The Post-Covid Return

Like most churches, ours was basically closed to in-person gatherings for several months of 2020. As things began to improve, we started re-introducing various components of our ministry. KWA, was one of those.

We have resumed our Wednesday night KWA program, but our attendance is now about half of what it was prior to Covid. However, kids that are coming are having a blast.

While there are many lessons that we have learned from this crazy year, one important one is this: It was God’s design for Christians to meet together regularly, and this should never be taken for granted. This especially includes our kids!

New Year for KWA

We’re off to another great year with our KWA ministry. As with previous years, we spend the first twenty minutes in a combined “large group” setting led by the church’s Minister of Music. Here the kids experience a balance of fun activity songs and worship songs that are being sung in regular Sunday morning services. The primary goal is to teach the importance of worship and give them the tools to be more effective worshipers and worship leaders.

For our breakout classes, this year we have decided to forgo allowing the kids to choose their classes, and instead bring a variety of offerings to them throughout the year. The first and second graders will continue with their “regular” choir class. Their teachers are amazing, and those kids really enjoy choir with Ms. Cindy and Ms. Teresa. The third and fourth graders are doing recorders this fall. There are lots of joyous “squeaks” coming from that class.  

The fifth graders are learning about church technology. For the first eight weeks, they are learning about sound systems. This will be followed by video production, lighting, and media classes as the year progresses.  We have some awesome teachers from our congregation that enjoy passing on their tech knowledge to the next generation. The sixth graders are doing drama. Theirs is a small group, but the teachers are very creative and are enthusiastic about leading this class.

As you can see, it is going to be another amazing year!

2019 Musical

We ended our 2018-19 KWA year last night with a mini-musical entitled, “The Big Story of the Bible.” The first part of the evening had our preschool choirs singing. After dismissing these kids to sit with their parents, the third graders did a puppet skit. Following this, the fourth grade guitar class accompanied the congregation on “Amazing Grace.” While the stage was reset, our sixth grade drama class told scripted jokes to the congregation.

Once everything was reset, we started the walk-on music and began our musical. As to the musical itself, it was purchased collection from Word Music. We sang five songs with narration in between the songs. There were several soloists / duets / trios throughout, and the first and second graders sang one song alone. For a ministry that has purposely attempted to limit the “performance pressures” of children’s choir, it was a pretty low stress evening. The kids did a great job, and the parents were exposed to a little of what we do every Wednesday at Kids Worship Arts. Now we have a few short weeks off, and hit it again in the fall.

Keyboards and Melodic Lines

The 3rd and 4th graders really enjoy playing with the micro keyboards. Some in the group are taking piano and love to “show off” their skills. Others, merely enjoy the novelty of the experience. All seem to love to play the various sounds that come with the device. It can get quite lively at times.

We are winding down our music reading emphasis with these kids for this semester. After Spring Break, the 4th graders will be focusing on regular-tuned baritone ukuleles, and the 3rd graders will be doing puppets.

Rhythm Trash Cans

This is the setup for my rhythm-teaching session. The kids will be divided into several groups. Each group will have to play the rhythms on the flash cards, and they will get two tries if needed. One point will be given per card. The team with the most points at the end wins.

It will be a pretty loud game, but it will be a fun way to reinforce rhythmic concepts. The cans are simply 35 gallon trash cans purchased from our local Lowes Hardware store. The mallets were purchased from an online music store.

Hand Chimes

Tonight, I’ll be introducing hand chimes to our 3rd and 4th graders. They have been working on their rhythm and note reading skills for the past few weeks. This evening, we take it to the next level. I’ve highlighted their notes on each music part, but I also have an unhighlighted copy on the back of each sheet. This will allow me to quickly work with both beginning music readers as well as more advanced students. If things are too simple for a given student, I’ll simply have them turn the sheet over and let them play without the guides. If time permits, we’ll change positions and play different chimes/notes.

Rhythm Flashcards

One of the best resources that I’ve found for teaching and reinforcing rhythms in a large-group setting is Hal Leonard’s Rhythm Flashcard Kit. I use these cards to teach rhythms as well as for rhythm games. The kids love to show off their rhythmic skills, and this resource helps keep things fun in the process.

Micro Pianos In Action

My third and fourth graders are really enjoying the micro pianos. After spending a week or two working on note reading drills, we have now moved on to playing simple songs. It is really fun to see the kids glow with excitement about making music - especially those who have never taken piano lessons.

Micro Keyboards

We have progressed in our music fundamentals to the point where I’ve once again introduced inexpensive small keyboards to the kids. To several of the keyboards, I have added note names and staff locations. However, some of our kids are taking private piano lessons. That extra information is not beneficial for them. All they need is to know where “middle C” is located on these small instruments.

