Zip Tip: 5 Ways to Keep Kids Excited

1. Be excited! Kids will take on your excitement level, but normally only at about half. This means that you will have to be over-the-top in your communication of excitement over what you are teaching or doing. Seek to have energy in your voice and in your body language. If you are doing an activity, play along and enjoy it!
2. Ask questions. Interact with kids throughout the day, not just during activities. Ask them how they would feel if they were present in the Bible story or how they can live more like Jesus based on the passage.
3. Get kids moving. Lecture-style teaching doesn’t work for kids. Their attention span is about their age… in minutes. For a seven-year-old, that is only seven minutes! Create stations, play games that teach concepts, and use interactive teaching techniques to communicate a concept. Luckily, Zip for Kids is already built for you.
4. Remind them of what is coming. Give them specific things to look forward to during the day or during your time with Zip (or other curriculum lines). They are more likely to be engaged and excited when they know that there are tons of exciting elements to experience throughout their time at Zip.
5. This is my favorite quick and easy way to renew excitement in kids. When you see kids getting the glazed over, not-really-paying-attention-anymore look, exclaim, “TEN SECOND SILENT PARTY!” Guide kids to get up and move around, dance, jump, and pretend to scream for ten seconds as you countdown. Remind them that they will sit back down in their spots when you reach one.
Most of all, just have fun. Love on kids and seek to engage with them in meaningful conversation as often as possible. Be a kid’s biggest fan!