Showing Children You Love Them
Want to Tell Somebody?
The need for love is the greatest of all human needs. Children who don’t receive love cannot fulfill their God-given potential for a fulfilling, contributing life. While children’s workers at church spend relatively brief amounts of time with children, our effect on boys and girls must not be minimized. Small tokens of love from a children’s teacher can sometimes have an impact way out of proportion to the significance of the event. Here are 10 simple ways to show your children you love them.1. Learn their names.
Constantly review children’s names. Mentally try to link the child’s name with something memorable about him or her. For example, “Melody is miniature size,” or ” Ben has brown hair” or “Sam’s smile is sensational.”
2. Be a patient listener.
Children’s narratives can sometimes be tedious, filled with long pauses, repeated words, and more details than anyone really cares to hear. However, really LISTENING to a child says, “I care. I’m interested in you.” To show that you are listening, it sometimes helps to interject a question or comment in the narrative.
3. Remember birthdays and other special events.
Send greeting cards and small, inexpensive treats. Recognize birthdays in your classroom. Take photos of the children during activities and display these in the classroom or give them copies.
4. Occasionally attend something of importance to the child, such as sports event, musical recital, or school event.
5. Remember the children who always come.
Absentees often receive postcards or phone calls urging them to return to class. By contrast, regular attendees can sometimes be overlooked. Occasionally call or write these children to express your appreciation for their regular attendance and participation.
6. Visit the child where he or she lives.
A. Establish who you are: “Hi! I’m Betty Robertson, children‘s ministry director.”
B. Indicate why you came: “Sherri was absent this past week and we really missed her.”
C. Try to get a reason for the absence: “I hope she wasn’t sick.”
D. Relate depending on response.
© by Betty Robertson
Creative Christian Ministries
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