How many times do you hear, 'That's not fair!'  when working with kids during activities and especially games when kids all want to be selected for a turn. This app will help.

Add your kids names to the Pick Me app beforehand. You can add the names according to the groups you're running eg Sunday morning Kidz Church, mid-week kids club and more. Then, simply click 'start'. Choose the group that you're working with and then click 'Pick'. A name will be selected at random.

The app can also randomly form teams of your kids if needed- just choose the number of kids in each team. It can also provide team names for you like Seasick squirrels, Risky Raptors, Slithering Serpents and more..

Check it out and let this app stop any complaints!

Last evening of Kids Club, and we had an excited bunch of active kids decorating face masks, creating lion paperbag puppets, sampling food at the Babylonian marketplace and listening to the adventures of Daniel as he trusted God even in the lions' den. It was a great conclusion to the term.. but everyone was exhausted by the time we'd finished.

So... I handed out a chocolate bar wrapped with this 'Thank you' message to all the leaders as they left.

Download it here if you'd like to use it to thank all your leaders...

We have used and reviewed a lesson from this series previously, but children's-ministry-deals are offering Ebay app lesson: Live Victoriiously, free! And, it's downloadable so you receive it instantly.
So.. what's it about?  The information from the site says, 'eBay.. a great place where people can buy or sell anything. I think I even found my grandma's cookies on here. Just like many put their junk on eBay for sale and ask for cash, God does the same in our lives. No cash needed. I nthis lesson, students will discover the story of the woman brought before Jesus. students will be invited into the family of god and challenged to look at their own mistakes that need to be made new.'
The lesson includes: object lesson, game, lesson, summary, skit, powerpoint game graphics, ice-breaker, take home activity and more.
There are other lessons in this series so this is a great way to try a lesson and decide whether you want to use more.. Check it out HERE...

What is the main focus of your children's ministry? What values are important to you? What is your mission statement? Have you identified the who, what and whys of your ministry?

Hopefully, you and your team have spent time discussing and working through these and other important foundational aspects of your children's ministry. It's terrific to have a vision for your children's ministry. It's inspiring to move ahead with passion for the task. But you also need a framework in which to operate, and part of this is the who - identification of your ministry to your team, your church and your community. Yes, you are a ministry to children and families, but not just any ministry. You minister to a certain group of kids and families in a particular context and a specific community; in other words, unique. So.. how do you and others see this ministry? 
If you decide to create an image and logo for your group, take time to consider this branding- your name, colour scheme, design and image. Try not to duplicate someone else's logo unless it truly reflects who you are. When you have made a decision, use your logo on everything- website, newsletters, information sheets, promotional material.. everything. Connect with your community and highlight who your are.
  
Now, where can you look for ideas? www.coolkidsministries.com/resources/ministry-logos  has some free examples you might like to consider.  www.churchlogogallery.com will produce a logo for your ministry for a small cost. I would also suggest www.bigstockphoto.com and their huge range of illustrations that can be downloaded for a couple of dollars. Many of their illustrations are available with slight variations. For example, I downloaded this small green frog. But he was also available with a beach or a jungle background, which means you could rename him and use him for different age groups. He is also available holding an umbrella (great to advertise a special event). He can be downloaded with an iPhone which would work well to promote your children's ministry app or mobile website, if you have one.  Be creative!  And please, feel free to share your ideas with us!

We have found more and more reasons to use iPads in children's ministries especially for our after-school tutoring program, (one of the ways that we seek to reach out and impact our community.)
So, I have increasingly felt the need to find iPad covers that will provide added protection for these iPads. Perhaps you have discovered a similar need.

I've looked at a few options and eventually purchased these iGuys. These fun, foamy kid-friendly iPad cases are great! You'll find them on speckproducts.com and ..' you won't find a happier, more lovable iPad case anywhere!' They will also fit the first version iPads which was a big plus for me, since we bought a couple of those versions when they dropped in price on ebay. And.. the kids love them!

You might like to check out Big Grips for iPad, too. They produce a protective iPad case made especially for kids. It's big, squishy, easy to grab, comfortable to hold and very grip-able. They come with a stand, too, as an added extra.