To date, we have only been playing short exercises. Soon, we’ll be introducing songs for them to play. It is a tactical method of musical learning, and the kids really seem to enjoy it.

Buttons for Prizes

For quick prizes for my class, I purchased a bag of assorted buttons from Amazon. These have proven to be an inexpensive but valuable resource. Recently I gave out buttons for every word a kid spelled on the staff. Another day, I give buttons to the team that won a competitive music game. Even the boys love getting the buttons. I hand them out and let the kids trade with each other as desired.

Music Boards

I recently purchased individual music marker boards for each child from Amazon. We’ve used these boards in several ways, but one of the more successful applications was to reinforce the names of notes in the treble clef - FACE and EGBDF (Empty Garbage Before Dad Freaks).

One of the staff games we played was my putting a list of words on the large board and they had to “spell” out the words on their staff. Those with the most words after a period of time won a prize. We are working toward the kids being able to follow a melody line in an anthem by Christmas. It is a lot of fun to see their little competitive brains absorb theses fundamental music concepts.

Growing in Grace Curriculum

Our 1st-2nd Grade Choir is once again using a curriculum from a company called, Growing in Grace. This is a valuable recourse for teaching our kids to be worshippers, and it also teaches music fundamentals. Highly recommended.

KWA Drama Class

For our year-end program this semester, I wanted to find a short drama with which our older kids could excercise their acting skills. I found several options at Skitguys.com. The one I eventually chose was entitled, “Little Rock Big God.” Using a Dr. Seuss-style narrative, this skit creatively retells the back story of David and his epic victory over Goliath. Our plan is to have the 5th & 6th grader girls read the skit in a readers theater style format while the older boys act out the scenes. It’s a bit of a departure from what we’ve done in the past, but it should prove interesting for all concerned. (The skit is written by Mitch Teemley.)

KWA Artists

For our annual year-end presentation to our church, we always utilize various media throughout our program. This year, our KWA kids will be utilizing their artistic skills as part of our presentation. The younger kids will be drawing pictures about God’s love, the third graders will be drawing pictures pertaining to Jonah and the fish. The older kids will draw pictures about David and Goliath. These themes correspond to the three major components of our upcoming presentation in early June, and the plan is to scan these hand-drawn pictures into the computer and use the images as background graphics throughout the evening.

KWA Beginning Guitar Class

We started a new guitar class last Wednesday. We had 9 students in the class, and we had just enough guitars for everyone to have one. It was a totally new adventure for most of the kids. This class will run for a total of 5 weeks. During that short time, we can only hope to inspire them to continue learning the instrument. However, it is a fun adventure to begin!

KWA Church Tech Class

For the past several weeks, our 4th-6th grade boys have been attending an exciting new church sound class. Led by two of our church’s finest sound technicians, our KWA boys have been able to do some fun hands-on learning with real-world sound equipment. This Wednesday, it is the girls turn! The next few weeks will will, no-doubt, be a lot of fun for those young ladies. Our hope is that these classes will inspire the next generation of audio/visual ministers at our church and beyond.

Blacklight Puppets

Our third graders started working on their blacklight puppets yesterday. I purchased several different colors of fluorescent poster board from Hobby Lobby and asked the kids to draw and cut out fish. Under the blacklight, the colors really popped, and anything in black simply disappeared. It is a really cool effect. 

Puppets

Our third graders are learning puppets this session. When done well, puppetry is a powerful means of teaching and entertaining, but in all honesty, puppetry is not a real strength of mine. However, the kids do not seem to mind, and my hope is that a willing heart and enthusiasm will make up for my puppeteering deficiencies. Our plan is to perform a song for their parents using regular puppets and also incorporate some black light elements into the mix as well. It should prove to be a very interesting semester.

Church Tech Class

This semester, we are offering a cool new class for our older kids that we’re calling, “Church Technology.”  This will mainly involve sound system setup and operation, but will also cover other tech as well. We had so many kids interested in taking the class that we are having to split it and offer it twice to accommodate everyone.

We are blessed at our church with an outstanding worship tech team, and the two instructors for this class are among the best we have. I’m sure that the kids will learn a lot and have a lot of fun in the process. I wish I could have taken such a class when I was a kid. Our heart’s desire is to inspire the next generation of church worship technicians, and we are off to a great start!

Blacklight Puppetry

I’m exploring the possibility of incorporating blacklight puppetry into our ministry. I found a company online, www.creativemin.com, that had some very helpful resources. The first step was to purchase the blacklights themselves. I purchased two 4-foot led lights. While I was at it, I purchased several training videos and a booklet to help us get started. Initially, we will use the blacklights in conjunction with our sign-language class. Also, we’ll probably add a blacklight “flair” to some aspect of third grade puppet track as well.