Simple Redirects for Teaching Time

Have you ever struggled to regain control of a talkative class? Do you have a bunch of squirrly kids? Try these simple redirects to quiet and recenter kids so teaching time can be effective. 

#classroomstruggles #teachingtime #bibleteacher #intentionalchildrensministry

Transcript

Amber Pike (00:01.544)
Welcome back to the Kidman Huddle. So for me, last week was Vacation Bible School and we had some, as I refer to them, squirrely kids. We had some kids who were just a little extra wiggly, needed some extra calming down and it was a little frustrating at times. So I had some redirects, some different ways to help focus the kids, help

calm them down. I am 20 plus years in children's ministry. So take for example, my husband was teaching science. He is brand new. He was voluntold that he would be helping. I did ask nicely and he very anxiously agreed. He was teaching science and he just didn't have a repertoire of redirect, of calming down things, of ways to get squirrely kids to listen. So I went through and made a list of

A lot of the things that I did during vacation Bible school, both when I would kind of hop in and help a different class or when I was doing the main stage opening ceremonies, some of the different things that I did to just help with the squirrely friends. So just kind of right off the bat, if you have a kid who is extra squirrely, not listening, maybe a disruption, if their parent is serving in the class, you probably need to move the parent.

Sometimes if you have maybe a sad kid who is a little, you know, little anxious that mom's not there, a parent might help. But often when it's bad behavior, they're going to be a little worse when a parent is in the room. So if possible, move the parent to a different room, have them serve in a different area. It's an easy fix and you don't want to hurt feelings. So, you know, do it with grace and love. But honestly, that fixes some of the behavior issues.

The next is think about what you're teaching. Think about the content. Is it engaging enough? Or are kids expected to sit still and quietly for too long? So maybe you need to add some interactive stuff because they're just they're disengaging. They're sitting too long. I know we're in Generation Alpha. Attention spans are not that long. Honestly, they should be able to. For sure. I agree. Kids can sit and watch a show.

Amber Pike (02:19.724)
They should be able to sit and listen to you, but just realistically they're not. Attention spans are shorter, especially with little ones. I think like littles and preteens, it's the bookends. The middle kids are better, but the preschoolers and often the preteens, they just don't have long attention spans. So how are you engaging them in it? Tons of simple ways that you can do this. They're listening for a key word and they're supposed to do emotion or make a.

face or say something, do something when they're listening for a keyword, like every time you say Jesus in your teaching time. Or instead of just telling them things, you're letting them shout out answers. Maybe they are going to involve some body movement where you add in a middle section, kind of reviewing what you just talked about and give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down or a cross with your arms. If it's a no, maybe you turn it into a review game.

however works for you. So I'll give you an example. During BBS, we did Wonder Junction from Answers in Genesis. Very much so, all about Jesus, loved it. Well, my kids were a little squirrely and some of my teachers were struggling a little bit keeping attention. So I wanted to regain some attention during ceremony time. You know, I'm up on stage, I'm doing the things and the leaders just are kind of struggling at times to contain the kids. So I made a really cool box.

I took an applesauce pouch box, you the little squeezy pouches, because it was a good sturdy box and I covered it in duct tape. So it's like orange and red because I ran out of one roll of duct tape. So it's multicolored. Cut a hole in the top. And this was my prize question box inside. I just handwritten some index cards that had something that did describe Jesus or something that did not describe Jesus. The kids would pull out a card.

I would select a volunteer, pull out a card, then they would go put it in the appropriate bucket. Yes, it described Jesus, no, but there were also some cards in there that were just a prize card. But you know who could only be picked? Only my friends that were sitting quietly and being good listeners would get picked. You better believe every single child was sitting nicely listening.

Amber Pike (04:38.958)
It was super easy. was the stuff that we were gonna be reviewing anyways. You we were kind of going back over what we've talked about Jesus because repetition is key for kids. But it did it in a fun and an engaging way. Instead of me just saying, hey, we learned about Jesus's birth. We learned that he is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, I made it into a game. They were engaged. There was some incentivation. I am all about for incentivizing. I believe I said that word wrong just a second ago. If not, I just made up a new word.

but I'm all for giving kids a treat. This is another calm down effect. Now you have to be careful with this though. There will be kids who, if they don't get picked or if they don't get the thing that they will cry, little kids especially. There also you run the risk of overdoing it to where it's expected or it becomes too much of a time filler.

