Here are 10 things that every preschooler needs from your children’s ministry.
Prayer
Nothing of eternal value will be accomplished without prayer. God can do more in seconds than we can do in a lifetime.
Pray regularly for the preschoolers in your ministry. Encourage the volunteers to pray for the children in their class or program. Pray with the children each weekend.
Teach the children to pray. Some of the sweetest, most genuine prayers that have ever been uttered came from preschoolers.
Call parents and ask them how you can pray for their children.
Put a prayer verse on the wall in each preschool room—a unique prayer for this year in a child’s life. Pray it each week for the children in that room.
Recognition
Every child wants to be known and to know that he or she is valued. Preschoolers need to be recognized and called by name. Learn children’s names and use them. Every week find at least one good thing to recognize about each child and acknowledge it.
Eye Contact
Children need to be looked in the eye when engaged in conversation so they feel that you’re genuinely in them. This usually means getting down to a preschooler’s eye level.
Security
Preschoolers are growing up in a scary world. Parents hold them closely for fear of kidnapping, abuse or endangerment. Church must be a safe place. Go the second mile to make sure every team member has been background-checked, interviewed, reference-checked and approved.
Have a thoroughly secure check-in and check-out system. Put in place volunteer procedures and policies that provide security.
Care
Even at their young ages, preschoolers can sense when someone genuinely cares for them. They need leaders who’ll care enough to pray for their boo-boo, send them “miss you” cards when they’re absent and cheer for them at their kindergarten graduations.
Happy Birthday
Birthdays are a big deal for a preschooler. They need you to celebrate their special day. So sing, bring a birthday cake and give a small gift to the birthday child.
