3 Events to Transition Your Kidmin to the Next Grade
With the end of the school year upon us, so many kids pastors are asking the questions, “when should we move up our kids? What should we do to make it special?”
As a veteran kidmin pastor, I’ve wrestled with these questions myself. I gave my answer for when you should move up your kids in this post. But what can we do to make it special?
I’ve tried several different things and I’m still not happy with any names. Although “Smooth Moove” is pretty high on my list. When I first started, I created a formal event. We had a nice dinner. We invited families to celebrate their achievement of their level of education and cast vision for what’s to come. We called it Step up and the Transition Ceremony.
While that event was ok, it wasn’t fun. And kidmin should be fun.
So, today, I’ll share my current favorite plan. I’d love to hear what works for you in the comments below.
1. Start with Why
When we move up our kids, we really want to do accomplish two things. First, we want kids to feel comfortable and love their new environment. Second, we want parents to feel their kids are safe and will learn all about Jesus in the new space.
In my experience, preschool kids make this transition rather easily. They’re used to change and are excited to move up to big kids church. It’s usually the mothers that feel the kids aren’t ready. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they want to hold on to their little baby.
The best thing you can do is to make them feel comfortable with the change.
Similarly, parents of fifth or sixth graders can have their own hesitations for moving to youth. They see those big twelfth graders driving cars and growing beards. It’s scary to see their little 11-year-old coming into that space.
In addition, the older elementary kids are moving away from their parents as their main source of entertainment and moving toward friends. It’s vital that whatever you do, you connect them with people they know and build friendships.
But how do you do all that? This is what I’ve found.
2. Parent Q&A
As I’ve said before, parents are really concerned about the safety and spiritual education of their little one. So, meet that concern head on.
The week before Move Up Sunday, I’ll hold a Parent Q&A meeting. It’s a 30-minute meeting where I invite all the parents of the kids moving up to elementary and youth. But it’s not just me, the kids pastor, I also invite the preschool director and the youth pastor.
When we start, I’ll cast vision for the transition. I share how excited I am to see these parents and kids enter into a new season.
At this point, I split the parents in attendance into two groups. Those going to elementary, and those going to youth.
While the preschool director talks about all the wonderful things their kids have learned over the last few years, I go to the youth meeting and do the same. Then I introduce the youth pastor and let them talk about what Youth will look like. They then answer any questions or concerns these parents will have.
While they lead that group, I relieve the preschool director and do the same as the youth pastor. My talk is similar to the parent meeting I hold at the beginning of the year, just updated for the summer. You can see how I do that here.
Once the meeting is over, the parents have their questions answered. They feel better about sending little Timmy to youth.
Note: As I’ve done this over the years, I’ve noticed that parents who already have kids in these age groups don’t attend. They already know what their little one is getting into, so they don’t have many, if any questions.
That’s ok. It’s usually the first kid that makes the transition that parents are the most concerned about. Help them feel more comfortable and you’ll have a much smoother transition.
3. Open House
I know this can be controversial when talking about the safety of kids. Just like not every parent is good with kids, not every parent is safe to be around kids.
That said, I pick one Sunday before Move Up Sunday to be an Open House Sunday. I invite all my parents to come and see what we do on Sunday mornings. Many parents have no idea. I’ve had some parents come to me after impressed. They admit they thought all we did was play around.
As parents come, we check them in and invite them to sit with their kids. No adult that isn’t background checked is allowed to be alone with kids. We cater our activities and stories to not just kids but also adults. Kids love to see their parents playing one of their games.
In addition to the parents, I invite the transitioning kids to join as well. They can see the safe and fun environment with their parents and are ready to join in.
You can do the same with your older elementary kids moving up, but I like to do a little more.
4. Lock-in/Late night party
As I said before, your youth are looking more to friends for fun than their parents. So, I partner with the youth pastor to hold a lock-in or late-night party for the upcoming sixth graders and the youth group.
The Youth Department runs most of the events, and I’m there to be a friendly face. Many times, parents are relieved to see me there working check-in. They appreciate when I tell them I’ll be there the whole time.
When I was at a larger church with a middle school ministry, we didn’t invite the entire Youth Group. Just the middle schoolers and their leaders. We want to promote connection and community. This event provides a safe and fun place for those kids to connect without all the pressure of “church.”
Having these events solves my two main goals. The kids feel comfortable and love their new environment and parents feel their kids will be safe with the bigger kids. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you answer those two questions and you’ll be fine.
What do you do to transition your kids?