So when you are rewarding kids for good behavior, read the room, see how it's going. A couple of examples. An idea I got years ago, I made this like little piece of paper. It was an award if you're being a good listener, basically. And we were handing them out at VBS. And it got to the point where my kids had like five, because the teachers were just giving them to everybody. And then we spent like six to seven extra minutes, the kids just picking out their prizes.

instead of us getting on with the ceremony. cut that. Another thing I've seen where one person is watching the whole time for who's a really good listener while the teaching time is going and it kind of interrupts the flow when they award this prize. It's like, okay, teaching time's over. I've just asked you to respond and to apply, but who wants to win this prize? So just be careful how you're doing that.

Read the room with your kids. Is it going to upset kids? Is it going to take up too much time? Is it kind of killing the Holy Spirit's ability to keep talking to the kids? Is it like a momentum killer, a moment killer? Think about that when you're considering giving prizes for good behavior, but it can be an effective tool. My prize box was perfect. Only about three or four kids got a prize, but they all, most all of them got to play.

Amber Pike (07:03.308)
You know, you gotta keep with the time and how long something taking. Okay, so some more techniques where you could kind of redirect. I find if I crouch down on their level, you know, I'm pretty tall, I'm 5'10", and then if I'm on stage, I'm elevated from kids at VBS, but you know when I would crouch down and I would start to whisper, then everybody got really cool.

Amber Pike (07:27.544)
I don't know what it is, but something about crouching down and whispering, they start to listen. Similarly, if you can hear me, do whatever. All right, if you can hear me, put your hands on your head. If you can hear me, put your hand on your nose. If you can hear me, put your hand on your friend's head. The kids look around, the ones who aren't listening will then notice that their friends are doing something and they should be doing the something too. It's a calm down, it's a redirect, but I didn't have to fuss.

Simple but effective. I had great success at this year's VBS doing what I called Super Freeze. Now, this worked especially good on one night because it was superhero night. And the little class especially, this worked really, really good. know, when they're just all getting really squirrely and the teachers trying to talk or trying to do something and they're so squirrely, I would just literally jump in, actual, like kind of hop in and go, Super Freeze! And everybody would freeze and you know.

You're wanting to freeze very exaggeratedly. You're striking a pose and all the little ones would freeze and you keep holding it until they can't hold it anymore and be like, okay, now let's listen to Mr. Ron. It doesn't have to be a superhero thing. Just the freeze technique works. You are not fussing. You're not yelling at them. You are excitedly jumping in. I would jump in and my full, you know, two, two cape knee socks wig.

Kind of craziness, but I would jump in and super freeze. I used that thing so many times during VBS. Not just super freeze, but just a freeze. But super freeze does sound more fun. Why does it work? Well, something, there's a change in their body, right? So they went from moving or wiggling or whatever they're doing to then they're doing a motion. And I captured their full attention. And they're holding it, they're holding it, they're holding it. Okay, now let's listen. So they calm down enough to hear, we have to listen.

It worked really, really good. Sometimes when there is a longer portion of sitting, they just need to sit with a leader.

Amber Pike (09:34.142)
Maybe there needs to be that physical, very safe contact, especially with leaders. Sometimes it, or with the preschoolers, sometimes they just need a lap to sit on. Sometimes this kid just needs a friend. I had one of my little friends. had my littlest niece on my lap. She was my VBS buddy. And I came to sit down with them because they're a little extra squirrely. And I thought the science teacher might appreciate some help.

And then more little kids came over to me. And then there was one little friend who was being extra squirrely. I'm like, OK, if we can't listen, you're going to have to come sit with Miss Amber. And I don't think this was a threat because I just kept getting more kids by me. But I did see throughout VBS when another leader would move to these little disruptive kids, especially towards the end of the night, evening VBS, your littles, you know, gets a little rough. They would calm down. Sometimes kids act up.

and out because negative attention is still attention. So if they're getting fussed at, if they're getting told to sit down, if they're being told to listen repeatedly, if the other kids are paying them attention because they're acting wild, that negative attention is still the attention they crave. So sometimes just sit with them, show them some love and they behave better. Another thing similarly is you can give them a job to do. Hey.

I really need you to help me do X, Y, Z while I'm talking. Hey, I need you to sit and hold this poster. I need you to count how many times this happens. I need you to help me keep my friends quiet because this is so exciting what I get to do. I'm going to ask you to come up and be my helper. Can you be a good listener so that I can have you come up and be my helper? Again, it's that attention. Some kids just need extra attention.

