I’ve always loved the The Adventure Bible. It is the most popular bible for elementary kids in my church context and its the Bible my own two grade school children bring to church each week. Yet I have never explored the treasure trove of resources on AdventureBible.com! Things that made me say, “Yes!” Everything you [...]
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Gever Tulley likes to build things with kids. Tulley is the author of 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) and Beware Dangerism. He also founded The Tinkering School, a week long camp where kids get to play with their own power tools (and build things like a working roller coaster and walking [...]
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Understanding digital learners is the most critical knowledge gap in children’s and family ministry today. Wow. I think I just summed up what I have sensed for the past 10 years in ministry. That phrase captures the reason why I started blogging four years ago, the purpose of my ongoing research, and the explanation behind [...]
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Saul Griffith posted an article on the Make blog entitled “A Curriculum of Toys: 18 core life skills that can be taught by toys”. It is a unique look at how educators, parents [and kidmin] can use toys to teach. The list can really be used as an idea primer as you work to prepare [...]
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Last week I asked what you were reading. @Amy Dolan responded with a video blog over at Lemon Lime Kids and I thought to further encourage the community I would share some of the books that I am currently reading, have on my list, and just finished. My reading list generally falls into a five [...]
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A year ago I had a vision. (Not the Ezekiel type, more like a day-dream) It wasn’t a grand vision…just simple…practical. It was a vision of a day when more then 5% of the parents in our church actually used the resources that we provide them with on a weekly basis. But in this vision [...]
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One of the publications I subscribe to for the latest updates and reviews on apps for learning is Children’s Technology Review. Recently Seth Hunter, a PhD student at MIT Media Lab, wrote an article in CTR that addressed the principles of designing games and apps that speak the language of digital learners. A quick excerpt [...]
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The study of digital learners has been a research project that I have engaged in over the past 10 years in ministry. Understanding technology’s impact on children is one of the questions I seek to answer. My research has led me to extend this caution to children’s ministry leaders: be careful of falling into a [...]
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No one ever taught me to think like a designer. In fact, I never even dreamed that children’s ministry would remotely overlap with design. Between us, I was wrong. Think about it. As children’s ministry leaders, we design solutions for kids and families coming in and out of the learning space (check-in and check-out). We [...]
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If you want to understand what’s at the center of teaching digital learners and the way they prefer to learn, start by exploring the term “participatory learning.” Kids (to borrow a term from Henry Jenkins) are “cultural activators.” They use the tools of technology to actively change things. It is a common misconception that all [...]
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