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Child discipleship is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s something that takes preparation, time and endurance. A big way that child discipleship flourishes with preschoolers is in the classroom. When leaders see the classroom as an opportunity to engage kids in child discipleship, it opens the door to great possibilities.
Discipleship in the classroom requires consistency.
Consistency through continually preparing for lessons and small group activities, showing up, praying for the kids and their families, and memorizing Scripture with them. Life happens and showing up consistently can be a challenge. Sometimes everyone in your family is running late, and a kid is missing a shoe. The house is a mess with dishes piled in the sink, toys scattered everywhere and laundry that never seems to end.
There will be days when you’re simply tired and wonder if showing up really makes a difference. It does. Showing up consistently matters more than you may ever know. By showing up week after week, you put yourself in a position to help preschoolers make their faith last. You model how to prioritize church, grow in faith and put God first above all else. Discipleship can be caught more than taught. Preschoolers are watching and paying attention to who they can rely on, trust, and, most importantly, who will disciple them.
Recently, our church did a consistency challenge for the kids ministry. Kids could earn points for attending church, memorizing Scripture and inviting friends to church. My 2-year-old tied for fourth place! She could not even read her name on the leaderboard, but she did it! If you ask her, she loves church. She can tell you what Bible story she learned, the memory verse for the month, and who her favorite leaders are. (They are the leaders who are there consistently!) How beautiful is it that you can be a part of a kid knowing they belong in their classroom, can believe in Jesus and become more like Him?
Now let’s get practical.
How do you help create child discipleship in the classroom? One way is through preparation. Prepare ahead of time for the lesson and activities. Know the Bible story, have questions ready for discussion time and learn from other experienced leaders. Ask how you can improve as a leader. By being prepared, you set yourself up for being able to lead with engagement versus struggling through the lesson. Simply making eye contact with preschoolers lets them know you are prepared and don’t have to constantly stare at your lesson.
Child discipleship also means being on time. Being on time shows preschoolers you’re ready and expecting them. It demonstrates that you value the kids, their families and those you volunteer with. You can also learn the kids and their parents/guardians’ names. This shows they belong and are known in your classroom.
Prayer is also essential for child discipleship. My preschooler will often say, “Dear God, I don’t got words to say.” That’s her cue for needing help to finish her prayer. I love how honest it is. Sometimes in our adult lives we may feel the same way. We don’t have the right words to say, but we know we can trust God through it.
Disciple kids in your classroom during prayer times. Ask them who and what you can pray for. Have them repeat a prayer after you. Have them say “amen” in unison at the end. Slowly, they will gain confidence in praying aloud. Then follow up about their prayer requests. Ask them how their friend who is sick is doing, how the first day of school went or how potty training is going. Point them to God, who cares and loves them and will always hear their prayers. Model that they can pray about anything. They can thank God for their socks, they can pray for something they are afraid of and they can ask God for the puppy they want. Help them talk to God about every part of their life: the scary parts, fun parts, happy parts and sad parts. Even at a young age, they can begin learning what it means to be someone who prays.
Child discipleship in the classroom also means it’s okay to get messy. It may mean doing a craft ending with sticky fingers covered in glue. Or stepping out of your comfort zone and doing a Bible story object lesson. Or even allowing the preschoolers to help you teach, knowing there will be lots of redirection needed.
Sometimes we want child discipleship to be a clean, straight line. But it can often be a zigzag. It’s knowing that preschoolers can be having an awesome time in your classroom while a tantrum may be right around the corner. But don’t become disheartened if you experience a difficult service because child discipleship means you are pointing them to Jesus, the One who can never fail them, even if you feel like you did that day.
Child discipleship in the classroom means you are there for the smiles and the tears. It means being there for the joy of little ones singing worship songs and saying Bible verses, and also the moments when you need to help them share a toy or when you have to clean up a diaper explosion. Take a deep breath and know that it doesn’t have to be perfect, always on schedule or without any interruptions. Preschool discipleship means hearing about their weeks, noticing when they do something new or celebrating with them during a milestone like being able to walk into your classroom without clinging to their parent’s leg.
Another way to disciple kids in the classroom is through memorizing Scripture. Brite™ creates several resources to help kids memorize Scripture each month. Preschoolers can do this through a memory verse song, a fun way for young kids to sing, clap and play along as they memorize God’s Word. Another way is through our memory verse motion video. This leads kids through the verse, teaching them the words and the accompanying motions. Since preschoolers can’t read yet, they learn well through kinesthetic movement.
I’d also encourage you to consider using the framework of “He, We, Me” found in Brite™. “He” represents what preschoolers learned about God. “We” represents how this truth relates to them as a whole group. And “Me” represents how it relates to their own lives.
By modeling for preschoolers how to follow Jesus, you’re helping to disciple them to know, follow and trust God. Discipleship in the classroom does not have to be complicated. Simply show up with the posture of surrender to God, being open to how He can use you to disciple the next generation.
As Sam Luce, Awana’s director of ChildDiscipleship.com, says, “Discover how the right vision, the right motivations, and the right practices work together to cultivate lasting faith.”
For more on a journey to faith that lasts, check out Awana’s newly released book, From Children’s Ministry to Child Discipleship: A Journey to Faith That Lasts.
