Connections

Getting connected to other people working in the same field is important. I am always bouncing ideas off of someone. I want to make sure what I am doing sounds fun to others and is also appropriate for my kids. I also go to conferences where I can talk to other people who are a lot more experienced in kids ministry. It is okay to ask for help if you need it. People love if you ask for help, or ask to use something of theirs. As I have learned from my teaching classes, beg, borrow, and steal. As long as you are willing to give credit, people really don't care. Just look on pinterest, that's my source of creativity. Most times I take stuff I see on their and modify it. Nothing has to be perfect, especially if you are working with kids. When it looks like a kids made it, then it is done right. I use to be about making each craft perfect and exact, and the parents didn't seem to like it as much. Like I said yesterday, let the kids be messy. That way the parents know that the kids did it, not you.
A good example is when I did the trees. I wanted the kids to rip the paper into small pieces and make a puffy tree. Some of them ripped long pieces and theirs looked like palm trees instead. The only one I fixed was the one that the child covered the whole trunk (You couldn't tell it was a tree).
I encourage you to find at least one person you can work with, and places you can get ideas. That is when you will see a change in the kids! Have a great week!