Let's face the reality. Today's kids are not going to sit and listen to someone drone on and on and on. If you teach kids, you know this.
Kids are wired to move. They are wired to get involved. They are wired to play. They are wired to squirm. They are wired to interact.
But we often revert back to teaching methods that require kids to sit still and be quiet.
Why? Because it's easier. Because it takes less prep time. Because it's what we grew up with and are familiar with.
But can I let you in on a little secret? You may already know this because you've experienced it. I am often amazed how the kids that talked during the lesson, moved around during the lesson, and got distracted during the lesson, know all of the review questions that I ask. I'm thinking to myself, "I can't believe this kid actually got what I was teaching."
You see...you have two options...you can force kids to sit still and be quiet or you can align with how they are wired and use interactive lessons that will capture and retain the attention of today's kids.
A passive learning experience isn't going to get you the results you want. It's time to use content that requires active engagement.
The children's entertainment industry understands this. A growing number of companies are starting to create interactive TV. This enables kids to pick their own adventures and engage with how they consume and learn best. Kids are able to tap their screen and choose what happens next in the story.
Interactive TV is just starting to catch on but is expected to grow to a $39.8 billion dollar industry by 2032. Producers are creating episodes that let children choose what they want to see next at key points in the episode.
In the game Disney Channel Besties, kids can choose which friends from various Disney Channel shows they want to see, and then watch clips featuring those characters. And in Paramount’s interactive trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog 2, kids can choose their favorite character and make decisions for them.
Another example is the preschool series Mixmups that lets kids personalize how they watch the show, including lowering background noise, simplifying the visuals, and adding content to enhance comprehension.
DreamFlare is a San Francisco based streaming company that is using interactive content as well. Rob Bralver, creative director and co-founder said, "We're in a new frontier of entertainment where you're not just sitting and passively watching."
Successfully communicating with kids is done through interactivity...now and in the future. Today's kids are expecting to be able to interact with their content. That includes the content you are sharing with them at church.
It has been proven that interactive classrooms perform better on measures of student learning. One meta-analysis found that in STEM classrooms with “active learning,” broadly defined, student exam scores improved by about six percent. It has also been proven that the most effective teachers only lecture 20% of the teaching time. Take a look at the next lesson you are presenting. How much of it is lecture-based? You can immediately become more effective if you use more interaction in your lesson.
There are lots of ways you can make your lessons interactive. Here are a few ideas.
Pose a question, have students think individually, discuss with a partner, and share with the class.
Use interactive games.
Have kids act out the Bible story you are telling.
Movement - use "Four Corners" to make students move to different areas of the room based on their opinion.
Have kids repeat Bible verses, key words, and key points after you.
Break your lesson up - use short "chunking" methods, alternating brief instruction with quick 2-minute activities.
Use videos that interact with kids in real-time. The person in the video asks a question and then pauses to let the kids respond. The kids' show Blue's Clues was build on this premise. It is considered by experts to be one of the most effective shows ever produced to get kids involved and interacting.
Let kids read the verses you are teaching instead of you reading them.
Provide chalk or a soft toy; whoever has it must answer your next question, and they pass it on to the person of their choice.
Write questions or prompts onto all surfaces of a beach ball (or tape them on). When the next student catches the ball, he/she answers one of the questions where fingers are touching the ball.
While you are teaching, have the kids draw pictures of what you are saying.
Rock Paper Scissors break – kids pair off and play. Let the winners answer some review questions.
Balloon Bust - divide the kids into groups. Give each group a balloon with a discussion question inside the balloon. At your signal, have the groups pop their balloons and discuss the question inside.
Press Conference – Have a kid stand behind a table like a press conference. The other kids can ask him or her questions about the lesson that was taught.
The key to effective teaching is to see yourself as a facilitator rather than a lecturer. Check out this article I wrote about this.
If you're looking for curriculum that gets kids interacting throughout the lesson, then check out Connect12. It's one year's worth of curriculum. Curriculum that is grounded in teaching kids 12 Biblical truths in 12 months. You'll see a big element we've included in the curriculum is lots and lots of time for interaction. You can get more information at this link and see lesson samples, videos, etc.