You might have a clue as to some of your kids' home lives, but you're not there all the time. You don't know what's going on in their hearts and in their homes. They might just need a little extra attention. Sometimes kids act out because they're bored. It might be over their head. Maybe it's under, and they have no clue what you're saying.

Amber Pike (11:48.16)
A job can help focus them. It's that attention that they need. It's making them feel special and important. So sitting with them, giving them a job to do is super helpful too. You also need to be consistent. If you are a parent, hopefully you have figured this out in your parenting. But if not, even if you're not a parent or if you haven't figured this out, you have to be consistent with your discipline. So if it is okay for one child to be extra talkative,

The other children think they can as well. So if you're telling one kid they need to sit down quietly, you need to hold that expectation for all of the kids. Clear boundaries, knowing what's expected is really crucial for kids. They need to know what box they're allowed to be in and what the expectations are. So be consistent. Just like with parenting, don't make threats.

they see through it, that's not consistent discipline. So if every time this squirrely kid in your ministry is told, if you keep acting like this, you are going to go sit with your parent. Well, one, why are we punishing them? Sorry, if I'm stepping on your toes.

Sorry, I don't agree with that approach. Now, if the child is a danger, for sure. But a disruptive child being told, no, you can't be where you're needed, where you need to be, where you need to hear the message of Jesus, where you need to be loved on, don't. That's the same thing in my mind as putting children in the public school system when they make them go to like in school suspension. Well, you've acted bad, so now you're going to miss more learning. I don't agree with that. So.

Don't make threats with kids. Don't make idle threats. Well, if this happens, you're going to do this. Or if this happens, you're not going to be allowed to come back. If the child is a danger, that is a different story. I'm just talking about a disruptive kid who's extra talkative, extra squirrely. See everything you can do before you come to that. Now, if that truly is, if you all have tried every technique, you've talked with parents, you've

Amber Pike (13:57.922)
have done all of the things and you still can't get this child to behave and other kids aren't learning, then have that conversation with the parent and I'm sorry, but it's best that he just not come back. We can't teach the other kids, but this is not a threat that you consistently make. Just don't do that.

Still a couple more techniques that I've used, because I didn't write these. I wrote these, but not in any particular order of when I did them. This is just as I thought of them. Another thing I do is I'll just stand there quietly. It's like an old school teacher technique. I stand quietly. And kids are pretty good. There's always that really well-behaved kid, which is totally me. It was a teacher's pet, kind of like a suck up. They'll start getting their friends' attention. Hey, look at Miss Amber. Miss Amber wants us quiet.

So I'll just stand there quietly. And sometimes I'll tell them. When you guys are quiet, I would love to continue. have so much fun things I want us to learn about, but I can't talk over you. And they will kind of help police each other. It works more so with older kids, but it can still work with youngers as well. Sometimes, this is my last one. Let me make sure I've hit them all. Yep. My last one is sometimes you need to move in locations.

I have found this to be true with every bit of the age group from your littles to your bigs. Sometimes they're just going to be squirrely. And I have found moving locations for the sole purpose of redirecting their bodies works. There is something about body movement and engaging your brains. We know that moving our bodies while we're like memorizing verses, it's helping our brains to do better. Well, it's the same thing when we're trying to listen. So I remember this one time, one of my little guys at church.

little, like three, and he was just having a squirrely day to where my daughter was in tears because she could not listen because he was acting so squirrely and he was getting the other kids and she just wanted to listen to the lesson. And so we moved several times in our lesson for absolutely no reason. They're like, OK, I need everybody to get your chair and let's bring it over here. And we would go to a different portion of the room just to reengage. And it worked.

Amber Pike (16:13.194)
Same thing at VBS. I was doing some really cool magic tricks. Guys, if you love using Gospel Illusions magic tricks, make sure you check out my YouTube channel. Check out my Facebook and Instagram. I've got some links on there to some really cool stuff that I did. But the first night, they weren't engaged super well. First night was a magic trick, but I kind of lost them a little bit. I'm like, I really want them to see this. So I had them move.

So it was the third night I was doing where Jesus multiplied the meal, the feeding of the 5,000. So I had my box of goldfish with my hidden shelf and I really wanted the kids to see this. So I had them all move and sit on the floor. They were great listeners. I got really quiet. Okay, I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do. And then I was talking and I did it and I let them like, you know, answer things and it worked. So for the rest of night, the rest of week,

Whenever I did a really cool magic trick, I had them move down to the floor. It re-engaged their bodies. They were in a different location. just, a physical movement is such a re-engagement. So there are some redirects for you.

