Classroom Management in Children’s Ministry

• Opening Activity Idea: Describe the 12 disciples

  • Read Luke 6:12-16

  • Write the name of the 12 disciples on a markerboard

  • Ask volunteers to describe what they know about each of the disciples.

    • Encourage your volunteers to use their phones to search the disciple’s name in a Bible app or from a Bible resource such as youversion or biblegateway to research the disciples

  • Review how different the 12 disciples would have been in age, family, region, profession, and temperament.

• Preparation for video content or lead your volunteers in reviewing classroom management principles

• Classroom Management as Discipleship

  • Jesus set clear, firm expectations

    • John 13:34

    • Matthew 7:12

      • What are clear expectations that you have for the children in your ministry?

      • How do you communicate those expectations to children?

  • Jesus modeled his faith by his actions

    • Luke 6:40

    • Galatians 5:22-23

      • How do you model your faith to children? How might you improve upon this?

  • Jesus loved people and inspired them to greatness

    • Mark 10:45

      • How can you reinforce positive behavior?

      • How can you eliminate negative behavior?

  • Jesus knew his sheep

    • John 10:27

    • Luke 15:4

      • What step can you take to get to know your students?

      • What action steps can you take when a student is misbehaving?

  • Jesus prayed for his disciples

    • How can you add praying for the children in your ministry/small group/classroom to your regular rhythm of prayer?

• Practice together:

  • If your church has clearly established behavioral expectation statements, share those with your volunteers. Discuss how volunteers can help reinforce these expectations and review them with kids on a regular basis.

  • If your church does not yet have expectation statements, work together to create a short list of three to five statements that could be used with all children.

• Discussion:

  • Use the discussion questions above to guide a conversation with your volunteers about classroom management and expectations.

  • If your children’s ministry has a child with a specific behavioral issue, set a time to meet with the volunteers who work with that child to discuss a proactive plan. Be sure to meet with the child’s parents ahead of time to include them in the process and to ensure you have all of the appropriate information to meet the

needs of that particular child.

• Concluding Activity:

  • Provide a list of the children for the various age-groups of your ministry.

  • Divide your volunteers into small groups based on the age-level with which they serve.

  • Have each group pray over each name on the list.

(Handout)

• Introduction:

• Classroom Management as Discipleship

  • Jesus set clear, firm expectations

    • John 13:34

    • Matthew 7:12

    • What are clear expectations that you have for the children in your ministry?

    • How do you communicate those expectations to children?

  • Jesus modeled his faith by his actions

    • Luke 6:40

    • Galatians 5:22-23

    • How do you model your faith to children? How might you improve upon this?

  • Jesus loved people and inspired them to greatness

    • Mark 10:45

    • How can you reinforce positive behavior?

    • How can you eliminate negative behavior?

  • Jesus knew his sheep

    • John 10:27

    • Luke 15:4

    • What step can you take to get to know your students?

    • What action steps can you take when a student is misbehaving?

  • Jesus prayed for his disciples

    • How can you add praying for the children in your ministry/small group/classroom to your regular rhythm of prayer?