Kid (or Kids) of the Week Profiles

Church is an awesome place for kids (and grown-ups, for that matter) to find great friends... but it can be difficult for kids to really get to know each other unless you, the leader, are purposeful about helping kids connect. One way you can cultivate connection is by taking a few minutes each week to highlight a couple kids by doing "Kid of the Week" profiles.

Print up some cards & have each of your kids answer some simple questions about themselves. Things like:

- Do you have any brothers or sisters? Are they older or younger than you?

- Do you have a pet? What is it? What is it's name?

- If you could go anyplace for lunch, where would you want to go? What would you order?

- What is your favorite color?

- Do you play any sports?

- What do you want to be when you grow up?

- What is your favorite thing about coming to church each week?

The questions should be easy to answer, and non-threatening. The goal is to ask things that will help kids discover that they have things in common.

Take a week to fill out & collect the cards, then make a schedule & take a couple minutes to introduce a kid or two to the class each week. With their cards in hand, invite them to the front of the room, have everyone clap for them, and tell the class about them, "This is Stephen! He has two younger brothers. Does anyone else have a younger brother?"    

Take the idea and make it your own... Have fun with it! -- It can be fun to give them a special crown to wear (customized Burger King crowns are perfect!) and dub them the kids of the day! Depending on the size of your group, you may choose to do this once a month, or you might highlight 3 or 4 kids every week... the idea is to make it easy for your kids to get to know each other. After the interview, encourage kids to say "hi" to the people you profile. You might even add a couple bonus questions to your Team Competition time at the end and award extra points for teams that can correctly answer questions about your kid(s) of the week.

Try it! You might be surprised at how something so simple can help foster friendships & create community in your class. 

~cp