You might use all of these techniques and still have squirrely kids. I would consider myself a Kidman pro. I'm a Kidman veteran, right? I've been doing this for over 20 years. And I want to encourage you. I still have days where I cannot control the kids, where they are so squirrely. I don't know that anyone learned a single thing. I have days where I will go home in tears because I feel like I'm a failure.

because I couldn't get the kids to listen. You know why? Because they're kids. They're kids. And you put a room full of kids together and sometimes they're squirrely and sometimes they act up. And sometimes they're dealing with a lot of stuff. If you have read my book, Intentional Children's Ministry, you will know that I, little ashamedly, was this kid. I was kicked out of youth group and asked not to come back because I was acting bad.

Amber Pike (18:25.134)
Why? Okay, so I'll spoiler. I'll tell you this part of the story. Woody Youth Pastor who was really bad with youth. He was children in youth, small church. He was pretty good with the kids, but he was terrible with us teenagers. And I'm about 15, 14, 15, somewhere around there. And we were all friends, small church, we're all friends. And we picked on each other and we had fun and we cut up with each other and we would...

tease each other, but none of us took it seriously because we were just playing. We cared about each other, but we would mess with each other, right? So this youth pastor would join in on it and he would make fun of us, but if we dished it back out, he got upset. So I remember the last thing I remember is he brought in this chunk of wood and we had to all take turns nailing in a nail and then removing it to see the hole that our words had left. None of us got upset.

when we were teasing each other. And I remember going to my mom and be like, I'm done, I'm done with youth group. At the same time, like maybe even the same day, same week, he called my mom and said, it's probably best that Amber not return to youth group. So yes, I got kicked out of youth group. I was bored. He didn't treat us with respect. He taught way under our level developmentally. I was bored. Got kicked out of Sunday school one time too when I was a kid.

I told the teacher, can't tell me what to do. You're not my mom. And she very old school Sunday school teacher, former public school teacher said, okay, I'm going to march you to your mom. I didn't do that ever again. That was that one time. Kids are going to be kids. They are going to act up. They are going to have days when they don't listen. They are going to be disrespectful. They are going to be extra energy during the holidays. If you guys have served in children's ministry for over a year, you know this.

When things are off in their world, their schedule's off, family were in, birthday parties, extra cake, heck, some people think the full moon affects kids. There are going to be those days. However, you need to develop a repertoire of things that you can do to redirect kids. Train your team. If you are the leader in charge, train your team on this. Discipline is a very consistent complaint thing that I see people reaching out for. Hey, my kids aren't listening. What do I do? How do I do this?

Amber Pike (20:43.468)
So train your team, look for what's going to work. Maybe you just are expecting too much of your kids. They're sitting still too long. So you need to engage them physically. not fun for the sake of fun, but make the lessons more fun, make them more interactive to where the kids get to be an active listener. If you're an active learner, an active listener, there's less time to act up. Maybe you need to train your team on some simple redirects from getting on their level to sitting with friends to

prize boxes that you use periodically, how are you going to direct kids to listen? Because what you don't want is to constantly be fussing at kids, telling them to sit still, sit quiet and listen. That is taking away from teaching time when you can be showing them the truths of God's word. And it's also just kind of creating an environment that kids don't really want to be in. So hopefully some of these redirects help.

If you have things that you do, I know there's tons of those like call and responses to listen. think that's one of my ideas has been to like make a list of those for my camp staffers. Like one, two, three eyes on me, all that stuff. I would love to hear some of the things that you're doing that's working. If you're having a particular discipline problem, please reach out to me. Let's see if we can brainstorm together, but leave encouraged knowing it's not just your kids, their kids, they're going to act up.

Adults do the same thing and we can use redirects with adults too. But we want them to have fun at church while they are learning the truth of God's word. And that's not accomplished if they're just climbing the walls being crazy. So try some of these redirects. Take a look at how you have things set up. Do you need more volunteers? Do you need more engagement? Do you need more rooms that you can move to throughout the lesson time? How can you help kids to

be better listeners so that they can hear God's word. Hey, you've got this friend. It's challenging, but you're gonna learn as time goes on just what works for you and how to gain their attention. And I want you to remember what you do matters.