Albert Mehrabian, a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at UCLA, says that within 30 days, people forget 90 percent of what they have learned unless it is repeatedly reinforced.
Stop and think about what you did last Sunday with the kids in your ministry. How much time was spent reinforcing what they learned the week before, and the week before that? Remember the old saying, “Practice makes perfect.”
If you don’t intentionally plan to reinforce and review what has already been taught, it will go by the wayside. So here’s what I’ve decided to do. I’m going to write review time into my kids church schedule starting this Sunday. I can’t be content with simply asking review questions and giving candy to the kids that answer my questions right. That’s got to be one of the lamest ways to review. I’ll have to get creative. If I want them to retain more than 10% of what I teach, I don’t have a choice.
How do you write review into children’s church? I know that is normally how we do review: ‘What was last week’s lesson about?’ “great, heres some candy”.
Anybody have some more creative ideas on how to do review in large group setting?
OK…if not candy - how about slime? Just kidding…I don’t have an answer, but I know a good idea when I hear one - and that was a good idea. I’ll be eager to hear what the creative geniuses at Kidzmatter come up with
We just began a lesson on the Holy Spirit and I really want the kids to remember what we’ll be discussing. Time for the thinking cap…power point…activity…noise…slime
Collin and Denise,
Great questions! I am throwing this question out tomorrow in our email newsletter. We want to hear from people what ideas they have for creatively reviewing and reinforcing what you teach. I’ll post some of the responses here and in K! Magazine. Ryan
I would try an active game - have a ball and throw it to whoever can remember anything about last week. Kids will search their memories for a chance to participate.
This is a very powerful truth. Why then do we communicate something new each week? By the time the month is over the Bible story you taught 3 weeks ago is forgotten.
About 3 years ago we began to teach 1 story for 1 month. We don’t tech competing lessons in our other services but rather accentuate them by approaching the underlying values in relevant ways (small groups, rotation workshops, games). Our ministry then becomes a community wrapped up in pursuing 1 spiritual truth. This is both empowering to the kids and freeing for leadership to take their time and get it right. Teach less and get more!
I think it is important to not only review the story but to ask children if they had a chance to apply their learning. I make sure that the kids have a very specific application step and then ask them when they come back if they were able to do it. I find that if I can do this in a small group or one-on-one it is more effective. It is great if a child can remember the story, but even better if they can remember the main truth in an applicational way.
Ideas for review:
Divide up into two teams and play Tic Tac Toe. Each team must answer the review question before putting up an “x” or “o”.
Younger children love a Matching Game. Here, too, they must answer the question before turning over the cards.
The Dot Game is fun for older kids. Put several rows of dots on a white board or chalk board. When each team answers the question correctly, they get to connect two dots. The idea is to connect enough dots to make a box. THen the team can put their initial in that box. The team with the most boxes is the winner.
Example: . . . .
Ideas for review:
Divide up into two teams and play Tic Tac Toe. Each team must answer the review question before putting up an “x” or “o”.
Younger children love a Matching Game. Here, too, they must answer the question before turning over the cards.
The Dot Game is fun for older kids. Put several rows of dots on a white board or chalk board. When each team answers the question correctly, they get to connect two dots. The idea is to connect enough dots to make a box. THen the team can put their initial in that box. The team with the most boxes is the winner.
Example: . . . .
Yes I do candy & prizes, it is not only to review last week but also major Bible concepts,facts and worker’s identification (stressing the importance of relationships). I write them into the opening powerpoint slides to draw kids into participation in our large group time. I have been drawn into doing powerpoint games for review as well without any incentive, kids love games. The best thing however on this point is doing rotation workshop model where we stress the same Bible study for a month using the different workshops presentation method. They are more hands on than most curriculum would ever be…that increases retention greatly.
We use Daily Challenge in a take-home page, and we encourage the small group leaders to review what was done and how they felt applying what they’ve learned. We too use a lot of repetition, basically we go on in a theme for months, just changing the lessons. We have around one hour, so time is short. We are working in approaching the parents to reinforce the point learned with the kids. But, accountability is the key to a sucess learning in the long run!