively reach them; for example, through sermons relevant to their lives and music that connects with their generation—and most important, by prioritizing preschool ministry.
  
• A family-friendly preschool space—Start in the parking lot with reserved parking for preschool families, and consciously design furniture, signage, and rooms so they’re appropriate and inviting for preschoolers.
  
• A greeting team that includes preschool parents—Have preschool families welcomed by people who are in the same season of life.
  
• An excellent preschool ministry—It’s simple...but so true. If their preschoolers love coming, parents will be back.
  

2.
Partner with organizations that minister to preschool parents.
Each week dozens of preschool moms come to our church through programs such as Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS).
Hosting parent-friendly programs is a great tool to reach preschool families.

3.
Provide fun activities for preschool families.
Preschool parents are looking for places to take their preschoolers.
Your local McDonald’s, playgrounds, mall play areas, Build-A-Bear Workshop stores, and so on are full of preschool families.
What activities can you provide on a hot summer day or cold winter evening for them?
Our church recently constructed an indoor playground.
It gets hot in Florida during the summer, and we knew preschool parents would be looking for fun places with air-conditioning to hang out with their children.
So we decided to open the playground for three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays for preschoolers and their parents.
We even provided a kid’s meal for them to purchase.
The response has been overwhelming.
Last week we had an indoor picnic and movie night for preschoolers and their parents.
Again, the response was overwhelming.
Get with your team and plan fun activities for preschool families.
It might be renting a bounce house, setting up wading pools and serving sno cones, or having a fall festival.
Strategically plan and promote your event, and parents will come.

4.
Pray for the big “mo.”
The big “mo” is momentum.
It comes from not just what you do but from who you are.
When you become a place where preschool families feel welcomed, nurtured, and supported, you’ll see momentum build.
Preschool families will be drawn to your church, and as they spread the word and bring other preschool families with them, momentum will move through your city to reach unchurched families.

A few weeks ago I was on our playground after the service.
A mother approached me and introduced herself.
Then she pointed out a father playing with his preschool son in the park and said, “That’s my husband.
For more than seven years I’ve been praying he’d come to church.
When the playground opened, he finally agreed to come so he could play with our son after the service.
He’s been coming ever since and is listening.
I know God is using our preschool son to draw my husband to him.”

As I looked at that father and his son playing together on the playground, I thanked God our church is a place where preschool families feel welcome.
And I’m believing and praying that God is going to reach that little boy’s father!

—Dale

Being a parent of a preschooler is one of the hardest jobs on the planet.
I remember those days of parenting.
They were fun, cherished times, but they could definitely leave me frazzled at the end of the day.
It reminds me of the preschool boy who asked his parents, “If you’re tired, then why are you putting me to bed?”
I was full of energy as a preschooler and quite a handful.
I remember my grandfather once asking me, “Do you ever sit still?”
And of course the answer was an emphatic “No!”

The only way I survived as a preschool parent was having my wonderful wife by my side.
Together we navigated raising two preschool boys at once.
I can’t imagine raising them alone.
It would’ve been more than twice as hard, I’m sure.
But for many parents, that’s the reality.
They’re raising preschoolers as single parents.
The latest U.S.
Census says there are 12.9 million single parents in America; 10.4 million are single moms and 2.5 are single fathers.
My hat goes off to them.

Stop and think for a moment about the single parents in your church who have preschoolers.
I’m sure many faces come to mind.
You have a tremendous opportunity to come alongside them with support and encouragement.

Be sensitive to single parents’ needs.
Think about the single mom who’s pulling into the parking lot.
How can you make it easier for her?
Reserved parking?
Parking lot attendants to help with bags, strollers, and so on?
Think about the single dad who has to take his daughter to the restroom.
Do you have a family restroom where he can do this?
Think about the single mom who’s struggling financially because of her former husband’s selfish choices.
Can you help her financially?
Recently a husband abandoned a mother in our church.
He basically walked out with everything, including the car.
She was put in a desperate situation.
She had a job, but no way to get there.
We found out and connected her with someone in the church who gave her a car.

Help single parents connect.
Offer single parenting classes.
Connect them with single parent small groups, women’s ministry, men’s ministry,
and other opportunities to grow, relax, and make friendships.
Offer free child care during these times.
All parents need a break from their preschoolers— especially single parents.

Offer support to single parents’ preschoolers.
Many single parents welcome people who want to invest in their children.
This is especially true when a single mom has a son with no father figure in his life.
Consider starting a mentoring program in your church that connects these boys to Christlike men.

Jason (not his real name), who’s 5 and attends our church, is struggling.
I know why.
His father recently walked out on the family.
Left his wedding ring on the dresser with a note that said he was done.
Ever since, Jason has been spinning out of control.
He’s hurting.
Mom doesn’t know what to do.
She brings him by regularly, and I meet with him in my office.
I spend time with him and walk with him through the pain he’s experiencing as a young child.
He loves to draw and expresses himself through his pictures.
We spend time drawing pictures together.
I’m honored to be part of his life.

Being a single parent isn’t easy, but single parents can still raise great kids.
In fact, single parents raised 11 United States presidents.
I’ve watched single parents rise above the challenges.
In one church where I served, there was a single mom who was committed to raising her son to serve God.
I watched as she lived a Christlike life before him, faithfully brought him to church, and made sure to surround him with good men who invested in his life.
Today he’s a pastor with a family of his own.