Tips to help you improve your general assembly times.

The opening assembly is usually that fifteen to twenty minutes before all students go to their classrooms or tables for the actual lesson of the week. It’s a “pep rally”, it’s a “glad you’re here” time. This should be one of the most exciting times of each week, not the most boring place they have been all week. However, it’s not just a crazy-loud-fun time absent of any spiritual value. It is an informal teaching time as well.

Understand that some teachers (and all churches have some) are a “zero” for an enjoyable and exciting time. If children go directly into a “zero” class, then it could easily be the most boring place they have been all week from start to finish.

Ideas for an Exciting Assembly Time

Lively Song Time. Use the overhead to display words. Use children’s chorus books, cassettes, or words printed in large letters on a colorful marker aboard. Every week you will have children who do not know the words-and that’s not very exciting for them. Remind all of your workers often, this is not the local nursing home we’re running.

Use CD music before and after class time. Have it playing in the hallways immediately when they open the building door. Play it in your assembly room until something else begins. There are men around church who can make-shift you a speaker system in the hallways for very little cost.

Teen puppet or drama team. Teens can do a good job and be used of the Lord and to minister to children by being on a puppet team or drama team. Simply stated, teens practice a new puppet story for 4-5 weeks, then we give them opportunity to perform in our children’s departments. Once they are finished, they go back to their own teen department or church service. So, their story may be performed for the next several weeks (depending upon the number of separate departments you may have), each week in a new department.

Use Bible Games. Our Master Club Game Book and the Ed Dunlop books and CDs are all filled with some excellent “homemade” Bible games. While you are playing the game, you are also teaching. These games can be used in two-minute to ten-minute time slots. Kids love it and it’s not just more “busy work. “Busy work is the “pitts” of Christian education. We also carry the many transparency games, and now the new power-point action games. All games will require the student to listen intently to the lesson to win big in the review games to come!

Mr. Memory Puppet. Have one puppet that you designate as “Mr. Memory.” He only shows up about every 5-6 weeks. Dress him up, and put a name tag on that says “Mr. Memory.” He can be held by a worker, instead of setting up a stage. He then comes into the room to teach all the children the memory verse. The only problem is, he can never remember the verse. He “messes up” the reference, then he adds words, and leaves out words. The solution is that the children always wind up teaching him the memory verse. By the time they have quoted the verse to help “Mr. Memory”, the children have actually memorized the verse. But this time it was a lot of fun!

The Pocket Lady. Every 5-6 weeks another character shows up. This lady wears a long smock-type gown, usually all the way to the floor. Inside and out there are pockets. Little pockets, big pockets, squares, rectangles, yellow pockets, blue, red, green, polka dots, striped pockets, and any other fun looking pockets. On this day the lady roams the hallways. Any child who can come to the Pocket Lady and say word-perfect the verse or series of verses, that child gets something special. They may then reach into any pocket they choose, and keep whatever is in the pocket. Pockets are filled with candy or trinkets or anything that kids like!

Use themes for a fun atmosphere. Fun themes will help you to dress up the assembly room for several weeks at a time. For 4-6 weeks, go with a Western theme, or Treasure Island, Clown town, Football, Basketball, Soccer, Missionary lands, etc. This gives variety to your room décor and gives a different slant for fun.

Use Bible Characters to visit your assembly. Periodically, dress up someone who is also good at storytelling, to portray a Bible character. Let them tell of one experience they had with God from a Bible passage. The dress needs to be well done, so it gives no reason to laugh. Emphasize some from the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11, or from great missionaries of the past. Biographies of these are easy to find.

Use the Story Lady. Usually every church has someone who excels in telling Bible stories well. Schedule this person to tell a story every two months or so.

Use a “Pastor Day”. On this day our Pastor is there to meet kids, to perhaps give his testimony or to answer questions from the children. It would be good to take a group picture, with the Pastor in the middle, then have it blown up to hang on the wall!

Have Mission Care Team. To be on this team, you have to arrive early each week. This team will work on projects for sending to the mission field and to special families who have children about their age. Work on cards, small newsletter, gift boxes, birthday cards, Christmas and others.

Use a “Spirit Stick”. This is a motivator for enthusiasm. The stick can be used to generate an air of excitement between the boys side and the girls side, with one side winning the “bragging rights” to the spirit stick for the whole week or month. It may be won for getting a certain amount of boys in the classroom before the same amount of girls, or vice-versa. It may be based on the highest amount who said word-perfect the memory verse for the week. It may be the most enthusiastic singers this week who wins the spirit stick. It may just be the overall enthusiasm for the day, or a combination of three or four of the above. It may also include a missionary offering. Make up your own rules.

Use the “Guess who wins today” jug. Have a large jug in which you will place a small card of each students name, as soon as they arrive. A certain time should cut off the names in the jug. Draw a name, such as the first girl and the first boy. They receive some special prize you have!