I love to take teams of volunteers to visit other churches that are larger than ours.  It helps them to catch the vision of what is possible in Kids Ministry and some next steps to focus on.  I love to visit a church called Crossroads in Cincinnati.  Their Kids Ministry, Crossroads Kids Club, is AMAZING!  Their facility is fantastic & they produce amazing videos that are downloadable and FREE!  They also have curriculum that goes with those videos that is also downloadable and FREE!

Some of the things I loved about Crossroads Kids Club were:

Simple but colourful decor

They had bright, bold colours in their kids area, but it was not too overwhelming with decor.  The carpets were cut in various designs to add to the colour in the hallways. The baby and preschool halls had murals on the lower half of the walls where small kids would be able to view them.

Kids play area

They built their own kids play area.  Basically it was a playground, but it was a series of small rooms, halls and doorways that kids could climb and crawl through.

Free coffee

OK. So this might not have been in the kids area, but in their main lobby they had a cafe with free coffee and soda.  People could help themselves to a beverage, 7 days a week!  They said they produce more coffee than the Starbucks in their area.

Super friendly staff

Their staff were so willing to help us in any way that they could.  They toured us around, told us about their kids program, and answered all of our questions.  As we walked around they were very intentional about saying hello and chatting with the parents and volunteers in the kids area.

New volunteers class

While we were there we were able to attend their new volunteers class.  Each person who wants to volunteer goes to this class first.  Here they learn about the vision and values of the kids ministry and the different volunteer roles that are available.  Their next step is to go visit a class and watch the volunteers in action.  Then they are able to choose which role they want to help in and take the next steps to get started.

Door signs

These signs were posted outside every kids room.  They displayed a question or two for parents to ask their kids after they picked them up to help jumpstart conversations about what they learned that day.  They also displayed signs to communicate important information such as, “Photos will be taken in class today”.

Crossroads Kids Club was a fantastic place to visit.  They have a heart to serve the people in Cincinnati, and help other churches reach families too.

Click here to see pics from the church tour of Northview church in Indiana.

Click here to see pics from Woodstock City Church in Atlanta.

 

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